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Illustration. Comics. Concept Art. Writing.
Can one person professionally do all of those things? HOW? Is it possible or am I crazy for wanting to be a part of so many creative industries? I feel so lost because:
A. I feel so under-qualified to even THINK about professionally working in one of those fields
and
B. I don’t even know where to begin, what classes to take, or how to network with people in my area—I’m 23 can I even INTERN at any of these places?
But I want it so bad it hurts. I’m tired of pretending I don’t want to do art full time. I hate when people say that art is just a nice hobby for me to have.
Once, I actually convinced myself that I was going to quit. I stopped drawing for a few months , convinced that I wasn't good enough to become an artist and instead maybe I could write a story that someone else would illustrate for me (and meanwhile I'd become an English Teacher with free summers to do whatever I wanted--which I believe now to be an incredibly naiive thought). I realized that I couldn't stop. If anything it made me work harder to try and do both.
Four years later, and here I am with a B.A. in English, part time job-hopefully to turn full time-- and a shelf of filled sketchbooks.
Where do I go from here? I know I want to work in some kind of creative field but where do I start? How did you figure out what you specifically wanted to do in the arts industry? Have you ever been torn between two different fields like concept design vs illustration or animation? Are you still torn between what you want to do?
-V
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Not only can you do all those things but in some respect I recommend that you DO do all those things. An epiphany is not some sudden revelation out of nowhere that suddenly gives you all the knowledge in the world. An epiphany is the accumulation of knowledge, that ultimately results in a great idea. Most people sleep 8 hours a day. That means you have SIXTEEN hours every day at least to pursue your interests. You have plenty of time every day to invest in your knowledge and skills that you can do all of those things, and do all of them relatively well. There's likely going to be one you favor over the other, but they all feed into each other.
You may have a job that takes up 8 or more of those 16 hours. Well that still leaves you with another 8 hours a day. 8x7=56. 56 hours a week. Divide that up by the importance of the subject you want to study. Do you prefer illustration over comics? Prioritize that. Do you want to improve in one area that you're weaker in? Prioritize that. etc etc. Bill gates didn't take a single day off of working on microsoft from the time he was 20 til he was 30. He loved what he did and did it everyday and look where that got him.
"Spend each day trying to be a little wiser than you were when you woke up. Discharge your duties faithfully and well. Step by step you get ahead, but not necessarily in fast spurts. But you build discipline by preparing for fast spurts. Slug it out one inch at a time, day by day. At the end of the day – if you live long enough – most people get what they deserve."
-Charlie Munger
Some days you won't have 8 hours to work on your craft. In those times, do as Jerry seinfeld does. Buy yourself a single sheet, 12 month calendar, and a big red marker. Your only job is to do your thing every single day. It can be for 5 minutes or for 10 hours, and if you do that then you get to put a big red X on that day. The important thing is this : DONT BREAK THE CHAIN.
That goes doubly for trying new things and experimenting. The more diverse the range of experiences you have, and the more consistently you pursue them, the more pools you can draw from to become amazing at whatever you settle down on. If you like a cartoony style, that doesn't preclude you from studying realism. In fact it will likely inform it and make it all the better. I used to think that all I'd ever do was character art, but I decided to step out of my comfort zone and do environments and perspective and I ended up loving it. In fact many days I wonder if I should focus on them more since I love them so much. Point being, if you're torn between two things that might just be because they deserve the same amount of love. And when it comes to art there's no reason you can't do that
If you don't have what you want yet, it's probably because you don't deserve it yet. But by asking this question, by joining this forum and sharing your work, by toughing it out and staying with your passion for four years when most would have given up in the first few weeks, and by not caving in to peer pressure, you've already taken the first and most crucial steps to deserving it. You've written yourself a post-dated cheque signed by the future you, the you that has what it wants.
But that doesn't mean be overly optimistic. There's still work to do, but you can rest easier and stop pulling your hair out knowing that your actively seeking out the right path to your end desitnation (a career in art)
Hope that helps
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Do you want to go for study?
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I think Patrick pretty much said it all but I also have lived your fear, so maybe I can add some small insight?
I myself had interest in doing all of the following in some way throughout my creative career: writing, illustration, music production, 3d, making movies, comics, coding.
In fact you do have a very valid concern, because having a plethora of opportunity and interest can hamstring you quite easily if you let it. I did almost nothing out of choice paralysis for almost 10 years because I thought I had to focus and I couldn't because of all the competing interests.
When I did eventually focus for 3 years on one thing, it was on illustration. So I knew I could do it. What I've realised recently though is that some of those other things are coming to the fore once again. This time I will just explore what comes up and see where they take me, except it won't be just randomly at will, but with some measure of prioritization and insight, exactly as Patrick said. There is nothing to say you can't daisy chain your interests together a few years at a time, or intertwine them in project work in some way.
Instead of getting overwhelmed with the gargantuan task of trying to do all at once, take a moment every day and learn how to listen to yourself, I mean really listen to your gut. I use meditation and it helps immeasurably in all aspects of my life. It is the single practice I have adopted that has had a huge impact on my day to day and outlook on life. Our thoughts mostly just get in the way of realising our actual nature by playing on fear and worry and all manners of distraction, so dialing that stuff down can actually help you. It is not very often that I have been able to "think" my way out of a problem better than just pausing and listening to my own instinct about what I needed without the thinking. It has taken me decades to realise this.
Once you've asked yourself deep down, and listened (not thought, but listened) go with what feels right. The flittering multiple interests I think is as much a stress reaction for when you don't feel like you have a direction or plan, as it is actual interest in the thing .
I believe we all know the right direction for ourselves, but we don't always know how to listen, nor allow ourselves the courage to pursue it.
Oh yeah, and fear....start trying to knock that shit out of your life. It is debilitating and pointless, yet we seem to encourage and entertain such thoughts. Don't.
If you have a go and come back with what your gut is telling you about your direction, NOT your brain, then maybe we can help you more specifically on the way.
Welcome to the journey mate, good to have ya on board! :)
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Concept art, illustration, writing and comics are different when you do them for yourself and when you do those for a job.
Once you'll work for a while in a all those branches of art profesionally you'll truly know which ones you would prefer to do.
