Ask HN: How do I get into art? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: How do I get into art?

I have very little exposure to art. Art is a completely untapped field which I'm sure I'm missing out on. I've heard that stepping outside of STEM and appreciating other fields is a good idea.

How would you recommend for me to take a step out of STEM and get a taste of the artsy realm in life? I don't know what I don't know.

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If you're interested in creating and, specifically, drawing, I cannot recommend https://drawabox.com/ highly enough. I would describe it as a "Learn X the Hard Way" programming book, but for drawing. If you say "I can't even draw a straight line," you're in luck because it starts with exercises around drawing a straight line. If you want, there's a reddit community where you can get feedback on your from either the crowd or the creator of drawabox, but that's totally optional.

About 5 years ago I was looking to get back into drawing - a hobby I'd enjoyed in grade school, but more or less dropped for a decade and a half. I tried the "just start sketching" advice a few times, but my lack of skill made it less than fun: the results were so bad that it discouraged me. Working through Drawabox got me over that skill hump where I could draw things that I considered at least ok. That made me enjoy drawing things enough to keep doing it for fun and, as a result, keep improving.

Just to give another perspective, Drawabox does seem to be good but it is exceptionally hard work and at times needs an awful lot of discipline as some of the exercises can require some real willpower to get through - although it is all with good reason to lay some very strong foundations.

However, I could see how somebody who is just looking at if they want to get into art could be put off by it - I was in the same place as you a few years back and it did put me off.

I would suggest perhaps looking at the CTRL+Paint website and follow his drawing fundamentals series of videos... if you get hooked you can always then come back to Drawabox to knock out any bad habits.

That's certainly fair! I'd describe the Drawabox exercises as... maybe not hard, but not exciting? I mean, it's pretty much "do these things => get better." They're not difficult, but there's a bunch of them and some are more interesting than others. Maybe one might describe it as "hard like dieting" vs "hard like math." :)

I'd say DrawABox is good for someone who's decided they want to make a solid go at learning to draw, rather than someone who's just testing the waters. I could definitely see the latter being put off by it!

Seconding 'drawabox', a great intro course that teaches sound fundamental skills.

Don't give drawabox any money. Dude is a huge scumbag. Give your money to proko or someone else.

Do you have any links or anything to support that? He's seemed pretty nice and supportive in the interactions I've seen. Given that you apparently registered an account just to shit-talk him, your word alone is... less than persuasive.

Not exactly clear from your post if you're interested in making art or just appreciating it. I feel like making art is definitely a good way to learn how to appreciate it, as you will uncover how hard making art is and you will train your eyes to spot details. You'll learn to see signs of quality and cool techniques that will enable you to appreciate more works.

I'm a programmer trying to become a better artist, specifically with drawing. I've seen all kinds of strategies about how to do that, but the one suggestion I've seen that is repeated by everyone is do the thing regularly. (Note that I specifically didn't say 'practice' regularly, since often practice and leisurely drawing/painting/etc. are disjoint. You're in this for the long term so you don't want to burn out by losing sight of what about it brings you joy)

I actually run a small daily art club online on a website I made called Streak Club. If you're interested in having a little space to keep track of your progress then I'd recommend giving it a shot: https://streak.club/s/8/daily-art-club

As an appreciator or as a creator? Here's some good first steps either way:

- Go to museums, especially exhibits you're not familiar with.

- Get a sketchbook and draw/doodle. Don't worry about what you're drawing or if it's any good, just fill up paper. Don't think too hard about it. Fill up at least one sketchbook before you watch any "how to draw" books.

- Watch some online humanities and art history videos on youtube. Look up stuff you're wondering like "why do people like art that looks like a 5 year old could make it" or "is a banana taped to a wall really art" (or whatever you wonder about). You might not agree with the presenters but at least you'll understand more where they're coming from. Or learn about particular periods in art history that you think are interesting.

- Make some found art, next time you're throwing away something like a chair or a cardboard box, take it apart and turn it into a sculpture, paint it, and THEN throw it away.

- Look for public art (sanctioned art or unsanctioned street art) in your area. Find some interesting pieces and make a trip to see/photograph them in person. What's different about seeing them in person versus seeing pictures of them? Think about what effort would go into creating them.

- Read some poetry. You can start with someone like Brian Bilson who is pretty accesable.

You won't get into art unless you get something out of it, so I would say that the 0th piece of advice is: if you aren't getting anything out of a piece of art, leave it alone for now.

Why? Because you aren't under any obligation to force yourself to 'get it', and you can always come back to it later, when it might make sense. Or not.

This does not mean you shouldn't step outside your comfort zone, or challenge yourself, or anything like that. What I mean is, people bash their heads against this stuff, and it does no good. Just step away, accept another challenge, and keep going.

In terms of a specific source: I have been reading Arts & Letters Daily for something like 25 years (!), it's a great aggregator of news and stories you can use to discover things and branch out from there.

https://www.aldaily.com/

One way to appreciate art is to try to make it yourself.

This book is an excellent way to try: https://archive.org/details/Keys_to_Drawing/mode/2up

Another popular book is "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain".

Also highly recommend https://www.proko.com/ (particularly "Figure Drawing Fundamentals") and https://drawabox.com/. I didn't realize how much structure drawing has, and both of those describe it in a way that's good for my right-brain. I'll never be a great artist, but it's still fun to draw!

I never tried "structured" drawing before. I think it's a sort of different skill. But I think it's also how you really start to unlock the ability to draw from imagination (without a reference).

Drawing from sight will moreso change the way you view the world (in terms of light and shadow and the shapes those make). Similar to photography.

Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain is a life-changing classic. I made more progress in around 40 hours of work than I would have dreamed possible. Look at the reviews on Amazon; those are legit and consistent with my own experience. After spending a few weeks with this I literally see the world differently.

One thing that I was shocked by is how mentally taxing it is to sit down and draw for X minutes.

It's like meditation. Extremely hard work. Makes you appreciate an artist that can draw / paint a subject for hours at a time.

The book I linked was technically what I read after DOTRSOTB, but I found it to be similar nonetheless.

If you want an introduction to the history of visual art E. H. Gombrich's The Story of Art is the classic text and takes you up to about the 1990s.

Apart from that - go to a decent gallery, find a theatre production that looks interesting, go to a classical concert, contemporary dance performance or ballet, see a jazz band. Find a friend to share the joy / boredom with. Bonus points if they know something about what you're going to.

Honestly the best thing is just to explore and give yourself licence to like things that aren't fashionable and dislike things that are.

You may start here: Ways of Seeing, John Berger

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pDE4VX_9Kk

Seconded, Ways of Seeing is a fantastic way for someone to spark an interest in Art.

For me, for modern/abstract stuff at least, it took a lot of looking at it and not getting it, but being around people who were into it. Now I describe the experience as almost meditative/introspective: I look at the art, let it fill my field of view, try to change how I'm looking at it (especially for things with any kind of 3D effect/visual cues, closing one eye can make a huge change), and just kind of introspect.

But also, different people like different things. I would echo others and say go see some design, some formalistic old-masters stuff, some photography, some decorative arts, some sculpture, some theater, some street art, some Burner stuff, the list goes on.

For some people, provenance and the story of how something was made is a huge part of the art; some people don't care much at all. So you might try learning some history; maybe read a book about Basquiat, listen to a podcast about Picasso, or a documentary about Dali. Then go see the art. My personal aesthetic does not run into the caring-about-the-story-behind-the-art very much, but I do get it a little bit -- I saw an exhibit of Warhol photographs of famous people at the Whitney recently and, while the photographs are fine technically, what really makes the experience is imagining the very-different-to-mine life that Warhol must have been living to be running in these circles; it's almost a nice way to let oneself daydream about being famous.

I saw, but have not yet listened to, an NPR Life Kit podcast about this topic: https://www.npr.org/2023/01/05/1147239071/dont-get-art-you-m... . Generally I like Life Kit although it can be hit or miss. So maybe some inspiration can be had there.

Finally, avoid any normative thoughts that you should like art (or a particular kind of art); not only is this nonsense, it's likely to make it harder to appreciate the art, rather than easier!

Start exposing yourself to as much art as possible. If you lucky to live in a major city, visit the major museums and see what interests you. Go to art museums when you travel. Sign up for newsletters about art events in your area. Try to make friends with a few artists-- they will also keep you in the loop and expose you to new ideas.

Once you find an area of art you identify with, try to find a class or workshop. Even if you take an art class in an unrelated field, the process of creating art, getting feedback, critiquing the work of others, etc, will help you.

Just keep in mind art can literally be anything. Had I not taken a workshop in film scanning, I never would have known that you can make art with sandwiches and scanners: https://scanwiches.com

I am not an artist, but I also recently realized why I am not an artist.

Creating a visual piece of art involves three processes.

1) Visualize what you want the final piece to resemble and amend that mental image until you consider the project finished. This involves framing, aspect ratio, and other compositional techniques.

2) Transpose 3D into 2D using highlights and shadows.

3) Render your vision using appropriate materials and techniques.

We learn how to render but not emphasis is on the first two parts. They are usually chalked up to "innate talent".

Photography enables you to skip the rendering process and focus on the first two. I learned more about how to render what I envisioned after studying highlights and shadows in my photographs.

Therefore, start taking pictures in the art style you found interesting in other art forms.

Do you want to explore the world of art, or do you want to _make_ art? Or both?

In art school, I studied art history and the philosophy of art. In addition, I took practical classes on:

* Sculpture

* Life drawing

* Painting

* Forging

* Ceramics

* Digital animation

* Film

* Photography

If you want to get started appreciating art, get a short book on art history with lots of pictures and less text from the library.

Then, if you want to also get started making art, see if your local community college or art collective has public art classes. Life drawing, in particular, is important if you want to develop art skill broadly. Otherwise just dabble and see what feels fun and interesting.

Background: I am a software eng for pay and oil painter by hobby.

Been painting about six years now. My advice? Just “do it.”

If that means you nerd about oils and easels and tools.. cool! If that means you start out drawing a box (drawabox.com) and with pencil? Cool!

Art is never “a failure.” Just remind yourself it’s all healthy and learning.

When you want to relax with some videos - I fell in love with anything on the youtube channel “Perspective” but especially any docu created by the lovely chap, Waldemar Januszczak.

I am assuming by "art" you mean visual art.

Proper art curation is like writing a good research paper, except everything is in space instead of on paper. If you enjoy reading / writing research papers, then most likely you will enjoy well-curated exhibitions as well.

Of course, good exhibitions are not everywhere, but are limited to a handful of big cities. As the saying goes, where there is money there is art. You will have to come to these places and see.

Pick up the book "Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art" by Scott McCloud. It's basically a comic book about not just comics, but other forms of media as well since comics share a lot of traits with images, film, and other forms of art. I have read it cover to cover countless times, and each time I had something new to take away from it:

http://mm12.johncaserta.info/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Unde...

There are also a lot of artists who combine technology and art in various ways. Hito Steyerl has been doing this for many years through video and art installations. I suggest checking out her 2013 short film "How Not to be Seen: A Fucking Didactic Educational .MOV File":

https://www.artforum.com/video/hito-steyerl-how-not-to-be-se...

Have you considered trying to make some art instead of asking this question on a message board full of STEM folks?

Also, "art" is such a broad term that it's hard to even know what you're asking. This would be like someone saying "How do I get into athletics?" Well, what kind of athletics? There are hundreds of ways to be athletic. And the answer would be similar: pick a sport/activity and try it.

I recommend studying some art history. Learning when and why art happened helps it make sense. A lot of art over history is either a result of the culture or a reaction to other art. A classic example of this is Impressionism and the way it was a reaction to the Salon and the traditional ways of the time.

I don't have any resource recommendations there. I learned art history in a high school AP class and it was probably the class whose content stuck with me the most. And the exam was quite fun (some questions were literally "given this artwork, when and where do you think it was made and why?").

And go to museums! I was lucky enough to grow up in Chicagoland, so I could go to the Art Institute there as I was studying art history and afterwards.

Also check out local art and artists. Some places will have "art walks" where neighborhoods set up exhibits and galleries and you can walk around and check stuff out and sometimes even talk to the artist.

"Art" in general is hugely broad. Everything can be art if you make it so. Art can be small and ephemeral and cute and in between the lines as much as it can be finished pieces.

I recommend making art. This can be anything. The most recent thing I've gotten into is making papercraft greeting cards for family members by cutting out different shapes and colors and gluing them. It's hard work! But it's been fun iterating on my process (light table, sketching, mocking up in Krita and printing the layers in a way I can then transfer to real paper).

Find artists whose art speaks to you. They can visual artists, writers, or even rock musicians. Find interviews where they talk about art. Read their wikipedia and other sources to learn about their lives. Where the art comes from will make more sense.

Give yourself permission to change your hair and clothes and living space. Wear jewelry if you don't normally. Grow your hair out or cut it short if you want to. Try different glasses frames. Decorate your desk. Use fun stickers in your notebooks. This sounds like a non sequitur but this sort of thing is artistic thinking and when you examine many artists you'll notice they put a lot of care into little things.

I took a Philosophy of Art class in college and it exposed me to a lot of meta-thinking about art. A lot of the common STEM-minded complaints about art ("anyone can do it" "it's just because they say it's art" etc) are covered

for a long time i had no background or appreciation of art in any way

because i decided to pick up metal fabrication, I ended up with a bunch of artists.

i'm sure there is lots of value of studying art history. obviously looking at art too, although i spent a couple decades trying.

trying to do art, and participating the process with professional artists is a great way to start to understand whats going on. plus 1 on that.

i will admit thats caused me to develop more of a taste for lowbrow local art than the classics, but i'm ok w/ that

It is hard to sit down and start, so I usually trick myself with: 'I will just draw one line today and the rest can follow tomorrow'. Once you get going is always more than one line (I'm an amateur Blender user, so 2 lines are already a polygon). This stuck with me (volume, not 'quality'); https://www.blenderguru.com/articles/7-habits-highly-effecti... p.s. And after N lines * N completed pictures you will automagically know what you want. In my case certain image will form (or an idea) - this could take days/weeks, this are usually small and stupid, but that doesn't prevent me from realization (or at least an attempt) - it's all just for /me.

This was in HN yesterday. It has tips in how to start:

https://www.npr.org/2019/12/30/792439555/making-art-is-good-...

To expose yourself to art, a great first step is to go to a local museum and ask for a tour. The curator would love to discuss the finer details of the work with you, and depending on the museum, you'll probably see a big span in styles, from ancient to contemporary.

You can ask the curator about events at the museum and also look for local galleries and gallery openings - the gallery openings tend towards contemporary art which is only one specific slice of art, though.

To get in touch with your local art "scene", you can also look at local live events, like concerts, dance or live theater. These might be harder to find because in some places, it's hard to find a venue for independent live art like this. These are mostly advertised via word of mouth, hard to find websites or flyers.

For modern stuff, I recommend going through lists of films, albums, and books considered "the greatest", and then finding analyses and commentaries of the works.

[1] https://taylor.town/eschew-the-new

Many schools that have art programs (as well as specialty art schools) offer online coursework in making and appreciating art. A very valuable aspect of these is the conversations with others who share your interest, you'll learn a lot from these discussions. Browsing online libraries about art and online galleries also good, but putting yourself in a place where you are directly, physically engaged with the art (museum, gallery, a local artist) really makes a difference in your perception of the work and what you bring to it. AI/ML generated work is fascinating, but may be exploitative of the artists that train the model, so maybe better to understand the labor involved with creating the training data for those models at least to start.

I'm a programmer and I also like art. My exposure to it, besides high school, has been going to exhibits, reading books and also practicing some photography myself. I think a good idea is start going to exhibits of both famous and unknown authors (this can be strange but also usually free, at least in Europe). You can then have an idea of what you can do yourself if that's your inclination. Also reading books by artists is a good idea, for instance Kandinskij was both a great artist and great writer about art.

Loosely speaking, art is a very vague and ambiguous context dependent grammar. Once you learn its syntax you can express a lot.

Just like any other hobby: Start following instagram artists you like. From there, start looking at their workflows and tutorials on YouTube. Find some subreddits for art/music/whatever that you like.

Do you you want to make art yourself, or experience art that's been made?

I have an art degree but I've learned more on my own than I ever learned in school. Youtube is a good resource if you want to get hands on. The "PaintCoach" channel is pretty fantastic if you want to give oil painting a shot. His videos break down the process from absolute basics and a minimum of materials are required. I'm not associated with this channel in any way.

https://www.youtube.com/@paintcoach

Go to an art gallery and look at the art. See what you find beautiful, see what you find boring and see what you dislike. Don’t worry about understanding its deeper meaning - just see how you react. If you find something you like, google the artist and see what words get used in relation to their art, and google those terms to find other artists that cover similar ground. Feel your way forward based on what gives you joy, and don’t worry about what other people think: your personal reaction to art is all that counts.

expose yourself to, and seek out, lots of music, poetry, sculpture, photography, ballet, etc. when you find something that you think is cool, ask yourself what it is about it that you like. the colors? the craftsmanship? the beat? use that to guide further explorations, rinse and repeat.

someday, you'll see/hear/read/touch something that makes you feel something that you don't even have the words to express. congrats: you've just discovered your appreciation of Art with a capital a

Simon Shama showed me how to appreciated art by explaining what he sees in it. His feelings are entirely subjective, which means my experience of a work of art is no more or less valid than anyone else's, including the artists own. This liberated me to enjoy art by enjoying the feelings and thoughts that arose in me for certain works.

The most powerful closing ever made by Simon Shama

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rww2gsXc-xE

If architecture sounds appealing, try this History of Architecture course. It briefly touches on history of art and other interesting related subjects. After watching it, I ended up watching a lot of other art related educational content, but none that I liked as much as this.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaLOVNqqD-2HUsGTv_GQ3opJo...

If you're already past a beginner level and need to practice a lot, a good way is to actually use AI generators. Like you would do still life, paint things you see, or copy other artwork, you can copy and/or modify generative works. That way you can actually draw things much closer to your creative interest. It can help get ideas out of your head faster.

But honestly, the way to get better at art is to do a bunch of art. It's like math, it's all about the practice.

Hard disagree. AI is a good tool for artists who already know how to draw, it is a terrible tool for beginners. It's like telling someone who wants to learn spanish to just use google translate.

A beginner needs to practice raw fundamentals of the craft. They need to train their 'eye' for art so that they can see both technical and creative flaws and avoid them. Having an AI do it for you is a recipe for stagnation.

I totally agree about practice however. Draw/sculpt/paint every day and in a year or so you will be far more capable of realizing what you imagine.

> it is a terrible tool for beginners

>> If you're already past a beginner level and need to practice a lot

I think we might be in agreement.

So let me ask you adversaryIdiot, what type of art are you interested in trying? If I had to give advice, I would try it on the side outside of your job if you have one? If you are still a student, I suggest doing art when you have some free time. Not knowing what you don't no is no problem. You may have to try a couple different mediums until you find what you are looking for. Personally, I didn't get into drawing until I finished university.

as others have already stated, art history is a pretty wonderful subject and in the pre-modern era was just as much a pursuit of science, technology & esoterica as it was aesthetics. there are also many fascinating characters

>http://historyonfirepodcast.com/episodes/2016/8/15/episode-1...

if you want to learn drawing i would recommend looking into peter han's dynamic sketching courses and scott robertson's how to draw/how to render books.

>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaif0PpNMas&list=PLQ9CsVTcIG...

for painting, richard schmid's alla prima is probably the best starting place. i also think the preface alone is something every aspiring artist would greatly benefit from reading. plein air and figure drawing sessions are a very good way to dive into your local art scene on top of being one of the best ways to learn. for a mix of all the above http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com

i would also be remiss not to mention

https://www.youtube.com/@ArchipelDocumentaries/videos

which has been putting out tons of great interviews with contemporary japanese artists

Look for a community to join. This adds an entirely new layer of meaning that you'll miss out on otherwise.

Art and Illusion by E.H. Gombrich feels like a text that someone in STEM might appreciate when it comes to investigating art — it's a bit of a dense journey through the development of art throughout history and how people perceive and experience it.

first step is to be ready for and accept the feeling of failure.

let yourself fail LOTS. once you get your mind around that just start doing it... do it and fail then do it again and fail and keep that up at some point someone will say "thats amazing" and you'll still think "nah it sucks, i failed again" but this is how it works. keep at it!

Perhaps an overly simplistic view but heres my take on it:

"You get into STEM by studying, you get into art by doing"

Im a software engineer by trade, Ive also done a bit of hardware work at another time in my life. I consider my self an engineer both in what I enjoy and what I do professionally. However I also play a half a dozen instruments, shoot process and print wet film, enjoy analog audio recording process' and have done a lot of live sound work for theater productions over the years. I fancy my self a half decent carpenter and have built at least one boat that floats and is useable. People have described me as "artistic" but you will have to take their word for it.

Anyway... Some thoughts in no particular order:

- Art, FWIW is sometimes about being shameless to try and create something you like

- I photograph what I enjoy, some times other people like my photographs, sometimes they don't many hang in my residence, some hang in others if they have asked for prints over the years.

- You can create most art forms for cheap or free if you are careful

- Getting over the initial "frustration" hump can be the biggest hurdle, I still cant really play the banjo yet...

- Gravitate to something that seems interesting to you, just because your friend really likes watercolors does not mean that is the art form you must partake in.

- Use the resources at your disposal, in my experience most artists or really anyone passionate is more than willing to share their knowledge with you.

Practical advice on doing:

- In the modern world you can get cheap supplies to at least test the waters on anything

- If you have $100 you can probs do anything you want

- A half decent film camera and a few rolls of film with processing can easily be had for $100

- There are plenty of cheapo guitars that work perfectly and can be had for $100 buy used and your more than likely to snipe a sweet deal.

- You can get a basic paint set, brushes, and some canvas for <$100

- paper and pencil can be had for WAY less than $100 (yeah yeah I know theres fancy paper too)

- If you live in or near a city (or really anywhere) many art galleries are free to the public to walk around, some offer lectures with artists or other similar events that anyone can go to. Public libraries and museums often have similar things you can take advantage of for free or cheap and spend some time near or with some really famous individuals. Go to these things, if you don't like what you see, hang for a bit, learn, leave a better person, keep going until you find what you like

- Youtube, oh man the endless tutorials, free lessons, how-to's, helpful advice, creative work you can see for free. Youtube is your friend, youtube is one of the great art resources of the era.

Chances are the only thing at the moment keeping you from creating art is you.

How about some more turn-of-phrase-quotes:

"Engineering is about separating the signal from the noise, art is an outlet for the noise"

"If Your first 10,000 photos are your worst, send a crew of engineers to the Hubble to fix the mirror"

"Somewhere between art and engineering is a reasonable salary"

You join us at arkive.net!

Fuck around and find out.

r/generative

A little contrarian here, but AI/ML is a great entry point. You can learn the hottest field in the world right now and apply it to creating art. You'll be learning a lot of highly valuable skills and creating works that are aesthetically pleasing and meaningful to you.

The best way to get started is to download Discord (what all these people hang out on) and join the Discord communities of several of the top sites. There you can learn directly from current practitioners.

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