I know this may sound like a strange question, but I'm curious... Have you ever taken an art class?

I have never taken an art class, I'm self taught. But next year I'm going into Art 1 because I'm looking into some sort of career involving art... or writing. I've always had a problem with listening to other people tell me how to do something in art... but I think it will look better on my college app if I take Art...

-Insomnium

I've taken drawing classes out of school, and in school I take art.

My mother was an artist, so when I was younger I trained with her. In junior high school I took some small classes after-school, got into an art school for youths, went to one lesson there, but decided not to go, and I took an actual art course in my sophomore year of high school.

Then I stopped doing art.

The thing with art classes is, if you're taught but someone who knows what they're doing, they won't try to surpress your originality or change the manner is which you do things, but help you refine your craft until it reaches a more professional level. Art classes are a really good thing, if you have the right teacher--you can learn things there you won't pick up through self-teaching.

Art class... for me it was the biggest mistake, the guy teaching me is old, and smells of rotten cheese (no joke), and every flippin time i bring some computer art in, he finds the SMALLEST and i mean SMALLEST thing to comment on and then turn it into a big thing... does my head in.

Art classes were a part of our high school classes, at least in the first and second grade. After that you could decide if you would drop it or continue it. I continued and eventually did exams in art history and art class.

Now I'm doing an retail education which is specifically for working in a camera shop later. So half of my classes are photograph classes. I'm now in my final year, and hopefully I get my diploma. After this I"m going for 'teacher visual arts and design'. This is for teaching on highschool ^_^

Ah, but small details can make or break an image (arrgh, that was cliche. Pretend I worded that better).

Although, someone making a big deal out of them would be annoying. Does he at least tell you how to fix them?

I've taken art classes in middle school. I hated them, though, mainly because of my teacher. =/ That's probably why when I got to high school, I immediately dropped the subject and stuck with Band instead. I mean, I have t' say, I'm a damn good artist...but I just hated that class. ^^;

Ahh.. I did art classes for three years...

I got I'd say very good at drawing things I see, but very few things can I draw from my imagination. We also did a lot of sculpting and such, but the materials we had sucked, and the time we had to do it was minimal, so that wasn't fun. The course after it looked fun though, however, I picked to many subjects already after that year to include art as another one. :(

art and me is a bad combination.
My father took art in college and my mom took it in all her years of high school.
but i just cant draw. So i use my Flash 8 to draw pictures because i can never get the lines straight with a pencil in real life.

Straight lines aren't that hard with practice. ;) I'm sure you could do it, it'd just take some work.

Guess what I just found?

A RULER.

Woo, seriously I have not had a ruler for years, my maths teacher hates me sometimes, because I use the relatively straight side of my calculator lol. hehe

I just learned that my sis is now taught by my old art teacher, hehe.

Oh yeah... rulers work too. :P

I just started taking oil painting class. It's fun, yeah. But for drawing I don't think you need a class.

I'm a self-taught drawer and I do fine. Though, if you want to get into painting take a class.

Wow, it seems almost impossible to compare with all of you guys, because I've been looking at your artwork, and it's really good. On the subject on art classes, well, does school count? I actually did draw a good portrait of someone in class last year, hehe. My friend on the other hand, she's also my neighbor, takes classes and finds it kind of, limiting what she can do. She may quit sooner or later, and I almost agree with her, because they may teach you the sphere's and shadings..but it kind of limits creative expansion..

I was taught art through years 7 - 9 at school, and hated it, mainly because we covered more art history than anything else though. I moved schools at the beginning of year ten, and because they didn't teach GCSE Graphics there, they ended up shoving me in the art class instead.

Surprisingly, I really enjoyed it. I can’t draw to save my life, and I’m not confident with paint either, but I absolutely love drawing with oil pastels—I guess it’s just the amount of mess you can make, but how great things can turn out. I did Van Gogh’s ‘Starry Night’ for my first piece of coursework and got an A on it, but as with everything else I just didn’t apply myself… we were supposed to do three (I think) pieces of coursework, and by the end of the course I only had one full one and bits and pieces, so I had to go in at last minute to work on a few more things and such. I just scraped a C. (I’m a big slacker on pretty much everything academic, until it gets to the point where I have to do it or fail… and then I do it. :rolleyes:)

I still like it, though, and really wish I’d picked up my work from college because I loved it. I don’t think I’d ever consider taking lessons in art now I’ve left school, but I wouldn’t mind just sitting down somewhere nice and sketching something out to oil pastel on. Van Gogh is definitely my favourite all-time artist though. :wub:

I'm actually going to college this September for an Art Major. I took painting classes from the time I was four (splatter-paint!!!!) to the age of eleven, when I fell in love with drawing and photography. I didn't get that much encouragement from my teacher in drawing class so I stopped taking classes, and my mom's a professional photographer so I pretty much learned that from her. So I've been self or mom-taught since I was thirteen.

Well no not really. I just took art classes in elementry, but I enjoy painting, drawing, and sculpting very much.

All through elementary school I had art classes during the day (it was required) and I chose to take an after school art program that let the few (and I mean few) students who were there experiment with all different mediums, which I found pencil to be mine.

In middle school I took art classes, but seeing as they didn't offer an after school program, I had to make due with that.

And alas, high school. Ninth grade I took Art 1, tenth grade I took Art 2 and Photography 1, and next year for my eleventh year I'm taking Photography 2 and Studio Art. So I've had art classes basically my whole life, which is why I take a liking to it. ^.^

I've taken art classes all my life, starting with Kindergarten. It was more with chalk (I'm not sure they trusted us with anything else) then anything else. But, I also surprised people on how good my pictures came out (but of course, the teacher helped a lot and stuff). My mom says I would come home and then teach her how to do it :p .

And then when I was in Elementary school we had "Art-In-Action", and they took different themes of art and we had to make something along that theme (like animals, plants, etc.). It wasn't very fun though, and our teacher were way too critical (it was a dumb school anyways).

And then in middle school I took Meet The Masters, which is a class where you learn about the different famous artists, and then make your piece in the style the artist did.

And currently I'm taking plain ol' art classes by a lady (who is very talented), but it's just painting.

Well I did art at school for about 8 year's where I mainly just did wht I liked but at the moment I'm taking BTEC multimedia, which is a art and design course mbased around design of a number of different topic's like web design, computer aided art and all that kind of thing. I'm also doing AS photograph, where I'm learning to take photo's like a pro. In two year's after I've finished these two courses at collage I'm going to do a BTEC in Art and design as well so I learn how to do some kick ass art lol.

I've never taken an art class, but then again, I haven't posted my art on here yet. (Save my emotes.) :p

I can draw well, trust me, it's just I've had to replace my scanner, and the new one I have now honestly and undoubtedly sucks.

I took art at school three years ago, for painting and drawing and the such, and over the past two years i've done photography which has been a lot of fun. We learnt how to use the darkroom, so that we can process everything ourselves. SO much fun =]

I take an art elective in school, but I'm done with it >_>.

I haven't taken an art class since elementary school ^_^. Which might explain why most of my siggies aren't really considered artistic. . . more like janking from other people :p

I personally do not consider myself an artist, but I will express my opinion on this.

I have always had a HUGE problem with art classes because they grade art. How can you grade art?! Isn't art and artistic expression like...Free form? So how do you grade it besides by effort.

-snort- I dunno, I'm not exactly sure how that works, but I will say it annoys me.

You're right you can't quite grade art by the way it looks,
just as long as it looks neat(no uneven cuts, no glue marks...)
I've always been graded on effort, craftsmanship and enthusiasm.

It might look good on a college application especially if you are applying for a major in the Studio Arts or Writing. This way you show that you are interested. However, I would say that it is not necessary. Honestly, sometimes it doesn't matter what you major in just as long as you have a skill. I'm majoring in Studio Arts/Biology right now and I think I've learned more on my own than in the classroom. You just have to want it. Good luck.

Whether or not an art class looks good on your application really depends on the school/major you're wanting to get into. It's not a necessity, really, because the stuff they really look at (especially for writing/art majors) is the examples of work you submit, along with your gpa, act/sat, etc. Really, I don't think they're gonna care at all if you haven't taken an art class. As long as you got a little bit of skills and interest, you're good.

BUT. Taking an art class is a good thing, especially if that's what you're going into, because you learn things before college and that usually makes your art classes easier when it comes to talking about things such as art history, color theory, or the elements/principles of design.

Can you tell I'm an art student? :lol: But to answer your main question, yes, I have. I was required in elementary and middle school to take art, which was always my favorite, and in high school I took every art-related class (art I, art II, commercial design, web design I, web design II, CAD) I could. And now that I'm in art school, uh .. Well, I took art history I and drawing I last semester, and this semester I have art history II, 2-d design, and 3-d design. I'm a graphic design major, going to a school who believes strongly in a fine arts foundation, so I'm not bothering to take my design courses (like graphic design I&II, typography, his of graphic design, etc.) until next semester.

There are art classes at my school. I'm currently in one, just for this quarter. Everyone moves at their own pace, and I'm about in the middle of the class in terms of how far you are. One of my best friends though, she's practically last. :) Anyway, I can't draw that well but I try. I can make letters and patterns and all sorts of things, so with the drawing I just try my best and see how it comes out!

Mandatory art classes at school. Which were most about the history of art, mind you. I did learn how to draw in 1-point perspective but that's as far as it went. The rest I learned by myself, and proud of it (not that I'm particularly learned right now, but still).

Will try to take a minor or something in college.

I'm actually going to art school at the moment for illustration.

But I totally disagree that art cannot be graded. First, we are talking about a specific type of art... Visual!

Next you break that down into what you are supposed to be learning in the class. For something along the lines of High School art, not everyone there is artistic visually. All you can do is grade on effort.

Things like graphic design you can grade on if the correct message is being shown by your visual choices. Type is especially important! I've watched a graphic designer sit there and play with kerning and such for hours to perfect the relations between their letters.

Illustration is put simply, art meant to be reproduced. Especially in pen and ink (black and white), you can get graded down by simply using washes that can't be reproduced. You are graded on the presentation of the art: how neat the board is cut, does the art look clean around the edges, and a proper cover. A bad hand or anatomy can kill a piece making you graded down. If you were told to draw a happy scene and it looks sad or angry, you get marked down.

Now taken a few fine arts classes at my school, their grading system is totalllllly backwards. There is an 'esthetic' value they grade on. Construction of a piece and effort also goes into grading. And a bunch of stuff I really don't understand other than simply: Does it look cool, and does it display the message you were going at.

Now for the most part if you enjoy making art to make art... Then I would not even think of grades. What you get out of it is the joy of making it, and not a letter grade.

I'd be having a really difficult time completing the art major I'm working on if I hadn't taken any art classes, that's for sure...

I've taken a couple of studio art classes in college (taking Art History in the fall), and I'm actually working as a Teaching Assistant for Drawing I next semester. I took all two of the drawing classes offered at my high school, then designed an independent study so I could take a third. I've done various art-related programs, workshops, and summer camps throughout my life... but I have to say I learn the most just by drawing frequently on my own time – there's no substitute, after all, for practice.

And art can definitely be graded. Ok, some of the reallly conceptual stuff is subjective, but when it comes to realistic renderings, there's a lot of grading criteria available. One of my professors would give us a sheet each week with our grades for that week's assignment, and how we performed on all the criteria – technique stuff such as shading, use of line, use of form, proportions, use of media, etc., and also things like originality, accuracy in representation, and composition.

And when I took a subjective drawing class, my professor would grade us on our ability to come up with inventive compositions that defied cliché and convention, while still applying artisque techniques properly to form a visually stimulating work. I remember getting points off on an assignment for being "too cute."