One of the biggest frustration for me sometimes is that I did not study illustration. Of course, I had no idea that such a subject existed, or that my random doodling every hour of the day when I was a wee one actually meant something. It’s not the paper chase that I’m concerned about, no, I can deal with that. What I obsess over is the lack of good teachers who give you feedback and let you learn more about yourself by doing, instead of rote learning.
I’ve been told by many teachers during my university days over here (which in my opinion are not even qualified to teach) that I should get with the program and just be like everyone else and stop asking questions. Heck, they even want us to write by using the same style of handwriting. Of course, often speaking out and challenging the thoughts of these “teachers” often earned me scores of B-, grades that I do not care about because I do not appreciate their standards at all anyway. So I am awed by the openess of teaching institutions that let the mind of the students wander.
In some ways, I do get a thrill out of reading Command & Save, the Portland State Graphic Design blog headed by the awesome Kate Bingaman-Burt. I sometimes imagine I am a student and soak all the wonderful information in — I particularly like their segment on illustrators like Meg Hunt and Ward Jenkins called “How They Do It”.
There’s also a good list of books to read (for students of the course), and so it’s a good resource overall on the subject. I wish the classes I attended before were this fun!
