2011-11-21, 12:11 PM
Wanted to be a concept artist or a comic writer, something where I could draw a lot, where I could get any idea I had out of my head and into the form of some drawn medium that others could acknowledge and appreciate (if it was actually good).
The environment I was in stated (and still states) that a job in art was a dead end career path that wouldn't lead to anything worthwhile, they stated the pay of your average artist was similar in quality to someone that worked in fast food/the local super market/whatever other low-qualified entry-level job you can think of. This was practically an axiom of the job market according to my family and I believed it so instead I pursued mathematics/computers, something I thought I'd enjoy just as much, had shown similar promise in, and was a better foundation for a well-paying job off which I could then pursue further, lesser-paying interests (or so I was told). My art and the practice of it got mostly neglected in favour of this, and 5 years down the line I am left with a half-baked talent that sometimes makes me wonder if closing off art as a potential career choice completely (as anything more than a passive hobby) was really the right thing to do. I still like drawing, I can still do it to some degree when I'm not busy having no confidence in my ability to do anything at all since I'm behind on my maths/CS course or something, but it's most likely not going to pay the bills in the near or far future.
The environment I was in stated (and still states) that a job in art was a dead end career path that wouldn't lead to anything worthwhile, they stated the pay of your average artist was similar in quality to someone that worked in fast food/the local super market/whatever other low-qualified entry-level job you can think of. This was practically an axiom of the job market according to my family and I believed it so instead I pursued mathematics/computers, something I thought I'd enjoy just as much, had shown similar promise in, and was a better foundation for a well-paying job off which I could then pursue further, lesser-paying interests (or so I was told). My art and the practice of it got mostly neglected in favour of this, and 5 years down the line I am left with a half-baked talent that sometimes makes me wonder if closing off art as a potential career choice completely (as anything more than a passive hobby) was really the right thing to do. I still like drawing, I can still do it to some degree when I'm not busy having no confidence in my ability to do anything at all since I'm behind on my maths/CS course or something, but it's most likely not going to pay the bills in the near or far future.