Self-taught or art classes

[jrr74]

I have been scrolling through custom ponies and am so amazed by the talent.  I found a thread from around 3 years ago that has a lot of people's customs posted to it.  They are all so absolutely beautiful.  I was wondering how many of you are self taught and how many took classes?  I would love to learn how to air brush someday but taking a class is not feasible at this time.  maybe youtube?

[kaoskat]

No classes. I just......Practiced.

[Uninu]

Yup, lots of practice. I haven't taken any classes either. Youtube should be a good place to start if you're looking for tutorials.

[archidraca]

Self-taught here. I do like to watch tutorials on occasion to learn new or refine my techniques.

[brighteyes]

Self taught with the caveat that I have relied heavily on tutorials posted on the Arena, DeviantArt and elsewhere for rehairing, basic instruction in using apoxie clay etc...  Also, my mom had a ceramics studio when I was younger and she taught my sister and I how to paint before we could write. 

[Tiella]

I have had a lot of formal art training when I was younger, but I also self taught myself quite a bit for instance how to use an airbrush.

[daisyd]

Very much self taught here, using online tutorials as a base for experiments to see which methods worked best for me.

And practise. You cannot get enough practise. I look at my first ever customs sometimes and think, dear grief what was I doing?? But each mistake made is just part of getting it better for the future.

[pseudomonas]

Self-taught again, and experience mainly in calligraphy & illumination rather than in modelling. I'm also thinking of learning airbrushing, but I figure I'll get hold of one and fiddle til I get an effect I like.

[pinkkittywinks]

I have formal art training but everytime I make something, I learn something new I've taught myself quite a few crafts, using books and tutorials etc

Love pkw xxx

[rosierjay]

i find i stumble into alot of things. and make it up as i go along. i've gone through a few tutorials about taking ponies apart etc. but i'm very much a tactile learner. so learning by my own mistakes is what works best for me.

it's normally after the fact that i find out stuff like. "oh that chemical is dangerous" or "be careful if you do things this way" so i try to be more aware of that stuff now....

[jrr74]

good to hear how many are self taught through practice, practice, practice.  I will definitely look into tutorials. Would love to take a formal class some day... (sighs while reflecting on current life situation).  First thing first, learn how to get those cute little ringlets in the hair.  Want to get my army up and on display before starting anything new. 
 

[Griffin]

I have no formal training either apart from the art classes I had in school. Practice is definitely the key! Some people are good at transferring their skills to other media or other forms of art but not all of us are. So even if one has formal art training or is good at drawing doesn't necessarily mean they can paint on a 3D "canvas" such as a pony the first time they try. Of course they might get away with less practice than someone who has never held a paintbrush before. But it is entirely possible to start from zero!

Sculpting/modelling is something I've had to learn completely from scratch. Indeed, my first tries looked pretty horrible. These days I find myself still struggling sometimes, the clay doesn't always behave the way I expect it to. But for the most part I love sculpting, as I love painting. I'm an advocate for experimenting - tutorials are a good way to get started and they can help solve some problems if you're stuck, but I believe some of the best results can be achieved through experimentation and happy accident.

[dashesndots]

I do have some formal training in art in general, but as far as customs go it's all self-taught / referencing tutorials.  Learn something new with every custom I make, definitely!

[Diamond]

Actually have a degree in adverting art and design but most of what I do for customs is self taught.  That said in my younger model horse hobbies days there was a bunch of us who would hang out together and work and share ideas and tips.  Now I do similar but on the internet.  Most artist are happy to share how they do things and what works and does not work. 

[Whippycorn]

This might not be aimed at me, but I thought I'd chip in. I'm self-taught too, except for school art class. The tutorials on here are definitely most helpful when in comes to customising!