How Practice and Studying make you a better Artist.

I was sitting in a bus, doodling, when a man decided to have a long conversation with me about how lucky I am as an artist, because unlike engineering or science, you don't/can't/shouldn't need to study or think while doing it.
His stance was so bizarre and mystifying that I stared at him for 30 minutes while he went on about the matter as if he had a masters degree on it.

So I thought I'd show some of my drawings. They are the studying and hours, that have given me some qualifications as an artist.

I could understand why he would think that. Through some of my college education, I had been extremely frustrated... I wasn't into teachers who said I should just do whatever flowed out, and didn't believe in some research or prep work. What grated my ears the most, is saying that studying other people's art was wrong and destroyed one's "creative spirit".

In fact I believe it has the opposite effect. Studying under masters work is like learning a musical instrument or dance. It's the fastest and best guided instruction to know you are doing something right... (Stating my opinion got some me some serious enemies, its utterly baffling to me).

There have been years upon years of attending classes and model sessions, doing drawings for myself and others, when I have usually thought, "one day, I will be good enough to be called an artist." I never just picked up a pencil, and knew I was an artist.
While a person learns trigonometry or history, I was learning anatomy, design, colour, seeing a world of shapes and values...

Artists have to present their best work, their final product, much like a mechanic or accountant would. You wouldn't see their math quizzes and history exams. So when an Artist shows their final product, why should its value be diminished because someone thinks it was done thoughtlessly and quickly. Or because the artist would have done it anyway because drawing is supposed to be fun?

Art is viciously taxing. In that sense, Artists are athlete, it requires constant practice "stretching" and pushing limitations, otherwise you will lose it and you will never grow. Something that used to take me 6 hours to paint, now takes me thirty minutes. Drawing a person from life was an hours job, now its ten minutes.

Because I had finished it in 30 minutes, instead of 6 hours, does that diminish its value?

No. It should increase the value. The Artist has put in the hours on their own, unpaid, so that they could bring out work faster and in better quality.

"You don't need an education to be an artist." Sure... people who are self-taught have my admiration and tremendous respect. But today you don't need to go to school to be educated in art. Nowadays the best platform to learn is the internet. Studying masters works... getting tutorials from people who work in the industry. A student merely needs direction and an eye to appreciate great work.

If you are curious, there is never an end to education. And a greater visual education means greater freedom and vision.
There's also different mediums and genres... if you stay in your box and don't keep learning, you won't be able to expand, its that simple.
Gaming, film, comic, illustrations...
I feel truly fortunate being an artist, BECAUSE there is endless opportunities to seek education. My favourite artists are the ones who post online their own studying, resources and exercises, because it shows that no matter what point in their life or career they are, they are still learning and I can expect them to only improve and come up with even cooler things.

Its my personal belief, that anyone who wants to become an artist (or anything really) needs a open head on them.
An empty cup is better than a full one. Don't think you know everything, because that way of thinking is going to seriously cripple you in life.
So good luck! and stay wide eyed!

This post is mostly a rant on my personal opinion, If you disagree, I invite you to share yours, because I will become more knowledgeable for it. :)