Not many of us have the luxury of going to a top art school and learning how to draw and paint in person. If you are like me and do not have this luxury, then you have the added challenge of being a self-taught artist (as if learning art was not hard enough).

There is nothing glamorous about being a self-taught artist. In a perfect world, I would love to be taught by some of the great masters of drawing and painting at a top school.

On the flip side however, I would prefer to be a self-taught artist over going to an art school which does not teach art as if it were a trainable skill.

As a self-taught artist, you will have a tough but rewarding road ahead. You will not have the structure or guidance provided by a top art school, however, you will have the freedom to learn how you please.

If you are disciplined, then you can achieve anything as a self-taught artist that a trained artist could achieve. In fact, formal art training can be restrictive to the learning of some artists, who may be better suited to the self-taught path.

Some of the great masters of painting were self-taught, including:

Albert Dorne - mostly self-taught.

Vincent van Gogh - studied art briefly at the Antwerp Academy, but this had little influence on his approach to painting.

Paul Gauguin - was a sailor and stockbroker before he began painting.

Charles M. Russell - no training at all.

James McNeill Whistler - mostly self-taught.

Winslow Homer - no formal art training.