Life Changing or Career Building?

Technical skill and fundamentals are the key to learning and developing.

From my own experience and many others alike probably have had the same, but my education of 'Art' has not been what I have imagined.  For when I joined a Art college many years ago, my only reason to go there because I thought we would get taught on how to draw, paint, and the rest that follows. I was sadly disappointed in a way, I joined a First Diploma Art and Design course, which was only for one year. We done many subjects in rota-blocks, such as textiles, fashion, photography, 3D, graphics, drawing, critical studies. It was great learning a range of many subjects getting a taste for everything but in terms of actually learning them? Hardly. It was good experimenting with different materials and trying to be expressive, but learning the fundamentals didn't happen in that year.

So for me to climb up, I went on to the National Diploma Art and Design which was two year course, practically the same course in a way, I did the same subjects with some tweaks, different projects, difficulty and teaching. 

Here's an example, I was lucky enough to have experimented with Photoshop for couple of years, so I had a bit of experience then the rest, but our 'graphics lesson' was really terrible, the teacher was cool and hip, but seriously we didn't learn nothing, I felt I knew more then the teacher and for people who had no experience they were kinder screwed in trying to develop and manifest their ideas, with no technical skill, it just like walking on gravel, it hurts and it is hard.

For myself, I was not doing the work as confidently as I could or had the time to enjoy a project properly because we had so many on the go, it was really annoying to organise and work on a projects. My opinion you just couldn't enjoy a subject without neglecting the others because it was like you was walking on fire, you couldn't stay on something for too long and invest proper time to learn and understand what you are achieving then to blind-faith it all.

The repetitive process made me sick  and bored, it looked like it was not always about the end product or the art, more so the process in  between which is understandable, but it got to the point it was just tick-boxes. So students who had very little ability in art, but did the sketch book research and annotation but their outcome was not strong, always had the good grades.

Students like my self had potential ability, adventured out, tried new things and finals were strong but lacked in organise of sketchbooks or leaving them for a rushy last finish.  Just always didn't get a good grade because the little tick-boxes from certain things didn't meet, even though the teacher clearly understands and know the project was good, had to by, by the 'powers of the box' and so you was given not a good grade.

It was unfair to many people because there was not 'taught' a process to follow or a structure to go by, you just had to try your best to work it out. I am not talking about spoon fed, but a guide for people to take some part from and develop then their own strategies from that. It was like placing us in a desert with no GPS, no coordinates or maps, so you didn't have clear vision or choice of what you can do. You was just left wondering, walking aimlessly, believing what you was achieving is right.

So for one, it put me off art and made it like a chore. I just didn't really like how things were taught and planned. They were all really helpful, supportive, teachers but in terms of actual teaching time, teaching those core fundamentals of drawing, perspective, colour theory and even proper computer skills, it was very small. I did my best to learn what I could in my own time and experiment and develop my skills when I could. I had potential to grow into a beautiful flower, but I lacked the right, sunlight, air, water and soil to do this.

Untill joining Game Art.

This shit just got next level. 

Not only we do not have to go through that horrible sketch-book process. Finally it was all a bout the ART.

The Game Art structure is cleverly constructed to fire up that creative machine inside of you and bring that creative person back out, from after all the previous years of education of locking that person away.

We were finally get taught and learn the fundamentals and do projects base round that. Though it was not spoon fed to us at all, you had to do everything yourself, learning and understanding, practising was only down to you, if you didn't then you will fall behind and fail. The first year I struggled a lot, with my commitment and engagement as well breaking out that old programmatic self I once were. Though I know from the beginning of the course and to now my ability in everything Visual Design, 3D and Critical studies has improve.

 From the 3 years at college, I have improved 5x as much in the space of two years. In technical skill and fundamental understanding, my drawing, confidence, learning, absorption, creativity understanding and biggest thing my attention/ commitment have improve and we have all become one embodiment, I feel enlightened and gain much awareness. It might seem late to others, but I have finally feel I have my connection back to my studies and my a clear view on my life journey path of the right one.

So what does this mean by my own experience? Well you need structure and fundamentals. They might appear boring or long to some, but with time invested into it, you will be enhance so much more in what you are doing. They are the hardest and always have infinite development in mastering them, You will appreciate them as they will appreciate you. 

ART taught in schools, colleges and uni's need a good re-think on what is needed to be taught. Because as it is at the moment, the expressive experimentation side and all of that is fine, but it's like building a house with no idea how to. No planning, no research, no any idea how to, theres only so much growth you can gain from this.

If we can grow into Game Artist on our course after we leave and the student work we can produce is fantastic, then just think if we prepare this in schools and colleges, yeah, we would have to experiment with other materials for creativity but gave that fundamental, hard work practise, then things would transform a lot more.