Is going to Art School/Taking art classes bad or unproductive in the long run?

[SageHarpuiaJDJ]

Hi. I made this thread because so I can have different opinions on the subject, and hopefully some advice on what's right for me.

 

I actually was at an art oriented school for awhile, but I didn't have a major then. I did have an interest in Drawing and Animation, so instead of choosing my major then, I decided to take art classes, and low and behold, I really enjoyed them, mainly Drawing 1. Due to IRL stuff, I wasn't able to go back for a year, which leads me to today. I plan on taking classes again this year if the cards are in my favor. I want to get back to learning drawing, namely figure drawing and animation, but I've heard things about how Art School at an advance level actually gets bad as you progress with the program, and that it's super taxing to find a career that involves Art, if any at all. I'm not really sure about HOW taxing it is, but after getting an Associates Degree in Drafting and Design, I know that any program can be tough to find work afterwards from what I've been taught and told. So is going to art school or taking art classes is less unproductive than any other job? I already have a Plan B: get my Bachelors in Drafting and Design to better my chances at getting work.

 

I'll Clarify more if I need to.

[Stercus]

So, I don't know the job market in the U.S. right now, especially not in regards to art based employment. But, speaking as someone who told herself for years not to go for certain careers or subjects because they're "just not practical" and had a miserable time in college just trying to scrounge together a "useful" degree...

If this is something that you care about and have a passion for, I think that you owe it to yourself to try. The fact that you have a fallback plan and a degree already under your belt is very good, and will probably serve you nicely - at least I would hope it would. Not to mention, drafting and design does seem to have a good "synergy" with art, so to speak, and it would probably look appealing on a resume to see someone trained in both.

[De Geso]

There are better ways to learn art than going to art school.

Practice, mainly, which you can do for the cost of supplies.

Use what you would spend on school and rent a studio, work from there, and make art. Network with artists (this is something that art school isn't bad for, but it isn't necessary either), have people critique your art, analyze others' art, that sort of thing.

Don't just do what I'm saying because I'm saying it of course, do whatever you like. I just find that an art degree isn't as valuable as the actual experience of creating art. You don't need to get educated in a formal setting to be an artist.

[Johann]

I don't think any education is bad or unproductive, just that some fields are riskier than others. I have many friends who are professional artists who have their own studios and gallery exhibits, yet I also have many friends who have art/design degrees that they don't use at all and are swimming in debt. It's a challenging field due to how competitive it is, and in some places there's little to no demand for art. Bear in mind that racking up debt through student loans will likely loom over you for a large portion of your life. Do you feel like you know what kinds of work you want to be doing? It's a big risk to make a heavy investment that you're not sure about so early in your life.

Many art students go on to do things like work in animation studios, which would almost certainly require a degree to get hired, while others simply use that they've learned to work independently. I've actually heard there are quite a few artists who turn to drawing what is effectively fanart porn on commission because apparently there's a high demand for that on the internet, and it ends up paying much better and more consistently than standard fanart. It's also possible to use an art degree in other ways, like working for a museum (one of my closest artist friends began to do so recently, finally giving her a stable job).

[Phoenix Wright]

double major. there aren't issues with wanting to do art for a living, but it's really, really hard to do so. in the meantime of building such a career, you want to make sure you have skills that are applicable to the job market in some way. do some research on what secondary career interests you the most, and try to do both (ie, develop skills that apply to arts and the secondary plan).

i don't judge people for majoring in the fine arts, but i think folks that put all their eggs in one basket, to talk in cliche, are making a mistake. you have to develop other skills that'll look good to employers later on. for example, an arts major i know is currently setting up a campus-wide international music festival--including managing the food distribution, band selection, and overall budget for the festival (over 10k dollars). that's impressive!

wherever you're getting your education, find things to do that aren't art.

Edited April 27, 2018 by Phoenix Wright

[dragonlordsd]

35 minutes ago, SageHarpuiaJDJ said:

Hi. I made this thread because so I can have different opinions on the subject, and hopefully some advice on what's right for me.

 

I actually was at an art oriented school for awhile, but I didn't have a major then. I did have an interest in Drawing and Animation, so instead of choosing my major then, I decided to take art classes, and low and behold, I really enjoyed them, mainly Drawing 1. Due to IRL stuff, I wasn't able to go back for a year, which leads me to today. I plan on taking classes again this year if the cards are in my favor. I want to get back to learning drawing, namely figure drawing and animation, but I've heard things about how Art School at an advance level actually gets bad as you progress with the program, and that it's super taxing to find a career that involves Art, if any at all. I'm not really sure about HOW taxing it is, but after getting an Associates Degree in Drafting and Design, I know that any program can be tough to find work afterwards from what I've been taught and told. So is going to art school or taking art classes is less unproductive than any other job? I already have a Plan B: get my Bachelors in Drafting and Design to better my chances at getting work.

 

I'll Clarify more if I need to.

As a professional artist, the short answer is: GOING TO ART SCHOOL IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT FOR YOUR CAREER.

... but not for the reasons you might think.

See, the thing about art classes is that they're kind of a mixed bag. I know people who learned an absolute ton from classes and I know people who got almost nothing out of their classes.

Either way, it doesn't really matter, because there are two main things art schools give you that you really can't get anywhere else:

1. Connecting with other artists - This is hugely important. In art school, you'll be surrounded by other people your age who are looking to pursue the same career as you. This is a major opportunity for you to learn from them, to collaborate with them, and basically to improve together. Especially if you're looking at 3D work, you can meet a lot of people who can help you fill in gaps in your skills, areas such as rigging or texturing, or whatever you might be bad at. Also, most of your peers will have their own custom tools, brushes, shortcuts, tricks, etc. that can massively help you up your game.

2. Industry Connections - If your art school is any good at all, it should have a large amount of alumni in the industry already, often in high positions. If it doesn't have alumni it can brag about, then you probably shouldn't go there. For example, my school had some 30 graduates who worked on Frozen. Believe me, they put it on enough posters that every one knew. These connections are extremely important.

Furthermore, most schools will have counselors and active programs to help you get a job. This makes sense, because the more alumni they can get working in the industry, the more prestigious their program becomes. They want you to succeed, and will usually offer you lots of opportunities to do so.

[Shoblongoo]

I will defer to the expertise of the above poster, who actually knows the art industry.

I have no artistic talent and no knowledge of the field. But I was a political science major with course concentrations in philosophy and gender studies. So I know quite a bit about "wasting time" in "useless" classes. On that front I can say:

If it gives you skills and perspectives that will be useful to you in a career path that you're passionate about pursuing, its never really a waste of time.  

Edited April 27, 2018 by Shoblongoo

[Moblin Major General]

My sister spent 5 years getting a 4 year degree at an arts school. It could be a long time before her degree sees use. But i don't think even for a second she regrets getting it. She got a degree based on a passion she's had since before middle school, and had no illusions of the difficulty of getting both the degree itself and jobs afterward. If it doesn't work out, it still might, because a 4 year degree in anything can get you a lot of places.

Edited April 27, 2018 by Hylian Air Force

[Sunwoo]

I don't know much about art or the value of art school. But one of my closest friends went to an art school. And from her experience, the main thing I have to say is do your research. Talk to students who went to the school you're interested in. Look at their programs, their reviews, their history.  The school my friend went to dropped the program she had entered for while she was still doing her program, was frequently short on materials, the professors had very discouraging personalities, and if I recall correctly I think it was either under investigation or had been under investigation. All in all, she really didn't benefit from it and because she technically has a degree is too "overqualified" for some work.

So, if your heart is set on going to art school, do your research. And see if you can have a plan B in case things do not work out.

[MacLovin]

On 4/27/2018 at 2:00 PM, YouSquiddinMe said:

There are better ways to learn art than going to art school.

Practice, mainly, which you can do for the cost of supplies.

Use what you would spend on school and rent a studio, work from there, and make art. Network with artists (this is something that art school isn't bad for, but it isn't necessary either), have people critique your art, analyze others' art, that sort of thing.

Don't just do what I'm saying because I'm saying it of course, do whatever you like. I just find that an art degree isn't as valuable as the actual experience of creating art. You don't need to get educated in a formal setting to be an artist.

I'm not gonna disparage the notion of going to art school, but it is viable to network into a local artist community if you're going to become an artist without art school.

But chances are that you're gonna have to specialize if you're self-taught.

[Excellen Browning]

I don't know much about the art industry, but if there's one thing an art school is good at, it's for providing you with other people to measure yourself against. This tends to be important, because people who are big fish in small ponds, like say the standout best in a group of amateurs, are people who stagnate if they're not strongly self critical, and it limits the rate of their growth as artists. 

As for making a living; there are more freelancers than there are jobs for them, and that's not going to change any time soon. As far as I know, a lot of big companies have a small department for graphical design of logos, presentation format, folders, leaflets, website design, etc. I remember a discussion between some people once, who did recruiting, who said that it's a good idea to do a business associate minor if you're an art major, that they preferred those and even if they didn't make it, with a minor in business they'd stand a much better chance of landing a normal desk job than without it.

 

[Chapter Serf]

I can't say I have much information, but if you can secure a more steady income from a regular job somewhere else, then taking Art classes or even going to an Art school is not a bad idea if art is something you truly enjoy. 

Once you're satisfied with your art education, I'd use things like Patreon or DeviantArt to promote yourself and raise some money. While there are some truly Terrible things on deviant art that belong buried in the Forbidden Eldritch Lore of the Necronomicon, there are some REALLY good things up there, and people often will use those really good DeviantArt artists for commissions.

[Farore]

First off.. I don't live in the USA so I don't really know the finer details of the industry there or the available schools and what's usual in your country and I think you apply the term art in a much broader sense than we do over here which makes it difficult to know if I'm even talking sense here. That being said..

I have read quite a few well-argumented opinions already, dragonlordsd's for example is one I agree with fully, so I don't actually want to add there. However there is something else I'd like to add but it needs a little background. At least, I think it does.
I went to an art academy thinking I'd study photography, not thinking 'I'm going to become an artist'. I came from an environment where that was frowned upon (a career in photography was too lowly already but that didn't bother me, still, it did influence how I saw myself and I had to be 'independent', you know. That's what was expected.)
After my first year I realised the choice of going to an art academy was a good choice, however, I went on to focus on autonomous work, mainly video. So I graduated as an artist and I thought 'I really need a job that I can do next to my artist career'. Tried to get a teaching degree but realised quickly how much time a part-time job would suck up and I really wanted to be able to focus on my own work. So.. I became a commercial photographer next to being an artist, or so I thought. It was more of a convenient choice back then and I rolled back into photography without a problem. I am now looking back on many years of struggling to combine the two and in the end, I have to conclude it doesn't work. Being self-employed is usually more than a full-time job and not being able to focus on my own work or having to disappoint paying clients for it has become too frustrating. I chose to quit photography. Paid, I mean. Which was not an easy choice but I wish I had made it sooner. I sincerely regret I didn't even consider the option of focussing on my art entirely and just figuring out the money issue along the way. I now see people who are younger than me doing projects to be jealous of, for sure. They chose being an artist first.

I'm telling you this because I see a lot of 'keep your options open' and 'try to do two things if you can' here and frankly when it comes to art, I- personally- have found that to be very, very hard. It will not be like that for everyone and maybe you have a very different idea of what you want to do of course. My work is mostly conceptual which means I need to be able to immerse myself in a project for longer stretches of time than a few hours here and there (I'm more of a weeks with almost zero free time and not a lot of sleep-type of person.. after which I'll catch up on other things, like friends, rest, games, whatever). If you already know that's how you work then I suggest choosing carefully as I can say from experience that wanting to earn money and have a respectable career will mess with your art.

Either way, I wish you good luck. ;)

[Life]

Education for education's sake is always a good thing.

 

However, your art degree is going to be next to useless in the practical world. That is why people joke about how BAs in English are effectively a waste of time. They offer no practicality in terms of skills.

 

Your call on how to proceed. I think that it's better to develop a skill first that is not only useful but desired (for me, it's 4+ years as a line cook) before striking for knowledge.

[SageHarpuiaJDJ]

Thanks for all the opinions guys. Really appreciate it. I think that I'm gonna take a minor in business while majoring art. I think that sounds good.

[wheelsonfire]

Like every other degree, it really depends on what you go for, and what the job market currently wants. I'd recommend doing some research on that before going in. Using an art degree for something is difficult, but not impossible, and there are many different types of art you can do. For example, I have a sister who did interior design (basically designing the blueprints for houses and other buildings). It took her a while to get a full-time job, but now the field appears to be growing. And she's quite happy with that degree, as well. You might want to check in doing a specialty like that if you're interested in art.

Best of luck!