If you’re a lawyer, you’ve got to have a degree. If you’re an electrician, you have to be certified. If you’re a therapist, you need to act like you have a degree.
But an artist needs no official piece of paper to prove his worth, only his portfolio. How many clients are going to ask what the artist’s GPA was, or whether he or she did enough community service.
So, why not blow off formal training and skip art school?
That would be a misreading of the professional landscape. Let’s explore why you may want to consider art school, point by point.
- You will be competing against other artists who have completed art school, and all of the course requirements, which means they’ll be well versed in the fundamentals. In addition, their progress will increase steadily over years, with continuous input from the accomplished pros who are their teachers. In other words, their portfolios will be tough to beat. Their work will have that polished look of someone who has gone to art school. This gives clients a feeling of confidence when hiring an artist.
- Who says you have to wait until a client asks if you’ve gone to art school? If you wait, the question may not come up. Put it out there. If your competition fails to mention their background, then you’ll have the advantage. You’re the one with the “formal training,” which is generally how clients put it. On the other hand, if your client mentions that they, too went to art school, you had better mention it as well, so as not to give them the advantage.
- One great aspect of art school is that the teachers are all artists. This isn’t true of other fields. Film schools are loaded with film professors who have never shot a film or have even been on a film set. English classes are profuse with teachers who have never published a book. But by having real pros as your art teachers, you will get career guidance that matters, rather than academic theory.
- Drawing is solitary. While you labor away, putting in the long hours at the drawing board, art school will provide you with a network of others who share the same passion. Friendships have a way of turning into lifelong contacts that are mutually profitable after graduation. Think about it: whom would you rather hire, Joe Blow, or the guy you sat next to in art class, who could fulfill the assignment perfectly?
Is art school an absolute requirement? No, it isn’t. There are ways to get everything you need from supplementary education, and from a liberal arts education. But that, my friends, is a topic for another blog.
So today’s take away is this:
“Art school can be a valuable asset.”
See You Soon,
Chris Hart
Your Cartooning Sherpa