[Sabatier]

That's interesting to hear. I learned the hard way what a waste of time art school tends to be because the teachers have such a narrow agenda. A lot of artists make a decent living as painters but you would never know it when you go to art school, because they don't teach any real skills. It's the artists who know how to draw and paint who make a living doing portraits, landscapes, illustrations, etc., but don't assume art school will teach those skills!

[ladylib]

I also read somewhere that a lot of artists don't even know how to draw.

[Sam Cree]

ARC is an interesting and informative website.

I majored in art in college, with a specialty in painting, 35 years ago. However, it was just as you guys say, nothing was really taught, they looked for "cutting edge" originality, but did not give students the tools needed for even basic art. Not to mention that timelessness is what should be the goal, not some trendy "cutting edge" bs that will be gone tomorrow.

So, though I had meant to make it my career, I drifted into another field. 34 years later, though, I am back to painting, and finding by myself, in later life, the education that I missed the first time around. I am doing this through workshops, searching out the right profs at local colleges, and research through reading, and even the internet. I am learning to see, to draw, to understand the human figure, color palette, establishing value, traditional indirect glazing methods, all the things that nobody even mentioned much in college, back in the late 60's.

I am tremendously excited by all this, my wife of 29 years says she has never seem me happier in all our years together.

I am much interested in chatting about art with any freepers who are also interested.

BTW, good article.