Hi, I'm Charlie and I want to pursue a career in animation. (yikes)
I've always been interested in art, constantly drew as a child and pursued it all the way up until high school, where I fell into a deep depression and dropped any hobbies/passions I had. I still doodled in my notes and occasionally drew up some silly cartoons, but I was never guided/taught anything passed a 9th grade art class. I graduated and when I realized I had to choose a career, I could only think of art. And honestly it scared me, I had always loved animation and drawing and watching artists create things ( I mean I tear up a little whenever I see specific animation in films ) but I had stopped learning, I had chosen that path. But entering my second semester as a freshman in college, my head cleared enough that I felt that passion of wanting to become an artist. And create...something.
And here we are, 19 and in my sophomore year of a community college. The point is I actually want to get a job in animation, or illustarting, basically making money to draw. But I feel as if I've wasted my time and allowed myself to fall too far behind my peers and even younger generations that there would be no way I could catch up and find a place for myself. I want to attend schools like Calarts and draw in classic animation studios ( I don't think I need to mention names here aha). I was a decent artist in high school, I was accepted into a great art high school but turned it down, and have always been told I make drawing that could easily become cartoons. But those are just friends encouraging you,
As of right now, I've taken a drawing class to get a feel of drawing realistically, and I've started doing gesture/figure drawings, trying to get better at proportions and making my figures more fluid. I've enrolled in another art class (Foundation Drawing II) and will start going to a real figure drawing class rather than looking up figure drawing videos on Youtube (which is actually still fairly helpful). I'm currently working on a portfolio for art schools in my state, I know I'm not prepared for a school like Calarts, but I'll be damned if I let my depression push me down any further.
I just need to know: I'm not wasting my time here am I? I'm not too old or too untalented? I don't want to waste my time pursuing something only to realize I have no talent in it. Are there any tips that anyone can give to put my drawing progress into high gear? I'm willing to practice any technique, try any trick. I'm basically drawing everyday at this point, and drawing anything (cartoons, faces, models you name it). I guess I'm just another kid worried that I don't have what it takes, and that I've wasted too much time considering the competiveness of this field.
