careers in art

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Gaze

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Anyone here has any type of career in art? What was your experience of it? By careers, this means working as a professional artist, art buyer, working in art gallery, teaching art, art restoration/preservation, art education, graphic design, production design, etc.) I love art and want to see if a future career is viable.
 
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Art as a career.. is many-faceted. I've had a career in this field, though more-so in the design world. I used to be a painter at a ceramic art shop years ago, then a draftsman (that wasn't very artistic but it was an "artisan" type of role.) Since then mainly graphic design, with the occasional art/illustration as a freelancer.

You can just do it all. Why not? Art is the main theme and it's many-faceted. Depending on where you're at, some cities are better for it than others.

(I'm currently a production artist at an ad agency.)
 
Zosavachia said:
Art as a career.. is many-faceted. I've had a career in this field, though more-so in the design world. I used to be a painter at a ceramic art shop years ago, then a draftsman (that wasn't very artistic but it was an "artisan" type of role.) Since then mainly graphic design, with the occasional art/illustration as a freelancer.

You can just do it all. Why not? Art is the main theme and it's many-faceted. Depending on where you're at, some cities are better for it than others.

(I'm currently a production artist at an ad agency.)
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What made you choose this field? And how is working in this industry?
 
I'm also interested in this. I'm terrible at executing on my own ideas but excel at executing on a direction given to me. I'd like to translate this into visual development.
 
I would like to know this too... Few years ago I wanted to study graphic design but I didn't get into the school where I attended so then I just somehow forgot it and kind of gave up. >< Actually went to business college instead of art, not sure was it a mistake or not.
 
That said, I've worked with many artists in video games. Environment modeler, character modeler, concept artist, 2D artist, tech artist (working on tools), art director, animator, VFX, lighting, texture artist. It gets really specific as the team grows larger, but smaller teams require a generalist to cover all the art needs.

One of the most impressive people I've worked with in my career has the role of art director and has worked in every single one of those roles. He's a fine artist but has been in the game industry since the 90s and worked with a multitude of tools. He even works on game design and writing. We talked a few times about his career path. It really begins with a passion for art, for creating something and constantly pushing yourself to try different mediums. I'd say his advantage was that he is technically minded and process-driven, meaning he understands that there's a deadline and how much work can be done by that deadline. Workplace politics and drama are unimportant and he doesn't get bogged down in that. He's willing to learn new tools and always searches for new ways to do things. Work is constant, both at home and at work, but he always left at precisely 5:30 PM to go home and be with his family. He had a good sense of balance.

I'd say it's all founded on that passion and a portfolio of work derived from that. If you can prove you're a good artist and willing to learn new methods toward your goal, you can succeed.
 
I also imagine that it's good to have an end goal at all times. What project do you have in mind right now? A painting? A poster? A short film? Go for it. Regardless of quality, pick up the tools you need to create and go for it. You'll learn something to take along to the next thing.

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I currently am doing a bachelor study in visual art for games.
Before this I did a study in multimedia design.

What I learned from both these studies, is that they do not mean anything, you get a chance to learn the tools in a class room setting doing assignments that arent completely your thing. A lot of the time you will tend to feel restricted and held back. If you're interested in say 3D related subjects, then in the long run, following courses on the internet such as the ones by gnomon might actually be cheaper and better.

A lot of things in 3D are learned by researching how to do it yourself and by actually doing it. The same goes for graphic and multimedia design.
There are plenty of good free tutorials, courses and paid courses online to follow that will be worth your while if you follow through on them. That is the thing tho, following through and commiting yourself to learning and doing. If you get the portfolio to show for it, no one will care about your degree.

Lots of friends from the industry say that an education in this stuff is nice for an internship, networking and to work have the time to make the projects you will never have the time for in the industry. They are right, accept for the fact that most schools, will restrict your artistic freedom and force you to use all your time on projects the teachers like, such as puzzle games... I can attest for the networking though and if you somehow manage to build a portolio on the side worth while, the combination of portfolio and knowing people will definately help in getting cool internships.

That said, no one cares what degree you got, only what you got to show to get in.

As for work place atmosphere, that differs, some places are really laid back, and others are really stiff or even strict to the point you are miserable, just like any company of any kind.
 
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I love eyes and faces and I draw portraits on the side, nothing to make a living on though. I plan doing some workshops at an atelier to fine tune my skills. I'm pretty excited about that :) Good luck to you! Art is very rewarding.

What do you like to do?
 
ThomasJ79 said:
I love eyes and faces and I draw portraits on the side, nothing to make a living on though. I plan doing some workshops at an atelier to fine tune my skills. I'm pretty excited about that :) Good luck to you! Art is very rewarding.

What do you like to do?
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Honestly, I have very little manual artistic talent, but I was good with computers in undergrad, and maybe if I'd started early enough, computer graphic design would have been something I pursued. Today, I am more interested in art history, so if I was to go for it, it would probably be teaching it or art criticism. Otherwise, becoming a digital curator or museum docent also sounds interesting. And if I ever had the financial freedom, I would open an art gallery. That would just be too cool.
 
Gist said:
Honestly, I have very little manual artistic talent, but I was good with computers in undergrad, and maybe if I'd started early enough, computer graphic design would have been something I pursued. Today, I am more interested in art history, so if I was to go for it, it would probably be teaching it or art criticism. Otherwise, becoming a digital curator or museum docent also sounds interesting. And if I ever had the financial freedom, I would open an art gallery. That would just be too cool.
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That would be cool :)
 
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