Education of 3D artists

Today we are going to talk a little bit about the education of artists with one of our 3D artists. We were asked to share their experience and say some words about of “how to…”. Lets start talk. Now I’m trying to settle this question for myself and I decided to share my thoughts with you. Maybe, there is someone among you who would like to keep up this conversation. Maybe, I will encourage someone for the search for self. Maybe, someone will finally realize what he or she falls short of. Maybe, someone will even understand that it isn’t his or her way. Who knows? So, today we will talk about academic education. As always, I’m going to speak in a roundabout way.

Looking through the news feed I’ve just came across this picture.

Of course, thank God, I’m not this Mark. Still, I have a lot of problems to solve :) No matter how funny this picture is, it is really thought-provoking. After all, the problem is not that Mark is a mediocrity. The problem is that the fact, that he is a mediocrity, doesn’t stop him. Oh, I’ve seen so many such Marks in my short lifetime! Millions of people are pretending to be artists and designers, but when it comes down to it they can only draw such pictures and all. They not only can’t do something worth-while but also they don’t even try to improve their results.

The famous sculpture “The thinker” by Rodin helps to reflect a bit :) And that’s what I reflect on this subject. On the one hand, talent is an inborn thing. But, on the other hand, we should cultivate out talent. Otherwise, it isn’t going to show itself. I will personally pay $100 to the one who would show me a great artist whose first work is brilliant and ingenious. Whatever talent you have, without education it will remain in an embryonic state. After all, one is not born a personality, one becomes a personality.

In order to make a picture of a person, you should draw such training patterns. Then someone should lay strictures on your drawings. You can show them to your friends or put on a forum. Sometimes you will get good comments. But there is no guarantee that comments on the forum are made by competent people.

And here we came to the question of academic art education for CG artists. If you become a student of some art school, your drawings will be estimated by a qualified teacher. There are some schools that include both fine arts trainings and learning of computer graphics software.

Please, have a look at this picture. It is excellent, and not only from the point of view of computer graphics but from the point of view of art as well. Everything is proportional here; everything is in its right place.

We don’t know for sure whether this artist gained his knowledge in some school or he is a self-made professional. And this is the main question. Should we have a self-education or should we go to school? Of course, it doesn’t matter at all for your employer where have you gained your knowledge. You simply do your work good or bad. However, engaging in self-education you may fail to learn some common truths, and sometimes you will have to reinvent the wheel. On the other hand, you are free to choose the amount of information you receive. That is, you just ignore the information that you think would be unnecessary for you. At the same time, you will pay more attention to the knowledge that you think would be important for you. But where is the guarantee that you will omit the unnecessary information?

All the knowledge you receive at the school of arts are important from the point of view of the proper school. Sometimes, teachers insist on getting you the knowledge that you think are unnecessary. But, again, nobody knows whether some knowledge would be useful or not.

Schools have a distinctive feature. This feature is positive and negative at the same time. And it is called the schedule of classes. If you already work, it will be hard for you to combine studying and work without detriment to neither of them. Also, if you have a sudden impulse to go to art school in December, most likely, it will end in nothing. The classes usually begin in September and until next September your desire will vanish.

But, as I have already said, it isn’t a negative feature, it’s just a peculiarity. The advantage of the schedule is that you are entering the schedule. Besides, the collective work helps to learn more than the individual one.

It all depends on your good or bad organization as a person. If you are a responsible person and you appreciate your free time, you can try a self-education. If you’re a spontaneous and changeable person, you’d better go to school, since there are times when we are just too lazy to do something. In such moments you will be burdened with the fact that you need to learn, and, like it or not, you’ll have no other opportunity but to go to lessons. That is, your duty will overcome your laziness.

In fact, no one forbids you to educate yourselves while studying at school. Rather, the opposite. Every school has some mandatory material that you are to learn without assistance. So, it’s turns out that either you’re taking up a self-education, or you’re going to school and, at the same time, taking up a self-education. There’s no need to think that you worth nothing without a diploma. The school doesn’t turn you into a new genius. It only teaches you, gives you an opportunity to learn.

Well, let’s draw some conclusions. If you can take the responsibility to get the quality knowledge and you have enough strength to become a self-made professional, you will do it at any cost. And you don’t need to go to school for this. But why learn from your own mistakes when you can learn from the mistakes of the others, from the textbook. It’s up to you to decide. The most important thing is to understand that both variants are possible and your choice, whatever it will be, will be correct. The wrong choice it is when you can’t defend it. I hope, my speech will help you to make the choice and everybody will find their own way.

Have a nice render!