If you’ve recently taken a liking to art, you might be wondering about the best way to learn the necessary skills. Usually, art school pops to mind as a formal way of acquiring such skills. But can you go to art school without knowing drawing beforehand?
No, you cannot go to art without knowing how to draw. While colleges do not explicitly say so, the need for artistic skill is implied in their demand for a portfolio.
The Role of an Art School
Art school, as opposed to just “learning how to draw,” connects art with a job because there are several majors within the discipline (graphic design, advertising, photography, fine arts, animation, etc).
A degree is wonderful, but having the talents to back it up is far more vital, and generally, you’re not going to pay $45,000+ simply to draw better.
Portfolio Requirement
The most crucial aspect of your art school application is your art portfolio. If it’s strong, it may frequently compensate for inferior grades, test scores, and extracurriculars to a degree, and if it’s weak, you’re unlikely to get into top art schools even if the rest of your application is flawless.
A typical art portfolio is a compilation of roughly 10-20 pieces of your greatest work that you send to universities to provide them with an overview of your work. Each school has somewhat different requirements for the items to submit, the number of submissions required, and what they want to see in your portfolio.
Technical Expertise
You may be the most creative and imaginative artist on the planet, but you still need to demonstrate a solid foundation of fundamental abilities. Technical mastery is being able to apply fundamental and advanced art principles to your work, producing work with a high degree of attention and detail, and completing tasks without sloppiness or errors.
Because many art genres demand a great drawing talent, art programs are frequently particularly interested in your drawing skills. Most art programs advise candidates to include at least one drawing in their portfolio, even if it is not their favorite medium, and other institutions require at least one drawing example.
Art schools prefer applicants who are strong artists in a range of mediums and art styles. One reason flexibility is significant is that the capacity to create many art forms indicates a creative artist who can apply their abilities in a variety of ways.
Alternatives
If you have access to a community college, you may take art classes for far less money than at an art-only institution. However, if you simply want to learn how to draw, I would recommend an atelier.
Generally, you’d be better off looking at some online resources, such as:
The Bottom Line
If you are trying to simply improve your skills and learn art without going into the profession, art school will not fare you well. Instead, other online alternatives such as YouTube and Skillshare will be most helpful to acquire those skills. If you still want to go to art school eventually, it would be best to build the fundamental skills before applying.
