My Beef with Classical Art Schools

My beef with classical art schools started many, many moons ago. Having been primarily self-taught and with a natural inclination to drawing, I entered art school with a fair amount of confidence. I knew I didn’t know everything, and I was far from perfect. But what I was able to do, I was pretty proud of and I was also eager for what they could teach me. What I wasn’t prepared for was the attitude of classicism.

It didn’t take long for instructor after instructor to tell me that #1, what I was doing wasn’t creating art. They said I was just a good copy artist. #2, they told me that the way I drew was amateurish. I bit my tongue, determined to learn what I had to for my own benefit.

Leonardo Da Vinci — Vetruvian Man (Photo from Luc Viatour www.lucnix.be)

Art school served its purpose. Classical art certainly has its place and I have a very profound appreciation for much of the work that the old masters did. There is definitely a lot to be learned from their methods. After all, our entire world of art grew from the old ways. But in every other major, it seems that they teach you what is necessary for you to go out on your own and continue to push boundaries.

Hopefully you’ll push the boundaries and find newer and better ways of doing things. But not so with classical art schools.