gRAPHICaNATOMY

There is no guarantee that pursuing a Master's Degree in Art will make anyone a better artist.
If fact there is no demonstrable proof that MFA's get more art shows, have better artwork, or sell more art.
But you can be pretty sure you will go deeper into debt trying to pay for it.

Why get an MFA? Is it because you want to be a better artist?

Step 1. Make Art. 
To be a better artist just practice your skills, constantly, consistently, and seriously.
AND
use those skills to communicate more authentic & original subject matter.
Do this by consciously deciding what to focus on. (very similar to meditation skills)  Either going deeper into your own experiences &  subconscious; or by what you observe in the outside world.
Get rid of the cliche's, the obvious, and anything that isn't really YOU.
Do not submit your art to current fashion,  trendy theory, art historian narrative, preconceived ideas, or anything that has a structure someone else controls.

Take a fraction of the $75,000 you would have spent on tuition and buy art supplies.
Work comes out of work.

Apprenticeships aren't much better. 9 times out of 10 the "Master" isn't a Master and an even worse teacher. The Master is not concerned about helping the Apprentice reach his/her full potential, they want to copy themselves onto the Apprentice.
(note to self: future topic- workshops that teach a particular method by an artist with some degree of fame. Similar to apprenticeships.) 

The apprentice or student pays way too much money, wasted too much time, puts up with unnecessary abuse  and still ends up having  to teach themselves or learn on the go anyway.

I think the real problem is ... education done badly is just cloning. The problem IS a closed system that doesn't breath and doesn't adapt to a constantly changing environment. The system or the tradition becomes more important than the individual. IT's not actually teaching it's duplicating.... like a virus.

Labels: art school, education, mfa, schooling

My teacher was Irish/ Italian, but basically the same personality.

Labels: classical, drawing, education, painting, skills

Brian Sherwin brought up the topic that their might be a bias against Christian subject matter in the modern art market.
And "minority religions" might get special preference.
link: http://www.facebook.com/briansherwin.artcritic/posts/10150741873709554



I've studied art in a somewhat typical American education system. I'd consider my Art education, somewhat typical for a Bachelor degree.
That means I've been exposed up the wazoo to Christian art. High school, private lessons and University taught me about Christian art more so than any other type. The Art history books I own & read now are dominated by examples of Christian art.
Even at the University level the time we spent examine and discussing Christian themed art dominated everything else. The time we spent examining Islamic artist, or Buddhist art was miniscule. I could not tell you an Islamic artist off the top of my head. I read somewhere that there are as many images of Buddha as there are Jesus, if not more. But i'd be hard pressed to name a specific Buddhist sculpture or artist.
The only religious art that comes close to the level of exposure in my education is Pagan Art, Greek mythology, sculpture and paintings.
But Christian art dominated. The greatest art created in the western culture is often Christian themed. The sculptures of David, the Sisteen Chapel ceiling, the last judgment, the last supper, the Baldichino, the domed architecture.
Michelangelo, Donatello, Raphael, Lenoardo, Rubens, VanGogh, Guaguin and many of the greatest artist agreed upon mad eChristian themed art. These are the standards everything and everyone else is measured to or rebelled against. Christian art dominates our art education system, research material, and museums in all of Western culture.
So perhaps I am jaded when it comes to modern Christian art because i'm so used to it. Perhaps, I am hypercritical. I tend to see the cliche's, the hypocrisy, and the politics & propaganda easier because the standard has been set so high. It takes A LOT for modern Christian art to impress me and most does not deliver.
So maybe i'm more open to Islamic or Eastern art simply because it's unexplored. It's foreign, exotic, and the undiscovered country. It may have just as much cliche, hypocrisy and propaganda but even that is new to me.
So maybe I am biased. But until art of other religions is on equal footing, it's going to happen.

One thing i have noticed is modern Pagan art is usually filed under "Fantasy" & made a 2nd class art citizen down in the ranks of illustration, comics and record covers. There is great skill in some of this Pagan art. But often it's not taken seriously and really… if you think about it…. if their spiritual beliefs are "fantasy" then couldn't you file all spiritual art as fantasy as well.

Labels: art history, christian art, education

The last kid who told me she wanted to go to college for art, i told her “don’t”.

I told her to go to the local art center and take studio classes for a hundred dollars instead of the university classes that cost thousands.
I told her to go to art shows and meet artists. To ask to visit their studio and watch them work for a day for free.
I told her to get a library and check out every book on art and anything else that caught her interest for free.
I told her to go on you tube and watch “how to” videos for free.

Sure this way requires a bit more hustle and self discipline…. but isn’t that the secret to succes ? Hustle and self discipline ensures success, not a piece of paper with a diploma printed on it. And if that piece of paper was important to her… she can print her own when she graduates.

Labels: art, art schools, education, mfa, schooling