Did anyone else read this Op-Ed by the "illustrator"

College Majors Visual Arts and Film Majors
1

<p>Not sure what to make of this:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/04/opinion/04williams.html?th&emc=th%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/04/opinion/04williams.html?th&emc=th&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>She describes herself as an artist/illustrator, says she has an MFA, but never desigend a logo?!?</p>

<p>I wasn't sure whether to be inspired or depressed by this essay.</p>

2

<p>That was very depressing; however, she is a great writer. I hope someone picks her up. She has a lot of skills.</p>

3

<p>I was giving some thought to this. She might not have a job for many reasons:

  1. Bad interviewing skills
  2. Lack of ability despite having the MFA
  3. Not willing to relocated
  4. Poor job searching
  5. Poor networking skills
  6. Poor economy</p>

<p>Moreover, I don’t think that the demand for illustrators is as high as it was.It is,however, as sobering testiment to how hard art jobs are to get. Folks have to be creative and entrepreneural if they are going into a fine arts discipline.</p>

4

<p>An MFA definitely has nothing to do with acquiring skills. I think this in part summarizes up quite succinctly what the MFA gave her, with emphasis on “theory” and “vision”:</p>

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<p>Like many fields, there will be ones who make it and one who don’t at any given time. This being just a snapshot in one person’s timeline makes it hard to judge whether she’ll get the break she needs tomorrow or change careers altogether. </p>

<p>I know many successful artists in different fields, and having dabbled a bit of the entrepreneural side of “art” (which is very easy to do these days with the internet, but incredibly hard to be successful to depend on for steady income), it becomes very obvious that you have to have an idea of both how to sell yourself and your product. </p>

<p>You don’t really have to be a great artist in order to become successful. More important is that you have a distinct style, a niche market, and develop a following. That means going out there and selling your art, either at conventions, or galleries, flea markets, the internet, businesses, whatever area of art your are interested in. </p>

<p>Getting a job with someone else on the other hand really depends on the industry and the market. Some industries demand stronger technical skills, others more creative. She’s right about one thing though, job gaps in a resume are some of the greatest negatives in a potential employer’s eyes.</p>