Hello everyone! I am currently a sophomore in high school. My only hobby is art and i have such a strong passion for it. I love to paint and digitally draw like semi-realistic people and cartoons! I am also working on my technical skills and branching out to new techniques. Art is one of the only things that I can say I’m “good” at or dedicated to. Some jobs that interest me art: concept artist and animator. But the thing is… my parents do not think this is realistic. I live in a strict household and everyone in my family is in business ! I’ve mentioned a few times about going to art school with my parents, and my mom is iffy saying that how are you going to buy a purse if you do art.(I also grew up spoiled or had the luxury of food and a nice house) And this doesn’t bother me that much because I rather be happy doing what I love then hating life, but I am still scared. And my dad strongly disapproves so even if i apply for an art college they would never pay for art schools insane tuition! The only thing I think they would approve of is something that’s part business or well payed, which is why I’ve been looking into become a creative director. Business jobs don’t sound too bad to me but mainly because it pays better but it’s also a hit or miss… Also- I don’t get very outstanding grades (i have c+)so is that going to that affect anything? Do you have any advice for what I should do with my parents? What job is most suitable for me and what should I do to get to that goal? Please someone help me, I am just so clueless of the real world. I know eventually I have to bust my butt and become a working adult, but I’m in desperate need to guidance! Thank you so much.
Many people make a good living by being graphic artists or user experience designers, or going into the film industry as Animation specialists, cartoonists, or modelers. CAD design work is very rewarding. Just examples. Quite a few colleges will have majors in these categories. Or you might find yourself in college or beyond liking something else totally different. My wife was a traditional Fine Arts Major in college and wound up going into Nursing afterwards.
Pursue your dreams. You can do advertising with an art degree. Animation for website design. Art and business are not incompatible. Virtual reality design. Game animation is a multi billion dollar industry. The only business degree worth anything is an mba, unless you want to be an accountant. You pair artistic ability with mba, and you can have your own studio. There’s a YouTube video you should watch put out by Stanford ecorner called animating against the grain. 45 minutes long, but very inspiring.
I would just echo what others have said. A degree in graphic design or creative advertising would blend your artistic nature with business applications. You could pursue these interests at a traditional four-year college - it doesn’t have to be an art school. Many colleges have BFA programs for graphic design. Many also have advertising degrees. As for your grades, you can get into many colleges with a C average. Look at local state universities. Good luck!
Not sure where you are located but take a look at DePaul University. Not too difficult to get into, average SAT scores is probably around 1200. Their College of Computing has majors in Animation,Animation Storyboarding, Graphic Design, User Experience Design etc and is considered a top school for Graphic Design and Game programming. One of the better film and theater schools out there as well. They also happen to have a good business school that produces a lot of accountants in the Chicago area.
The idea that you can’t make a living in the arts is not true. The arts contribute $763.6 billion to the U.S. economy, more than agriculture, transportation, or warehousing. The arts employ 4.9 million workers across the country with earnings of more than $370 billion. I have made a very good career in the arts and know hundreds of people who have done the same. It’s not easy and might not have the same direct path that other careers have, but it is very rewarding and possible.
Yes - what @TheJYWrinkle said! If this is something you want to pursue, do the research and show them all the ways you could be employed. Many art colleges understand that parents are nervous about careers in the arts and many of their own websites and materials have information similar to what @TheJYWrinkle said too.
You may not know exactly yet what you want to study yet, but as you learn more about possibly careers it will also help you figure out what colleges you may want to apply to. Also talk to your art teachers, they’ll have a ton of info about what kind of jobs are out there and usually know a lot of working artists/creatives in your community who might be willing to give you advice/tell you about their job.
I’m not sure where in the country you live, but my medium-size city’s economic think tank funded a large study on the “creative economy” in our region and the college I work at often uses those statistics in our presentations to prospective students and parents. Their research can be found here http://www(dot)upstatecreative.org/data-2/
Good luck!