We’re All Self-Taught

Learning, like painting, rarely begins in a classroom. It starts with a blank canvas and a quiet decision to make the first mark. Some learn by studying the masters in books and museums, others by watching, experimenting, or simply living. No matter the path, we are all self-taught, mixing colors through trial, correcting brushstrokes through experience, and discovering our style over time. What matters is not where the paint was learned, but what is created when it finally touches the canvas.

Each of us carries responsibility for our own work. A degree may frame the painting, but it does not paint it for you. Skill emerges from hours spent observing light, practicing form, and returning to the canvas even after mistakes. History is filled with artists, and people, who built mastery without formal permission, guided instead by curiosity and persistence. Their success was not handed to them; it was layered, patiently, one stroke at a time.

The world itself becomes the studio. Every failure dulls a color, every success sharpens contrast, and every experience teaches the hand to move with greater confidence. Learning does not end when the brushes are cleaned or the lesson concludes, it continues in the quiet moments of reflection and in the courage to begin again. With endless resources at our fingertips, we are free to choose our influences, refine our technique, and chase the subjects that stir something within us.

Competence matters more than credentials, just as a finished painting matters more than the tools used to make it. What endures is the work itself: the evidence of effort, risk, and growth. When you accept that you are both the artist and the student, you reclaim control of your creative journey. The canvas is waiting, the paint is yours, and the next stroke is always a choice.