"Nelson Mandela. Zaziwe-Hope" Painting

Definition of a self taught Artist.. Everything I’ve learnt has been through self-guided learning, from books, videos, informal TV----courses, art galleries, and a large dose of trial-and-error, So in a sense, I have been taught by the people who wrote the books made those videos TV courses, and artist, but not directly, the ‘self-taught’ label applies more to the independent character of the learner. I chose what to learn and when, and at what pace. in addition to books and videos the past 15 years has been a venture into Digital, and that has opened a new avenue for me to explore. it's an exciting time for any artist to investigate. what this new medium has to offer are too artist is endless. But in the end its the spectator who is the final critic to ones art., GF more.
I consider myself a ‘self-taught’ artist.
as a boy I had problems with spelling and reading, today its called dyslexia, but given a pencil and sketch pad I was off to some weird, strange and wonderful place within my mind, transferring those mind thoughts to my sketch pad, I never got much encouragement from teachers, one such teacher would clip me behind my ear, shout out loud "pay attention your never get to far with that rubbish" thinking now about the comment from that teacher "I wonder if Picasso's teacher was so inconsiderate" My Parents encouraged me to draw, especially my Father. he was so supportive, he would comment looking over my shoulder "that's amazing" when finished I would give him the drawing, he would place it in his desk, after he died some years back I found many of those childish sketches in his desk. looking back on those times I think all children need is encouragement.
My Father was the first person to teach me the basics of art, he explained in detail the measurement of the human body, that within the bounds of nature all humans measurements are essentially the same, he taught me perspective, about artistic licence, he said "an artist does not have to abide to the rule of authenticity" I rarely do.
As an artist I have experimented with numerous mediums oil, acrylic, collage, Sculpture etc, and now Computers, since I began using computer to create art, I found I can create with speed, for me this is quite rewarding, it also allows me to combine my earlier paintings and drawings with digital created images, , this new form of creating art would be an impossibility without the aid of the Computer.