What I'm Un-learning from Art School

what's it take to be a "real" artist?

I didn’t know I’d broken a rule until the critique began.

I was an 18 year old sophomore in Illustration 101 and the focus that week was watercolor. I had chosen a resource photo of a dilapidated cabin in the middle of a quiet field. The scene was snowy, quiet and overcast with patches of dead grass peeking through the snow. To capture it the best way I could sense, I had layered in gentle strokes of white paint. It felt necessary because how else do you give snow that built-up illusion without paint itself? I hadn’t thought much about it other than wanting to capture the landscape as best I could (watercolor was never my preference but I wanted to do well).

So when it came time for the critique, I was completely surprised at the response from my Professor.

“White Paint?” He said, raising an eyebrow.

I just nodded, not quite understanding what he was getting at, but feeling my heart sink in that way that screams “you messed something up that could have been avoided.”