<p>I'm just about the only artistic person I know. My family/friends have no idea about anything having to do with art. I'll be a high school senior this year and I've made art my life. I would love to go to college and study art (drawing, painting, etc.), but I have been unable to discover a job I could go into with that diploma to make enough money to live, not to mention pay off college. If anyone out there knows of a decent career involving art, I would love to hear from you. I'm hoping for a career with a starting salarying of around $30,000+ a year. I've looked into architechture, but am not sure its for me. (However, if you are an architect or know one I would love to find out more about that career, as I haven't completely ruled it out) Should I pursue a different career and simply keep art as a hobby?</p>
<p>Off the top of my head:
Art teacher
animation
advertising
graphic design
desktop publishing
art museum jobs
illustrator
restoration
jewelry design
computer aided design (CAD) (engineering)
landscape design
fashion merchandizing</p>
<p>Talk with your art teachers for more ideas or career guidance. Do Google searches on art careers. Look at college websites - at their art programs. Some may list places where their recent grads are employed. Or look at their alumni pages to see "where they are now." Since your family doesn't know a lot about art, it will be up to you to do the research. </p>
<p>My sons chose careers we knew nothing about. When my first son went into economics, we did the same thing -- Googled for what kinds of jobs a person could get with an economics degree, as we had no idea. Second son chose music; Google is our friend! :) </p>
<p>As for hobby vs. career; that's a choice you need to make yourself. Will you be happy fitting art in in your spare time? Can you find something else you are willing to do every day, every week, every year for a paycheck?</p>
<p>I have a friend in a similar situation to yours; she's learning forensic/medical illustration. </p>
<p>Take chemistry and do preservation/restoration? Then if you can't get a job doing the art, you've a good technical background for other stuff...</p>
<p>Also, computer science has a lot of opportunity to work in graphics... Pixar, for instance: tons of CS.</p>
<p>That would be my advice. There are a lot of interdisciplinary careers out there, try to do something that is both what you love AND marketable...</p>