Does Art School Teach You How To Draw

What follows in this mail is informed past my own art college feel – both as an undergraduate educatee and instructor – forth with several years worth of hindsight. While the country of affairs I describe here persists at many art schools to this day, I'chiliad aware that it's not universal. Younger readers, in particular, may have had quite different experiences at their respective colleges equally the art educational activity landscape changes. I hope that tendency continues.

Is it possible to learn how to depict while at an art college?

To the uninitiated, this may sound like a featherbrained question. Out of all the options for learning to draw, a proper art college would seem like a safe bet.

But it's non that simple.

Back when I was enrolled in a total-fourth dimension, four-yr undergraduate program at a legitimate art college, I struggled to find quality didactics in observational drawing and painting. To my surprise, most of the faculty couldn't depict well themselves. The few capable teachers that I did find were just every bit frustrated every bit I was because the powers-that-be – the people who ran the Cartoon and Painting Department – just didn't care nigh representational art. And they got to choose the curriculum.

Unfortunately, my experience isn't an isolated 1. I've lost count of how many other representational artists I've spoken with nearly this over the years. And almost all of them recounted like experiences with the same forlorn expression on their faces.

"I think this would look better in iv pieces," he said. Then he tore the painting in half, twice, before handing it back to her.

I was aghast.

Here'south how bad it tin can get: I remember vividly every bit 1 of my classmates burst into tears following a disheartening commutation with a full-fourth dimension faculty fellow member at our school. In what was perhaps a misguided movement on her part, my classmate approached him for advice on a watercolor mural that she had painted. This teacher was notoriously hostile to representational work, merely even so, his response was cruel.

"I think this would await better in 4 pieces," he said. So he tore the painting in half, twice, before handing it back to her.

I was balked.

How on earth could this happen? In this post, I'll try to explain the contempo state of representational cartoon instruction at about art colleges. Then I'll brand a example for why that might be changing, and how all of this may impact you.

"Fine art" is a Big Discussion

Start off, as an art teacher myself, I have to say I'thousand sympathetic to the plight of today'south art colleges considering they have a huge responsibility: Instruction "art."

In the 21st century, the give-and-take "art" has so many definitions and encompasses so many disciplines that trying to include them all into 1 institution is a herculean task. As the art globe expands to include new and exciting media like 3D video and virtual reality, it'southward not surprising, I suppose, that something every bit dusty and "one-time school" as cartoon would have a dorsum seat. Subsequently all, nearly schools – even the expensive ones – are working with limited resources, which forces them to prioritize what they teach.

But there's more than to information technology than that.

When compared to country-of-the-art photography facilities or computer labs, a cartoon or painting studio is pretty inexpensive to maintain. So, it tin't simply be a affair of express resources.

To fully understand the contempo state of drawing and painting instruction at the college level, information technology'due south of import to have a wait back at history.

The Rising of Modernism

Representational fine art wasn't e'er equally disrespected as it has been in recent decades. In fact, it played a fundamental role in western gild for millennia.

Dating as far back as ancient Egypt (and much farther if we consider pre-historic cave paintings), most representational art was religious or formalism in nature. Its goal was to illustrate the stories of myth or scripture.

Illustration of whatever kind was dismissed equally quaint and corny – a nostalgic throw-back to simpler times.

The latter half of the 19th century, notwithstanding, saw a radical shift in the art world. Thanks to industrialization, order changed at a rapid pace that was at times exciting and besides deeply frightening. These changes were so profound that many artists felt they needed an entirely new style of making and thinking about art. As a consequence, "Modernism" was born.

Modernism rejected representation in art. Illustration of any kind was dismissed equally quaint and corny – a nostalgic throw-dorsum to simpler times. By the 1960s, abstraction became the default mode of painting.

Just abstract art was more than difficult for laypeople to sympathize and assimilate than traditional representational work. In guild to appreciate this kind of art, a noesis of art theory and criticism is really necessary. Otherwise, information technology's hard to find meaning and context. This state of affairs persists today, where much "mail-mod" or "gimmicky" artwork is inscrutable to all just a relatively pocket-sized circle of informed insiders.

Art schools were not immune to this shift.

Every bit modernism picked up steam, university-level art schools felt increasing pressure to discard traditional ideas and methods to stay relevant. Eventually, almost all of them did.

For the past few decades, post-secondary art schools have de-emphasized the importance of teaching students to describe and paint what they see. As a upshot, much of the faculty at art colleges (at least when I was enrolled) were never taught to draw well themselves and couldn't teach their own students to do so – even if they wanted to. Over the years, this led to a vicious bike where fewer and fewer people taught or learned how to draw.

The Rise of "Credentialism"

Equally modernism took hold and began to disrupt university-affiliated art schools, those that were non continued to a university soon began to experience a different kind of pressure.

Yous come across, many art colleges used to be considered "trade schools" that didn't offer degrees. They focused on grooming. Artists and illustrators weren't expected to emerge from schoolhouse with a B.F.A. Instead, the goal of these trade schools was to provide solid instruction that helped students develop a skill set and a stiff portfolio of piece of work.

Following the Second World War, however, the U.s. experienced a broad societal shift that was initiated by a boom in immature people seeking post-secondary education. The resulting glut of university-educated workers drastically changed the labor market. By the 1970s, due to contest from well-educated applicants, professions that in one case offered expert prospects to those without a degree all merely required one. With the concurrent turn down in manufacturing jobs, available career options for anyone without a college degree were greatly diminished.

The need for even more qualifications has led to a curious miracle known as "credentialism" or "caste inflation," where employers look for e'er-higher qualifications for the same jobs.

All of this worked together to make degrees appear more valuable. By the time I was a teenager, applying to university had go the default expectation for nearly all students that were graduating from high school.

Today, many are inclined to distrust whatsoever professional person who doesn't have at least a bachelor'due south degree. In fact, a bachelor'due south degree may not exist enough. The demand for even more qualifications has led to a curious miracle known as "credentialism" or "degree inflation," where employers look for ever-higher qualifications for the aforementioned jobs.

By the 1990s, independent art schools were feeling the heat. If they wanted to concenter quality applicants (and charge them accordingly) they'd have to outset offering degrees, too. Every bit a result, most major fine art colleges accept already transitioned exclusively to four-twelvemonth bachelor's and fifty-fifty master's degree programs.

Art Training Isn't Prioritized In Bookish Caste Programs

This transition to degree programs brought profound changes to art school curricula. Many accrediting authorities – the organizations that determine what schools can grant degrees – require bachelor's degree programs to exist built around a core curriculum that is normally academic in nature. In other words, the quondam "trade schoolhouse" model that focused on teaching practical skills is no longer sufficient. To comply with these requirements, fine art colleges at present make significant academic demands of their students.

At present, don't get me wrong. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. Cadre requirements exist to ensure students get a broad base of knowledge that helps them become thoughtful, clear people. Having studied politics and history myself in university, I believe the humanities are important.

Just for students looking to develop their drawing and painting skills, this kind of school work doesn't actually help them come across their goals. The time spent writing papers detracts significantly from the time 1 could spend in the studio.

If observational cartoon and painting skills aren't of import anyway, as the core tenets of modernism suggest, then the sacrifice of studio preparation is no loss.

And even so, fine art schools are happy to comply. Art theory and criticism at present play a central role in the art world. Students seeking to participate in that dialogue need to spend plenty of time reading and learning to speak about their work in a contemporary critical context. If observational cartoon and painting skills aren't important anyway, every bit the core tenets of modernism suggest, then the cede of studio grooming is no loss.

So, this is where nosotros are. Many art colleges don't appear to teach traditional cartoon and painting skills because:

Such skills aren't valued at these institutions and oasis't been for decades
Caste programs emphasize academics, oft at the expense of practical training

Things Are Improving

Then what is a would-be representational artist to do? In that location are plenty of reasons to be optimistic:

Credentialism May Have Peaked

Recent hiring trends suggest that getting a degree isn't the sacred moo-cow it used to be. Big tech companies, like Apple and Google, have recently changed their hiring policies to accept applicants without post-secondary degrees. They've determined that top talent doesn't always come from colleges and universities anymore. This would have been unthinkable just a few years ago.

While I'm no fortune teller, I conceptualize this tendency will go on and spread to other fields equally the cost of post-secondary education spirals to absurd heights (at to the lowest degree in the United States). This will no incertitude have an affect on art schools. Afterward all, is that B.F.A. really worth the lifetime of crushing debt that may come with information technology?

In the near hereafter, I believe the frequent answer will be "no."

At that place Are Good Options Outside of Art Higher

Art higher isn't the just (or even the best) option for those seeking pedagogy in representational art. Private art studios and "ateliers" have flourished over the last 20 years considering they provide thousands of hungry students what art colleges haven't: solid, skills-based practical training in representational drawing and painting.

In fact, some of today's almost respected realist painters didn't learn their craft at college at all, merely rather under the guidance of a specific, agreeing artist or group of artists.

Many private studio schools offering programs of study that are as rigorous and enervating as nearly would expect college to be, with some even requiring full-time, four-year commitments. All the same, these schools are unencumbered by the requirements of accrediting regime and are free to teach their students what they estimate to be important. This model is more than similar the trade schools of onetime.

While students attending such schools don't receive a caste, they practice emerge with a strong skill set in representational drawing and painting, which is what they were seeking in the first place.

This type of art institution is gaining credibility. After all, if caste requirements go along to loosen, lacking a degree may not exist the liability that it once was.

Art Colleges Are Coming Around

Representational work has enjoyed a bit of a come back in recent years. Painters like Jenny Saville, Eric Fischl, and Kehinde Wiley have cracked the upper echelons of the contemporary art market with unapologetically figurative paintings. Every bit a consequence, art schools that champion figuartive work, like the New York University of Fine art, are enjoying their fourth dimension in the sun, while those that have sneered at representation for decades are starting to reconsider.

Some other factor that contributes to this irresolute stance is the incoming faculty at art colleges. These days, due in no small part to the contempo popularity of individual studio schools, a larger per centum of newly hired faculty take a stronger background in traditional techniques compared to their predecessors. These teachers thus have more to offer students seeking that kind of pedagogy in college.

These are reasons to exist hopeful for students seeking both representational art didactics and a iv-year art college feel.