I'm doing a BA (nothing related to art/animation) and I have one year left. I'm going to complete it but I really want a career in animation and I have for a long time - I just thought I should get a more stable career and then maybe I can think about animation. But now I'm 99.9% sure animation is what I really want to do and I'd be willing to work as hard as I need to to do it.
The problem is that it seems as though going to a school to learn it is a waste if you don't already have talent and skills. I'm worried about money because I already have debt from my BA and then animation school will put me in even more debt and there's no guarantee of getting a job afterwards. My drawing skills are mediocre in comparison to other artists/animators (I'm pretty creative though) and although I really am motivated to improve and practise and learn a lot, I'm sure it will take a while. I still have 1-2 years before I'd actually start an animation course but I don't know if that's long enough.
So my question is, after my BA, should I go straight into an animation course, or should I instead do a master's of teaching (teaching is something I've always considered a back-up option) and then get a teaching job, meanwhile improving my drawing and animation skills in my spare time until I'm good enough that I can do an advanced animation course? One thing to keep in mind is that I think I'd struggle to keep disciplined if I was doing an online course or teaching myself.
Literally any advice would be appreciated!
You've got this all set up so you are not doing to do this.
You say you "are 99.9% sure that animation is what you want to do", but then you cite that your drawing skills are mediocre and that you'd struggle to keep disciplined doing a course or self-teaching.
The clues are all there right in front of you.
All your excuses for trying it, not attaining those goals and falling back on what is your "back-up plan"--which is what you've invested most of your efforts and energy in anyways--are how you've set this up. Animation is an affectation with you, not a committment. It's a fanciful idea, a passing fad.
If it were otherwise, it'd be do-or-die.
I mean, make no mistake.......having a safety net, a back-up plan IS smart, because it does give you options. But your path to animation is really going to be predicated on what you are doing right now.
If you are drawing, animating, creating RIGHT NOW, then a career in animation is probably something to explore. If it's just something you dabble in, if it seems like an interesting idea, or something "for later".........then you are missing the heartfelt drive needed to succeed in this sort of thing, as a profession.
The level of disquiet inside you is probably a good gauge, in that if you'll settle for teaching or whatever field your BA is in, then pursue that. If the idea of is is just trying to give animation a shot just for the sake of it, do ask yourself if it is worth getting tens of thousands of dollars deeper into debt.
If you are unsure at this juncture if that expense and effort are going to pay off for you........then don't do it.
Or don't make the attempt until you are sure your talent and skills will be able to land you work.
Now, on that last thing........this isn't very hard to measure. If you can produce work ( drawings, animation, etc) at the level of the studios and the work you admire, then you'll find work, inevitably.
There's no mystery to this. You HAVE TO be able to demonstrate you can do the work, not hope they like it, not hope they see something in your work that you cannot gauge yourself. Your talent will either be there or it will not.
You'll either train your eyes to see the differences between your work and the pros, or you'll be clueless about what makes theirs work, and what yours is lacking.
The real yardstick for a person seeking this career is if they are already living and breathing it, if it is already second-nature to them in all respects. They don't need "advice" on WHAT do do, because their path is already laid down in front of them. They'd instead ask HOW to do the little things that build up their foundation of talent, and solve the problems in making drawings or animation better--in essence, they'd already be miles down that road.
"We all grow older, we do not have to grow up"--Archie Goodwin ( 1937-1998)
Ken, thank you so much for your advice and reality check. You've given me a lot to think about. Before you posted this, I actually decided not to do teaching (unless it's 10 years down the track and I'm starving and desperate). Animation is my dream and I'm going to do whatever it takes to become a pro. I've been drawing and spending nearly every waking moment studying everything related to drawing and animation recently.
I really want to do this, but is it possible for me to compete with people who have been drawing their whole lives? I'm 20. I can draw quite well if I'm just copying something and I have plenty of time, but of course I need to learn how to draw from my imagination, get better at quick gesture drawings, perspective, etc. I honestly believe I can (and will) become good enough, but you'd know better than me; am I too old to start if I want to succeed in this industry?
20 is too old to start this career???
( I'm sorry, but I'm laughing. in a good way)
I've had students that were in their 50's start careers in animation, and do quite well at it. 20 is just barely getting out of the gate.
Drawing from imagination is fine, and building up your visual vocabulary is always a good thing. Draw a lot from life--meaning real subjects right in front of you.
Take life drawing classes, if you can. Draw from photographs, tracing off them at first and try to make them appealing and not just "traced". Learn perspective drawing, because perspective terrifies the pee out of so many newcomers. Just pick something of interest and go in that direction and see where you end up--change course when you like.
My advice: develop some range. That is get confortable doing a number of different things. If you want sound drawing skills to be your foundation, then life-drawing, perhaps portraiture, and illustration can be a goal. Then cartooning, and comics........or design work for games or movies. Then various things like colour, sculpture, etc.
Look at what will support your end-goal, and then put aside the rest for later, or for study along the way.
Get fascinated and obsessive, and enjoy the journey
If you want a benchmark to hit, strive to draw a bit every day. 15 mins, minimum if you can fit that in. Doodling is drawing too. Look to complete one drawing every week for a few months, then increase the output to 3 complete drawings every week for another few months. By the 9th month you can be doing a complete drawing every day. After a year and a half, you can try for 3 complete drawings every day. A complete drawing can be considered to be a complete figure or subject and a background, drawn to camera-ready ( ready to be scanned etc)
Don't just slap lines down on the page, but strive to learn something with every drawing. Identify what you are strong at AND what you are weak at, and add to your strengths by drawing those things and adding in what you are weak at. if you have trouble drawing lustrous dark hair, then draw a figure that you are good at drawing and add the appropriate dark hair. Research it, borrow from samples and techniques to learn. Build from there.
Don't be afraid to be too geeky about this, because geek is good.
"We all grow older, we do not have to grow up"--Archie Goodwin ( 1937-1998)
Thank you so so so much Ken. I'm going to print out your post and put it on my wall because you've given so much really great advice. I'm so excited to learn everything! I'm obsessed already.