From Fengzhudesign Blog
It's a great time to be alive. So many things in the world are advancing for the better. Everything from social issues to technology - living in the world of today is more comfortable than ever.
And yet it's never been more stressful.
So you decided to be an artist huh? You enrolled in a private college for 4-6 years, paying the sum of a new vehicle every two semesters for education in something you love. By the end of it you will have amassed a debt equivalent the worth of a brand new house in the state of Florida.
Next - finding a job. This is where I connect the awesome comfort of today with the ridiculous standards for students.
Living in a highly populated world, you have a lot of competitors, which raises the bar of quality work, which inspires the youth who will one day follow your path, leading to more struggling artists in the industry, leading to saturated talent pool, which means more competition, which raises the bar of quality work accepted...etc, etc.
Jason Reisig - Dreamworks Animation
Job requirements have become pretty stacked with a list of requirements they'd like for you to meet, and as you continue to race to keep up in the number of softwares, procedures and techniques that are red hot today (but might now be tomorrow) you begin to grow weary as if the qualifications you've earn just aren't enough anymore.
A top of all this - you have this tiny tiny piece of you that sits and waits for any form of rejection before it rears its ugly head. You know its there and you do your best to ignore it. We as artists are TRAINED to take any criticism as valuable feedback; we can be hit with rejection and keep on coming. We can apply to hundred of jobs, be denied, dust it off our shoulders and get the resume ready for the next position. But for some reason - we can never defend ourselves from....ourselves.
This tiny piece I speak of is - self doubt.
Van Gogh
You worry that at any moment someone will kick down your door and a squad of Anti-Artist Agents will come in and take you away for fraud - for being a poser in the industry. Glen Keane said it best (linked video below): "...They [students] all believed that everyone else had their act together - but not them[selves]".
But slow down...take a second. Breathe dude! Or if you're a girl, Breathe dudette! (Can you tell I'm born and raised in California?)
Image from Feather Notes Deviant Art
Being an artist is hard. We know that - yet we can never accept it when it's applied to us. For some reason we believe when we (you - the individual) makes art - it should be easy. You should producing magnificent works of art at all times. Its a vicious circle in our heads and its hard to make it stop.
But do this. Instead of looking at other peoples blogs and works of art in this free falling stage - look at your own art. Go back to the first drawing you ever did in art school. Look at your first animation. Then look at your latest one. Understand your growing. Beautiful things take a lot of time to make!
Your greatest piece of work will be the last thing you ever make, because we are constantly growing. We are constantly getting better. If you ever think you're a great artist and you no longer need to learn - that is a the day you stop being a great artist. As long as you make something today and you learned from the mistakes from yesterday - you are a bad ass artist. I implore you to go to your bathroom and say it in the mirror. Not many people can create things they see in their minds! We are so few! Take solace in that fact.
I do not know this artist or photographer. Sorry :[
Going back to the world we live in. Debt will always be there. Stress will always be there. Necessity for money will always be there. But just make sure you are happy doing what you do everyday. Be happy with the journey you are on - don't expect the destination to provide you will all the solutions and make your life perfect. As an artist you should understand - imperfection is beauty.
No matter how bad you think you are or how much you feel you don't belong in the industry full of amazing talent - you are better than those that never started on this path in the first place. You are willing to pay an arm and leg for the education, face improbable odds for landing the job and yet you stand -You absolutely belong.
I will leave you with my own self portraits over the years, a wonderful quote by Ira Glass which I have posted before and the video from Glen.
Glen Keane talks about Animation and CTN from Creative Talent Network on Vimeo.
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