From Complete BEGINNER to PRO - How to Become a Self-taught Artist

This is the story of how I became a self-taught artist, and what I have learned from it.

We hear the phrase 'I'm a self-taught artist' quite a lot. But what does being a self-taught artist really mean?

Being a self-taught artist means that you don't have a formal art education, you learned digital art on your own initiative. It doesn't matter whether you take online art courses or just learn from free Youtube videos, you will be a self-taught artist.

My self-taught artist journey started in 2011. I was working as a full-time graphic designer in Montreal. The salary was decent, but I hated my job. That's when I discovered digital art and fell in love with the art process. Back then learning art online wasn't as common as it is now. So it took me a while to figure out how to improve my art skills faster. And that's what I want to share with you today.

In this video, you'll learn how to become a self-taught artist through 5 essential art lessons. Enjoy!

Chapters:

00:00 Intro
00:41 What is a self-taught artist
01:25 How I started
03:07 Teaching myself
03:38 Investing in myself
04:41 The power of community
06:02 Lesson 1
06:46 Lesson 2
07:23 Lesson 3
07:43 Lesson 4
08:16 Lesson 5
09:21 Outro & bloopers

📌 Useful links:

📢 Social links:

[jonathanjones]

When you’re not afraid to be yourself is when you’re most incredible.

[ashalley]

yh i'm a freelance graphic designer but my passion for digital illustration is greater...

[assavp]

Awesome video David! Very inspiring!! Keep going! Looking forward to see the next one!

[sennya]

Oh my, that video was so encouraging ... I'm actually at more or less the same point :-( I hit the 30 and work as a graphic designer, but I'm really unhappy with it. It's not that this job is bad, but I'm not very good at it – I'm good at technical things, but the creative part of it is not really my kind of way of being creative. I did this education because it was my „only way“ of getting away from normal office work.
I always loved to draw and started with digital illustration as soon as I had a computer with ~18 years and bought me a tablet with the first money I earned. But I live in Austria and about 10 years ago there was literally no reachable education where they knew anything about digital illustration and it takes years to get into the traditional university of art. Especially when you haven't had a mentor. So I thought "nevermind, I'll do graphic design instead, it'll be fine, I can draw in my free time“ and then I got severe problems with my hands/arms/wrist ~7 years ago and I stopped drawing ever since. Now I still have issues with it, but now I'm at a point where I say to myself that I won't be happy as a graphic designer neither in an agency or a big company. I have no idea how to start an art career, but now I'm no fire to at least get back at drawing. I don't know how things will end up and I have absolutely no plan, but there must be some way to live with what excites me to do!

[Lynda]

Thank you so much for this video. I've joined Paintable since november and I don't regret it all. I've clearly improved my skills and I now finished the Foundation and Advanced Paths. I'm thinking about becoming a concept-artist or an illustrator and I want to improve my portfolio, but I don't know what paths should I prioritize in order to achieve my goal...

[STFUppercut]

Question, if I may: What am I supposed to do in those 5 minutes daily? Maybe 10 or 15 minutes even, if I'm super motivated on a certain day.
Let's say I want to become an illustrator, who creates splash art like you see it for League of Legends and all the other games. I've been told that it takes dozens of hours to create such pieces. So what should you really focus on and what can you effectively learn in those 5-15 minutes daily? And for how long is that supposed to do?

I ask, because I'm in the exact same position as you: Graphic Designer, unhappy with the tasks I get. They're not creative enough for my taste. I'm thinking about picking up digital painting and turning that into my new job years down the line. But when you hear what other artists have to say, they tell you to do something for 8-10 hours per day, more if you can, and do that for a year or better yet two years: and then you can look at your progress and hopefully be lucky with it.

[Betweenlionss]

Same here 🤦🏻‍♀️ started with Graphic Designer understanding I wanted to be an illustrator

[mbabaziruth]

Nice but with the courses did u get a degree or else

[Uhfgood]

I won't ever have very large blocks to do anything. 5 minutes a day I can do, but that may be all I can do for 10 years or more.

[kevingokool]

same freelance in the design industry but want to convert to full time illustrator or do concept art...have to join paintable again