Not quite the same as fine art but I had a similar issue in my Fashion degree. I had won awards for wedding dress creations and it was what I wanted to pursue after university. My university was very aware of this and I was told on my first day that I couldn't design anything related to bridal design for my entire higher education. They hid opportunities from me, singled me out if they happened to be discussing something linked even slightly to bridal, to catch me 'which my pants down' if I didn't know the answer and repeatedly crushed down any ideas or inspirations that could be associated with it. I ended up with a portfolio that was of no use to me in the field I wanted to pursue , no bridal company was interested in that particular work and I had to start from scratch on my own after spending thousands of pounds on my forced subject university collection. Art school can be soooo biased it's unbelievable, but I just want people to know that just because someone else doesn't like your style, doesn't make your creations any less spectacular!

As a university instructor of 20 years, the only way to fix this is to give clap back in the classroom setting itself. Don't let the instructors give you crap. You HAVE to call them out in their own setting and push back and MAKE them justify why they're saying what they are saying. If they are legit, they will meet you where you are and be able to actually explain beyond, "I just don't like it," or "that kind of art isn't worthy." NO critique session is a viable experience without two-way communication. You got screwed out of an experience you paid for by a series of inept mistakes. This crap is perpetuated in schools because the instructors end up operating in very small circles over time of similar thinking and less and less need to think outside the box. To be quite honest, your instructor is to blame. He may be nice and supportive, but If he can't arrange for genuine feedback and critique from knowledgable professionals who actually work in the field he's teaching, he's doing you a disservice. He should have prepped you for their reactions. If this has been happening for years, he's obviously not communicating the proper context for the situation to his students nor to the other atelier instructors. What kind of critique session has 3D professionals commenting on things they don't know anything about!?! Just as there are specific art collectors of 3D work, there are specific audiences for fantasy work. Why didn't he just have a plumber show up and critique? Their opinions would be just as viable. There is ABSOLUTELY no reason for that kind of snobbery and negativity. It says more about those other atelier instructors inept inexperience and connection to the contemporary art world than it does about you or your fellow students. You should be pissed. As a university instructor, I'm pissed for you.

I love fantasy paintings and fantasy art so much, because it is not ”just” painted from what you see. Also it tells a whole story and lets you escape into new worlds. So I really dont get, why they were so hurtful to your fellow classmate 😔

Pay NO ATTENTION to the ridiculous snobs. Some of the most well known, well loved artists of today , including highest paid ones create fantasy and surreal art. Always create what moves you. Fugetabout the naysayers.

I’m so glad you made this video ❤️ it’s really appalling that other artists with drastically different styles want to crap all over art that is different from theirs. The superiority complexes in the art world seem to be never ending and it can be so discouraging for budding artists trying to navigate that world 😔 this painting is gorgeous though 😍 and sharing your experience on this is helpful to so many artists who experienced the same thing!

I went to a small liberal arts school in the US & I was a graphic design major. My senior year I took traditional art classes & my professors were OBSESSED with abstract & "meaningful" work. They always said, "How can you make more than just a pretty picture?" And I hated that. I enjoy looking at beautiful artwork. Art does not need to be a political statement (although it for sure can be! I also value that type of art, but that is not what I wanted to create), & it does not have to be abstract to be considered valuable. My professors did not like my work & they would critique me harder than the other students for 1- not having as much technical skill as the other students even tho I had been a graphic design major so of course I didn't! Students who created abstract work would get nothing but praise, meanwhile every inch of my work was critiqued even when I had intentionally left something abstract! "We can't tell what that is." OMG am I not allowed to mix styles? Lmfao 😂 And 2- they did not like my subject matter. I think beautiful art has a calming effect on the soul & can impact people in a positive way. Why does art have to be thought-provoking? It can be, but it doesn't HAVE to be.

This is fascinating to me, because I saw similar attitudes while I was in college and I wasn't even an art student. While I was studying for my degree I took a class on writing fictional short stories. And the very first day the teacher got this maniacal gleam in her eye and said that we wouldn't even be talking about fantasy fiction because it's not real writing. And this was a common perspective. But who are the MOST well known creators in the world? Those who take us to a different world greater than we could have imagined. People who look at art this way for being too beautiful or fantastical or imaginative are nothing more than gatekeeping trolls with a superiority complex.

Oh My Goodness… Michelangelo’s painting were fantasy as well! How absolutely true. No one has ever, ever put it so truthfully and honestly. All those paintings of that time were absolute constructions, done in studios and totally fantasy. No one has ever seen a cherub. Go figure. So sad you had this awful, awful experience. I love fantasy art, it is stunning. Thank you so much for this amazing video and I hope yours and your art student friends never, ever have to hear this again.

My college art classes taught me how the professors will never find any artwork to be absolutely perfect during their critique. I just tell myself “well, those who can’t, teach.” Luckily I had professors that felt “why paint hyper realism when you could just take a photograph” and that being a hyper realistic artist doesn’t make you a better artist.

Okay, so I'm Brazilian and an artist who paints fantasy-realism and I always felt that my paintings were somehow wrong. In Brazil people don't care about art, my family never supported it as a job and I've heard many comments like these, I used to feel really bad at first, even wondered if this is what I'm passionate about. Finding your channel, especially this video, gave me motivation to stay and do what I fell good doing. Thank you for the video, you're realy sweet💕

There’s so much snobbery in the art world, and it’s great that you address this problem. I love both fantasy, surreal and realistic art, and there’s definitely room for every type of artist in the world. Beautiful painting!! ❤️

My experience studying art was similar, but it didn’t target fantasy art. Looked down upon at my school was anything traditionally attractive - goddesses, pretty figures and faces, sunsets and pretty scenery. It wasn’t enough for something to look good or be done well; it had to be meaningful in some significant way. I was particularly pushed towards activism by several teachers who believe that the role of the artist is a social one. I probably would have lost all interest in art if not for one of my professors who suggested that art is exploration, and it does not matter what the end result is.

the fact that the 3D artist said that is scary. so wrong of them to say that. happy that you talk out about this. all the best to you and your art class!!!

As a fellow artist, my thoughts are that it is more challenging to make fantasy look realistic, than it is to paint exactly what I see.

It will never make sense to me how people manage to be so narrowminded about art of all things. People simultaneously praise art for being so creative, unexpected, diverse, revolutionary, personal, unique, with abstract, naive, outsider, expressive art being sides of it, so many themes so many materials and media, etc, etc, etc... and criticize art and artists for the same reasons. It's one thing when people not involved in art have these attitudes, but when artists and art teachers, art critics can't see how close minded, biased and judgemental they are about ART I just lose all hope. But then it's probably just human nature. To be contradictory and judgemental and hypocritical, at least sometimes. Anyway, it's always a pleasure to watch your videos!

I love fantasy style art especially in oil paintings. Your paintings made me fell in love with this type of art and makes me want to learn to paint subjects in fantasy style settings. I feel bad for your classmate. Hope he didn't let it discourage him from creating more beautiful artworks. And I have to say your progress is phenomenal, it shows how hard you worked to get to this level. I always thought your work was amazing and now you've gotten even better. Looking forward to more of your amazing paintings 💕

preach girl! this video explains so well a lot of my conflicting feelings towards art school (I'm now finishing my 3rd year of school), though it is very helpful for me and I intend to finish my degree, there is always a feeling in the background that my style is misunderstood and not as appreciated as more contemporary cutting edge art, regardless of my skills or how much effort I put into a piece. but as a friend of mine told me a few weeks ago after a disappointing critique- you only need to cater to *your* audience, and I'm certain that there are plenty of people around the world who are amazed and inspired by those art styles, even if they aren't necessarily the most trendy.

I like how you decided to handle this situation. It seems like people are seemingly always so identified with their personal tastes and ideas that any challenge to their thoughts is like an attack on their identity. It's the human problem that causes most of the crap in the world today. Anyone who can be an example of acceptance and open mindedness is very truly a positive force in our world.

My first experiences with good and bad art influences were in middle school, where my art teacher praised me for being advanced enough to draw manga and everything, and encouraged me and even gave me a few actual manga supplies, but I also first got hit with the sentiment of “why do you only draw girls? Are you a lesbian?” from that time as well. It took me years to finally accept that I don’t want to draw normal people; I like drawing cute, huge-eyed anime girls, and that doesn’t say anything bad about me. I draw them anatomically well otherwise; just because it’s anime doesn’t mean it’s wrong, just because I only really draw females also doesn’t mean it’s wrong. There was also a stigma against it in my digital art class in high school, I wasn’t chosen to be able to participate in a contest because my digital anime art “could have been downloaded off the internet”. The art that the teacher saw me doing, and that I had the full psd color with all the layers. And have my spot to someone who drew some ducks. (Badly. Sorry, not sorry, it wasn’t a technicality good digital painting at all.) The only reason I got into the contest the next year is because I didn’t do anime eyes. Literally the same style of painting (a whole new one), but I didn’t make big eyes so suddenly that was my own work and not the Internet’s. Ugh. And I got failed from an art class in college because I couldn’t do abstract art, even though the single assignment wasn’t going to be worth more than the final, the teacher kicked me out of the class for not being able to do it. Anyway I’m done venting thank you bye

They still do this? Honestly I believe at this point it's from the fact that they are bitter that so many artists of the illustrative kind is getting work or more public notoriety than whatever they mean by traditional or non fantasy works? No honestly what are they envisioning? Like you said, classic art is illustrative

Happy, I've been a fan of yours since before high school and I've now graduated from a typical art college. (And seen your work in person!) You've inspired me so much to pursue a life as an artist and this community you've cultivated has been so positive and inspirational. I also love painting goddesses. I mainly paint crying women, with themes of the death and the moon in mixed medium. I have a very painterly style, but still try to maintain good technique. I've been told in art school that my work was to fantastical as well. Also, I get told that my work is too sentimental and tender. I find it fascinating that in our culture to be "sentimental and tender" is a bad thing. That we, especially women, are meant to be seen as strong in a way in which we don't cry? Is the human experience in general not sentimental and tender one? 😂 especially as we approach death I find people get more soft. Why is it frown upon to express that? I thought I'd share ❤ hopefully this helps anyone one else in the comment section as well. Sending positive creative energy out there

Hello. I wish there’d be more people like your professor. There be less snobs. I never went to art school, If I did would have lost complete motivation to do art. I went a community college and three of my art professors were really the best and were very encouraging and supportive of the work I wanted to do. Which was inspired by Black Panther but more of my own culture which is Haitian culture. I had a personal experience with a now family member who at the time from my mother didn’t want to see my art at the time. So I only showed it to my mother side and my brother’s family.

I love that painting! The colours are incredible. I am a self-taught painter and many years ago an art school student critiqued me using clean colours from the tubes, saying that it is a mistake and I should always mix and change the colour. It left me doubting myself, until an actual painter in his 50s said that he loves how I use plenty of bright colours on my paintings ;) I think painting should be more about sharing an idea and creating a feeling, than to mirror the reality. But I do find realism and photo-realism mesmerizing, it's just not my style and that's ok.

Painting has always been my way to create something “different”. Picasso’s whole vision about Art changed once he realized that his art style was too perfect a mere photograph could replace it. Fantasy & mythical auras are how I approach my canvases. I do get comments from time to time but mostly good ones. Art is supposed to take you to another place! It’s supposed to not make sense or be a representation of itself. & to me I think that’s beautiful. Keep it going Happy D Artist! You’re my top favorite Artist ever since 4 years. I highly look up to you. Wishing you the best

Oh Happy, I'm so glad you're more motivated and taking your own stand with this topic. My high school art teacher was definitely the "traditional still-life is the only way" to satisfy her & her critiques. She would always go super hard in critiques when it came to fantasy subjects but would gush about still-lifes or portraits. Though I love her as my teacher and mentor, I did wish she was more open to fantasy styled art or just something abstract. Thank you for sharing your experience and pushing through! You've been my favorite artist for so many years now, and it's been such a wonderful journey watching you grow!

They wouldn't have said that to Dali or any of the other surrealist painters of the 20th century. I don't see that Fantasy art is so much different, personally I think it's one of the hardest fields to work in as it requires extensive knowledge of anatomy and realism which is then reimagined in the most abstract ways. The combination of elements Fantasy artists manage to weave together is so impressive. Pay no heed to the naysayers.

I was snobbed by nearly every teacher I encountered in my art school. They hate fantasy work, imaginative, illustrative etc. they want controversial modern and contemp art concepts and I only had one teacher who saw my potential. I was very upset at their closed mind. Art is about making up, we create, we don't just replicate. Those judges are just so close and stuck on protocole and what is "right" to them. It's odd still because in my art school, they also hated realism XD They only praise conceptual content. I found a complete different world when I left school. People who look down on us are just stuck in their ways. I personnally developed a very hateful feeling towards conceptual work because there's no technical skills in it quite often. I love when artists can mix things up. You can be conceptual, fantasy and technical at the same time.

As someone with a style HEAVILY influenced by illustration, specifically comic books.. yeah. Hard agree. Art snobs gonna snob.

I hate to hear stories like this. Truly so sad that creativity can't be appreciated in some professional fields. As someone who mainly does more fantasy/pre-raphalite inspired oil paintings, the negative attitude that this type of work can receive is so frustrating.

It’s so disappointing that the art world is like this. Throughout high school I was encouraged to draw whatever I liked because there isn’t a ‘correct’ style in art. However, as soon as I went to fine art college, I was immediately critiqued for my style and ‘lack’ of contemporary art knowledge. There were times I’d bring up an artist I really liked, and was told that they were a ‘decorative artist’. Apparently, if an artist creates a work with no ‘deep meaning’ and/or symbolism, it was considered something to just decorate a space (yet abstract art and absurdist art was praised). I dropped out after completing my first year at that college, and a year later I was accepted into an illustration course in another state. I loved my illustration course, even though I’d be considered more of a fine artist. The teachers accepted fantasy works, and encouraged students to create what they truly wanted to. Whenever someone asks me about how to pursue art, I always say “do NOT go to fine art school!”

Yeah, let's talk about discrimination... I've been a tattoo artist for over 20 years, and I'm not even considered a "real artist"... I am in love with digital illustration, which is not well seen even by the traditional illustrators... but we can't worry about who doesn't like our work, but focus on who does! Artistic blessings to you, my dear creator... may the power of creativity be with you!

I recently graduated with a 4-year art degree. I went to school for animation but we still had to take a fair number of these traditional art classes. I love oils but yes. Art schools really value the whole commentary side of art. Very rarely were we allowed to have something just look nice and pretty. Like, my work has never been about current events, and I really don't care to do that. I like "pretty art." Whenever I wanted to do that, I'd have to have some huge reasoning like "I'm protesting the idea that all art has to have meaning. My narrative is the lack of one." When in really, I just wanna paint a pretty portrait with flowers and other crap

When I went to art school "craft" was really looked down upon and not accepted at all, but there are so many lines to be blured and amazing contemporary art that has come out craft based practices.

I do experience such things as mainly like to paint animals, birds mainly wildlife. I don't paint portraits as they don't inspire me but whenever I am at a gathering or a fair the first comment is always that it's nice and beautiful but why do you paint them and not portraits of people's. What there to paint in these wild animals and birds and leave while making weird faces. Some even suggest to stop painting and start portrait so that I can be considered a artist. I hurts me sometimes as even some of my relatives and sometimes my parents also say these things but as you said it only makes my resolution even stronger. I like wildlife and painting them gives me a way to admire and send the message of protecting the wildlife. Thanks for this video as it showed that there will always be people downsizing but we just need to ignore the negativity and spread the positive energy of our creation.😊😇

I’ve recently moved into a more abstract direction with my art and acrylic pouring. While I still love painting traditional landscapes and flowers my abstract work often gets dismissed as “not art” or “not having any actual skill”

So Thankful you did this Video Dear . That is so sad that your classmate was attacked like that , it has come a time when healing needs to happen in the world and to judge any one is something that is just no ok as we are all connected all beautiful souls here on this earth , returning to our heart and in connection with the Universe and and mother earth in our hearts in in Love appreciation ,empathy compassion. Build each other up and let them shine their light and uniqueness and differences . I have been told from Galleries here in Town My art was too spiritual ,and would not sell . I love your attitude dear and Paint what you love to paint as does not matter what they think any ways what matters is that you paint what you love and the joy you have in creating your art which is absolutely stunning beautiful work. It is sad that their is still so much judging today still may be those judges are just jealous of the beautiful work he does ,and want to discourage him I hope he does just paint more and more and That it does just make him more determined to keep creating what he loves as you dear. I have not had any formal training just painted all my life as have not been able to go to school for art , one class I did get to take though was a positive experience , so grateful for that . The beauty of expression in art has not always been appreciated in the world which is so sad .Could say so much more but will leave it here love to you dear

This is exactly why I didn't go to art school. I was shunned by the art galleries here because, at the time, my art was more illustrative. I oil paint, now, and I do mainly florals, seascapes, and cloudscapes. however, I don't owe anyone anything for my imagination. lol

Hi, Happy, I just want to say thank you so much for making this video. I have been watching your channel for years now and you have been someone I've looked up to for so long, so even though I am so sorry that you had this experience, I do find comfort in the fact that I am not alone in this. These types of situations has happened to so many artists that I know personally and online, and I think the more that we speak about this, the more we can work towards change, especially as one day, it will be our generation that will be the teachers and the judges of panels like this. For me personally, I believe that I got lucky in my last several years of college because I came across teachers and other students who believe and supported my work, even though I primarily create fantasy, semi-realistic pieces. I believe that they have helped me become the artist I am today and have greatly encouraged me to keep doing the kind of work that I do. However, before then, I came across this kind of snobbery in late high school and early college, and because these were the first art classes that I took, I really bought into what they were saying. I actually became afraid to create for a long time and would start to have panic attacks that my work wasn’t good enough, or as I felt, didn't have "any value." It was very hard to finish anything, and it was so stressful, I considered quitting entirely. I am glad that I ended up pushing through, but this mindset is still something I still struggle with unlearning to this day. Even after I personally came to peace with my own art and realized that I didn't need the approval of people who clearly didn't appreciate or respect my work, I still see situations like this all the time. Probably one of the worst experiences I witnessed was when I attended a presentation given by a curators of that year’s annual student gallery (at our college, there is a time when every student on campus, whether they are an art student or not, is allowed to submit their work to an annual art gallery, and it is hosted by a new curator every year. It's honestly one of my favorite galleries to look at and participate in because you get the most unique work, and I think that it is a great time to recognize all of our university's artists). I was looking forward to this because it had been one of the best galleries I've seen in a while. However, this curator basically got up on stage and insulted all the students involved in this gallery, insinuating that they only were chosen because their work was not as "worse" as others, and then proceeded to talk for an hour about what he wished the student's work would have looked like instead. I was furious. I felt angry that he even bothered to travel all this way just to insult young artists who probably were excited to be accepted into this gallery, and I honestly was frustrated that my university allowed this man to come here and be so disrespectful to our student body like that. I mostly felt bad for the students involved though-- I hope that this didn't discourage them or turned a moment they should have been proud of into something that hurt their ability to create. I think what continues to make me angry about this moment, however, is that this situation is considered normal. That art teachers and other artists all over the country think it's okay to disparage against other artists who don't make work exactly as they like it or as they would. It's okay to not like someone's work. It's even okay to have strong opinions about other people’s art work. However, I don't think it's okay to make these artists feel they are lesser than because there art is not their personal tastes, especially if you are someone who is supposed to be an educator or a mentor. I am sure there are worst scenarios than the ones I have heard or the ones I have witnessed, and I am sure there are a lot of students who would have been fantastic artists but no longer create because of the feedback they've gotten. That's why I feel strongly that we need to speak up against this, that way, as you have said, the art world can become more open minded. Anyway, this comment ended up being way longer than I expected, but as you can see, I have a lot of strong opinions about this XD. I appreciate it if you made it this far in my comment, and again, I appreciate you making this video. Thank you again for sharing your work and your stories.

Jealousy. One student that dares to manage such beautiful art that everyone looks up to him, and obviously stands out, coming from some silly atelier?? How dare he!!! Lol. 'Useful' snobs. I had this kind off attitude rain down on me a few times. Initially its a culture shock but them you grow a thick skin and laugh it off as your value is solely dependent on you and not other peoples views of you. Keep it up! Love your art ❤❤❤

Art has always been full of snobs. I started as a graffiti writer 20+ years ago before I started painting on canvas, the general population has always praised or positively criticized my work.. I honestly couldn't care less about negativity, I do this for me.

This "mean girls" bs is why I don't really join art communities or why I never persued art in school. Even back in high school (35 now), I was advanced enough to be the only student allowed to use oil paint, but when my subject matter was a bit more clever/fantasy based, I was given a bad grade. It's wild because humans have been painting fantasy art since we were human enough to create art - look at those cave walls, but somehow, now, after thousands and thousands of years, that's not art? Weird hill to die on, Mr. Professor.

I had an art professor throw away my canvas and tell me I was wasting my time I stopped painting for a while… I paint now but I struggle to like let go and just be free with my ideas now

If someone asked me "why paint?" I would have said, "Why judge?". Art is art. Music is music and gardening is gardening.

I love fantasy🥰 how we can come up with fantasy worlds and characters from our imaginations is amazing! I had one teacher in polytechnic who wasn’t very open minded and it was so frustrating. Love your work😊

The art panel at my college were brutal against anything that wasn’t classical painting. Someone had a beautiful illustrative style that incorporated classical techniques and the things they said to her were so disheartening.

Love this! During college, my professor banned us from drawing anime. I undestand if the reason is to learn from real life or practice your anatomy but, he said that anime is not art. That made me really sad and confuse. Anime was the reason why I started to draw and make stories. It was the first art style I truly enjoyed doing and I don't think I would be doing art now if it wasn't for anime.

Art is about expressing yourself, not about making other people happy.

I went to a art university and they are snobs about EVERYTHING. My first assignment was to do something about a place. When we adked what that something was they said anything. But then shut down a LOT of examples. When we asked if what they want was a art work they said no, but if you suggested something that wasn’t artistic they said no. Just an example of how frustrating art ‘specialists’ can be. They judge everything that others say is a lesser art just so that nobody notices they actually haven’t a clue about anything or so that nobody comes for their own work. Every art student started wanting to depict some sorts of fantasy in their work. And through the years the establishment beats it out of them. No, fantasy is a guilty pleasure, it’s for the masses, not the enlightened elite. And this elite just bores each other with depictions of everyday life because it’s ‘current’. F*** that! If they want to bore themselves to death with still lifes so be it. Meanwhile I’m going to watch real artists and be inspired by their fantasy worlds. My real life is current and boring enough for me thank you very much. Happy your work is beautiful and meaningful and inspiring. I can see the improvement the atelier brought you and it’s lovely to see you improve your fantasy with your new knowledge. Ignore the snobs!!

My time as an art undergrad made me switch from double majoring with Art to only minoring in it. My lower div classes were not as critical of subject matter as what you experienced, but a friend who did continue to upper division experienced severe criticism on her videography final. The critique was solely other students insulting the people she chose to interview for her video assignment and gave no constructive feedback to her project. I adore making art but realized spending more time and money in a university setting wouldn't help me in the long run and I am free to continue practicing on my own time.

Been silently following you from the start, thank you for sharing and creating. This video, like the others, is really interesting. Please keep going ! :D

Another one so soon! Yay!

I love the colours in this and the way you rendered light and shadows by the way!

I love this piece! Thank you for sharing your experience and your thoughts. Fantasy art is what I love to consume and hope to one day create. I think fantasy art can help transport us to places that evoke strong emotions, which can be a beautiful experience!

Such BEAUTIFUL paintings!!❤️❤️❤️🙏🏼

Hi Happy, so good to see you and hear you! In the art school I go to it's the same, all fantasy art is seen as illustration, and there's nothing wrong with illustrations, but sometimes you want the artistic background to come through as well and I feel like it's not valued as such... But I keep painting fantasy art because because it makes me happy and fulfills me :) So glad you come back!!! I really miss you :)

Thank you for this video❤

I feel so uptight sometimes art expresses recycles fears into change

Art in all forms are subjective. I remember in art history class how they didn't allow women to learn painting either. they had the same issues hundreds of years ago that certain artwork wasn't taken serious. We are here to change perspectives. It sounds to me that someone needs to create their own fantasy genre atelier. I face the same thing in fashion, hair and the tattoo world. Anything that is different than the norm is looked down upon, when art is meant to challenge human thought and emotion. I love your work

Wow. Growing up I had the opposite experience. Since I was a child I always used to try to draw realism. Realism was my favored style. However, all my friends did anime. And all the art students and teachers seemed to prefer illustration or animated styles. I use to draw realistic faces only. My favorite artists has always been Michelangelo. And no one really cares for old fashioned renaissance art when I was a teenager. Once in college I took one art class and had the same feedback. I watched how the art teacher catered to the kids in our class that were illustrators or animators. I gave up completely on realism. My friends that I grew up with all agree. Due to all the rejection I faced I gave up on realism. The majority of people our age Simply don’t care for realistic oil paintings. At least not in my experience. I decided I would try my hand at illustrations and mixed it with realism. It turns out that pop surrealism is what my true love is !!

Beautiful 😍 I’ve been drawing and painting women of Japanese nativity and ancestry since 19 years old, and back since 24. The worst criticism I have gotten was that the “girls” were “being exploited” by “some White man”, and this was coming from White people! How traitorous is that? Now I do a digital bijinga portrait series called CANDY POP. I am considering traditional drawing and painting women of Japanese nativity and ancestry again, and it’s because of beauty, not stereotypes. ❤

Love your work. Its so crazy that creativity wont always be “acceptable” in an industry that relies on such thinking 🥸

Oh yeah when I was in middle school I drew this night creature with no eyes. My teacher made the reflection that most animals do have eyes... so this didn't work for him and after telling me 2 times to add an eye and me refusing to sabotage my art work, he did it himself. I think that the solution there would have been to run away with my drawing haha no but honestly having a healthy conversation about it and saying that art is the artist's creation and not an attempt at replicating everyday life. I think that if it this happened now I would be able to do so.

this is why I never pursued art further in college, only took it as my bachelors cause it’s like….why can’t I just make beautiful paintings of beautiful things, realistic or not,,and why should it have any meaning to it other than that I think it’s pretty LOL. these kinds of people scare me and anger me. How can you NOT appreciate and admire someone creating fantasy art, things that are literally inconceivable but people are talented enough to put what’s impossible into their heads and churn out perceivable worlds.

I can easily see this being the case. Modern art school programs, and I hate to see this in ateliers too, hold a great deal of disrespect towards illustration. As a frame of reference, I had a painting instructor look at my work, he had a food deal of respect for the work I was doing, but he outright said he could tell I wasn't a painting major due to my subject matter because he knew I would not be allowed to do that kind of work within my school's painting program. Because of that, I have mostly been self taught by following the various gumroad lectures I have purchased. Regarding illustrators through history, almost every major painter for religious purposes are illustrators. Additionally, look at Frazetta, arguably one of the greatest fantasy painters of all time/last hundred years was never considered part of the fine arts community because of his subject matter. Also the contemporary artists and fine artists are filled with hypocrites.

Stunning piece. I love it so much. Very interesting video too about your experience. It is so sad that fantasy art is looked down on especially when it's such a huge genre and interest in it is on the rise. The fact that people bring forth a vision from their minds makes that art piece even more amazing as they can't use still life to copy it from from. Also, so many artists now are combining realism with fantasy. Look at Jonodry, his work is super realism but mixed with fantasy in the form of texture and horns.

something similar happened to me. i entered a important art exhibition. well 5 judges, picked my two paintings for prizes. it was a lot of money... the president , failed me, she degnied me, my Prizes. but believe me, karma showed up in my case. enough for me to say...well done universe. also i left the two art communities and set up, on the internet. it saves me money yearly and i get to make art my way. where i have a wider audience. thanky...

Yeah I got plenty of discouragement and gate-keeping and general weird interaction from art teachers too. Like getting asked if the drawing I showed them was a joke if it was some parody, Getting told as a 15/16 year old on a drawing I uploaded to an art site (that I uploaded to before so it's not like my then scribbles were uncommon on there) that this is a pro website I have no place here what the f am I thinking putting this absolute crap here. And then starting to pander to what the academy likes when I was prepping for art exams because that's what I've been told "you gotta pander" and subsequently loosing any motivation to make anything look good because how dare I think I can make anything good or beautiful and then teachers instead of you know teaching or helping just shouted at me and laughed at me not being able to draw and shamed me for loosing my talent and being so crap. Even my peers considered "your art is absolute crap" with no other explanation constructive criticism. I'm getting past it now I'm starting to make beauty because I like to regardless if anyone else finds it beautiful but this is why I tend to choose very carefully what school or art community I get into. Even with online communities there were other instances when I wasn't involved of a kid maybe 14 or younger got their art uploaded into the group by a parent and imagine the excited kid waiting for responses only to be burnt to the ground by the comments because the art is "crap" (tho it was very clear that it was a child's drawing Idk what they expected I mean the people just tearing the kid a new butthole).

2 Happy vids in a row?! my eyes have been blessed 🥲💗💗

As for stories - it’s not too exciting but I was showing a tutor a painting of a hand rising up, black and covered in stars, holding the sun with the blue cloud-ed sky in the background And she commented that it was physically impossible for the galaxy to be in front of the sun and the sky and it was like No shit…? Anyway I recommend the Artist Assignment channel for discussion and education on this topic

Amazing Art Beautiful Drawing

this work is fantastic.....im so exited...you are amazing😊 thank you so much🥰

i love hearing you speak about art school

One of the 800 reasons I'd never go to art school. Mind you I don't have a problem with other people doing so, but I don't think it's for me. I mostly draw fantasy or anime-ish, which I know is most unwelcome , but even if I didn't I would still probably think this way, I just hate snobbery. That said I have taken a few art classes and liked them for the most part. I took I think 2 over the course of my college career and I stuck to realism in class and was continuously praised by the students and teachers alike. In high school I was really into anime, one day as I was doodling in class and the teacher saw me, he was so impressed by my silly anime girl in kimono (I still have the drawing in a notebook somewhere) that he said even though it didn't quite fit the assignment I could still use the drawing for it. So my experience taking art classes has overall been very good. But even if I wanted to go to an art school I'd never be able to pay for it, but hey if you can more power to you.

My art teacher final year of highschool criticised my work because it was “drawing with paint” rather than painting. That has stuck with me and hindered my confidence for 30 years. I still don’t really understand what the difference is, or why it was wrong. I can only guess that she preferred my classmate’s paint splattered impressionist cow painting over my carefully rendered fantasy piece.

thank you for sharing this! it was so interesting to hear this story and now i wish i could see that students work! It must be extremely beautiful! I also feel like the same happens with "cute" subject matters in paintings - it's so frustrating tbh

I'm studying Visual Arts at a community college (I plan to transfer to a university later on), and I have to take a graphic design class. The teacher has decided that he's going to convince me to become a graphic design major. That would have been fine if he didn't decide to start telling me how impractical a visual arts degree is and informing me that starving artists were a thing. I have been told about this stuff my whole life and yet here I am, if how he plans to convince me is by saying the same stuff that I have heard literally everywhere, it's not going to work. Don't get me wrong I enjoy the class a lot, but it's not the same for me as traditional painting or drawing.

Love your vision HD! 🙏❣️✌️

Realism for fantasy is perfect.

Sad And Embarrasing to hear !😢I love how you express yourself❤

Self expression is art. Much love.Russ. R.P Artistopath .

I experience the opposite. I graduated from art school / institute, even though I majored in graphic design, I prefer a career in fine arts. While hanging out with some of the local artists in my country, I feel a tension between the selft though artist and the art school graduates. Some people even said in front of me, that they value artists who don't study in school more, no matter the skill set below me, because they are more intuitive and pure. I face so many more hateful just because I came from art school, until Idk how to react when it happens

Wow that art piece is beautiful and what you said I absolutely agree with. I don't know the judges but just hearing what they said made me so upset especially as a young artist. You said it well though and this was also very inspirational to hear what you guys did after what happened.

Wow, got to love the critics!!! Your artwork is amazing, don't give up with your learning. Learn all the rules and then break them. I had my work critiqued once and I didn't paint again for years. It took be a long time to get my confidence back. Now I realise that art is in the eye of the beholder and an expression of oneself, it does not matter what art you make or create, keep doing it!! A big thank you for this video, I know it will help new artists out there and help them understand that just because someone critiques your work and says negative things about it, there are others out there who will love what you do :-)

Secondly, why would I hire an artist to paint still life as it is. I have a camera. I don't need to pay someone $1000 to paint a bowl of oranges. I can't take a picture of 2 dragons flying in a Ying Yang. My thought is, the attitude towards hate of fantasy in art school is purely because those in power have zero imagination and want art to be serious and technocratic. In a way, they have made themselves obsolete and in doing so want to drag those who can paint fantasy to hell with them.

Every artist, art teacher, art enthusiast, and civilian will tell you to create what you feel until you do and it's not what THEY wanted.

Yup at uni I majored in digital art and animation and the entire time I worked in my advanced classes with someone who specialized in that field. For senior year, we pick something we want to do and the entire semester is usually focused on us just working on one big project, and then finals is a big art show. My sister graduated before me and said all she had to do senior year was work on it in her own time and just check in with the same teacher she had been working with in advanced classes from time to time. Any art major about to graduate is in the one class as well. So there's photography students, painters, sculptors, digital artists, etc. So it makes sense for us to work on our own and talk to the teachers that had already been teaching us previously for advice about finals. But unfortunately, they switched things by the time I got in my senior class. Instead of checking in with the teacher I had been working with for years, they put a photography teacher over our class and turned it into an actual class where we had to sit and listen to her. Lo and behold, the digital students, sculpture, etc felt like our time was just wasted. She gave advice that was only really beneficial for photographers or people that had artwork to mount on the walls. When it came to critiques, she clearly favored photography and gave "advice" for digital students that essentially would change the entire essence of our individual work. She tore down anyone that wasn't photography and a lot of us just started to skip critique days. I went from being excited to being extremely drained because she kept trying to get me to change so much stuff that it didn't even feel like my project anymore.

ive been a fan for years and this is my go to channel for painting i would love to hear your thoughts on nfts

I encountered the same in the Academia in Mexico City while doing my masters degree in UNAM (2012). "you should try illustrations, Cristina" and "that is NOT reflective of the current contemporary issues" bla bla. I wrote a thesis on Mexican fantasy art and I have an essay on the topic published in Universidad de Barcelona where they study fantasy art as a structure to communciate many ideas. Regarding the glazing technique there are also prejudices as if the technique is to be punished cause it was brought by the conquistadores. Just when women finally can make paintings we are not supposed to paint cause it is a male thing. geez. the thing is, every time I offer courses on painting, half of the class wants to do fantasy. cause it will never go away. it is a force.

The 'Why paint?' question is something I have personally experienced throughout my 5 years within art education (UK), so much so that I wrote my entire dissertation on the importance and significance of painting and medium fludity. It wasn't until my MA that I felt much less resistence with regards to being a painter, but I have certainly noticed this bias against painting throughout my time at university. In some ways it helped to build a thicker skin and solidify my reasons for being a painter but it was frustraiting nonetheless. Despite having never met those judges I know EXACTLY the kind of people they were hahaha x

My son one day your hard work will pay off

After two years learning fine arts in college I quit because of how biased it was. 😅 I'm currently working on re-teaching myself art using online classes with actual instructors (well reviewed ones that I've been following on youtube a long time). I ended up in science and middle/high school education. I have some students who want to be artists and I've helped to guide them on their way, reminding them to never give up what THEY love to draw and paint.

The art school I went to was definitely one of the snobby schools and ALL about abstract art. They basically pushed all students to produce more abstract art & installations as well as make it all about current social issues. My art is more realistic/fantasy, so I basically had your same experience at all critiques. It was so disheartening and maddening, after a year I ended up transferring to a university to finish my BFA.

Dealt with this EXACT thing in college... Art school for me was a waste of time. I learned sooo much more on my own and with other artists. Granted not ALL teachers were bad. The ones that actually pushed me I still speak with. However, the others can suck it because I created my work on my own and am very proud of where I am. Also, there are quite a few ateliers that focus more on fantasy but I suggest going through actual artists and asking

Wildlife art has always been looked down upon by the art establishment.

Subbed. Great story and enlightening advice considering so much of the art peddlers are from a different generation. Will push forward. 🙌

Imagine having a skill that lest you create whatever you want, and turning your nose up at those who use it to create things out of this world... They must be very boring people day-to-day. It seems like the higher ups usually are stuck up, so many movementsin the past that are now in museums and known worldwide were not liked in their day... impressionism being one of my favourite. Art is a way to bring your thoughts, your vision of the world forward. There's nothing wrong with showing that vision on real-life stuff, but so is showing them through fairies, dragons or fauns.

Perhaps this is the reason why I just began hating classical art as a whole, I I don't know about everyone else, but I always felt like that entire genre of art just had a pompous feel to it but could never really put my finger on why, starting from a particular online class that I use to study from that supposedly taught "classical way of drawing" which they were very vocal about shunning using tools such as blender stumps or different gradated pencils, to the point where they were insulting about it towards other artists who did use that technique. I wound up still using those anyway and going back to looking at different youtube artists because this particular course would FAST FORWARD AND CUT CRUCIAL PARTS OF THE VIDEO THAT SHOWED HOW TO LAYER OVER TONE the "way it was done in renaissance era might I add, whatever. I remember one time when I was also in high school and these two art teachers were taunting me about drawing anime drawing, they were laughing there asses off saying " listen to us, anime sucks" one of them use to be my ninth grade art teacher who told me to "stick to abstract art" and abstract in it's rawest form, the kind where you just throw color and shit all over the paper with no regard for composition or any concept of perspective and it's somehow supposed to show or mean something, but "anime sucked" I don't know anymore, I still do my "classical training" but it's only because I eventually wanna get into stuff like fantasy, surreal, and anime creations, going to an atelier did seem exciting to me for a while, but after hearing about this and going through stuff in my life that lead me to believe that the majority of the human populace are just evil shitheads, screw an atelier, and screw they're "classical" museums too, training from home at my own pace without having to interact with anyone of these people I found have been the best experience of my life.

The why paint question, I think what they were asking is... what meaning and purpose does this painting have. I know people paint for pleasure and beauty but I think what they wanted to ask of the author is... what message are you sending out into the world with this art...

How the heck do you make that gorgeous neon pink?! I can never seem to mix the right combo to get that neon pop.

I want you to put those judges in their place when you graduate ;)