The Shocking Truth About Contemporary Art Education
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The College Bubble
By Vladimir London
You’ve been told so many times by your teachers and parents that getting good grades in school can help you to get into a better college. And having a good college education will help you to get a better job, which in turn will result in a higher salary and quality of life.
I do not disagree with this sequence of events, apart from the fact that this was the way it used to be 10…20 years ago. The world is shifting very fast and contemporary art education no longer supports this staircase to success.
If you follow the path they told you to go along, there’s no guarantee you will get a better job, or in fact any good job whatsoever. This is particularly true for contemporary art education.
Who am I to make such a statement?
My name is Vladimir London and to help students like you, I founded the Drawing Academy. My art education spans 15 years and includes fine art school and two universities. I’m a fine artist and I also have an art teaching degree.
I am passionate about good quality education that allows talented students to achieve creative success in life. That is why I create educational materials and make them available for students around the globe. I’m an internationally published author of several books on the fine art topics. And also co-founder of the Web Art Academy -“How to Paint in Oil” video course, and the Drawing Academy course that presents “How to Draw” video lessons.
So, what is happening in fine art education today?
I can clearly see a new trend that developed in the USA and gradually but unquestionably is taking over all of the western world’s art education. It affects you even if you don’t live in the United States.
I will show you an example of the American educational system; however, the same forces are in place in your country.
Most American art students today have the expectation of a good quality of life and a successful artistic career simply by obtaining a college art degree. It is not necessarily the case.
Traditional, good quality art education, is replaced by the teaching system that can be summarized in just two words: “express yourself.”
How did this happen? Who benefits from this system? And what you can do about it?
Let’s have a look at how the contemporary education system works.
Today, the main objective of elementary school is to prepare a student for high school. And the main objective of high school is to prepare students for college.
In the US, there are many preparatory schools with extorted tuition fees up to $25,000per year that promise to boost the chances of a student getting into a good college.
Art students made to believe that without a top-tier art college education, they would have no chance of getting a good career in art. However, real life shows that success in art has no correlation with a college degree.
In fact, contemporary art colleges are ill suited to prepare a student for a successful art career.
Instead of teaching centuries-long traditions of classical painting and drawing, contemporary art colleges provide the narrow-minded point of view that only contemporary art has any value. Many of them are teaching worthless information that will never be used in real life.
Today, you will not find a college in the United States that has a successful fine artist as a teacher, who teach students on his or her own example:
– how to build their own successful art brands;
– how to effectively run their own art business;
– and how to manage their own art careers.
An average graduate leaves the art college with no knowledge or skills when it comes to building and managing their own creative careers. Many of graduates don’t even have sound skills to use the Internet to their full advantage when it comes to educating themselves outside the main-stream system. In addition, some art college graduates can’t even draw proficiently.
Some state colleges might offer art courses for as low as $2,200 per year. This translates into $8,800 tuition for 4 years. However, the quality of such education is not guaranteed.
The average cost of attending a private college in the US was $21,235 in 2005. This excluded the cost of text-books, art-materials, cost of living and other associated expenses. This enormous price is constantly rising. In 2010 it went up to $27,293, which is a 29% increase in just 5 years. For the 2013-2014 school year, non-profit, private colleges raised their tuition to $30,094. Including room and board, the actual cost is more like $41,000!
Providing this price stayed fixed – and we know it will rise further – a 4-year private college education would come to $164,000!
Private college tuition fees are going up 5.5% every year despite all other markets going down. The real estate market is down 26% from its peak in July 2006, DOW JONES is down 18% from October 2007; Oil is down 38% from its peak in July 2008. It looks like education is the only market on the rise regardless of the economic situation in the world.
Now, ask yourself a question. Is $164,000 a fair price for an education that does not even guarantee a successful career?
By the time, the art student graduates, not only would they not be able to pay back immense student loans, they might not even be able to get a job.
In just two years, between 2007 and 2009, 8.4 million jobs were lost in the USA. Today the unemployment figure stands at 11.3 million. That’s the entire population of the:
– British Virgin Islands
– Gibraltar
– Monaco
– Dominica
– Seychelles
– Samoa
– Maldives
– Iceland
– Bahamas
– Malta
– Luxembourg
– Cyprus
– Bahrain
– Latvia
– Qatar
– and Jamaica
… combined.
Or, this is almost the entire work-age population of Canada!
Will it get any better soon? Is the US government doing anything to save the situation? Yes, it issues treasury bonds, creating the biggest ever bond bubble. These bonds are converted into a Federal Reserve fiat currency. This currency is called the Dollar, and it’s not backed up by any real economy, or gold, or any other assets. It’s just paper – or rather electronic numbers typed on a Federal Reserve computer. And the Federal Reserve is neither Federal nor a reserve. It is not a government body at all, but a private institution owned by closed circuit of banks. It does not hold any assets to back up the very currency it is printing.
4.6 trillion dollars ($4,600,000,000,000) were printed in December 2010 to bailout banks. Due to this currency injection, 1,124,000 jobs were recovered.That’s over 4 million dollars spent per every job created!
Do you think such money would be much better spent by giving them directly to jobless people? I would love to get a 4 million gift from the US government and never work again!
The truth is, somebody will have to pay for these expenses. That will be ordinary people just like you, who will face much higher taxes and cope with a higher inflation rate in a not-so-distant future.
You don’t need a PhD in economics to realize that this money-printing strategy will not make art education any cheaper. Quite the opposite. It can only mean one thing – contemporary art college tuition and fees will continue to rise at an accelerated rate.
In the USA students borrowed:
83 billion dollars in 2005-2006
87 billion dollars in 2006-2007
94 billion dollars in 2007-2008
96 billion dollars in 2008-2009
106 billion dollars in 209-2010.
Today, the US student loan debt stands at over 1.2 trillion dollars. Comparing to the total federal debt of $16.7 trillion, it accounts for 6% of the overall national debt and is larger than all credit card debt combined.
The US government, Federal Reserve and banks were responsible for creating a real estate bubble, lending money as sub-prime mortgages to people who would not be able to repay their loans. Today, a similar story is happening with college education, where people are made to believe that having no college degree will place their future salary opportunities into jeopardy.
With the “No Child Left Behind” policy, everyone with a pulse is qualified for a massive student loan that can’t be defaulted on even if a person is bankrupt. Governments in the US and UK guarantee student loan repayments, which means that even if a person can’t pay a student loan back, it will be covered by tax-payer money – your taxes.
As mentioned before, a private college education can cost up to $164,000. A 10-year student loan for this sum would mean that a graduate would have to repay $1,367 per month for 10 years. This doesn’t include 3.8% interest rate that is destined to go up in a future, as well.
You might decide to save money and enroll in a cheaper college. Let’s examine such an option. An average student loan in the US today is $26,600. Compounding this figure at 3.8% interest for year after year using the 10-year-payback plan, the total cost of your $26,600 loan is about $38,600. Break that down by monthly payments and you are looking at about $320 per month going toward student loan payments.
With currencies around the globe rapidly losing purchasing power, following the trend dictated by the Federal Reserve dollar, more and more people will realize that having a college degree does not provide a ticket to a better future. Quite likely, you would be much better off without a college degree, and having no student loan to repay.
Those who are able to think for themselves and are passionate about their creative career, are already starting to realize that having a contemporary art college degree offers no advantage whatsoever. Apart from wasting money and time, such colleges brainwash art students, giving them “express yourself” education.
The quality of art education has slowly but surely decreased in the United States and especially in Europe during last 50 years. This is due to the persistent strategy, which was a part of the Cold War propaganda for glorifying American abstract art and devaluing European and the rest of the world’s fine art, which had been developing for many centuries. This strategy was aimed at the US geopolitical enemy – the Soviet Union, however, did much greater damage to other European cultures.
Today, art students are taught by teachers who can’t draw because they graduated 10 years ago, having learned their drawing skills from teachers who graduated 20 years ago, which in turn were taught that traditional fine art is not in fashion anymore. Their teachers were conditioned that only shocking and expressive art should be called art. Who needs drawing skills when the quality of an artwork is no longer linked to its market price?
Why is contemporary education getting more expensive?
With all the modern technologies developed in recent years, education should be getting cheaper. You can see for yourself that broad-bands, satellite communication, computers, plasma screens, cell-phones, software, data storage and so on are getting cheaper. So, why is the cost of education rising?
It has no correlation with technologies.
If, according to a free market, colleges would compete for a better and cheaper education, they would offer less expensive ways to educate students. After all, new technologies make it possible to teach over the Internet thus saving a great deal of money. It is not happening. It is not a free market. Something or somebody is preventing the system from becoming more cost efficient.
To understand the reasons, you need to ask another question – who is benefiting?
Students’ loans increase profits for banks, and banks can’t fail since the government is backing those loans. US private colleges are legally forced to raise tuition every time the government raises financial aid for students. This is due to the “90 to 10 rule,” which states that at least 10% of a private, for-profit college’s income comes from non-federal government sources. Therefore such colleges must keep raising tuition costs to stay within the 90 to 10 rule.
It is crystal clear that banks are profiting at the expense of millions. And it can only get worse for those students who are conditioned to take huge loans and then become slaves of the banks for many years to come.
So, let’s summarize.
1. Contemporary art college education is expensive. In the Western world it comes with a price tag between $20,000 and $40,000 per year at some private colleges.
2. Any art student brave or stupid enough to take a student loan will be enslaved by banks for at least 10 years and often for much longer, repaying anything between $320 to $1,300 per month for years to come.
3. The quality of contemporary art college education is laughable. Students graduate with no traditional fine art skills. Some graduates don’t even know how to hold a graphite pencil the correct way.
4. The chances of getting a good-paying job after such a college are very slim. Students will be lucky to get any job whatsoever.
5. There is little chance that the situation will get better. With trillions of dollars printed by Federal Reserve and banks looking for bigger and bigger profits from students’ debt, it is highly unlikely the situation will change for the better soon. US government is not on your side; it is covering the bankers’ backs.
What is the solution to this challenge?
If you want to receive a good quality art education, there are only two options to consider.
1. Go for a good quality, brick-and-mortar art college that provides traditional fine art education. It is not as easy as it sounds. There are only a few art colleges and universities left around the world where students can get a proper, no-nonsense, art education based on the classical traditions of fine art. These art institutions are not cheap and most likely will require relocation for three- to five years.
2. Choose an art course that can give you a solid foundation of classical art education for a very reasonable price. One such place is the Drawing Academy course, which is prepared and presented by professional fine artists and art teachers – Vladimir London and Natalie Richy.
The Drawing Art Academy is the online course that teaches solid skills of classical drawing. The academy founders and tutors created a series of video lessons, which reveal secrets of traditional drawing techniques. Academy tutors will show you, by their own example, how to draw as they create artworks right in front of your eyes from beginning to end – all the while explaining, step-by-step, everything you need to know about drawing.
Let’s see how Drawing Academy course compares to an average contemporary art college.
1. A contemporary art college will waste 4 years of your life.
The Drawing Academy course is designed to be completed in just 3 months.
2. A contemporary art college can indebt you with a student loan payment between $320 and $1,300 per month.
The full cost of the Drawing Academy course is only $297.It is less than just one monthly loan payment.
3. The Drawing Academy course provides high quality video lessons that can be enjoyed in the comfort of your home, saving you the trouble and inconvenience of relocating to a college campus for several years.
4. A contemporary art college will leave you with a student loan for over 10 years.
After completing the Drawing Academy course in 3 month, you will continue to enjoy the full life-time academy membership for free. This includes future updates and upgrades at no cost.
The Drawing Academy course delivers no-nonsense information on how to draw proficiently. It is designed for students of all ages and levels. Beginners will find this course extremely beneficial to starting their creative career, while advanced art students will benefit from the deep experience of the academy tutors and can take their drawing skills to the next level.
It is never too late to learn how to draw. Even if you haven’t drawn since childhood, you can still improve your drawing skills by discovering the traditional drawing techniques found in the Drawing Art Academy course. Drawing is just a skill, not an inborn talent. Everyone can learn how to draw, whatever their age.
Every person is creative and every creative person must be able to draw. There are no excuses! By drawing, you can express your ideas, share your feelings, and communicate with your imagination. This is one of the necessary skills every culturally developed person must have. And we can help you to achieve your creative desires!
Through the Drawing Art Academy, we develop your drawing skills in such a way that you will be able to depict anything you want, any person or object you can see or imagine.
Here is what you will get with the Drawing Art Academy course:
- Information on drawing materials, media, and tools
- How to self-assess your drawing skills
- How to handle a pencil the right way
- How to measure with a pencil from life
- 16 types of perspective
- 21 rules of perspective
- How to draw in one-point perspective
- How to draw in two-point perspective
- How to draw in three- and four-point perspective
- How to divide depth in perspective
- How to use the aerial perspective
- How to avoid mistakes in perspective
- How to use constructive drawing principles
- How to use contours in constructive drawing
- Proficient techniques of rendering tonal values
- How to develop great hatching skills
- How to draw flat geometric figures in perspective
- How to draw 3D geometric bodies in perspective
- How to intersect flat planes in drawing
- How to intersect 3D objects by flat planes
- How to intersect 3D objects with each other
- How to draw architectural details in perspective
- Drawing architecture in 1- and 2-point perspective
- 15 Elements of composition
- How to scale and compose artworks
- Golden proportions and golden figures in art
- How to draw in pen and ink
- How to draw in silverpoint
- How to draw in chalks and charcoal
- How to draw in colored pencils
- How to make collages and decorative artworks
- How to practice calligraphy
- How to make still life artworks
- How to draw leaves and flowers
- How to draw trees and landscapes
- How to draw different animals and birds
- How to draw a human skull
- Anatomy of a human head
- Proportions of a human face
- How to draw eyes, mouth, ears, nose, and mouth
- Portrait drawing rules
- How to draw a human head
- How to draw full-face and profile portraits
- How to draw portraits in the three-quarters view
- How to draw, children, female and male portraits
- How to draw hair and different hairstyles
- How to draw portraits in colored pencil
- How to draw portraits in silver point
- How to sketch in the Old Masters style
- How to draw portraits in perspective
- Skeletal construction of a human body
- Muscular anatomy for artists
- Proportions of a human body
- Golden proportions in figure drawing
- How to draw hands, arms, legs, knees, and feet
- How to draw the shoulder girdle and neck
- How to draw ribcage and pelvis
- How to draw a torso using proportions and anatomy
- How to draw a body using proportions and anatomy
- How to use contours in figure drawing
- How to draw male and female figures
- How to sketch figures in various poses
- How to draw models from life
- How to draw realistic figures from imagination
- How to draw human figures in motion
- Unique drawing techniques that are not taught anywhere else
When it comes to the course cost, consider this.
A contemporary art education will cost you at least $20,000 and take 4 years to complete without any guarantee that you will learn to draw the right way.
Through the Drawing Art Academy, you will discover time-proven, traditional drawing techniques that will give you necessary knowledge and practical advice, so you can discover how to draw skilfully from the comfort of your own home.
The value of the course is $12,000 (120 videos at $100 each). However, you can get it for an incredible low fee of only $297 for the complete course. This is less than the cost of only three videos!
Enroll in the Drawing Academy Course
Pay once - Enjoy forever!
Only $297
I had some trainings before but I never came across a place or a person who had enough to teach me how to draw professionally. I wanted someone to teach me how I can express my own feeling, portray my inner world and show it to the world. I am very happy that Drawing Academy provides such high quality education. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
I am a visual learner, (an artist who is visual learner gasp what a shock, right?) and i have always dreamed of having a personal teacher who i could gain knowledge of the drawing technique of the old masters, then apply them too personal and other styles. Just watching another artist drawing teaches me years beyond anything else, i never went to art college because i was too paranoid of being forced to learn one way and one way only there for losing any seance of self inspirational touches i would want to change or evolve with. The dream of wanting to learn so deeply of skills though experimentation and visual learning in a traditional style of old masters is what i want most from Drawing Academy
a friend made a comment on facebook and I thought it looked interesting so I got the Drawing Academy. Very happy
This is a great website with tutorials where I can continue learning classical drawing for a reasonable monthly fee. I’m currently taking classes at an atelier but it is only once a week and I’m so glad that I can use Drawing Academy at any time I want to watch how to draw videos {tutorilas) in my free time to strengthen my drawing skills.
I am italian and I don’t understand very well english spoken, so I really like texts below every video on this website. In this way I can hear and read the lesson when the teacher speak and draw, so I understand very well what the teacher says.
I want to find professional drawing techniques and see every secret to make a good artwork. Is Drawing Academy good for that?
I am an student. I live in Kuwait. I want to develop my skills in art so that i could satisfy my dream. I have a best future ahead in art.
I’m a student here, really like step by step video lessons of fine art drawing technique and tips regarding materials, etc.
yes, i like the course too, it gives complete detailed videos on drawing from scratch to the end
What I like the most is that Drawing Academy gives good explanations and examples with the reasons why things are done a certain way.
I subscribed for the Drawing course to improve my insight into classical arts and also how to work with drawing materials, to help me with my artistic views on life and the nature of all things. I have concepts in my mind that I want to bring to the mediums I choose to draw in!!
I have always wanted to learn the essential techniques of drawing to achieve the life my drawings are sadly lacking. In my country (Venezuela) academy’s situation is not the best, and the few institutes of illustration are really expensive. Than is why I enrolled to the Drawing Academy. It has such comprehensive list of drawing lessons and is really cheap comparing to our colleges.
Drawing Academy provides Good and Clear Tutorials where I can Learn Step by Step about drawing art; definitely recommend it to anyone who is interested in learning how to draw
The Academy site has a detail outline on the way it will support you through teachings on how to draw. I found it very informative
I’m here to improve the ability to increase my skills in drawing and learn art skills that will carry over to other media too, like color and composition skills.
I want to find some tips and advice that guide me to be an artist who can draw a human body without referring to a model. further I hope to find some artistic techniques by using uncommon materials, for instance drawing by coffee on a newspaper. In fact, I wish to find some tips that make me unique.
What I found was more than I was expecting. It improved all areas of my artistic skills. But in the main, I was looking in improving my knowledge in drawing techniques, as I am very new to art.
I am an artist. For years I have been frustrated by art being taught in schools and universities because of the insistence of teaching contemporary art. This no-skill-is-required approach has left me very distressed. I started searching on the web for genuine art classes crafted in the footsteps of the masters and I came across Drawing Academy. What a breath of fresh air! I’ve always asked the question, why is it that the world with all our technological development has not produced prolific masters like Leonardo or Michelangelo in modern times. For me it seems the answer is our education system and the art ecosystem. I am hoping that with dedication and your guidance I can be a great artist.
I am going for my art education certification and did not have the proper drawing teachers in college to be as skilled as I should. Although I have my BFA I do not have the drawing skills to teach.
My teacher certification courses are not even art related. Just state standards and the process of teaching itself. I am afraid I won’t even have the drawing skills necessary for the classroom! I really need this course to provide a high quality ART education for my students
I am very glad and blessed for such a helpful and high quality fine arts education that provides classical and traditional techniques, especially by revealing the lost way of traditional techniques of the old masters, it is so very important. That’s why I enrolled in the academy.
Thank you so much Vladimir London and Natalie Richie
This academy is a wonderful alternative for art students and I believe that the education in art must start with a good knowledge of artistic drawing … I believe that it should be compulsory to have a basic artistic classical education. This course is very useful.
I am a botanical illustrator/ painter. This course is exceptional I think. Good drawing skills are essential for my sort of Art. It is imperative to produce faithful, authentic illustrations and paintings of your chosen plant/ flower and botanical parts. I wish this course had been available years ago. I have learnt so much already . Everything about this course, videos, personal talks by Vladimir, access to helpful art books, materials, personal tutoring, questions and answers, and.life-time membership is true value in every way, particularly regarding the cost of the course. I greatly appreciate this wonderful opportunity. Thank you.