[Ashgan]

it all depends on your teacher, man. if he/she is so narrow-minded, then do what they tell you but try and do it so you practice some stuff that would be useful for your fantasy art. if the teacher tells you to draw some geometrical composition, you do it in your unique style, fool around with shading, do some transparency maybe, even use your favored fantasy-drawing technique (pastels, ecoline, markers?). it will all help, if indirectly, to enhance your skill in illustrating fantasy. and wait till you finish high-school. then you can go to any art-college or just take some art-classes outside normal school, whatever, and do the stuff you like.
in my GCSE art class i got an assignment to draw a cover for a book, it had to have a lot of ornaments, graphics and stuff like that, you know. i drew a huge, red dragon with a mountain in the background and for the ornaments i did some rune-like things in the frame and on the margins... it was cool. and i explained to my teacher that it was a fantasy book i did a cover for.

[Pirate Jenn]

Ashgan's got a good point.

There are lots of art-snobs out there (which refers to writing, music, and dance as well). I think that if we want to change the opinion of the contemporary scene, we need to learn what we can from the Great modern artists (which, likely, we won't always encounter in art classes) so that we can gain the skills to enter a real dialogue with them.
;) Whatever that means!

Anyhow, whatever dicipline we study in a formal (college) setting can always be applicable to our art. I used to resent having various Forms imposed on me, but it's become a kind of freedom. In form, with rules, you can push the bounds of our (sadly) compartmentalized and marginalized genre. Fantasy can become symbol when used in contemporary art--it starts to be metaphor instead of illustration. I dunno. I just think it's interesting to play around "using" their rules and subverting the system at the same time.

I can never remember the guy's name...but there was this German artist that bridged between Medieval art and Renaissance art (Gibratto? Gillatto? One of you probably knows): between icon-stylized art and realism. He did an altarpiece for a church (with some of the freakiest looking creatures I've seen--gotta love oldschool German art). His style was still in the iconographic form, but he changed everything: the icons made eye contact with the viewer and with each other, they had emotion on their characature faces. He used the form to push the form...

That was nice and rambly.
I dunno. I stink at art--I only draw with charcoal because I can get stinkin filthy and I love being messy. :):):)
-pj

[Kirby]

Edmund Dulac and Arthur Rackham were great illustrators, in the late 1800's - well worth a look - and I would definitely call their work "art". The care! The detail! The use of colour and composition!

If teachers are having trouble with the idea of fantasy art being relevant to real life inspiration, well dang, these "illustrators" must have had real people as reference, I'm sure.
Norman Rockwell, there's another famous illustrator who cannot be dismissed as a "non artist".

Of course it's art. It's painted to make an image of something, innit? ;) I think it's only "not" art, if the artist themself doesn't care about it.

[Rumfuddle]

I agree that Fantasy art ought to be studied along with any other style, but not if critical standards are to be thrown out the window just because it's all subjective anyway and really anything goes just so long as you like it.
Fantasy art studied for A-Levels would, for example, admire Frank Frazetta's splendid technique while perhaps questioning the emotional range or depth of his pictures. It would mean wondering intelligently about those unreal, muscular women of his and so on. The brothers Hildebrandt would have to be held up for comparison with, for example, painters of the 19th century Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.
Rarely have genres been so consistently judged by their worst examples ( I'm paraphrasing someone here, can't remember who... ) as has been the case with SF and Fantasy, but an awful lot of Fantasy art out there is quite simply paint by numbers tripe.
This may all seem like pretentious hair-splitting, but really ; if you want academic "respectability" you've got to play by at least some of the rules.
Oh, as regards abstract art. I love some abstract art, especially work I've seen in the original ( 1950's Abstract expressionists for example). I also love alot of Fantasy and SF art, especially work on book covers . John Howe is a quiet genius. Liking one doesn't mean having to hate the other.
About learning how to draw. I've just finished three years of Illustration at Art school. I believe that in 95% of cases you need to learn the nuts and bolts, you need to learn how to draw. Then you can spend the rest of your life improving. I know because I was a late starter and can compare my pre-training efforts with what I'm able to accomplish now.

[shadowgirl]

cheat at it like I did... I graduated from a conceptual art school.. they HATED fantasy artwork or illustration.. thought it wasn't real.

So I made my 'ideas' based off of storytelling and myths and worked BS about it.. and created images.

and the teachers were okay with it.. they weren't overly happy, but I got away with it.. and I sold the most work out of the graduating class in the painting section (everyone else did those splatter paintings or scribbles..)

it IS fustrating.. but take what you can from the classes you do take, and merge it into your own fantasy work.. it'll make it more interesting then the typcial dragon sitting on a castle..

[Princess of Darkness]

Yes yes,YES!! Wow. Thanks so much you guys - it is so great to hear people say things like that!! I love most types of art, and i don't have any particular style, but when it comes to wanting to paint the images in my head i always feel discouraged. Now i will be as free as i want to be. Thankyou so much for making me feel less lonely. xxxxxxx

[Pamela]

Originally posted by Princess of Darkness
WHY???!!! Yet again my art teachers have told me that i cannot study "Fantasy Art" for my A-Level Art course.

If anyone is having problems like this - ask if you can do a study on folklore and mythology art. This is where the roots of all fantasy lie.

Hope this is helpful:)

[Kirby]

Sneaky rephrasing!! I like it :)

[Pamela]

Thank you Tblue:D

[someguy]

Hey Prince of D!

Well, this thread just ruined a perfectly good day! Now I am furious at the small-minded little s&$% of an Art Teacher.

For the record, I am not artistic at all, do not draw or paint, and am not very cultural.

But I despise such small mindedness, ESPECIALLY coming from teachers. Normal people can be as small-minded as they want, but teachers have NO business being that way. This is not math, where 2+2=4, QED. So, consider the follwing course of action.

1. Approach your teacher again. Be VERY mature and well-spoken, explain your love of the subject matter, and at no time lose your temper and composure. It might make you feel good, but it wont help.

2. If that doesnt work, go over his/her head. Go to the principal or headmaster, state your case very clearly and maturely again. See if that works.

3. No luck, go to the local school board, local government or what not and file a complaint. If that doesnt work, SUE THEM!!! Someone has to fight against this kind of crap.

You would need very supportive parents. Also, to fight the system is a very, very hard to go. It will exhaust you. But if you feel it is worth it man....

Please let us know how things work out,

Someguy