Title : 'Should I Pursue Illustration?'
link : 'Should I Pursue Illustration?'
'Should I Pursue Illustration?'
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| Chinese art factory workers copying Repin's portrait of Stasov |
J. S. asks:
"I'm currently 27.5 years old, studying Computer Science at my local university but feeling quite miserable. Though the pay will be great once I'm done, life has to be about more than the money?
I've read various posts on following your passion though I lean on the pragmatic advice given by Cal Newport on not following your passion but instead to choose a highly valuable skill, get really good, and make a living that will allow you to support your passions so to speak.That being said, if I'm miserable in my current path and quite honestly the situation I've gotten to (mainly just being 27.5 with no real skills, no degree, never really finished anything...etc) perhaps pursuing something that has a little bit of spark to it (from my point of view) is worth while?
My biggest fear is choosing to pursue illustration, not being good enough, being broke, and then being just a little bit older maybe 30, 32, and being in the same situation I am now.
I know this email is quite heavy, but do you have any advice? Any hurdles you've faced in life that turned out for the better?
James Gurney responds:
I want to answer your question because I wrote "Follow Your Dreams" in a lot of peoples' books, and I feel that advice might have led a few people into your predicament. I don't know enough about you to give you really personal advice, but I'd like to offer a checklist about how to to be successful if you do choose an art career.
1. Decide what kind of art you like to do.
Make sure you like the subject matter, the materials, the scale of the enterprise, and the way it's marketed. In other words, if you want to paint murals, make sure you like ladders.
2. Develop your skills in that area.
You're going to face a lot of competition from people who know their craft. Learn yours. You don't have to go to art school, but if you're going to teach yourself, you've got to be really focused and organized. You've got to DO it, practice it, get your hands dirty every day. You won't learn to draw or paint by binge-watching art videos.
3. Find out what excites your audience.
If you're going to make a living at art, you've got to create art that people want to buy. That means experimenting with variations on what you do, and seeing which sells best. Social media can give you analytics, too, but you really need to test it in the marketplace.
4. Build a business plan around it.
If you get this far, you've got to channel your energy and build a business. You can't sell one painting alone. You've got to build a body of work that stands out from the rest.
5. Stay flexible, because things will change.
1. Decide what kind of art you like to do.
Make sure you like the subject matter, the materials, the scale of the enterprise, and the way it's marketed. In other words, if you want to paint murals, make sure you like ladders.
2. Develop your skills in that area.
You're going to face a lot of competition from people who know their craft. Learn yours. You don't have to go to art school, but if you're going to teach yourself, you've got to be really focused and organized. You've got to DO it, practice it, get your hands dirty every day. You won't learn to draw or paint by binge-watching art videos.
3. Find out what excites your audience.
If you're going to make a living at art, you've got to create art that people want to buy. That means experimenting with variations on what you do, and seeing which sells best. Social media can give you analytics, too, but you really need to test it in the marketplace.
4. Build a business plan around it.
If you get this far, you've got to channel your energy and build a business. You can't sell one painting alone. You've got to build a body of work that stands out from the rest.
5. Stay flexible, because things will change.
The technology for creating and distributing art will continue to change. And tastes will change. That will cause some doors to close and other doors to open. Almost anyone who has been a professional artist for more than a decade has had to reinvent their business, moving from illustration to gallery art, or from what they thought was a secure studio job to something else.
So yes: follow your dreams, and find your passion. We live in an image-hungry world, and the world is waiting for a person of vision. I think the advice you quoted from Cal Newport is good too: It's OK to have a day job and do art for your personal fulfillment in your spare time.
But if you want to be an artist, don't do it for the easy money. It's a rocky and narrow path. Be ready to work hard and work smart. It's great to want to fly, but you'll have to build your own airplane and learn to fly it.
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Kalie's Questions
Art Student's Questions
How to Survive as an Artist
72 Tips for sharing art on social media
My Channels:
JamesGurneyArt on Instagram
GurneyJourney YouTube Channel
My public Facebook page
James Gurney on Twitter
GurneyJourney on Pinterest
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