ZBrushCentral

Self Taught Or Education?

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#1

Hey everyone here at ZB Central, Ive a question, (and maybe a debate) about what is more practical, self taught artist or education. I came out of the British Army 3 years ago, after serving in Iraq for 3months. I have always been an artist, but not digitally until 2 years ago.
Ive bought a few DVD’s from The Gnomon Workshop which has helped me alot! along with tuts that I find scouring the net. I suffer with ‘Post-traumatic Stress dissorder so cant get into Uni due to freakin with such large ammounts of people. (Im getting over it slowly) Is there a firm that will take on some1 with no ‘Artistic’ qualifications?’ Or is there someone that will say, damn this work is great, he has no qualifications but his work speaks for itself, lets take him on.
Is there any1 out there that has No propa degree but has a job in this Industry?

I know I’ve shown no work here today but I wanted to get some feedback from anyone who wants to share…

My kind regards Jonny Johnson

1 Like
#2

I’d say quite a lot of people working in these industries don’t have a ‘proper’ degree. Of course, many do have formal education in art/design, & while it’s a great experience to have, it’s not a ‘must’.

Basically, you live & die by your portfolio. If you can do the work, and do it well (and don’t have overwhelmingly offensive b.o. for your co-workers to endure :D), nobody cares how you got there. Having formal training in traditional arts would certainly give someone the edge in getting their folio up to snuff, but if you can do it without it no one is going to hold it against you.

#3

The internet is the best education you can possibly get in this field.
I study graphic design and learned the whole 3d thing on my own with
the help of thousands in the internet.
Still for future visa immigration things when possibly working in other countrys
a degree would help.
Also studying is a nice time and maybe it would even help get over your stress
syndrome? But im not the one to judge that.

Anyways post some work or get started doing some! :+1:small_orange_diamond:D:+1:

#4

mostly what i hear is the degrees don’t matter, it’s the portfolio and reputation. some people might need someone to give them assignments and deadlines while learning though. schools can also get you connections and perhaps get a better job right out of school, but to me all this isn’t worth the $100,000 that you pay at a lot of art schools. i was in school for 2.5 years, and i feel like i only learned a few basics and still taught myself the bulk of it(at least in regard to 3D).

#5

If you are a good artist, you will be able to reproduce good art with any tool set. It doesn’t take long to learn the technical side of things. I personally have a degree and sometimes I wish I hadn’t spent the money on an education. Having a degree has never landed me a job, it has always been portfolio work and personal connections to other artists in the industry. However, I did learn a ton from school allowing me to have knowledge in other areas of the industry rather than just modeling and texturing. Hope this helps…
Avis.

#6

since i purchased zbrush, ive seen a whole different side to art that i never knew was possible, im gonna crack on and see where this takes me.
thanks:+1: :+1: :+1:

#7

Kind of a trick question. I wouldn’t recommend just learning software by opening it and clicking around :slight_smile: Not what you meant, I’m sure. Definitely study books, dvd’s, and tutorials.

To me, in design, going to school is really only necessary if you need that structure to be disciplined. That structure comes at a high price though. Not to say you wouldn’t learn a lot, but if you’re self motivated, the information is out there. With the internet and great communities like this one, it’s easier than ever to find. Unlike many industries, during an design interview, you’re portfolio matters much more than your educational achievements.

#8

First let me say thanx on behalf of us all that you risked your life in the defense of freedom and I am sorry to hear that you have such afflictions. Good luck and speedy healing.
In regards to your question. I am an art educator for many years now and here are a couple of thoughts to consider.

  1. What direction would you like to go in. Do you wish to be a model maker, matte artist, animator, painter, design, illustrator, games industry worker or what?
    This is an important aspect since it will dictate which area you concentrate on.
  2. If you want to go towards the ‘arts’ in the traditional sense only using digital tools then a formal training is very helpful. Software is only a tool and the history of art is very broad and the skills in drawing, painting etc are also broad and require a lot of training and doing. The theory behind artwork is not an isolated thing and unfortunately a lot of the work eminating from the digital world are very narrow in their theoretical approach. The majority of stuff on this forum eg is sort of games oriented styles. There is nothing wrong with this but it is only one of many directions possible.
  3. If you wish to go into the games direction then you need to talk to and / or read about that industry from people who are seriously into it., There are many interviews on the internet and I am not the right person to give advice on this area.
    Most of the best artists I know are both self taught and have a formal training as well. The idea that there are ‘artists that are born’ is a naive notion and there have only been a very few child prodigies in the history of art and usually they were from advantaged family backgrounds that could afford the educational stimulation during their formative years.
    So a lot of decisions to make and a lot of learning and then you will be a happy little camper. Good luck.
#9

I’m not a professional artist, in fact I’m a deli supervisor, I’m 36 years old and have always wanted to create art for a living but made a lot bad decisions in the past. I can sculpt and I can do so well in clay, but because living has many expenses I have to work full time and cannot afford to go to an expensive school. In fact, I am now attending a community college, taking a drawing class, and a Maya class. It is my fourth semester in the Maya class and honestly though the professor has made good suggestions towards design and some minor animation projects I have learned a whole lot more from the internet and a friend I made in this class. An example, the professor first told us to save to the desktop then to our thumb drives. I learned about making a project folder in Maya from my classmate. I learned from the internet and magazines that tris are bad or should be avoided. This professor includes them in his modeling. I posted something similar to your question earlier and someone replied that schools are mostly about profit, they’re a business and I have to agree.

#10

How much of an artist would you say you needed to be to use ZBrush? I do ok drawing, nothing great but better than stick figures, but with pen & paper and not so much with the mouse and keyboard. I’ve tried traditional polygon modeling but never really seem to make what I want or envision. But ZBriush just looks like fun and I really want to give it a try (downloaded demo, will try this weekend I hope), but if I can’t draw or model (polygone or spline) would I be wasting my time with ZBrush?

#11

Top of my head, major significant difference.

If you learn outside in a classroom environment you are the benefit
of making friends who will hopefully sooner of later have jobs in the industry.
There is also head to head competition and interaction which is for the most
part fruitful.
Being part of a larger group can provide motivation which is helpful if you
are not a self starter. Depending on the class and instructor the learning process is speeded up.

The agrument could be made that being alone you can hasten the process
with noone to hold you back and of course the usual agruments about
self education that time spent and scheduling are all up to lyou.

Depends on what type of learner you are and to a large degree the fire
within you.

#12

I am a bit competitive and it does drive me a bit more than if there are no other artists around me. But at the same time I’d rather be at a school where the competition can be more serious. In the Maya class we don’t even critique or show our work to the rest of the class. If I could I would love to attend Gnomon. I think in the coming semesters I’m going to focus on my general education, so that if or when I can afford to go to gnomon I dont have to worry about taking math or english. Thank you Pixologic very much for making Zbrush as affordable as it is. It took my tax return to get it but I think it’s totally worth it. I hope I hope I find the criticism I need to drive me forward in this forum. So far I have only posted a sculpt of a mushroom and asked for help with texturing it but I have only had one reply, lol.

#13

Would go to Gnomon in a minute
The day to day hassle of the commute between New York and California
would be too stressful. The only good thing would be the daily body searches
at the airports. ( love those wands!!!)

#14

Hello mate, I have been teaching zbrush for all of it’s uses in a variety of industies. I do private lessons and I can get you confident and up to speed.
Contact me if you are interested. I am in the UK.

Cheers

Simon

http://simongrell.co.uk/

#16

I think you can get online training. The courses will significantly increase your chances of getting a job and a good salary.

#18

I believe that education in the institution and self-education are also important, and help and support are definitely important.

#20

Well, even though this discussion is ancient (it started in 2010, not even sure if those members are still active now) I figured I might as well chime in now that it has been revived a bit :wink:

Depends on the person as well as their goals I’d say. Some people can handle self study quite well whereas others may need some good examples and goals to focus on.

While one person will simply fire up ZBrush and starts messing around to learn things others may end up staring at their screen because they’re unsure what to do next.

#22

I believe that motivation and the right environment are more important than academic education.

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#26

Hi to all! The topic is a bit old, but quite interesting and I decided to write what I think about it. I am a writer on the Eduzaurus website and I believe that self-learning is a more useful way of learning. This creates a unique style and originality, not copying someone’s achievements. It is important to communicate and share experiences with other artists and at the same time fill your own portfolio. So the chances of being noticed and recognized will be much higher. So I learned to write, focusing on my own abilities, not popular trends. It is also important to say that self-learning requires good discipline and no fear of mistakes. Without this it will be very difficult and then it is better to first study in courses or somewhere else.

#31

I’d rather choose self study