Self-Taught Artists Are Often Braver Than Art School Graduates
Blog 4 of 10 from the Truth Bomb Series by Jools Teare
You don’t need a bloody degree to make art that punches people in the feelings.
Let me say that again, louder for the people in the back of the Tate:
You don’t need a certificate to be an artist.
You need courage. And possibly glitter.
I’ve met more radical, raw, soul-exposing creators at boot fairs, on TikTok, and in late-night chats in queer pubs than I ever have in a “contemporary art space” serving canapés shaped like existential despair.
And most of them?
Self-taught. Brave as fuck.
Because they dared to make art without permission.
🎓 Art School Doesn’t Guarantee Guts
Now don’t come for me with your sketchbooks and student debt—I’m not saying all art graduates are soft-centred profiteroles of privilege.
Some of them are wild, brilliant, genre-smashing legends.
But a formal art education can also come with a side of creative shrinkage.
When your work has been:
Graded,
Analysed,
Deconstructed by Jeff in a roll-neck,
…it’s hard to stay bold.
Too often, you learn what sells, what conforms, and what won’t get you laughed out of your final show.
But when you’re self-taught?
No one’s setting your limits. You don’t even know where they are.
Which is terrifying.
And exhilarating.
🎯 Self-Taught Means Self-Led (and That’s Powerful)
If you’ve ever sat at your kitchen table with a biro and cereal box because that’s all you had—congrats, you’ve already passed the test.
You’re resourceful. You’re determined.
You’re not just waiting for validation—you’re building your own bloody gallery.
Self-taught artists don’t ask:
“Will this get into a degree show?”
They ask:“What will this make someone FEEL?”
And that, my darling, is the whole fucking point.
💥 The Bravery of Creating Without a Map
Self-taught artists are explorers.
You weren’t given the route, the timetable, or the list of acceptable mediums.
You’re winging it on instinct, emotion, and trial and error.
Do you know how brave that is?
While some were told they were “gifted,” you were told you were “distracted.”
While others were tutored, you were dismissed.
While they sketched fruit in light boxes, you were drawing on receipts at 2am wondering if any of it mattered.
It fucking matters.
You’re making your mark with nothing but your voice and the nerve to use it.
🧨 The Art World Needs You—Untrained and Unapologetic
The best art doesn’t come from technique.
It comes from defiance.
From the bit of you that won’t shut up, even when society told you to sit down and colour inside the lines (in beige).
You’re not behind because you’re self-taught.
You’re ahead because you weren’t moulded.
Your art doesn’t echo your teacher’s opinions—it roars with your own.
💭 Power-Up Prompt:
What rule or “proper technique” are you ready to ignore in favour of full, unapologetic expression?
💋 Want Art That Breaks the Rules (On Purpose)?
The Jools Teare collection is proudly rule-free and gloriously rebellious.
Painted with instinct, guts, and glitter—and never for a grade.