NOTE: Before you read this KNOW that I love and read comics and am a huge fan of the superhero genre (particularly drawn to the misfit or mutant themes).This article discusses the premise behind the new film Art School Confidential. I have no doubt the film relies on stereotypes as a lot of comedies do, but I would like to discuss something other than that. The article brings up the chasm between art schools and comic book artists. To be honest, I have had friends who are comic book artists who went to art school and left with bad tastes in their mouths. I have also had comic book artists as students. As I have said, I love comics and always have. The reason why a lot of comic book artists leave art schools with numerous complaints, is that they are simply in the wrong place; that is, if that's all they want to do and nothing else--and some people know what they want to do at very young ages.
Often, art school is a bad experience for some comic book artists because of their expectations. Did they really expect to go to art school and be taught such a finite area of art, at the expense of everyone else's needs? Some actually do and did. Comic book illustration is illustration. It is an area of art--among many. It would be like if I wanted only to paint still lifes in oil and attended a school of figural art and expected them to change their curriculum to suit me. Art school is an experience. Its purpose is to make an artist well-rounded in the field of art. An artist has experiences in: drawing/painting still lifes, drawing/painting figures, 2-D design, 3-D design, printmaking, assemblage, mixed media, idea development, technique, conceptual art--you name it. An artist goes to art school for THESE experiences. An artist who draws comics CAN go to art school and BENEFIT from it--IF they are open to it. Being open to it is critical--as with any education.
Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on what you believe, some comic book artists tend to be very fixed in their path, and ONLY want to do what THEY want to do. I personally admire such focus and determination, but I'd like to pass on some advice. If ALL you want to do is draw comics and are not at all interested in the art school path, you should at least choose the right place to be. If you feel misunderstood, it's because you KNOW what you want to do, and the rest of your fellow students are EXPLORING (especially at the undergraduate level). When I went through art education, I couldn't get enough of all the different media, subjects, and ideas, but that's just my experience. Because illustration is a subcategory of the arts (and comic book art, an even more finite subcategory of illustration), and more related to graphic art, fine art school probably isn't the place for you. While comics can be artful, I wouldn't expect it to be considered fine art any time soon. It is what it is and there is nothing wrong with that. I would highly recommend, if you aren't interested in benefiting from instruction that flexes your creative, technical, and conceptual muscle in a fine art school, that you look into the numerous illustration schools available to practice your craft. If you are interested in animation or video game design, there are schools for that too. You simply need to consider what you want to do, choose the right place to be, cultivate your art/craft, be the best you can be, and try not to nurture a persecution complex because your art teacher doesn't understand your desire to draw comics. It's more likely that he or she just wants you to expand your horizons--because that is his or her job where HE/SHE works (i.e. what he/she gets paid for). It's just that simple.
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