NigeltheTaniwha

As someone with a DA and a YT account, I enjoy watching various artists on YT. I am surprised there still isn't an actual category dedicated to the arts in YT. There are piles if videos about the arts on that site.

But for this post, I would like to make a comparison between YT artists and YT Deviantartists. This is based on some observations of mine from watching many many hours of YT videos by artists.

I watch tutorials, I watch speed paints, I watch discussions, I watch creative videos, skits, entertainment videos. This is what YT is for.

But there is a subsection of ArtYT that does what no other artist on YT does.

Deviant YT reflects DA itself: mostly teenagers. Apparently, that means there needs to be entire YT accounts dedicated to bullying other teenagers and kids. I'm 28 and have been on and off DA for years, so maybe it's gone over my head because I'm too old, but...I don't get this 'art'? And yes, I can ask that question because nothing on their channel shows their actual art. Just hours and hours of video tearing apart and bullying some other teenager. So is this their art?

Or are these channels less about art and more like glorified drama channels?

That's cool and all. Drama is entertaining. I also watch a few drama channels myself.

But do I really want to see kids getting bullied just learning how to draw by teenagers who can barely draw themselves?

And no, calling your vids 'criticism' won't magically wash away your sins of bullying. I think you need to go to Jesus for that.

Honey, I was top in the class for painting at school. I went to polytech for art. Over half of my family is musically gifted. I've had criticism. I've given criticism. This isn't criticism. This is bullying. There is an ART (see what I did there?) to constructive criticism. But that's a whole other post. And I think blogs and vids and classes and books have done the topic of 'how to constructive criticism' to death. You can get the answer to the question on the first page of google. You have no excuse to not know the difference. At this point, it is purposeful bullying.

The blatant hypocrisy in these videos have completely turned me off DA on many occasions. I have seen this shrieking teenage drama all over DA years ago and I have deleted entire accounts over it. At 28 I am absolutely over it and am too busy trying to work on my own art to scream and shriek at someone for some tiny insignificant drivel.
And it probably puts off younger potential artists from ever trying. I have met a number of artists that have completely given up on art thanks to this bullying. Once they are finally convinced to just try practising again, I am watching their progress on their personal FB page now. They are actually getting better. This is what practice does! I would have thought these other 'artists' posting their 'criticism' on DA/YT would know how art 'magically' gets better through even a month of practice. If they don't, 1. I question what qualifies them to 'critique' art in the first place and 2. I question if they even made their own art or how much of their own 'art' is stolen. Thus, again, if their art is stolen, how can they critique anything at all, let alone art done by a 12-year-old brony who is just figuring out how to hold a pencil?
But then again I find it interesting that their art remains stagnant for years while they are screaming and shrieking at other 'bad' artists that are actually practising more than them. Because they have more time to do so. Because they didn't waste it all being snotty. IDK THAT MIGHT BE A HINT OR SOMETHING, I COULD BE WRONG. GO PRACTICE, YOU WHINEY POS!

There is critiquing a beginner to help them grow and encourage them to practice, then there is bullying an innocent kid out of drawing for their own happiness when they could possibly be the next Alex Ross or John Howe.

As for just your average garden variety YT artist, the comparison is like chalk and cheese.

In these YT vids, art is treated as a process and a journey, that can be rewarding and damn painful.

In the DA teenage 'art critic' vids, art is treated as a vehicle for the artists own bigotry. Once the views and clicks start rolling in, all from other snotty bigots, the 'artist' becomes gluttonous for more views. They start churning out the vids guaranteed to get these views: Less vids about art, more 'critiques' built for entertainment more than actually critiquing an art piece.

But the 'artist' can still get bored of this. Because apparently bullying under the guise of 'critique' isn't entertaining enough. Suddenly they are literally picking fights with other artists, over complete bullshit. (We haven't already seen that all over DA before  ) And thus the channel is now completely irrelevant to art. It is a Drama Channel. Let's call it what it is.

There is no art on your channel, besides your avatar. You're a Drama Channel.

And this is how DA becomes High School.

I seem to be posting more journals than art lately. Hopefully, this will inspire me to art and write more.

I did a Visual Arts and Media Degree at my local polytech. I went because I wanted to learn everything about art. I wanted to know how to paint and draw. I wanted to try different media.

Here are a few things I learned while I was there.

There are different kinds of paint

Something that five years of doing multiple art classes at college did not teach me. Until I got to polytech I thought there was just paint, and kids paint that you chucked water in. I got Excellence in Painting NCEA Level 3 with that knowledge. This is what the high school curriculum is teaching art students.

So I didn't get to learn this until I started polytech at 18, after doing art my entire life. So that's one important thing I learned.

Don't eat Oil Paint

One of the things they taught us was that oil paint was toxic and that we should wear gloves and wash your hands afterwards.

However, I have recently seen a few videos claiming that oil paint toxicity is a myth.

With that being said, just wash your hands after painting anyway, and don't eat paint, you disgusting grot.

Words like Phallocentrism and how to use them in a sentence

I would actually love to write some big intellectual essay or book using big long words like that. Especially since I failed most of my essays at tech because I still didn't know how to write one.

I honestly don't know what else to do with big long intellectual words, apart from using them to be a fake intellectual and I hate those people anyway.

Microsoft Powerpoint is fun. There is no point in me writing an essay

One of my favourite artistic adventures has always been making silly powerpoints, even when I was back in college. At Polytech, I had to send in an essay with it. I've already mentioned what happens when I write essays. It's best if I just give you the powerpoint. Trust me.

Abstracts are fun. There is no point in me drawing from life

My abstracts were honestly better quality than my life drawings. Though my autistic-circle-mental-breakdown may have contributed to me failing the last year and coming out with a certificate.

You can actually be a Dr. In Arts.

Which sounds awesome. I might have tried it. If I hadn't failed that Degree.

The actual business of being an artist

Some qualifications don't even teach you how to work. Which is terrible because education is disgustingly expensive and most certificates are worth less than the paper they are printed on. Very few of them will actually get you a job. But if you can find something you are interested in and they will actually teach you how to work, take it. They taught me about getting into Art Galleries, using social media and how to write a Press Release. If you want to make a buisness out of your work, you might need to know how to write a Press Release.

The certificate you receive is worth less than the paper it is printed on

Considering the amount of money you just spent on your education.

That's all for now. Was I prepared for my degree? Absolutely not. Did my certificate get me a job? It's seven years later and I don't know what a paycheck looks like. You tell me if it got me a job. Will I go back to studying art again? Probably in the future. Will I try some trade certificate first just to find me my first ever paid job at 28? Probably more likely.

Should you go to polytech for a Degree in Visual Arts and Media? Yes. If you do better than me, you are amazing. Though I recommend you don't stop there.

Should you do a trade certificate instead to guarantee paid work?

Probably. I'd recommend any qualification if you have the money and support to do it.

And finally to end that stupid debate: Art school or self-taught? Do both. Your art education does not end when you graduate.

I use my Art Journal as some kind of mixed media art process thing book.

G'day its me again.
I didn't get as much art done as I would have liked last year. So this year I will be focusing on my art more! I will be getting more practice so my art may be a bit experimental for a while.
One of my 'New Years Resolutions' is to get more serious with my art (best attempt at serious face).
I have started a new project which is to post one YT video a week, which will probably be about art or something experimental.
The first one has been started Here
I still need ideas for what to do next though.

The best of last year:

     

The worst of last year:

www.wattpad.com/story/86237956-lemuria

"Sam is your normal, average, urban, teenage boy. Except that he is a massive nerd who still managed to drop out of school and end up in some poodunk polytech with his weird Scottish flatmate and some goth chick who is obsessed with him! To add to his worries, he can't hide his tail forever and now he's just grown a pair of horns!
Now he thinks one of his classmates might be a vampire and an old friend, a six fingered giant, just told him it's time to go back home...
...to a place called Lemuria."

This will be up for free on Wattpad and FictionPress at least until the final rewrite is complete. The final will probably be self published on kindle.