Hello artists, if you’re someone who is feeling a bit unsure,
lost, or concerned about the future and you’ve decided to take a gap year to
think things through, here’s 5 tips for you to make the most of your gap year.
My first tip is all about structure.
When you’re 18 or a young artist coming out of A-levels,
or a course that is organized in a very specific way you need to start
learning how you’re going to produce art outside of that previous system.
What you need to do is establish your own artistic practice where you are really
trying to understand what makes you tick as an artist and what mediums you really enjoy using.
Undertaking a structured course where you’re being told what to do by teachers and exam boards
is a far cry from driving your own artistic practice;
so if you’ve never actually built that practice, it can feel quite daunting.
If this is completely new to you, I would start with building some organisational skills
and getting good at managing your time - then, once you’re aware of the subjects you might
want to address in your work and research you can structure your day around that.
Personally, I really enjoy using programs like Notion to organize my daily schedule,
research, and other things such as the very script for this video you’re watching right
now. I’d definitely recommend it if you’re not using it already.
Tip number two - If you’re thinking of going into a creative degree or trying to develop some
skills that will land you some work, then you really should consider doing some short courses
to develop your skills in a particular area or build on your portfolio.
In other videos I’ve mentioned I believe everyone should take a foundation course before going into
a degree, but you really need to know what kind of a course you’re stepping into before signing up.
Some of the popular art foundation courses here in London that are tied to big universities have
really big cohorts that can actually make it difficult for students to engage with the course.
While this might be great if you know exactly what direction you’re headed in as they act as a kind
of gateway into their degree courses, the reality is you’d most likely benefit more from
smaller courses that allow you to have more time with tutors, really bond with your classmates,
and potentially even have your own studio space.
And speaking of courses with smaller cohorts, I'd like to say a big thank you to
The Royal Drawing School who have sponsored this segment of the video - The RDS is where
I completed my Fine Art foundation course and more recently the 3 month Drawing Intensive.
When I did my foundation course that one year actually ended up being better
than the whole 3 years on my degree simply because it was such a good balance between
learning actual technical skills alongside developing a personal artistic
practice - unfortunately the foundation course at the Royal Drawing School no longer exists,
but they’ve recently put together a 3 month course called the Drawing Gap,
aimed at 18 to 23 year olds - it seems to come across as a mini foundation course
and offers students the chance to curate their own term, similar in a way to the Drawing Intensive I
mentioned earlier (keep watching I’ll link the drawing intensive video at the end) .
Not only is there a massive practical aspect to the course where students learn about drawing,
painting, illustration, sculpture and print-making but there’s also a critical component where the
class will engage in group discussions, lectures and visits to contemporary galleries and museums.
The RDS is currently accepting applications for their autumn term (deadline 25th August),
but if you’re watching this video outside of this application period
I will leave links in the description for more information on the course
and how it’s structured - the course will be running on a termly basis so it’s perfect
for students who might be trying to juggle multiple different things throughout the year.
I also wouldn’t worry too much if you don’t have a strong background in the arts, courses
like this exist to help you build a portfolio and to give you a kind of creative confidence.
Number 3, if you haven’t already, establish a solid sketchbook practice - And I’m not talking
about A-level sketchbooks where you just do a study of an artists work, copy and paste
some mumbo jumbo from wikipedia and slap it together on a double page (yes I did it too).
I’m talking about really starting to observe your surroundings, taking note of the things
you are interested in in a visual format, taking small bits here and there from artists you love
and also if writing is your thing, write write write! Whether that be abstract thoughts, poetry,
jotting down important references, research, or even practical reminders - a dedicated sketchbook
practice does wonders for your work, it’s like the foundation that holds everything together.
This next tip is probably the most challenging one,
and that is if you can go and get some work experience alongside an artist or whatever
creative route you’re interested in then go go go. If you don’t know any artists or anyone who
can put you in touch with one, what you can do is simply message on social media or email
as many local artists as you can asking if they can give you some work experience - whether that
be helping as a studio assistant or cleaning their brushes, just go and see how they work.
Ideally try and contact artists whos work you’re aware of and like so you can at least show a
genuine interest in their practice, it’ll also be a more positive learning experience for you.
Number 5 kinda touches on tip number two about short courses, but I’m actually going to recommend
some very specific skills you should learn that I’ve personally found extremely useful. First is
learn how to use a DSLR camera - that’s taking pictures and also making videos.
Taking good quality pictures of your work for your social media or website is important. If
your work is presented in a professional manner it does your work more justice.
Nobody wants to see a crappy photo of a painting where the lighting or exposure
messes up the colours to the extent where it doesn’t even look like the original anymore.
Next up, learn about storytelling and video editing. I’d recommend Storyworthy by
Matthew Dicks to get a real good sense of how to structure a story, (audible is the best)
and bare in mind this isn’t about writing novels or creating scripts for cinematic masterpieces,
this is just about learning how to present information in a far more digestable way
that is interesting for an audience. As for the video editing, I use Adobe Premiere Pro,
and have learnt pretty much everything I know from Skillshare and YouTube.
I really enjoy the process content creation
and there’s a load of different ways you can present yourself and your work. The effort I’ve
put into this channel has created conversations and opportunities I wouldn’t have had if I never
started it and I’m also really excited for how I’m going to keep it going and what it might become.
Speaking of development, you might be interested in this video, where
I go through how The Drawing Intensive changed the way I work, and how you can
start pushing your work to the next level - finally here is my awkward goodbye!