Who Needs Training?
I have a few tips and pieces of advice for all of you budding artists out there. Ok maybe not all of you, mostly those of you who really want to get into some medium of art but lack any sort of formal training. There is hope. And not just a little hope, plenty of hope. And here is why…
You can learn to be a great artist without training. Doesn’t sound very earthshattering or even very common-sense does it? But the truth is formal training does not make a person a good or even a better artist, it simply makes people with creative talent better faster. You didn’t think I was going to say there was beneficial about training and education did you?
However, there are many artistic people who do not have or cannot get any formal training. Speaking for myself, I went to college to pursue a decidedly non-artsy career path, or at least not the path that encourages sketching at work. I also little to no interest in being a professional artist. That said, I love to create things and use my imagination, just like thousands of other people who have creative leanings but not the inclination to make it a profession. So what is this hope I mentioned earlier? Your desktop background.
If you produce any computer generated art, or you own a scanner, I know the perfect technique to improve your art. Any time you finish a project you will have a task. Go in and set your new image as your desktop wallpaper. Most times it will have this effect:
Every time you first startup your computer or close all your windows you will have this thought — Dear lord! What sort of 5-year old made this! And why was I stupid enough to make this my hideous background… Oh wait, I made that, I should probably practice some more…
It really does motivate you to work at your craft. Even images you really like will begin to bug you. You’ll notice the small imperfections, the areas you aren’t terribly good at will stand out, and you’ll start thinking about how to fix those things every time you look at your computer screen. I have issues with depth of field and light dynamics. I get to look at what some people consider fairly good space art and think to myself about why a planets moon doesn’t look like it is in the orbital position I really wanted to project. Or I think about how the shadow of the planet really doesn’t corespond that well to the sun. Then I try to figure out what professional artists that I respect are doing with their creations that I sorely lack. Then a few practice images, photos, or renders later things start looking that much more refined.
This little trick also works much faster than simply practicing. Very few people can just pop open a blank photoshop document and know they need to work more on shading and then get right down to it. Without the reminders of our own work the vast majority of us poor souls with no training can easily stagnate on a problem. Without that constant introspection on our own art we just keep creating new things and saying “damn, that problem again.” What trained artists have that we lack is the training to skip this process because they have spent years being told how to do it in their heads without constant reminders… and, you know, lots of education on how techniques should work rather then just having to guess until something looks right.
And that is how anyone can do a very simple, free, and quick thing to improve. Amazing what hate of your own flaws can accomplish through repititous beating.
