Any self-taught artists here?

Creativity
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Has anyone here learned to draw without formal instruction? If so, how long did it take you to become good at drawing?

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I taught myself how to draw when I was young buying those “learn to draw” books. Later on I would just copy things like “motorcycle posters” and things like that. I think copying pictures is the best way to learn how to draw instead of relying on learning to draw without anything to look at.

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I used to be rather artistically inclined and no I was not formally trained. When I’ve looked at the drawings I did in kindergarten it has been apparent that I had some innate artistic ability in me from the beginning. One of them was a scarily accurate sketch of my parents house. But I haven’t drawn anything really since my mid 20’s when an ex girlfriend stole all my sketchbooks of all the art I’d done from my late teens up until that point in my life. So I have nothing to show for it. I was never very skilled at drawing lifelike things such as people and animals but stuck to drawing things such as cityscapes and whatnot.

There have been times I’ve wished I’d listened in art class yes. But my art teachers tended to like me and let me do my own thing for the most part…

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I have been drawing since I was young. But now the art i am good at, manga, took me four years to even look decent.

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I have been drawing, painting and making collages since childhood. I do not know what “good at” means. It could mean you are satisfied with your skill. I do not think any artist is ever satisfied with their skill. They enjoy constantly learning and creating. The skill level and value of artwork is subjective.

I destroyed all my realistic oil pastel portraits of women’s faces from my mind in high school with fire. I am glad I did this.
I started a different quest of creating abstract patterns and loose shapes, filling space with not worrying about how realistic or sensible it would look. This quest took over for a decade. I change quests more often now and make many kinds of art for personal enjoyment.

I have tried to sell the visionary paintings and it never feels good. So I just do whatever I want and give it away when the time and person comes.

I may become a professional artist someday, but I have not found the media persona in me that can do this yet.

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