Total Art Soul - for artists

Thanks for the welcome! I think it was your posts over at Etsy that brought me here, so thanks!

I completely agree- that with the digital world, painters almost seem old, outdated- NOT! I am one who paints realistically and I really don't care for the "dot on the canvas" crowd (no diss intended).

I am self-taught other than high school, but like most of us, its that need to feed the creative side of us that compels us to always continue to learn.

Also, I think it was Heather who said painting is in a constant state of death and rebirth (brilliant, btw!) and perhaps those that break the mold and let honest creativity flow versus staying within the art world "norm" are the ones who carry the burden of birthing a new, exciting and fresh art movement.

All the best,
Jen

My infiltration on Etsy! Haha! I can't be too blatant there since Etsy close my threads otherwise even though we are not competition to them and we even actively promote Etsy. It's quite tedious and I've written several times to explain but I get no response whatsoever.

Anyway, glad you found us!

Jen, I'm with you on that. I get told time and time again that it's 'pointless' painting something realistically since we can take a photo! Woot? What about the skill involved, the artists' perspective/eye showing what he sees etc. I love realism and I think there's a real place for it.

I see many students come out of art school, as I mentioned here before, and they all have a similar style or formula that they stick to. I think they get taught more how to make a living in the art world and what is expected of them, rather than to be creative.

Looking at that, I'm glad I was not put in a 'box' and I am free to express myself without the shackles of art school. It's bad enough having the shackles of conditioning without needing those as well! lol

I've had a grand total of one formal art class in junior high school.

I've been mostly self-taught. Both my older brother and youngest sister draw extremely well. None of us (4 kids) were ever encouraged to be artists. I didn't start painting until I was 30, after the birth of my son. No formal training in oils, acrylics or watercolors. I experimented with all kids of styles and colors.

My style has been described as "childish/childlike" , "organic" and "colorful". My husband is a computer engineer, and extremely left-brained. His constant criticism of it not looking "realistic enough" and "well-meaning advice" crippled my confidence for a while. It's only within the past few years that I've decided to go back to it.

Never say never. Never think you can't make art because you aren't formally trained for it.

Of course, you can be a true artist and 'self taught'. There are so many sources for information available on the web if you have questions nowadays.

If you get stuck on something, I'll bet there is a Utube how to video to get you started.

I have gotten back into art in recent years and have taken some community art classes at Munson Williams School of art. It is never too late to learn and grow!

Self taught - I really did not want to paint like anyone else. I have also enjoyed researching, trying out techniques, laughing at the failures and just generally enjoying my art. The word Formal is too 'formal' for me