How can you encourage innovation in game art education and training?

To encourage and inspire innovation in game art education and training, it is important to explore a wide range of sources for inspiration, including those outside of the gaming industry. This could include researching the latest trends in art and design, attending conferences and exhibitions, collaborating with artists and designers from other fields, and experimenting with new tools and techniques. By drawing from a variety of sources and continually pushing the boundaries of what is possible, we can help to drive innovation in game art and ensure that the next generation of artists and designers are equipped with the skills and knowledge they need to succeed.

You can learn from video tutorials from Udemy, you can learn from ebooks and by watching other artists make art on Youtube. You can try imitating some of these artworks.

If you are doing 3D I will recommend sticking to Blender. If you are doing 2D art I will recommend Clip Studio Paint. If you are doing vector art I will recommend Affinity Designer. If you are doing pixel art I will recommend Aseprite. For vector art and its animation I will recommend Synfig. There are many tools for artwork, certainly a lot more than what I have recommended here. It is very easy to get confused between them. Here I have listed the ones that will be financially comfortable for most people and do the optimum job.

Feedback is good, criticism is not good. Constructive criticism is good but it is not guaranteed whether a person reviewing your artwork will give you constructive criticism. Seek feedback but not criticism. Seek feedback and don't reply to the people who give those feedback. Just filter the actual technical improvements that they suggest and forget about them because they are going to pad the feedback with ego statements. That's the best way to preserve your self esteem and your art and also improve.

One amazing example in game education is BUAS (Breda University of Applied Sciences). Their program stands out, because their lecturers are all very experienced in game development. Additionally, their program is focused around developing projects in student teams and having lecturers be available to explain theory after the students came across road blocks in their development process. This also increases innovation, as no fixed 'way of working' is teached (as that limits creativity and innovation).

You can try using different programs. However, it becomes really tedious to balance learning 2D and 3D art. If you have developed skills in 2D art then it may not help you much in 3D art. 3D art has its own set of rules and tools and techniques. And you can try learning pixel art. These three are mainstream. There is voxel art too but I wouldn't recommend it. It is not so mainstream. My advice will be to stick to one type of art and go on with it for a while. A good place to start will be 2D art without a doubt. If you enroll in a design college you maybe in a better position to make the decision that is what type of art you want to build your skills on. 3D is hard and takes more time than 2D.