Art College Crash Course, Lesson 1: You Don't Need Permission to Be an Artist
Or: what a very expensive education taught me, for free.
Hi. I'm Jesse the Pencil. I went to art school. I got the degrees. I paid a lot of money for them. And now I'm giving away what I learned, because nobody should have to spend a fortune to find out what actually matters.
Welcome to the Art College Crash Course: 30 lessons, zero tuition.
The big myth
A lot of people believe you need art school to become an animator, illustrator or artist.
You don't.
Art school can be great. You get teachers, deadlines and classmates who push you. But it isn't magic, and it isn't the only door. Plenty of working artists learned from books, online classes, friends and a lot of practice.
What art school promises vs. what you actually get
What people expect: - Professors who work in the industry right now - The latest tools and software - A clear path to a job
What you sometimes get: - Professors who left the industry a long time ago - An expensive textbook you open twice - Critiques that are hard to understand - A student loan
That's not true everywhere. Some programs are amazing. But you should know the difference before you sign up.
What school can't give you
No school can hand you: - A job - Talent - Discipline
You build those yourself, one drawing at a time.
What every successful artist says
Ask a working artist how they got good. Almost none of them say "art school." They say:
"I just kept drawing."
That's the whole secret. Everything else in this course is about how to keep drawing smarter.
Try this
Get any notebook and any pencil. Nothing fancy.
Fill one page with anything: your shoe, your pet, your hand, your breakfast.
Date the page. In 30 lessons, you'll look back at it and see how far you came.
Up next
Lesson 2: The Supply List Trap. Why you don't need a $200 ruler.
Tell us in the comments: are you thinking about art school, in art school, or skipping it?
The revolution will not be graded.
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