In high school 9-11 grade I chose art electives.
My school had a pretty decent art department and we explored all art mediums and methods. We also had two fully equipped darkrooms and I took photography electives then did teaching assistant during my junior year studyhall periods for extra credit.
I attended summer vo-tech for Commercial Art and Graphics.
I was heading for a career in advertising then switched and became a truck mechanic.
I've worked with many different mediums, used many different techniques and explored both conventional and abstract subjects.
I love art museums.
I frequent many art related websites.
My favorite art sites deal with movie matte paintings and miniatures.
I like 3d sidewalk chalk art, especially the work of Julian Beever.
Stan Winston, Weta Workshop, Boris Vallejo & Julie Bell and Black Pool Studios to name a few.
I remember the fad when customized vans started hitting the streets and there were some amazing air-brushing art on those vehicles.
The most interesting paintings I have ever seen were made by Dave Archer.
Archer's primary medium is reverse glass painting, which he pioneered with artist Ron Russell and Lee Byrd. The technique consists of applying paint or pigment to the underside of a glass plate then applying a million volts of electricity generated from a Tesla coil to disperse the paint into randomly generated patterns. This gives the painting a space like quality.
Then you have natural art.
Check out Molecular Expressions art gallery
http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/micro/gallery.html
Photomicrograph of Ascorbic Acid (Vit C) under the microscope.