You make an excellent point. It’s always about the economics.

Karl, It’s an interesting challenge, but I should point out that it’s a business challenge and not an artistic one. Besides, I’ve already done that once, and it’s taken me years to recover from it financially. Not fun.

Your hypothesis would have to include the assumption that as the work gets better, money automatically flows in to your bank account in larger and larger quantities. I haven’t found that to be the case. The new level of accomplishment that results from total immersion may be accompanied by stacks of unpaid bills and nasty calls from creditors. Really interferes with the creative flow.

Sometimes I tease him when he is giving me advice (I get a bit crabby with him when he is right, which is most of the time) and offer him the brush so that he can do it, but he isn’t interested in going that far with the painting! Photography is more his thing.

Excellent points. I agree with the distinction you draw between personal development in art and training to making a living. I think that this should be explained to every art school student on day 1. Maybe it is, but in a way I would be surprised if this were so.

Let me challenge you here, just hypothetically. Why don’t you quit your normal job and go into art 100%? You have proved that you have the ability. You have high standards. Don’t you think the total immersion and challenge would bring you to a new level of accomplishment? This total immersion is what Tracy points out is the key think about art school, while it lasts. There will always be someone to produce those digital special effects, but no one will paint those unpainted pictures for you.

Tracy,

I agree there is something special about collaboration in art. It is possible for artists to absorb influences in subtle ways. This is why the community that the artist choses (or avoids) is so important. This point comes up in the interview with Walter Bartman.

I’ve also done literal collaboration on a painting with my partner Hanneke van Oosterhout. This was a fantastic experience, and I hope we can do it more. I never thought I could do a painting with someone else, but it turned out to be quite natural once we started. Well, it was stressful, but the picture was complex. I’d like to write a post about this also.

a.) Is art school of any value in one’s development as an artist?

b.) Does art school prepare a person to make a living as an artist?

From my own experience, I’d say that the answer is a definite yes to “a”, and a definite no to “b”.

There’s also the question of what it means to make a living as an artist. I make most of my living in the “applied” arts, doing digital effects for big Hollywood movies. My job title is Senior Digital Artist, and I certainly use many of my art skills in this job, but I don’t really think of what I’m doing as art. It’s a day job. I also create work in my studio, which I show in galleries and museums. It does sell, but my expenses in this area generally exceed my proceeds. The difference between these two activities is the the latter is self-directed (and endlessly interesting to pursue), while the former is creating work to fill someone else’s requirements. Both are challenging, but in different ways.

One thing I’m positive of is that I could use my art skills in a different way. I could crank out a bunch of pseudo-impressionist paintings (practically with my eyes closed) that would be sure to sell in Carmel and Beverly Hills, and probably make me a lot of money. You know, the Thomas Kinkade market. But not only would I be bored out of my mind, I’d also be embarrassed to have my name on the stuff. I’m sure there are plenty of “artists who make good livings at art” who do this sort of thing, but I don’t know, I think it would be more interesting to be a dentist.

Personally I tend to agree that the foundation classes and learning to draw are the most important things a student can have. I also don’t think the degree is the most important thing either as you can certainly get what you need out of art school without actually getting that piece of paper.

I think that there is collaboration in art although it is inherently different that it is in other settings. Critiques by instructors and peers, or students who assimilate the skills and viewpoints of the artists they study with can all be considered collaboration based on the acceptance of the artist as such.