How Artists Learn in the 21st Century
Education has changed a lot in the last couple decades as a whole. And art education is no exception. Today I want to explore how artists learn in this new age filled with so much knowledge at our fingertips!
I am a self taught artist. I’ve attended one high school art course and enjoyed after school art projects with peers in an art club or after school program in middle and high school. But other than those experiences, most of what I know artistically has been from resources I sought out on my own and then followed to build my skills. Now what were those resources?
My number 1 resource in creative learning has been YouTube. Most of what I know artistically has come from artists demonstrating their skills and knowledge online. I’ve watched many tutorials of how to draw and have watched hours upon hours of art content that give me knowledge by learning from the experiences of others. YouTube is a great free resource for finding art knowledge! It allows you to learn basics and find inspiration to create! I have listed a bunch of art creators I watch on YouTube that you can check out in my blog post about my current inspirations. Click the button below to go check that out if you haven’t read that post already!
Another resource I have use and still continue to pull out are books. Anytime I can get my hands on an art book, I do! I have many different types of books to learn from. I have books that walk me through the art and drawing fundamentals, I have books that teach me to draw specific subjects, and other books that showcase the artworks of big projects like movies. I also have a book that teaches me and walks me through some art history. All of these books teach me different things and in different ways I find valuable to my art education.
he final resource I have used a lot through my art education has been online classes through sites like Skillshare. In case you haven’t heard, Skillshare is an online platform focused on education, helping people learn new skills at their pace and in digestible amounts. Honestly I don’t know what you can’t learn on Skillshare! But you can learn so much art on there, and I do! I am always learning something new and building my skills.
But there are other online classes and resources artists use in this age. You can go to sites like Masterclass or learn from specific artists you can learn from them on Patreon. If you admire a certain artist’s technique, many offer resources for you to learn from, along with sending you some of their artwork like in the form of prints and stickers. Patreon is a great way to support your favorite artists by providing them with a stable income, and they can provide you with not only fun goodies but exclusive resources about their process!
Similar to Patreon, you can take an online mentorship with an artist who you want to learn from. Some artists offer this service which allows you to work one on one with them for a certain period of time. Gone are the days where you had to be near other artists physically in order to find a mentor. You can still of course find in person mentorships which are still quite valuable, but if you live in a place where that might not be widely available, you still have access to mentorships online!
Most artists now a days learn art in school and online. There are endless sources for us to find now. We can explore our local communities and access a larger one online where there is endless sources of knowledge to help us learn and grow our skills! Artists in the 21st century have so much to see and learn from, and I feel lucky to not only have access to the ways of the past but also seeing the ways of the future!
