Here’s a fairly recurrent question:“Is it necessary to take classes to become a painter?”
It’s a perfectly legitimate question, and I’m going to give you my personal opinion in this article.
How I became a professional painter
In order to give you my opinion, I’ll start by explaining my own case.
I’ve been a professional painter since 2013 and I started the practice of abstract painting from scratch three years before that.
I started abstract painting without taking any classes or going to art school.
Between 2013 and 2017, I sold over 230 paintings without taking any courses.
Painting lessons are not compulsory!
I’ve just presented my case to show you that being self-taught doesn’t have to be a hindrance, and that it’s not compulsory to learn painting via courses.
Painting courses are a great way to learn, and will enable you to :
- Learn techniques
- Learn art history
- Learn to understand and use the equipment
- Learn to understand color & color harmonies
- etc.
This apprenticeship will help you get to grips with the equipment, techniques and so on. It will give you a few keys to becoming a painter, but that’s not why you’ll become one!
Practice and experimentation
Abstract painting is like anything else: you have to try things out, and for that you absolutely have to practice!
There’s one word I always emphasize, and that’s “experimentation”. It’s important to “test” things, and this is done by experimenting.
Let me explain: in order to find and establish your own style, it’s absolutely essential to experiment by practicing again and again and again!
For example, in the video accompanying this article, I use the analogy between a painter and a sportsman.
Analogy between the painter and the sportsman
If I get up tomorrow with the fixed idea of wanting to run and finish a marathon, I might well say to myself: “I’m going to buy the best shoes and the best books on the subject!
Do you really think this will be enough to turn me into a real marathon runner?
The answer, of course, is no!
Training and equipping myself is one thing, but I can’t do without a significant amount of training. Work on my cardio, muscles, endurance, technique, etc.
See what I mean?
For painting, it’s exactly the same thing: by practicing, you learn from your mistakes, you exhaust your capacity for judgment, you get to grips with your material and learn to master more and more techniques.
To sum up
In my opinion, taking painting lessons is one thing and will help you in your practice of abstract painting, but it won’t be enough to turn you into an artist. It’s through practice and experimentation that you’ll find your own style and make the difference.
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