Educating the Adult Artist

[Julianne Lowman]

I had no idea I would receive such an abundance of information, advice and encouragement! Thank you all! My quest now is to seek out all knowledge of art in the universe. HA! Starting with the fundamentals has always seemed such a bore. Yada, yada, yada. Well, not anymore! I used to think, why spend a full class time drawing spheres and cubes, then apples and oranges? Well now I see the light.

I've now begun asking myself, "Have you ever seen a perfectly drawn (or painted) orange? It's gorgeous"! Knowledge is always something we want "right now" but need to aquire over time.

I, too, am impatient and want to become a great painter NOW, but alas, will have to wait. My greatest desire is to create a great painting on purpose instead of feeling it was serendipity (or happy accident). Kudos to you all. I've seen the light!

[Michael Georges]

One other thought.

How much you put into your art ultimately depends on what you want out of your art. It also has to do with how you individually define success and your ambition.

I think that the term "great artist" means different things to different people. For some, it may mean getting into some local galleries, others may not be satisfied until they are in the Met. One thing is for certain:

Your dedication needs to exceed your ambition.

Your plan of action and your dedication need to exceed your final intent while still taking into consideration the realities of your life.

Being an artist is like being a pianist or an athlete. Do you want to play on alternate Sundays in your church, or do you want to give a solo recital in Madison Square Garden?

The training, study, and commitment you need to undertake for art is no different. If you want to be in the Met, then you need to work a plan to get you there and you need to realize that it will take you just as much (or more) effort and time to get to the Met as it does a concert musician to get to Madison Square Garden or an Olympic athlete to get into and win a medal in the Olympics.

You may find that taking a workshop once a year is enough to satisfy your ambitions, or you may find yourself quitting a day job and taking risks with your financial future to give more time to your art. It can be very scary, but also wonderfully fulfilling.

I like to say that art is not just an adventure, it's a job. It's a job that gives back as much as you put into it. So, ultimately, you need to define your ambitions and what you feel is "success" to your own standards and within the limits of your life.

Leave the definition of greatness for posterity.

[Enzie Shahmiri]

Marvin,

You have just validated the point I was trying to make by commenting about the problems in my work. I refuse to blame others for my shortcomings, but I will start blaming myself for not learning one thing at a time before moving on.

My experience has taught me that it makes no sense to overload yourself with information, regardless if it is gained through an art class, private instruction, reading books etc., if you (the artist) have not taken the time to truly apply and understand the teachings that you have already received.

I have never disagreed that you shouldn

[Michael Fournier]

I suppose it all depends on where you came from more than where you are now. If you were able to get instruction when you were young but then got sidetracked you are in a different situation as an adult than one who had no early instruction and is starting late in life. Also, what are your priorities and your goals?

Since you can't change the past you must deal with the situation you're in now. I would have loved to have dedicated my life early on to painting but I cannot change it now. Although I started creating art very young and continued to draw and paint throughout my early life to some extent, I was already in my twenties before I even started my formal education in art and really took it seriously as a possible career.

When I look at artists who are in their early twenties that already have MBAs and a list of awards and famous commissions I could easily get discouraged and say, oh well, I missed my shot at becoming great. And in some ways it might be true.

If you are good at a young age and then get training early then you can worry about nothing but art. You are in a great position when you get to the point of having to earn a living to be able to earn it from your art. Since an artist starting out really needs to be unhindered by thoughts of paying bills and what the market is and how to sell this to make a living.

When you are starting out, even if you are very gifted, your early work will not be something you want to have hanging around later. Even if it is very good you do not start out selling at top rates.

If you want to have a better than average home, a nice car (or two), make sure your kids go to a good school, which often means living in a more expensive area with high property values and higher taxes to pay for those schools, it gets even harder.

Once, when in college, I figured out how much work I would need to sell and at what price to make just $20,000/year. In the area I live that is near poverty level for a family of 4. At the time I was thinking of illustration commissions and I took the average a starting illustrator might get per commission, then figured out how many I needed to do a year at that rate.

I soon figured I needed to get better than a starting rate to earn a living. It was very disheartening to learn also that the average salary for visual artists even some 20 years later in 1997 was still in that $20-30,000 range. And average for those with experience and who were established still was only in the high 30s.

These were the successful ones. The rest don't even make enough to cover the cost of their supplies in a year. So as an adult starting out, forget earning a living from your art.

Now if you can find a spouse who makes a good living and is willing to be the primary bread winner then you're all set. You can just work on your craft and if it sells, fine. If not, no big deal. You still have a roof over your head and your kids can get new clothes and the latest Nikes. Now, for a man this is unacceptable even today.

There are some, maybe even more than a few, women willing to support their husbands as they struggle with their art career. I do not think it is the norm for a woman to accept this role. Since we hear so much about the glass ceiling it might even be hard for a woman to earn a high enough salary to allow this, even if she was willing unless you were both ready to make sacrifices in order to live on a lower income.

It may be that I want a better than average home and income that causes me so much agonizing over money but, heck, what we do is much harder than what a plumber does and these guys want $80-100/hour to come and put in a bathroom. And all they need to know is hot's on the left, cold's on the right .... pay me 50% up front. (Just a joke guys. Don't hit me with your monkey wrenches.)

I can only speak for myself and my ego but I have a hard time not being able to earn my own way and if I have a family (which I do) I feel it is my job as the man to provide for them, not my wife's. So I have had to do many jobs (luckily most art related) to earn enough money that I could both support my family and be able to continue to work on my art.

Though it would be nice to drop it all and enroll in some atelier until my work rivaled Sargent's or Bouguereau's that is not a reality for most adult artists, man or woman. It takes a double income family to just get by in many cases these days.

What I am saying, besides alienating myself from every woman artist and plumber reading this post, is if you are young or still not tied down by a family to support, then go do it now while you still can.

It is almost impossible to focus on just improving and growing as an art student and also earn an income as a working artist since it really is two separate goals. If you are not in that position then do whatever it takes to continue your art even if it means slower progress. Slow progress is still better than no progress.

[ReNae Stueve]

Michael,

Far from being put off, I'm ROFL(ROLLING ON THE FLOOR LAUGHING). I've detailed here the list of things I gave up in order to paint, and learn to my heart's content. Family members continuously urge me to marry well, so I can regain my fat mortgage and be supported while I paint. They were really put off by my announcement that Thanksgiving dinner would not be here at my humble cottage.

The thing is..... even women find it hard to pair up with someone who is earning enough for two! But now that you mention it..... I've been overlooking the plumbers union hall!

All kidding aside, I've gleaned a great deal from this thread. It was very timely for me. I've got to find an artist in the Central Florida area who is giving class groups. Perhaps we can share leads on the various geographical areas where small classes are being offered by truly gifted teachers.

[Elizabeth Schott]

Hello Julianne,

I think you have had a ton of input from varying personalities here and one thing I did not read, (perhaps I missed it because I know it is in abundance here) is simply PASSION.

Since you said "adult artist" I am assuming you were once a "young artist"? When we start to live our lives it is interesting the directions people take to make a living or a life with a family, but the foundations are set for many in their youth. In addition to having great teachers, references, be it video or books, workshops and very importantly

[Marvin Mattelson]

Beth, you had me at

[Elizabeth Schott]

I think it is important you judge your passion and/or commitment to what you want to pursue.

Marvin this might be what Michael said too, but the above is my quote. The reason I point that out is perhaps, it was a statement you might validate.

Second, I want to clarify:

[quote] Elizabeth, if your professors couldn

[Elizabeth Schott]

Example 2:

[Timothy C. Tyler]

I think I'm exempt, right?

I have a few remarks...

Sargent said you will learn more from painting than from study.

Bettina Steinke said she didn't do anything worth a ---- before she was 50.

Trips to workshops in exotic locations like Europe can be great fun, you might however learn closer to home.