# art school!



## pancakepowder (Jul 9, 2011)

anyone else an art student? art school is the worst when you have social anxiety! every class we put up our homework for everyone to see and then we go around the classroom critiquing everyones art. it usually takes about 3 hours(or longer) to talk about everyones and there are 20 students in the class so we spend a significant time on each person. i can never speak up about anyone elses artwork though because i feel like i never have anything helpful to offer so i just try to hide in the back of the crowd. i can tell my teachers are frustrated by the fact that i never bring anything to the discussion but i can help it  also i ALWAYS feel so ashamed and embarrassed every time i put my art up! even though usually my critiques go well, i always feel like my homework is the worst of everyones and i am freaking out until my critique is over. i know being critiqued is something i have to get used to but its so hard for me. ive been having to go through this every week for the past two years and it sucks.


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## zerogrim (May 2, 2011)

"i always feel like my homework is the worst of everyones and i am freaking out until my critique is over. i know being critiqued is something i have to get used to but its so hard for me..." said by: pancakepowder

i know how you feel and i would agree it is easier said then done....

i can comment on other peoples art but when i have to talk about my art or something i freeze...i even plan it before i get up there and it still goes down the drain...but iv been getting better


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## pancakepowder (Jul 9, 2011)

yup, the same thing happens to me. i always have to plan out what im going to say first! but its actually is slightly easier for me to talk about my own art then someone elses because i like having the oppertunity to explain why it looks so weird. with others im always afraid im going to offend somebody or say something stupid.


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## xTKsaucex (Jun 23, 2010)

I used to be a bit self conscious of explaining art as I either tended to mumble or speak so fast that no one could follow which gave me quite a bit of anxiety. I found watching art programs when critics explain their own opinions of particular pieces of art or when artists described their own work helps as you will notice how artists use body language to emphasise points or how they structure their comments to hit a sort of checklist of things to describe about such as the original idea /what you wanted to convey, the processes to get to the final piece, and how it links in with a certain project etc. 

If your wanting to become a full time artist career wise you'll have to learn to try and turn this into something you can enjoy yourself and not get too worked up about anxiety wise. I find this the opportunity to emphasise my creative thinking and show passion in the subject so hopefully you'll get to this stage too.


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## pancakepowder (Jul 9, 2011)

good advice! ill try to think of it as a positive experience next time i have to present my work.


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## Freiheit (Dec 8, 2008)

If that's the case then thank god I chose not to go. I'm into art and at one point I considered art school but I ended up not going. I'd HATE to have to explain my art to people.


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## lonelyjew (Jan 20, 2010)

If your critiques are going well, you should realize you're doing well. My brother went to a pretty notable art school where the professors would flat out tell people that they shouldn't come back the next year and most people at least got a very harsh critique.


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## this portrait (Jul 18, 2009)

I'm not exactly in an art school, but my university has an art program that I'm in, so while I don't have critiques as often, they've been a big part of my classes for the past 3 years (and I got my big senior exhibit critiques coming up in the second semester of this upcoming school year). While I get nervous for critiques, it's nowhere near as bad as when I first started doing them. I find that my anxiety lessens if I work really hard on my projects and be more of a critic towards my classmates' work. Not knowing what to say is something I've always kinda struggled with, usually because someone else is thinking the same thing and is quicker to point it out than I am. In that case I just refer back to whoever said what I was thinking and just try to add on to that.


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## aquilla (Aug 18, 2011)

Im in art school.And yes, it was a little embarrassing at first, but love painting so much that I knew I had to overcome it...And the fact that there are no open debates in my art school also helps.We just paint, ant during breaks other people can come to you and say that they think about your painting, but its not necessary. But in my country its open - minded like that,you can come and express yourself , even in a complete silence, if you want. I dont know about USA art schools or others.
By the way, I think that about 1/3 of us in art school would be clasified as " nerds" or "freaks" in any other school, some have socialising difficulties, but those people are so talented, and teachers always try to say things politely.


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## Marakunda (Jun 7, 2011)

I wanna go to art school one day, It'd be amazing! I don't care about the critiquing, it can't possibly be THAT bad. The attention isn't on you, it's on your artwork... I desperately want to be an artist one day, and I think that overpowers my anxiety.

I'm gonna try to not worry about it so much, it's a small price to pay for a good future, and a dream job.


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