Why today's visual artists need to be multi-disciplined masters

Want to be a successful creative? In a previous era, you'd have been told to focus on one thing and one thing only. Whether that was oil painting, digital illustration, animation or whatever, you'd need to buckle down, hone your focus and keep doing the same thing again and again until you become a true master.

In 2024, though, that's all been flipped on its head. The world of visual arts is no longer confined to distinct categories. In fact, the more strings you have to your bow, the better.

Today's creative industry is all about collaboration, experimentation, and pushing boundaries. In a world where AI is changing everything at super-fast speeds, a creative professional needs to be as flexible as possible to keep up with it all.

As a result, successful visual artists are increasingly multi-disciplined, possessing skills and knowledge that extend beyond their chosen speciality.

Benefits of being multi-disciplined

So why is being multi-disciplined so valuable? Well, there are a number of clear benefits: here are just three.

Enhancing your storytelling. Imagine you're a photographer who wants to learn CGI to add backgrounds, or someone looking to move into video to take on art direction roles. Even if you don't do any of these things, you'll gain a wider understanding of the creative process.

Cross-pollination of ideas. Delving into another artistic discipline can spark unexpected inspiration. A sculptor, say, might be inspired by how a photographer uses light and shadow and brings this into their own work.

Expanded opportunities. Creatives with diverse skill sets are highly sought-after in today's job market. Understanding graphic design principles, for instance, could benefit a painter who wants to create their own promotional materials or websites.

It's important to note, though, that being multi-disciplined doesn't mean becoming a master of everything. Developing a solid understanding in one or two complementary areas is a better way to go: significantly enhancing your skillset and opening doors to exciting new creative possibilities.

But how do you go about learning these new skills? Here's a provider we can highly recommend.

Unlock your potential with Visual Education

In today's ever-evolving creative landscape, the most successful visual artists blend expertise across photography, filmmaking, CGI, graphic design and more. Visual Education understands this innately, which is why its comprehensive curriculum covers the full spectrum of visual arts disciplines.

In other words, the idea of being a multidisciplinary creative is baked into both the ethos and practice of Visual Education's courses.

You can be sure you're learning from the best because Visual Education is strongly committed to providing high-calibre instruction from true masters of each craft. Lessons are given by seasoned professionals with amazing portfolios and a passion for teaching. And through their real-world experiences, they'll share the insights and techniques you need to elevate your own artistic vision.

With over 900 on-demand classes, monthly live workshops, and new content added to the website regularly, Visual Education is a source of continuous inspiration and growth. Joining up offers you boundless creative possibilities, from learning the fundamentals of lighting and composition to exploring post production, filmmaking, and the fundamentals of art.

In other words, learning at Visual Education transcends passive education – it's an immersive journey into a thriving community of like-minded creatives. You'll engage directly with instructors during live workshops, collaborate with peers and showcase your progress through certification programs and competitions.

Incredible value

'Sounds good', you might think, 'but how much is this all going to cost me?'. Given the industry-leading nature of this experience, you'd expect the answer to be 'a lot'. But actually, Visual Education has somehow managed to deliver all this for an incredibly low monthly fee.

You'll gain unlimited access to their entire class library, live sessions, community features, and exclusive discounts with leading brands. There are also weekly challenges and opportunities to take on brief assignments, helping you put skills into practice and apply what you've learned. It's all for about the same cost as a streaming TV service… and we've all got one of those we need to get around to cancelling.

Ask yourself, what's more valuable to you? A few dozen B-list dramas that are all kind of 'meh'? Or the future of your career, a sense of pride in learning something new, and the new creative opportunities that will open up to you? Thought so.

So get started on this new creative journey today by joining Visual Education and starting to unlock your full potential as a multidisciplinary creative.