any of yall go to art school?

[STICK-N-MOVE]

right now, im planning on attending the acad. of art U in sf (expensive, about 1800$ per class). i work for UPS so they reimburse up to 2k a year so thats why im planning on attending. im trying to get into the animation field. anyways, if you do or have went to art school graduated or not, how is it? good career? alot of competition? what should i expect? i never really thought about art school before cause to me, art is more of an hobby than a career thats why. but im giving it a shot. any pointers?

 

[Y-S]

1800$ per class daymn lol

 

[L Tron]

I have my bachelors degree in visual arts. I concentrated in computer animation and i do have experience in all other mediums. As far as a career in art industry...i have none...its hard as hell trying to find a job because there's so much competition out there. I graduated from a Louisiana university and moved to Dallas because i heard there's a pretty good job market for 3D artists. I've met many artists since moving here, even some who've graduated from Art Institutes and they're working as waiters and do other bullshit jobs.. The thing many companies have told me is that "you have an impressive portfolio but you don't have the industry experience..." Experience shouldn't really matter if you have a kick ass portfolio, which i think i don't, but i know for a fact some of my work is alot better than some of the places i applied to but it's still not where i think i should be. Now im just doing as much art as i can for people from illustration, painting, graphic design, video production, animation, etc. just so i can one day start my own media company.

I say before you dish out all that money look into regular universities and colleges and find some info on they're art curriculums. Also try to find something else you're interested in just to fall back on if the career you want isn't really working out. And if you do decide to dedicate yourself to whatever art you want to do the best advice i could give to you is work really hard on your craft and don't get discouraged. In the summertime when you are off from school try and find somewhere to do an internship at...that would be the best place to start with experience.

 

[Y-S]

yeah i agree l tron........you should automatically begin industry experience if you have a kick ass portfolio.......portfolio and skills matters.....because if they don't like it, you won't get hired....and that's the fact......

 

[EDJ]

I WENT ONLY ONE YEAR BEFORE I TOOK A LIFE VACATION(INCARCERATION). BUT FROM WHAT I'VE SEEN AND LEARNED, YOU BETTER OFF TEACHIN' YOURSELF AND TAKIN' INTERNET COURSES AND gETTIN' CERTIFIED BY ADOBE AND SHIT LIKE THAT. AND JUST FREELANCE CAUSE TOO MANY PEOPLE TRYIN' TO DO THE SAME SHIT. CAUSE REALISTICALLY, WHAT THEY TEACH CAN CHANgE, CAUSE THE INDUSTRY KEEPS CHANgIN'. LEARN THE BASICS, CHOOSE WHAT FIELD INTERESTS YOU THE MOST, AND SOAK UP ALL THE gAME YOU CAN.

 

[underground]

i went to dvc and got my certificate in multimedia, and im takin some time off deciding what i wanna do/where i wanna go. i would love to go to academy of art, and i have heard great things...if u can afford it, i'd say go!

 

[thaave]

I'm a fellow alumni of san fancisco college of art. It's a great school. Lots of contacts when your done. UPS has got nothing on it when it comes to pay checks.

 

[noWetaG]

FROM WHAT I'VE SEEN AND LEARNED, YOU BETTER OFF TEACHIN' YOURSELF AND TAKIN' INTERNET COURSES AND gETTIN' CERTIFIED BY ADOBE AND SHIT LIKE THAT.

U can very well make it being a freelance artist with no schooling,
but i guarantee u w/out u have a harder time than having that
piece of paper......in the corporate world they
tend to look down on freelance artists....
being there are so many, and so many that are garbage....

 

[EDJ]

^TRUE. BUT WHAT IF CORPORATE BULLSHIT AIN'T THE WAY YOU WANT TO gO? INDEPENDENCE AND KNOWLEDgE IS THE KEY.

 

[noWetaG]

if u dont want a job with a company
and wanna run your own then its no problem.......

 

[roqk.on]

You should go to a university. Maybe a techinical or design school. More than likely they are highly trained and skilled. You need different variations if you plan on going to a company.The thing with freelance and training from some wack tutorials is that it's not creative. If you're freelance with a degree you will get work. Most major companies will look at a Company before a Freelance Artist. You'll get bigger jobs if the compnay has major clients. You can be a freelance artist and still get called in to do work with a company. The purpose of design school is to not teach you cool effects but to depend on your creativity, have an I for detail and execute your idea thorugh design. They won't teach you that by taking a online course because it will be hands on. Maybe a class in ceramics, painting, make a few sketches.
Go to a university make a portfolio with non commercial and commericial work. Keep your work distincitive as possible. I would go to a company no doubt. Then maybe after that you can go into freelance. Hopefully if you build a relationship with your client they'll continue to do business.
I'm still in high school but once I graduate i'm going to Louisiana Tech in the School of Arts program and i've read about the program though the site. So that not based on what I think but what I know.


Tron you went to Louisiana Tech?

 

[L Tron]

naw, i went to Univ. of Louisiana at Lafayette

 

[EnigmaGraphics]

I went to Baker College of Flintfor 3 yrs I got the fundamentals down but my design skills were garbage it wasnt till I hooked up with a few cats in Detroit that I got my skills and style up.... best piece of advice take your gen eds at a business college or community college they transfer better and classes are cheaper then goto a Design College but look into the schools Art Dept, talk to the instructors and sit in on a class to see if thats where you wanna be at.

these cats are right about the degree helping you get that corpate money but it depends on the firm you want to work for alot of them look for a B.A. or better some look @ skills only.

 

[Tycoonin]

I go to AAU also. Shit i'm in my 4th year but i guess i'll be there 5. Hope you took your General Ed in a JC cause thats whats takin me longer than expected. Whats your major? I'm in Advertising/Art Direction