How did you learn?

Sensonomirai

Hello Polycount, I am an ambitious 14 year old, and I was wondering where all of you guys started with your 3D/2D art skills.
I am a terrible artist, and I am looking for a place to start, that is where I would like you guys to tell me how you got good at what you do.
So me being 14, are there any high school classes you guys took? What you did in college?
Thanks

By the way, I apologize if there are any spelling or structure problems with this thread, I'm on an iPad and I'm not used to it.

ebagg

At age 14 you have a ton of free time to study and learn the fundamentals. There's enough free resources you can see here, on youtube, google search, deviantart, etc, check out books at the library. Go nuts on learning the basics like perspective, color theory, anatomy, 3d programs, Photoshop, etc. Don't be discouraged by your art not turning out the way you want and learn to analyze your mistakes to make better art with each new piece. Post your work for others to check out here and other forums to get as much advice as you can and never be shy about it.

Art colleges can certainly be helpful, but with 4ish years before that and some self discipline you can be an awesome artist by the time you graduate high school!

ivanzu

Take art classes,practice a lot and don't quit on hard stuff.

gsokol

I was lucky enough to have some classes in high school that I could take. I had to sit through a few years of autocad classes before I could take the 3dsMax class though.

Truth be told...high school classes and college really just teach the tools and basic principals...while they are helpful...its all about your drive and how much you practice.

Use the internet as a resource...hit up tutorials, read about how things work, and experiment. College classes and such might be helpful...but there are quite a few polycounters who are self-taught.

Elmo

I learnt the same way neo did http://youtu.be/n_uzEj71AU4
Bur for real i astarted drawing at 12 so you have alot of time to learn stuff
Start by drawing people and get the anatomy down and just draw alot of stuff as much as u can
just DRAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW lol
more u do it more u will get good same thing for 3d
drawing will help your 3d
for 3d just go to digital tutors and learn the basics or just find some free tutorials online..youtube has good ones
and ask questions on forums

MrHobo

Decided I wanted to model a character, picked up a book, sat down and went through it piece by piece. When I didnt understand something I used Google and occasionally YouTube...
I also put in about 20 extra hours a week for 3D learning when I was starting out.
You have a big advantage in that youre starting early. So stick with it, pick a small modest project of some kind and start modeling.

D4V1DC

You are damn lucky,

The only thing that has held me back in my younger days was putting it off and not being consistent.
Take advantage cause when your older you going to wish you had put more time into what you love, it might be something you can only learn through experience but really try not to have to learn the hard way and try to remember what people older than yourself tried to tell you things for a reason, so you wouldn't put things off and don't have to repeat the same repetitive learning experience when someone before you tried to help and or warn you.

Hanging out with the friends I had was a HUGE waste of my time, they aren't even around anymore but just a heads up, gauge the people around you are they time wasters or do they strive to go forwards. I know it is a lot to think about being so young but your in the best time of your life to spend time on your art. (Just don't become a hermit, live but do what you love at least for 3 hours a day.)

You listen to polycount people, take that advice you'll be teaching us stuff.
Best of luck, this goes for the young lurkers too.

Me:
Self taught, entered contests and LISTENED to all the critics, good/bad and decided what was best for my piece.

alifarsangi

i am really glad that u r asking questions about this field ! it makes me feel u r serious about ur future career !

but to answer ur question "How did you learn?" i have to first re phrase the question to "how do we learn" because it is almost impossible to learn everything about 3d, 2d and animation, each single day i learn something new !
i personally learn things by reading books, watching tutorials and participating in cg communities such as Polycount, 3dTotal, CGsociety and many other websites.

just to help u about where to start ur career, i like to begin by breaking down this career into 3 section: principles, creativity and methodology(workflow). principles included rules that almost everyone uses in their daily works including human anatomy, animals anatomy, light principles , color theory , animation principles and many others. creativity involve with how we use our ideas and then implement them base upon the principles. and finally workflow and methodology are about using softwares to achieve a convenient result. there r too many softwares out door and there is no a fixed workflow to achieve a goal , u might use 3ds max or maya to model a character then use zbrush or modbux to detail it !

in my opinion, u can start by learning principles such as anatomy, lighting, Photography, Color theory and also boost up ur creativity by drawing and practice. if ur drawing is really bad just like mine, then just practice drawing other people works. learning softwares don't take that much time but each year a new technology or sofware comes out so u have to keep yourself up to date !

Sensonomirai

I really appreciate the responses! Thanks guys.

Muzzoid

I actually learnt the basics of drawing using an old networked drawing program called opencanvas 1.1, where i used to draw with strangers on the internet till the early hours of the morning. Sadly it doesn't work properly on windows 7, as its over a decade old. .

And imo there is no modern equivalent.

Maybe i'll look at coding my own after i finish up the game i'm working on.

maximumsproductions

I'm still learning myself and still in highschool (last year) but, I'm not fortunate? enough to get the technical classes that I hear other schools get where you can kind of delve into 3d studio max with others. In reality there's NO reason at all to take them. If I could redo my highschool classes I would of taken more trad art classes and classes that I would have freetime to do art. Because learning a program I feel is easily the least of your concerns..

My biggest draw back is that I can't 'properly' envision concept arts into a 3d world, I can't draw properly, and over all I notice that I'm not as creative in detail when compared to an average 2d artist because I'm terrible at roughing and sketching overlays onto 3d art.

Basically, learn the programs on your own time at home and take advantage of what free time you have at school working on homework so you have more time for 3d. Else draw during your freetime at school.

Hazardous

If you're already thinking about this at 14 - and you put a simple regimented program in place for learning and tackling your shortcomings now - by the time your 20 you'll be an art god / godess.

I'm self taught, at home

aajohnny

I started at 17 and didn't get the chance to have any high-school classes, I looked around the internet (before I found polycount) and found some basic tutorials. I then found polycount and just learned from threads, ect and eventually just started "trial-and-error method" and that's what I have stuck with. I taught myself everything without any classes at all. If you're able to take some classes take advantage of it! if not then look around the web there is a lot of great free content (polycount, 3dmotive, eat3d) to learn from without school.

DrunkShaman

Hazardous wrote: »

If you're already thinking about this at 14 - and you put a simple regimented program in place for learning and tackling your shortcomings now - by the time your 20 you'll be an art god / godess.

I'm self taught, at home

I dont believe you...-.-