The term “artistic license” is a common one. While it means that artists have the ability to manipulate that which they see at will, the potential for unintended associations with this term are numerous. The one I want to explore is the formal training that so few artists receive. The barometer for this lack of knowledge appears to be the websites dedicated to networking for artists. Through forums and discussion groups, artists get to ask questions of other artists and hopefully come away with solid answers to their dilemmas. In theory, this should work out well. Artists have various levels of experience, and someone will take the time to provide an educated answer based on solid experience and practice.

Unfortunately, this does not always work out. The people that hang out in the beginners or novice sections of the website nearly all have the same level of experience or mostly lack of experience. On occasion, someone with a fair amount of art materials savvy stops in and lends a helping hand. However, many of the exchanges follow this pattern. I’ll put each message exchange on an individual line, except for the final one:

----------
How do you put gesso on a piece of Masonite?
I don’t know, I have never used gesso before. I paint in watercolor.
Thanks
Hey! Great question. What’s gesso?
I got some at the store and they told me to put it on the panel I bought.
Maybe I can help. Gesso is like that stuff you use on wallboard to cover the seams.
How do I put it on my panel?
Try reading the directions.
I did. It is still confusing :()
I heard you can just put it on with a paint roller.
Where can I get a roller?
The hardware store. That’s where I get a lot of my art supplies.
How do you put the gesso on the Masonite?
With the roller.

Read the directions and follow the manufacturer’s suggestion for the number of coats. It is usually three to four. Prepare the hardboard panel with an initial coating of an acrylic medium to block support-induced discoloration; let it dry and then apply the primer coats with a soft bristle brush. Don’t sand between coats.
----------

I think you get the idea of how much ignorance is shared and how long it takes for this exchange to transpire. In my fabricated example you get to view it in a condensed mode without the repetition of each message along with the avatar of the user who is logged onto the website and the other graphics that go along with each block of text.

The last answer is the one that should have followed the first one, but other “fellow travelers” needed to supply their comments. My favorite “answers” are the ones that ask another question. This method of reply is akin to coming upon a stranded motorist with a flat tire.  You stop your car behind them, take off your jacket, roll up your sleeves, look prepared to help, walk up to the stranded motorist and say to them “Is that tire flat?” Then without saying a word, walk back to your car, get in and drive off. Crazy? You be the judge. It happens in online discussion groups constantly. Few questions get addressed properly until the forum moderator intervenes, focuses the topic and sometimes answers the question quickly and efficiently.

Benefits do exist with the shared information. Forums provide comfort and support. They allow artists to know they’re not alone in the world. On occasion these forums share valuable information. However, in many cases a forum just passes on bad information to another novice eager to learn something. A lot of those discussion threads end with some horrible advice given with such authority that it sounds like it should be true.

Anyone can be an artist and you don’t have to have a license to prove it. What do you think? Don’t answer the question with another question!