[Golongria]

Hey everybody, I have seriously been considering applying to an art college, but I'm really scared that I won't be able to get a job after I graduate...I'm only a senior now, but that's only one more year until I have to go to college...If any of you have been to Art school, can you tell me how easy/hard it was to find a job? I just need to hear from some people who have been through it already, thanx a bunch.
-Matt

[proximo]

its not always about getting a job but being happy .. if you dont goto an art school .. then what ? i mean if you love to draw and shit like that and you end up not doing what you love .. life will not be forfilling .. i mean money is nice but it can only take you so far .. if you are not happy and dred going to work then is it really worth it .. and as far as art goes if you try you can get a job there are tons of them for all sorts of people .. the web is really blowing up right now that is just one part of it .. there is so much out there ..

[Bloodnite]

I'm also curious about getting a job for doing artwork or whatever. Im a Senior in HS next year, im 17, and I dont know of any art schools in New York, near Rochester.

------------------
Life's a bitch and then you die, still tryin' to get a piece of that apple pie...

[lotor]

It can be very hard depending on what you want to do out of college.
If you don't really care what you do and just want to make sure you can do something artistic then I recommend going into Graphic Design and specifically Graphic Web page Design.

I am one of those people that can be pretty happy doing anything as long as its artistic.

I got out of art school last year and have choosen to do what I wanted rather than going for the quick dollar. Lucky for me I have parents who don't mind me living at home and supporting me while I get my hands dirty in the art world.

What kind of art are you interested in?

[Worthy]

I found it very tough..and was forced to work retail until I actually landed something. Basically, if you want to go into 3d..youll have better luck in the video game dept. than the film biz (at least, in my experience and those of my friends and so forth). As for 2d..it seems web-design firms are always popping up and hiring. At least...out in Calif!
However..nothing beats a good contact or two!!!

------------------
3D Sculptor
Viewpoint Visualization

[balistic]

The route I took went like this:

- Spent two years at a community college with a good fine art program. Took a full course load but never worried about getting a degree . . . a portfolio is much more valuable in my industry (3DCG).

- During those two years, I spent much of my free time sharpening my 3D skills at home based on what I was learning in my fine art classes.

- Made contacts like crazy via the 'net.

After my second year, I was approached by a couple studios, and after much deliberation decided on EggProd. I have since worked on a Playstation game and am currently lighting director for an all-CG feature. My total expenditure on school, after getting a couple small local scholarships, was less than two grand. The 3D software I use only costs $99 a year for upgrades.

I have no debt, and a job in the industry. Hell yeah

Now, this method probably wouldn't work for everybody, but I think its worth at least giving it a shot. If you spend a year at a small school and feel that you aren't progressing, maybe you /do/ need a well-known art institute to kick you into gear . . . but if you're self-motivated, think twice about racking up a huge pile of debt to go someplace that may or may not make you a better artist.

------------------

Brian "balistic" Prince
3D Artist
Eggington Productions

[This message has been edited by balistic (edited July 17, 2000).]

[mantis]

My plans. . .

* University of Pensylvania
* major in Digital Media Design
* Concentrate on 3d
* after that you are practically guranteed jobs at places like "Pixar" and "dreamworks"

[balistic]

The only thing that will get you into Pixar is balls-to-the-wall skill . . . and if you want to work at Pixar, you'd probably be better off majoring in illustration or fine art.

Any school that makes it sound like you're liable to get pulled out of your second semester by Lucas or Lasseter is lying to your face.



------------------

Brian "balistic" Prince
3D Artist
Eggington Productions

[samdragon]

ah yes, the eternal question.. I will be hitting the streets very soon to find a job.
As mentioned, make as many contacts as you can. If you are attending college, you basically have 4 years to build up a good portfolio.
You best bet is visit company sites and find out what they are looking for and what the requirements are and start working towards that.
The best advice I can give to anyone...
DO NOT take all of these 3d animation courses if you are freshmen, most schools will not let anyway, don't even think about it until you are at least a junior. Why? By the time you graduate the program you learned to use will be outdated and will probably have a whole new method of working. for example, I took a 3D boot camp class in alias Wavefront poweranimation studio, I got my certification and all that crap, but I was a sophomore, now that I'm a senior and graduating, that software has changed so much, they came out with MAYA! If you have used either program you will certainly know the difference. Just look at the extreme differences in softimage and softimage XSI! YOu are way better off learning how to draw and paint. That will help you out more than just learning software.
Look for a good program that has strong foundational classes, design, drawing, figure drawing, basic painting etc. Also, try to take as much photography as you can, this will certainly help you with lighting and learning how to compose objects in a 3D space.
As far as jobs, there are many, but they are becoming harder to get. The software is becoming alot easier to use, so they want people with creative skills. You can learn software pretty quick nowadays, but learning how to draw and use your creativity is a different story. If you ever get the chance to go to siggraph, GO! you'll see what I'm talking about.

Also, look for places like this, there are plenty of people in the industry who offer advice from time to time about what to look for. Most importantly, never give up. Set your goals and finish them. You have to have drive, if you really want to get a job, you'll get doing what you love, you'll get it, if you're just half assing around, you might get a job, but it will be doing something you don't like and you'll probably burn out.

As for school, it's up to you the student to make what you can out of it. Don't blame your teachers for not educating you correctly, if you feel they are not doing a good job, get off your butt and work outside of class on projects. Remember, you go to school to learn, not show off what you already know or think you know. Sometimes it may seem like your just pissing away your money, but you'll find out later that you actually did learn something, if not, it's your own fault
good luck

[napalm]

Personally, its been both easy and hard for me. I graduated this year from the School of Visual Arts in NYC, majoring in Computer Art (specifically 3D Animation).

Living in NY, its VERY easy to get a design job doing web design and/or flash type animation, if thats what you like to do. Personally, I'm sick of it, but it got me through college and it's paying my bills now. Being a 3D animator in the real world is a bit harder. I've sent my reel/resume out all over and have heard back from about 30% of the companies, all negative of course. There is some freelance 3D work to be had, but again much of it is web-related. F' that So I continue my post-graduation search.

Luckily, while in school I made some good connections. SVA has a pretty good job placement office and yearly "portfolio" nights where you meet many industry leaders looking for talent. As such I started working at Marvel comics my sophomore year and now work for a former marvel co-worker at Nickelodeon. Still doing web work, but still making some connections and not letting myself accept my life as a web designer (as cushy as it may be

Your ability to get a job in the field also relies largely on your geographic location. A friend of mine that I graduated with up and left for California almost right after tossing his proverbial cap in the air (we didnt get caps, cheapos and has managed to find some freelance 3D work in San Diego. If you live, in lets say.. Wyoming or something, and are unwilling to move to NY or CA, then it's going to be much harder.

There IS work to be had, but competition is stiff and talent is abundant. Once you get out of school you just have to work your ass off to get that job. Don't aim for the big-boys first unless you are AMAZINGLY talented. In that case they'll most likely aim for you, and not the other way around. Just put together an amazing reel/portfolio, send out those packages, make some follow up calls and pray to the good lord of cgi.



------------------
[email protected]
personal: http://www.deadzebra.com / cia productions: http://www.creators.org

[jHof]

Shooting for Pixar or ILM is an awsome goal, and anyone who can get in is very lucky. But do you really want to be stuck in an office with a number on the door. Sitting at your computer and getting your assignment:

"Color/model in this creatures foot in all (X amount) frames, animator #TK427. When the movie is done, will throw your name in the credits..." Says your Project leader with a smile. A dark theater and your moment of "Man I think I'm cool..."

===---Credits Rolling---===
Creature #74 -Toe color/animation done by TK427(Name:Who cares, I directed a movie, give me money...)

Extremes in there yes

[chumps]

jHof paints a pretty bleak picture but he brings up a fantastic point!

The great thing about convincing, powerful artwork is that you really don't need to scrutinize every little strech of canvas or paper. Traditional media can be very forgiving.

I really don't think the same could be said of convincing 3D. It's too precise, analytical, distant... But it's certainly cool! Of course I'm sure the horror stories of the "assembly line" process varies wildly .

Cool enough? I don't know, and I don't have enough personal experience to offer very good input.

Personally I think conceptual stuff would be far more liberating. You can design stuff, you can be the creator. Instead of following somebody ELSES blueprint like some carpenter you can design your own!.

Shrug.

Golongria do you have some samples of your artwork? I think that would help us help you I tried to access your site listed in your profile thingy but it crashes my browser . Also, if you were to attend an art school what is the amount you would like to spend?

As for getting a job... I think that if you have talent (innate, learned, both, or otherwise) you won't have a hard time finding a happy place to work. You will be applying to creative types, and dem folks know talent when they see it methinks.

quote:

---

My plans. . .
* University of Pensylvania
* major in Digital Media Design
* Concentrate on 3d
* after that you are practically guranteed jobs at places like "Pixar" and "dreamworks"

---

I certainly don't meant to burst your bubble but from everyone I've spoken to, a strong knowledge of traditional art principles is more valued than being a digital whiz. What good is knowing Maya inside out when a company like Pixar uses mostly its own proprietary software? In fact if you visit Pixar's recruiting page many positions list a Bachelor's degree in art a requirement. They also list several recommended schools.

From Pixar's page:

quote:

---

What do we look for in our animators?

STORY TELLING. This is of utmost importance to us.
Acting ability - Okay, this too.
Traditional education (see list of recommended schools)
Computer animation experience helpful (we're always simplifying our technology so our artists can concentrate on their craft)
All-around art background (life drawing, sculpting, painting all helpful.)

---

To tell you the truth I'm really struggling with the whole artschool thing. I mean plunking down down 80k+ seems so extreme, yet I know I will love attending artcenter full time. Oh well, I guess I'll just take all the night classes I can and sorta feel my way through it all.

My dos pesos.

Regards.


------------------
Stroke my ego.

[Doc Holliday]

Hey napalm I graduated from SVA a year ago from the illustration Dept. I'm also sick of web companies ugh!!! But they do pay the bills in my case loans. Right now I'm in a nice situation with a startup but i would give anything to be working in Games or film, which is why i'm working on my portfolio while I work. Good luck getting out of the web design biz

[This message has been edited by Doc Holliday (edited July 18, 2000).]

[Worthy]

hey Balistic, is Billy still the big-cheez there? I used to help him a lot when I worked at Nichimen

------------------
3D Sculptor
Viewpoint Visualization

[AliasMoze]

Golongria,
What field are interested in going into?

------------------
AliasMoze
:) :) :) :)
"That activates my hilarity unit."

[balistic]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Worthy:
hey Balistic, is Billy still the big-cheez there? I used to help him a lot when I worked at Nichimen

---

He's cheesy as ever




------------------

Brian "balistic" Prince
3D Artist
Eggington Productions

[Golongria]

Well, here's the recent work I promised...ehhh...told you i would put up.
There big images cause I can't figure out how to reduce them smaller than they already are and still keep the quality.



-Matt

[Golongria]

Holy shite, the quality of these images suck...sorry, but at least you dont have to wait for loading time eh?
And in the last picture, the guy IS smiling hehehehe
-Matt

[Rinaldo]

Hey Golongria.

Those picyures are a good start.

If you are wanting to do someting conceptuial then The best advice I can offer is to loosen up your drawings. I am totaly speculating here but I would imagine that someone doing conceptuial stuff nedds to be able to draw fast. If your strength isn't going to be in heavy duty detail rendering then you need to be really loose and to the point.
If anyone has a clashing opinion (or knowlage of the facts) give me a good solid "your wrong", as I am interested in this field as well.

I spent thousands of hours and pages just trying ot loosen up my drawing style. It is a personal prefeance and some people like to draw very tight, but being able to get your ideas down on paper as fast and as acuratly as possible is a great advantage to someone who will need to go throught lots of ideas before they ge the right "concept".

You probably wern't after any crits but I thought I'd give you my humble opinion

[Golongria]

Well, to be completely honest, the second drawing was done rather quickly actually. It was thrown down and then inked, thus the "tight" look, I forgot to mention that all of these were done basically to test out my new inking pen and prismacolor markers...I didn't upload any of my "loose" drawings because I had only done them the other night just to test out an idea and they didn't turn out like I wanted them to...
-Matt

[AliasMoze]

Golongria,
If you are interested in animation, here is my advice:
A good school is not a bad idea. Many of the better schools seem to be in CA, but there are others. They tend to be expensive, but there are scholarships and gov't grants out there to be had.

Whether or not you go to a great art school, traditional animation is build upon one primary skill -- figure drawing. You have to be great at life drawing and constructing the figure from your mind. This is said so much it's cliche, but it's true. This goes more for 2D, but it's also extremely important if you're thinking of going into 3D animation.

The focus of figures for animation is on speed and accuracy. You draw allot of speedy drawings from real, moving people and you learn loads about how people move. This, BTW, cannot be learned from magazines or photos.

If you're thinking of going into concept work or story, then I'd look through Spooge's posts. He seems to be doing ok for himself, and that's what he does for a living.

Good luck!

------------------
AliasMoze
:) :) :) :)
"That activates my hilarity unit."

[Worthy]

nothing beats learning on the job however. not that is of much use to ya..but..

------------------
3D Sculptor
Viewpoint Visualization

[Golongria]

Wow, thanx for all the feed back...
as for the field I'm interested in, animation has always been a love of mine, 2d, 3d, whatever, as long as it is entertaining. However, recently I have become relatively interested in conceptual design mainly because I feel that I am much much better at laying down basic ideas on paper, and not actually going into extreme detail, although I have done it before...
And for the question about how much I'm willing to spend, as long as the school is good and can get me heading toward my goals, money isn't an issue...well, not that *big* of an issue at least.
Umm..I'll try and find some of my better work and I'll upload it tonight so you can see my stuff (nothing that great), or if you want to see some of my first animations, check out my post "Snowday! Yippee!!!!" (yea the one with about 93 replies)
-Matt

[chumps]

Golongria my advice to you is to just draw as much as possible. Get the many books that are recommended on this site, and in my opinion your money would be better spent on a good local college with a strong art program. Lots of figure drawing/painting for sure.

Regards.

------------------
Stroke my ego.