I will hopefully write an essay on this subject in the future, but for now, I just want to ask your opinions.

I'm what some may call a well-rounded student, and maintained a 4.035 in High School. I never considered myself intelligent, but I seemed to do well enough to earn high marks. When my Senior year in high school came around, many of the staff members asked what I wanted to "go into". I told them all that I wanted to be an artist, and was horrified to find that each one had to ask me why I would choose such a path.

I even remember someone telling me that it would be the easy path too take, and that I was too smart to it. They expected me to be a doctor, a lawyer, a business woman, something else that they regarded as more important.

It disappointed me that the field I was going into was looked down upon as, at the very least, less intelligent than all the other fields.

I did not change my mind about what I wanted to do, and remained firm anyway.

A couple of months into college I found out that many of my fellow artists had experienced similar things, with negative stereotypes attached to any career related to art. Artists were completely detached from the view of a "normal" person, and worst of all, a moral person. Among other things, the word "lazy" was also thrown around.

Artists have been part of the great movements of the world, and even knowing this, our fields are looked down upon by outsiders, and I'm curious, have any of you had similar experiences? Why do you think this happens more often than it should?

Most of the time, non artists usually group artists into one big lump, and usually think that they will all be freelance fine artists who are lazy and starve. This is because people aren't taught how much art there is around them. You can have a creative and artistic job that is high-paying, and in which you become a master of your trade. I get a lot of people who come up and tell me that I'm a really good artist and that I should sell my art...blah blah blah...draw portraits for a living blah blah... All people really see of artists are the people in festivals who draw caricatures, so they automatically think that being an artist will make you amount to nothing.
They are ignorant.

And when you hear them talk about art like that, you should tell them just those word. "You are ignorant"

Because art is all around us, and we are currently in the middle of a modern-day renaissance. Technology is really opening doors, and lots of artists are emerging as designers, illustrators, animators, sculptors, painters, etc. Everything these days seems to need an artist, because we are bombarded by so many visuals every day. This makes artists in high demand, but it doesn't mean that it isn't competitive and hard. It takes a lifetime to make an artist, and becoming a master of your medium will take hard work. Blood, sweat, and tears.
It's not easy, it's a struggle, and well worth it to the artist.


it doesn't matter what non-artists think. People need artists, and there will always be jobs for ones that are creative. but the next time you hear someone talk about your craft like it's nothing, please stand up for artists and let their ignorance be known to them.

Not to discourage you but, did you know that College and Universities throughout the world produces thousands of artist every year + the artist who graduated earlier[predecessor]... what is you chance in getting a good job after you graduate? Have you considered the competition? why will they pick you? unless of course you have an undeniable talent and skills that surpass your peers, which obviously the staff member can't see. Also, resources, wealth, influence and connection are important factors, just in case you have a bad start in your art career.

They don't look down on us, the path of an artist is difficult, believe me, people can live with or without art, it's not part of our basic necessity, People value food, clothing, shelter, medication and protection. Art is for entertainment and leisure in which not all can afford or give time, they can go as far as appreciating it, but to actually buy it? or pay you for your hardwork? rarely... Maybe there is a truth behind why people who look down or laugh at us as an artist, because they think we will not make it far.

Art has a special place only to us "artist" & "art appreciator" but to others, it's just a form of entertainment, a trivial matter.

I think it really depends on what you're going in to, if you just say "I want to be an artist" of course people are going to think 'oh right that's going to happen...' and they'll probably think you've lost your mind. So maybe you should elaborate on what it is you want to do and tell them your plan on achieving that.

Like Tal said the art industry is hard to get in to and hard to flourish in which is why teachers and other staff members are probably concerned. Although I have to disagree about the necessity of art in the world only because of advertising and the fact that people will buy something [food, clothing, and houses] just because of pretty packaging/design which is an art ... and more profitable than your average run of the mill "starving artist."

Well, the general assumption really is this: Art takes up a lot of time. The chances are, if you got into an art career, you either completely destroyed your chances of 'top jobs' elsewhere from obsessing in art improvement, or simply wasn't good enough to get into the 'top jobs' to begin with.

Considering this, it's not very difficult to see why anyone would "look down upon" the art industry. To other people, it means you basically decided into it due to your inability to get into anything else. Course there are exceptional people who do very well elsewhere and still choose to get into art, but they are always a severe minority compared to the general situation, and even lower is the percentage of people who fit that category, and actually manages well in Art school / The big wide world.

Furthermore, Art is all about demand, you only sell when a client wants it, otherwise you're pretty much screwed. On the whole unless you are truly exceptional, your paycheck won't be particularly high compared to a much comfortable job in the mediocre. It's a huuuggeee gamble job >A>;

Originally Posted by ippus

Furthermore, Art is all about demand, you only sell when a client wants it, otherwise you're pretty much screwed.

Very well said, to all professional studio artist I've met, that is the one thing they feared most.

Going into a school where 90% of students pretty much have a job right after graduation, I guess I'm biased. The school says, though, that the people they worry about sometimes is the Fine Artists, because that area tends to be difficult to make it big, whereas other areas don't require the same to survive, really.

@Anna: Ignorance is rather unfortunate, isn't it? It's funny how I don't hear the same thing for other fields. Sure, they say "you'll have to go to school for a long time, won't you?" depending on what field they're going into, but they don't get the same stereotypes attached to them.

Of course, every field is competitive, and some fields are, unfortunately, underestimated.

I think big contributors to stereotypes are people like Van Goh, who people LIKE tho think is crazy because it would be more interesting somehow. I've also been hit with the drug addict stereotype, and of course, the starving artist stereotype. Ah well. I just needed to vent a bit before the urge hit me again.

@Tal: I'm fully aware that thousands of us are produced every year, and that not everyone is going into the same field. However, not all schools produce the same amount of people for all kinds of majors. The school I'm attending, for example, has one of the 3 toy design programs in the country. That may not be what I'm going into, it's something to consider for those who are going into toy design. And even when one isn't going into a field with as high of a demand, it doesn't mean people won't be hired.

Unfortunately, one of the stereotypes I've had thrown at me (more than once, too) is that I was taking the easy way out because I could supposedly already draw, and so it was something I already knew how to do. I understand if they thought that it was a bad way to go if they said it was difficult, but it was mostly when they said it was "easy" that I felt like they were underestimating the amount of work that I would put into the area of study I wanted to go into.

In the end, I guess people really don't know how influential art is in their life. I mean, it's in the television and movies they watch, and the advertisements they see on a daily basis.

@Rya: Is that really? I'm always getting the question "how long does it take you?" and when I say it, the response is "that long?". Maybe it's the group I was around with, maybe I'm just slow (although I've been keeping up with my classmates in college, so I'm thinking it's probably not that, at least not as a stand-alone). People always tell me that it's easy because it's something I like to do and am supposedly good at, and somehow they can start making the assumption that it doesn't take as much time as it really does.

I do agree though, that certain fields will allow one more profit than others.


@Ippus: Oh my goodness, I recognize the character you're dressing up as. I feel like a dork.

Moving on....

What's funny is that I was the 2nd ranked person in my school, which probably surprised them even more, if I'm going with your statement of "not being good enough" for something. I was always considered a well-rounded student (even if I didn't always feel like it).

The time I can understand, except that I generally got the opposite reaction for some reason. I didn't really start seeing that until I started college.

As for demand, as I said before, I'm probably biased because of the school's ability to put its students into jobs so well. It also doesn't hurt to live in the most populated state, in one of the most populated cities, where many things can flourish without a person having to go too far. In fact, people come from other countries for the first time just to study here, which I found very interesting.

In all cases I've heard, it's actually true that people in art schools have lower grades on average. That could be partly why.

I also agree with much of what ippus said...

And most people don't know or care about art in general much. They look at an advertisement and think it's just another boring marketing ploy, possibly with good music or of a good brand, but never think that someone actually MAKES it =0

EDIT:

Originally Posted by PlatinumChild

@Tal: I'm fully aware that thousands of us are produced every year, and that not everyone is going into the same field. However, not all schools produce the same amount of people for all kinds of majors. The school I'm attending, for example, has one of the 3 toy design programs in the country. That may not be what I'm going into, it's something to consider for those who are going into toy design. And even when one isn't going into a field with as high of a demand, it doesn't mean people won't be hired.

Unfortunately, one of the stereotypes I've had thrown at me (more than once, too) is that I was taking the easy way out because I could supposedly already draw, and so it was something I already knew how to do. I understand if they thought that it was a bad way to go if they said it was difficult, but it was mostly when they said it was "easy" that I felt like they were underestimating the amount of work that I would put into the area of study I wanted to go into.

In the end, I guess people really don't know how influential art is in their life. I mean, it's in the television and movies they watch, and the advertisements they see on a daily basis.

May I also tell you about computer programmers, I am going to be one of them someday, I am in my 1st year in Multimedia[IT] in there we have designing program using autocad, 3d studiomax, photoshop, coreldraw, flash etc... we use it for designing website and for animation & game developing; but that is only part of our curriculum and you can even take extra classes, our main focus is in programming. Just imagine advertisement, graphic designer, website, software & game programming & developing all rolled into one... and you don't have to be a genius to accomplish it, any average folks can do it artist or not, all thanks to them geniuses who created and develop computers.

I was also planning to proceed in fine arts[Maj in Painting/studio], but I found an easy way and something much profitable "Computer IT/Information Technology". besides, if I want to improve on my artistic ability, I'll just attend art classes.

Most online advertisement[mostly flash] I have seen are created by computer IT, maybe most people think that artists and computer IT are the same, which is not or maybe it will, in the future.

Originally Posted by xlightwingx

And most people don't know or care about art in general much. They look at an advertisement and think it's just another boring marketing ploy, possibly with good music or of a good brand, but never think that someone actually MAKES it =0

In addition, most people in general can't differentiate a work of a master/professionals from an amateur. partly I blame it on Picasso lolz!

ROFL. Picasso. A few of the impressionist artists might have contributed to the stereotypes too. And the post-impressionists, with their interesting perspectives 8D

actually they're kinda helping by telling you that so now you'll work your ass off to prove them wrong =X. Well at least that's the motive behind most lecturers when they give all the negative vibes when i entered the design specialization. The first day we came in it is said 75% of us will fail but that's probably just to spur us on. Unfortunately I know alot of ppl who entered the specialization mainly because there is no exams. Which is kinda disappointing. ( deprives others of getting the spot ) I also know alot of ppl whom after graduation, completely change their mind about the industry and decide to drop it all together. They were not prepared to live life through a gamble especially pay wise. If you make it through all these criticisms and frowning upon, you're all geared for the industry =P Btw ranking or grades doesn't really matter when you're finding a job. Connections and portfolio are way way more important =)!

haha actually the only time that my choice got frowned upon was by my parents. Which is natural cos they're afraid of what they don't know and I was a science major all the way. Otherwise ppl find it cool =X cos not many get to do it! So aim for success! who cares what other thinks =)

And enjoy what you do =)! pardon my uber phail english ^_^;

Your English is fine, and your sig is adorable~ XD

with 30K a year at this college, I doubt someone will want to quit (unless they're okay with throwing that much money down the drain...)

It's sad to see people quit, but I guess that's how it goes. I've never been a quitter, and I don't plan on starting now (unless financial aid goes haywire and I can no longer survive in college). It's interesting that many of the adults told me to do something that they themselves chose not to do. They won't live my life for me. If I suffer financially, at least I know that I gave it a shot.
I do believe my school is amazing at getting people ready. The foundation year is totally intense o.e

But it's that year that tests a student's ability and morale, so I'm taking it as a challenge :heart:

hehe education system differs where i come from XD; I haven't even gotten a degree yet @[email protected];; i wanna go back to school T^T work is tough


yesssh >D tackle those challenges!!

I think most people's apprehension with "art" as a career is linked to the fact that a financially satisfying job is difficult to aquire. (I said financially satisfying, mind you... not spiritually or creatively) There are so many people vying for the same positions... mostly Graphic Design, Web Design... etc etc... This is also personal experience. I graduated High School with honors and graudated with a Visual Communications degree and straight A's. In all regards, I am an unnemployed Graphic Designer. That was 5 years ago... I still work at the same retail place I worked at in High School... And I'm not lazy... there are very few careers available to me and the competition fierce... and I'm sad to say that it's not about talent either... it truly turns into who and what you know to get a foot in the door.

But, I am speaking in terms of my own specific case. Perhaps you live in a growing area where "art" type jobs are in higher demand. If the people who graduate generally get jobs soon after, then who cares! It also comes to a question: "Do you have the tenacity to make the best of your artistic skills and asperations if things don't work out as planned?" I do the best I can with side jobs and making jewelry to sell, but "art" isn't my primary source of income.

Ha ha, my mom always tells me to go back to school to get into the medical field, but that would truly never satiate my desire for some form of art... I am still looking for a more "purposeful" career utilizing my skills and talent...

OK, that was a lot of meandering... I'm good for going off on tangents, but it all boils down to "Do what makes you happy!"

Yeah I get negative attributes thrown at me all the time. Luckily I'm a duel careerist so I can take it better. I can present myself as a massage therapist and not even mention that I'm also an artist.

What I hate is when I worked hard on my portfolio and it wasn't seen in the same light as other work. I mean this is hard work to build up a portfolio...I'm talking years to build a portfolio good enough quality be to professional. When I look back, I've been done the equivelant portfolio work as being a medical student. They work for years and years and I work for years and years....OK, I guess the medical people are more functional then someone producing cartoons...Just wish this would give them the idea that some of us work hard when we strive for quality.

I tried to tell people, when I'm doing a practice massage session and when I'm doing portfolio work...IT"S THE SAME THING!!!...Both times I am working on a career, just a different one. Big eyes from them. Somehow my massage work counts for far more prestige then my portfolio work ever will.. I dunno sometimes I think I'm cursed to be having the wrrong talents. Why I couldn't I have talents that other people respected and that would get me a living wage that at least paid bills.

Do you go to the school in San Fran?
No need to answer that actually, it's intrusive of me x3
I just happen to know that their rate of careers after college is 90%.

Society values money and status too much. You can have a nice job as an artist that you enjoy and make enough to support yourself. Whatever anyone says, it does take a lot of talent and the pool of people is not so big that there is no demand on skilled individuals.

It isn't a "safe" thing to go in to, but I have the utmost respect for it. I've draewn for a few years, I do art because I can't not do art so it can never be a career for me. I don't love it or have enough talent, I just have drive, or perhaps more accurately, I'm too stubborn to stop doing one of the few things I've ever been good at and enjoyed the results of.

I live in Los Angeles XD

The school's tuition is 30K a year o.e

I know it's not the safest thing to go into, and honestly, the homework is painful. What bothers me mainly is when people call it the easy way out, when it really isn't. Right now I'm taking a break from homework that will surely take me into midnight today, and then some more tomorrow.

Everyone have their own like(s) and dislike(s). Very often we hear successful people admit that they choose that career path because they are very passionate about it. For example, those singers/dancers chose and become what they are now because they love to sing/dance.
Once someone has a positive attitude towards something, surely things will seem easier because that person seeing it from his/her own point of view. Others who see that person may wondering what and why that person so passionate about something that he/she decides to pursue career in that field.
And is not it the same with someone who decide to choose art as a career? A friend of mine is majoring at art at the same university. I admire his bravery and passion that he decide to choose art as his career field. I too passionate about art but I don't think the passion is as strong as my passion towards business.

Originally Posted by PlatinumChild

I live in Los Angeles XD

The school's tuition is 30K a year o.e

I know it's not the safest thing to go into, and honestly, the homework is painful. What bothers me mainly is when people call it the easy way out, when it really isn't. Right now I'm taking a break from homework that will surely take me into midnight today, and then some more tomorrow. [/color]

I can definitely understand that. My mom only took one art class in college, and I remember all of her stories about how difficult it was, I can only imagine majoring in it.

And from personal experience of having things assigned, I had 5 days to do the first painting I ever did in my life and no time at school, I know how rigorous artwork can be. After school I had to do literally nothing but paint for five days.

After reading everyone's posts I really think that everyone here is underestimating how many art/design related jobs there are out there, and how many things in this world need artists. It just depends on the job that you choose to do. If you want to get into art, in able to support yourself through life, you better do your homework on what jobs are in demand for artists. If you don't then you deserve to starve. Artistic jobs shouldn't be frowned upon if they are sustainable through your life. If you are a fine artist and you're not at the top skill level, of course you're going to be working at starbucks to pay the bills. That goes for comic artists too.

If you don't want an art career that is "looked down upon" then do some research and choose a field in which you can excel at, and actually get a job from. Then work your ass off. if you can live comfortably off of your job, or you have a large change to do so, then no one should look down on you being an artist.
l

Haha, I love how I have trouble keeping up with my own thread. I do think that there are fields that are difficult to get into, but I personally chose a field that's a bit versatile in terms of what I can do with it after. I can go into film (and do the backgrounds and concept art), and I can do the same for videogames and other things.

@leafsy: I think it's great that you're going into something you're passionate about. Just because one likes art doesn't mean that it's what they have to do. It's great to know we make a choice for ourselves ^^

@Sanctuary: it can be very hard, can't it? XD I actually strained my back o.e

@Anna: I think it's a two-way fault. On the one hand, some underestimate the financial potential of an artist, on the other, an artist can overestimate what they can do with their life. I guess it's a matter of choosing and looking at the pros and cons. I know I wouldn't be happy if I didn't at least try to give it a shot. If I somehow end up having to work at a bookstore (which is something I'd also like to do in my lifetime), then I won't mind.

Some people underestimate life in general, and waste it away because of their own negativity or laziness.If you are capable, and have professional level work, you shouldn't have a problem getting a competitive job in the feild you want.

Michelangelo was a person, and professional artists today are human as well. You can get a job if you aim higher, and work hard toward your goals. Many students seem to be...underestimating their potential. But oh well, we need book sellers, baristas, and ditch diggers in society, why not they be failed artists?

Originally Posted by bubbajam15

I know Obama said something about making art more important in school because art actually was proved to be more effective in kid's learning process.

But you don't have to be a professional[art maj. graduate] to create art and sell it. The topic is about art as a "profession" and "career" that has been stereotyped and being look down upon by others.

It seems to be a popular trend to look down upon artists, but if you bring sometihng to your job that is appealing, then people will buy your works. I believe that persistance and hard work is what separates someone in the industry from someone that's a starving artist. I'm in school right now surrounded by artists and studios and most of them are very willing to hire and take graduates in to give them a chance. Most people think artists choose their profession because of their lack of scholastic potential, but there are many artists I know of in school that were on the honor roll. This includes myself, being a former nursing major. If you have a dream, go for it! It's better to try and fail rather than to not try at all.