What My Art School Tutors Taught Me

[@CMonsterYK]

This is great, I have been telling people to draw everyday, and have a real reason for it. Which is just what has worked for me, I draw a little comic for my wife everyday, that celebrates life and imagination. This was the first time I really started doing art that was just part of my life and it has been an amazing journey that eventually landed me som art and illustration jobs. It was almost like once I stopped trying to be the artist i thought I should be and just was the artist that I already was it changed my life.

[@rhiannonjamesart]

Wow, some true wisdom in there! Love this, and what an amazing collection you've created capturing moments of life to look back over. Thank you for sharing.

[@teddybearmei8713]

for me drawing everyday doesnt allow me to reset my brain which is super important for me to learn and be interested in something cos i am neurodivergent XD yes its great for habit but i dont wanna get bored of art i wanna enjoy it fully :]

[@philnasmith9755]

Live an artistic life, rather than “I also make art” .

[@rhiannonjamesart]

100%. Love this.

[@Cat.nTonic]

And make your life a work of art! 🎉

[@madgadgetss]

it's hard not separating art from your life if your art is also your school or work but i'm glad you did it!!

[@michelleclifton8868]

I don’t think I created a single piece of non-school authentic work in 4 years in college as an art student. Never thought about it until this video. Thank you!

[@rhiannonjamesart]

Ooh interesting. Thanks for sharing!

[@kat_in_wonderland]

SAME actually

[@DabblersJourney]

Your story really hit me. I never learned that lesson of incorporating life into art school and art into my life when I was young. I'm just now figuring it out, and I'm in my late 30s. Thank you for sharing your art school wisdom!

[@rhiannonjamesart]

It's a recent realisation for me too! Glad it could help :)

[@springnicole]

Doodling helps me to remember things. I love looking back on my doodles. It is better than photographs. I appreciate this video. I nice reminder to keep these loose and not be so formal all the time.

[@loveandgutstv]

She gets to the point at 2:00 for everyone else with ADHD

[@rhiannonjamesart]

Thanks

[@lawrencerodgers2074]

Thank you for carrying on the stream of thought that your art professors instilled in you. It really helps me to understand how to start and stay on this journey for myself.

[@rhiannonjamesart]

Thanks for your comment, Lawrence - how is your art practice going?

[@lawrencerodgers2074]

@@rhiannonjamesart Still drawing daily... this week it's self portraits... right now looks like I hired 5 different court room sketch artists to draw the same guy... I hope to get comfortable with it... but not giving up... I have never felt more determined.... thank you for that as well.

[@rhiannonjamesart]

@@lawrencerodgers2074 love this! I imagine that'll be interesting cause you'd change how you see yourself each day, with every change in vibe each day. Keep it up!

[@WatercolorwithMegan]

I "accidentally" started doing this in November because I thought it would be fun to paint one thing I'm grateful for each day because Thanksgiving is in November in the States. I couldn't believe how much I loved it and noticed some of the things you mention in this video. I'd never felt the need to paint things I own since I already have them. I liked to paint things I wanted in my home without having them take up space or having to spend money on it. I also wasn't sure if I'd like how they'd turn out in watercolor. Whereas if I paint from a watercolor tutorial, I already know how it will look in watercolor before I start. I've been pleasantly surprised at how they've turned out!

[@rhiannonjamesart]

What a beautiful idea, to paint what you're grateful for each day. So pleased to hear of the insights and inspiration that project has taken you on. Thanks for sharing!

[@Greenjagsurf]

An Artist is an artist anywhere. Back in college i drew on the edges of my exams, my cars are artworks, i enjoy the shapes of my things. Creation is everywhere from how you dress, to making dinner. I honestly wonder why men no longer wear nice hats or carry fine crafted pocket watches. You dont stop being an artist.

[@tamouse]

this is brilliant and i wish my mentors in engineering school had something quite the opposite: don't make your whole life about tech. this is stuff for the journal, for sure!!

[@rhiannonjamesart]

Haha yes, quite different I imagine! Thanks for your comment.

[@April-tx2wk]

Art is personal. So all great artist where inspired with what they liked and what's around them. I am from an artist family and a painter by myself. I love to paint my table after breakfast, draw and paint actors and scenes during watching a movie and stuff like that. You are right, if art should not just be a hobby, you have to live it😀

[@trudyjohns9229]

I love this. Just watching you make art from your days is so inspiring to me. I have limited time and listening and watching you is my connection with being creative. Thank you please make more😊

[@rhiannonjamesart]

This is so wonderful to hear, thank you for your kind words!

[@theraffaelaart]

thank you for this explanation! i have been doing creative journaling to keep memories, often in connection with doodles and so on. BUT atm i am learning how to make art to process my feelings, which is something i was never really good at!

[@rhiannonjamesart]

Love this, creating for memories. Art to process feelings can be challenging but worth it, for sure. Stick with it! Thanks for sharing :)

[@CherylsCreativeWorld33]

This is one of the best videos for art I’ve seen (and I watch loads of KZbin!). So helpful and inspiring. Thanks you! Subscribed!

[@rhiannonjamesart]

Thank you for your kind words, Cheryl!

[@kailand3056]

Thank you for a thought provoking video. I’m retired and trying to explore my emotions after a very stressful and intense career as a “numbers” person (logic-based thinking). I’m attracted to drawing and watercolor painting and I’m trying to get up the courage to actually try them. This video helped me make the connection between my emotions in everyday life and art rather than seeing art as an intellectual exercise (there was no room for emotion in my career - everything was an intellectual exercise).

[@josiemakes]

This is such a great point! I think as artists, especially with social media, theres this feeling/ pressure that every piece needs to be fully representative of the "brand", the aesthetic, the story, the cause etc... But time to just digest every day thoughts is important too. I really liked your voice and your vibe, easy subscribe haha ❤ have a great week

[@rhiannonjamesart]

I feel this, especially from a marketing background! It's ingrained deep haha. Thank you for sharing and for your kind words!

[@friekederih]

Making art is so simple, but full of emotions and mental blocks. I appreciate your video, it really inspired and motivated me! 💪

[@kittenishthings]

wow I love this idea!! I'm trying to get into the habit of creating something everyday and this is really helpful. Inspiration truly is everywhere, even in the most mundane of things!

[@rhiannonjamesart]

I love that, finding inspiration in the everyday!

[@k8marlowe]

Such wise advice, and very relevant to my personal journey. It’s funny, now that I think about it I was making authentic art, it seems, throughout my early life. But, having grown up in a place that would not be described as cosmopolitan, it simply never occurred to me that I could support myself as an artist. Once I did decide to pursue art, I got caught up in the technical aspects and lost touch with that sense of wonder about the world that had inspired my creativity to begin with.

[@rhiannonjamesart]

I resonate with that, and getting caught in making art to sell is such a different vibe than just creating authentically. Thanks for sharing, hope you're inspired to reconnect with creative wonder again.

[@jamieluce5808]

It’s really meaningful to look back on these memories captured in our art.

[@rhiannonjamesart]

Such a beautiful way to capture them too. Thanks for your comment.

[@acraftersstory]

That is inspiring. Thank you Rhiannon. It's a great way to remember moments. 😊

[@rhiannonjamesart]

Yay! So happy to hear that it resonated with you. Thanks for sharing.

[@ozlemguler8687]

Thankyou, this really resonated with me. SImilarly, I was at art school a loooong time ago around the same age and I appreciate your teacher's words to you. It took me a while to work it out, but now I find my most meaningful work by exploring my values and reflecting on them. I will always love still life and landscapes as practice work, but it's conceptual art that connects with my life that rocks me the best.

[@rhiannonjamesart]

Ooh, I love how you've found that creative connection with your values! Thanks for sharing.

[@M.O.1981]

Very interesting and helpful. Thank you.

[@rhiannonjamesart]

Glad it helped. Thanks for your comment!

[@jennifermott5651]

Excellent advice! Thank you!

[@rhiannonjamesart]

Thanks you!

[@jasmine_milkyflower]

Thank you so much for sharing this advice and how you make your own daily "life art". I've always felt I've been missing something from art and I didn't know what exactly. You really put it into words for me! I'll update this comment if I manage to do this more often in my life 🥰

[@rhiannonjamesart]

So glad it resonated! Would love to hear how you get on. Thanks for sharing.

[@glueckueberzweifel]

thank for this inspiration. Wonderful 🤗

[@rhiannonjamesart]

You're welcome! So glad it could be inspiring.

[@WayneScank]

Over a year ago I began taking pictures with my cell phone. I believe it started during walks that I took after therapy. Sometimes, it was just about plant shadows. With its wide angle lens, the camera often included me. I think images began to show me observing me in my environment.

[@rhiannonjamesart]

Ooh love that - you observing you. What a beautiful way to capture your life. Thanks for sharing.

[@michellejozina]

Great food for thought! Thanks! ☺️😊

[@rhiannonjamesart]

Glad it was helpful! Thanks for your comment.

[@nathalieheath5693]

I started documenting my day through a post-it and have been loving it! Will post an IG update soon. Thanks for sharing all of your ideas and inspiration ❤❤

[@rhiannonjamesart]

This is awesome! Love that you're sharing it too. Thanks for your comment

[@mammadingo9165]

I just must do art always 🤷‍♀️ thank you for sharing your experience.

[@rhiannonjamesart]

Yes! We have this need to express our inner world. Enjoy creating! Thanks for your comment.

[@floradeoliveira9807]

Loved it!

[@rhiannonjamesart]

Thanks!

[@felpduarte]

I needed this advice! Thank you so much

[@rhiannonjamesart]

Thanks! So pleased it could help.

[@quiltedclothdesigns]

Mind-blown! So simple, yet so true.

[@rhiannonjamesart]

It's always the simple truths that really hit home! Thanks for your comment.

[@charlamckinney2109]

0:19 Thank you for the really helpful advice. I really appreciate it.

[@rhiannonjamesart]

Thank you for your comment! So pleased to hear it's been helpful for you :)

[@hulasantabarbara2719]

Love this, I've been meaning to combine my art with my journal, besides mindless doodles (which I also love creating and are meditative for me). What a cool way to capture the performance, it has captured my imagination, I want to know more! In a huge way you are continuing that performance through your art - that is a beautiful thing. I'm amazed how you fit what you wanted to write - I'm always miss judging and running out of room! When watching movies at home I try to sketch out aspects, if it inspires me creatively - I love trying to capture faces - most recently Goldi Hawn in a cartoon fashion! We watch a lot of old movies and we start to forget who we saw in what - I should start a movie art journal to keep track in a fun way!

[@rhiannonjamesart]

A movie art journal sounds fun! Thank you for your reflection on how the art was a continuation of the performance, I'd not thought of that. How nice. And I don't always fit the words in! If it doesn't fit, I just turn it into something else. Thanks for sharing :)

[@enamary1]

Rhiannon, thank you for your excellent video. Re bringing your art into your everyday life... yes, to drawing everyday, and to drawing your life and the the things around you, excellent! And, it is also the way you express your life... the way you dress, the things you collect, the way you place your things in your house and studio, in your drawers and cupboards... Is not everything you do an expression of your art?

[@rhiannonjamesart]

Absolutely! I love this. Your life is art, YOU are art! Thanks for your comment.

[@johndoe-rq1pu]

Oh yeah. That’s what I’ve always done! I cut out some paper and tape it up and don’t make any marks because it’s art about my life!

[@rhiannonjamesart]

Nice!

[@thepeculiarmaple]

Thanks to this video, I am leaning into my imagination a bit more and drawing stuff I see when I feel certain emotions (cause I feel like I have some overlap between what I see and what I feel? Idk if this is synesthesia or what but I physically see what I'm feeling represented in images) The result is this idea that I think will actually turn out super comforting; I have an idea where I put a bunch of people that are a big part of my life into one big drawing/painting, and also animals too (pets) Whenever I feel at home or loved, I see all these people in my corner. :>

[@rhiannonjamesart]

That’s a beautiful idea! And your art sounds so interesting with being able to see as well as feel your emotions.

[@gillianairlie4187]

Yes, but why are you so embarrased about getting older? You don’t even have grey hair. I am 67 and just started art school

[@rhiannonjamesart]

Thanks for your comment! Trying to find more acceptance with how fast the years go by. Love that you're starting art school, have fun!

[@deltahat880]

my aunt went back to do art school well into retirement and i attended her graduation and 7 or 8 years later she came to my art school graduation. : )

[@Dreamuchuu]

2 things. First, age is absolutely beautiful and I advocate that we should celebrate it waaayyyy more, (I for one love drawing more mature models.) Secondly, you are a Rockstar I hope you kick art schools ass!!

[@tanyatalkstoomuch]

Nice to meet you Rhiannon - new subscriber here ✌️

[@rhiannonjamesart]

Welcome Tanya! Thanks for being here

[@asdfasdfasdfsfds]

I will give a word of caution though to others, don't make your life 100% about art and trying to fill your general needs with only art. I went down the rabbit hole of too much art the last three years and it caused me a lot of pain and suffering. Still diversify your life. Something that's actually helping me is caring/doing things that arn't art related. But Mrs. James tips is still absolutely true and a good point and one I recommend. Just dont go to the extreme with it like I did XD

[@rhiannonjamesart]

We strive to be balanced! Thank you for sharing your experiences.

[@notyourmelody]

I always wanted to be an artist but also separate drawing from my normal life. I'm always shy to let people know or see my artworks. I know the only problem here is myself and it's really hard for me to overcome it. 😔

[@rhiannonjamesart]

That's ok! The main thing is you're creating and expressing yourself. You don't need to share it - you're still an artist! Thanks for your comment, keep creating for you.

[@ArtemensiaK]

.> I thought this was the norm, tbh. I am the one who scribbles at fairs, at family gatherings, on the playground. I scribble my kids and memories with them. I collaborate with my kids in art projects and if I really like someone, they get art gifts from me. Usually practical or accompaniying art. Like belts, I weave them. Or art muffin toppers for my kids daycare birthday party. Or cards. Or flower thingies that you can poke into bouqets or christmas ornaments or such things. Gosh, I snap photos, that I think are particularly interesting either as inspiration or as a reference. I even stopped my husband in his tracks, because this hand position was the perfect reference. I snaped a photo and then we continued to make out. Everything from colours to shapes is constantly analysed in my head for art. And it's my meditation. Tbh for the longest time I thought I was doing something wrong, because one had to meditate, journal and do their work and had their hobbies and snap photographs to make memories. But for me it's all the same and it took me YEARS to accept that and learn that this is alright. So thank you for the reminder

[@Hernandez717]

Super!

[@Domesticated_house_goblin]

I’ve loved to create art since I was a little girl. By necessity I became a nurse at 21 as a single mom to a new baby. Now I’m 41 (today is my birthday!) and I walked away from my nursing career a year ago. Now I identify as an artist, instead of a nurse that practices art.

[@rhiannonjamesart]

Happy birthday! Love this, thanks for sharing, keep creating.

[@gayneels5169]

Those stairs!

[@rhiannonjamesart]

Haha! Thanks!

[@adamthorntonillustration9281]

2:29 What? The mug!!! 👻

[@Bellamarcella1212]

As another art content creator,you really have no idea how much editing we do creating these videos😂😂😂

[@rhiannonjamesart]

Had a sip in between! Haha

[@rhiannonjamesart]

It takes lot's of sips of tea!

[@janelte]

Cool!

[@sherylosullivan9619]

Thinking about how I can incorporate this idea into my sessions I have with a young boy who comes to me for ‘art’ and chatting. Like art therapy, but not!

[@rhiannonjamesart]

Love this!

[@JessPeachee]

There was one night I wish I could've drawn what I wanted. I had gone to a wedding that night but had homework due to class the morning after. I wish I could've drawn pretty gowns off of pinterest but alas the assignment was specific to a chalk pastel drawing of a still life in my dorm room.

[@rhiannonjamesart]

If only those pretty gowns were part of the still life in your room! Thanks for sharing

[@JessPeachee]

@@rhiannonjamesart Honestly 😂I even caught the bouquet at the end of the night. Was so much fun then had to do boring art assignment. The still life was of my bathroom 😰

[@WOK-YT-handle]

💕

[@arcitejack]

When I was in art school 88’ to 92’ we hated computers. I think we knew they would revolutionize art but we did not want to be part of that. We didn’t even draw from photos because it was “cheating”. There was a real purist streak which is sadly long gone now. Few people now can draw like we learned; sitting in front of an object and looking at it.

[@rhiannonjamesart]

I can imagine! Such a different world now. I think there is a purist trend coming back, with people wanting to be more analogue again. Thanks for sharing.

[@eh1702]

I used to live very near an art school, and we used to enjoy going along every year to see the big “exhibition of work” in all the different departments, the culmination of the students’ work for the year and, for some of them, their degree course. (It was all for sale, but I had no money then.) We felt that change happen in exactly that 88-92 period. From around 1980, when I started going, you’d walk in and “wow!” And marvel at people’s imaginations. There were all sorts of emotions. There was movement, there was surprise, there was laughter and revulsion and sometimes sadness. By 93/4 we began to feel things had gone a little flat, frankly. In the pieces…a lot less sense of place, or movement, or personality, or specificity. The creep of “generic”. The sounds from other visitors had gone from “Wow!” Or “Ugh!” Or “What IS that thing?!!” To… mumur. Footsteps. In 1990 out went free education, in came student loans. And over the next decade a huge raft of working class students - especially at the art school - drifted away. Replaced by well-off kids from further afield, with a kind of tourist mentality, no connection to the city, no interest in it or its hinterland. Interchangeable suburbanites who could be from anywhere and looked the same as bourgeoise kids everywhere. I noticed that in some way, but at the time I thought that maybe they had just decided that dark clothes with paint and clay stains were a cliché of a past time, and that I just was nit seeing what would scream “art school student” to others their age. In retrospect, it was probably because they mostly had more money and had nothing to protect their good clothes from. Because many were not making or doing much physical art. By around 2000, the school’s art supplies store, which was the best in town by far, which used to be always crowded, which often had a line out the door and always had kids sitting around outside chatting - it had moved to a nearby building. Again, mostly empty of people. It is now a branch of a high street “art store” that sells kawai notebooks and character merch. Some “hobby size” tubes of acrylic paints and portfolio paper up at the back. It seems that “serious” students these days get their supplies online. Well, OK. Who wouldn’t, if this is all there is here? Around then, the first time, the end of year was hugely disappointing. Except for pottery and industrial design across the road, it felt like imagination had dwindled away, and somehow most of it had become suburbanised. There seemed to me to be no emotional content at all. It was all “looks”, if that makes sense. This “look”, that “look”. At least half of the exhibition was just looking at screens. It felt like looking at perfume ad images. And like we’d been conned on the entrance fee. I didn’t go again until, around 2010 or 2012 I noticed as I was passing that the annual show was on. By now, around the art school, students had completely transitioned from broke, grubby and paint flecked groups talking animatedly, people making music or theater as well, often dressed in their own amazing home/hand made fashions to…fashionistas carrying giant bubble-tea and shopping from French Connection. Eyes on phones. Marketing-school meets beauty-college for international nepo-babies. I notice that where fingernails were once stained with paints, tobacco, printing inks or pavement chalk, now they’re immaculate works of acrylic & cubic zirconium art of a different kind - done at the upmarket mall down the road. I had to pay to get in the “old” building where the fine art was being exhibited! This time, almost nobody else in the rooms, halls or corridors, except for a guided tour of Americans who had come to (pay to) see the building itself. It was hard to find actual physical art anywhere! It all looked so empty apart from some screens playing what looked like ads. You’d go in a room and instead of canvases, sculptures or strange agglomerations of junk… there would be a laptop or video projector mumbling to itself. Literally I’ve seen more gripping stuff produced by children on youtube. Virtual art. Hardly any physical Fine Art. I went back to the entrance and asked if I was too late, had a lot of stuff sold and already been taken away? The door security/concierge looked at me from his raised desk and said, “No, that’s it.” And then he leaned closer and said, “I know. This is what it is now.” Over the road at Design, there was a small room of pottery. Very abstract meticulously-built geometric forms. Plus some geometric forms possibly based on vases. Nothing that was supposed to even look like a cup or bowl. Not one thing that looked like it was intended to be used. Set-decor for selling your house. Well, OK, at least there’s an emotion here, even if it is “How static and inhuman it all looks.” The design show was the most heartbreaking. For the first time, everything looked like a mockup of some novelty desk-toy that you’d buy to put in someone’s xmas stocking. Consumer ephemera. No frightening furniture, no ingenious packaging, no solutions to any medical, industrial, transport or construction problems. Dead. Just passing the place is disconcerting now. Just generic but prosperous looking students with that disconnected, self-absorbed near-focus of the earbud & smartphone era. Which, at an art school, is alarming. You would not guess from the online prospectus what a dead place, what a parking spot for well-heeled nepobabies, the campus area has become. The cheap, loud coffee shop is gone; these students can afford frappucinos or bubble teas from Café Nero and Starbucks in the shopping streets. Nowhere on campus looks busy, or even occupied for sure. Apart from a new building designed to be seen from the main street; looks like an office with office workers. I have never been back for a student exhibition. The art school actually burned down a few years ago, which was heartbreaking, because the building itself was utterly unique, historic. They remade stuff in the style of the irreplaceable built-in furniture, fixtures and fittings (the entire school had been designed in the 19th C down to the chairs, light switches, lampshades and doorhandles). But before it was quite complete, it burned down again. In a way, that seems fitting. If only it had been the institution destroyed and the building preserved.

[@maxens_is_here]

I'm trying to find this band online and failing :(

[@rhiannonjamesart]

You've found art!