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The only times I've really read about people making money in events (concerts etc) is by working for the venue even then it is typically low. Think this through, how are you really going to make money off a picture you take at a concert? The venue may want it for PR or a publication might want it for circulation. In that case you had best know the publications who will want the photos (your competition is probably high) or get to know the firm which owns the venue. I know only one guy locally who does this at a few local blues clubs. He does it for free basically, because its fun for him. Big Canon with L glass, old retired guy who does photography now. Hard to compete with free.
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Aug 7, 2007 23:06
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I have some general questions about art education, for lack of a better term. Lately I have been wanting to get involved in some structured education for photography. I am in several art groups in the metro area that I live in (Phoenix) but I would really like to get into some classes or something with structure because I feel like it would be really beneficial for me. However I run into a few roadblocks. I have a full-time career in finance which I don't want to give up, my boss is really flexible and encourages going to classes (even if they're unrelated.. one of the people in my dept is actually studying nursing full time), but I still gotta be there most of the regular business day or at least for part of it and I have to make up the time I miss if I have stuff to do...anyway I like my job and keeping photo as something I do on the side. I have taken classes at a community college in the past (for other stuff) and graduated from a really good university and having experienced the two I would honestly prefer to not go to a CC just based on the majority of people that go to CC. That leaves me with going to the local state university and so I guess my question is am I either stuck at their ground level undergrad photo class or applying to their MFA program or something? I have no real desire for another degree but on the other hand I also have no real desire to flush more money down the toilet on higher education if theres some alternative out there. Are there any other options than CC or college/universities that offer structure? There are a few photographers locally that offer seminars here and there, but mostly they are filled with grandpa's with their canon rebel learning how to use the different camera functions.
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Apr 5, 2008 03:49
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stoneb posted:Hi! I graduate in May with my degree in graphic design and am trying to plan for graduate school. I've posted in this thread before for ideas, and it was suggested to me that I talk to professors or counselors at my university. Unfortunately, nobody at school has been of any help, and I'd appreciate it if anybody here could throw me some names of decent/good/great schools that I can take a closer look at. I'm financing my education all by myself, and trying to keep it under $50-60k, so public universities are very attractive. I graduated from Michigan about 6 years ago with two degrees, neither creative. I don't know which program you're wanting to apply to at UMich but anything in the school of art and architecture will be good. Don't go there if you want to save money, though - Michigan is one of (if not the) most expensive public schools in the nation, especially for out of state. They do fully fund their MFAs but...I think they accept what like 10 a year? haha? good luck with that. I will say this, now that I am stuck taking art classes at a piece of poo poo state school I really appreciate Michigan more. The teachers were better, the infrastructure was better and there was less beurocratic bullshit - it exists, theres just less of it than where I am now (AZ State.)
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Oct 22, 2009 06:39
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I remember the ITT commercials from the 90s. That's reason enough to not give them any money. drat. Here you go: 1:14 on this video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dm-waT5zS1U
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Jan 3, 2010 02:29
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Alien Lollita posted:I'm attending a school that's considering eliminating figure drawing from their curriculum because it doesn't fit the art department's philosophy. (The Sistine Chapel isn't art.) Before this happens, I want to transfer somewhere that doesn't write off representational drawing as trade, but gives you the option of pursuing a non art related degree at a related institution. I've been considering the SMFA in Boston/ NEU, but can't tell whether the SMFA is just as wrapped up in the conceptual art fad as my current school. Anyone have any experience with the place? If you're serious about doing graduate work with figures I'd suggest looking at cali schools that cater to the entertainment industry as that is where I hear my cohorts who are really good talking about. Be leery of rankings and consider your goals as an artist and teacher. If you live in LA (and maybe Chicago or NYC) you can go to figure drawing sessions every day of the week and get your skills that way, or study with a serious figure or portrait artists (which is basically what I do now.) Figure work is strong but I havent heard of a lot of MFAs that push it - but an MFA is for teaching. After I got to a certain point in formal schooling I really started to feel like I was being limited by schools "approach" to teaching figure drawing. Apprenticing with a real artist has put me in a much different space and really helped me take it to the next level. That is just my experience tho. Figure work is, in my opinion, an art that is dying that has so much knowledge in its training methods that will probably be lost in the next 100 years that it's worth learning about now. So I feel you -- but an institution is probably not the best place to learn -- it takes too much time, and too much structure, and there are just so many different ways to go about doing it. My teacher/artist right now went to LA academy fig art. and speaks highly of it, but I don't even think they're accredited. And I know people with great reputations who just kill it with figure work 24/7 and how did they get there? pure hard work, many of them without degrees, just going to figure drawing sessions and drawing all the time for years and years in their teens/twenties
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Feb 7, 2010 08:20
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Hey guys look at all this web traffic I can get through negative publicity.
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Apr 16, 2010 03:36
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Hazed_blue posted:Fortunately my wife is a photographer, so she can take her job anywhere that we go. We have a toddler and a newborn, and I think that's what makes this the most difficult. We currently have access to grandparents, aunts, uncles, nephews, and even great grandparents in the place that we live right now. If we move, it'll be the end of that for now. Family is so important, but at the same time, taking care of your own family is even more important. The nice thing is that New Studio and Current Studio are both owned by the same Parent Company, so the exit strategy wouldn't be a big issue. And yeah, if I were to work for New Studio on location, that would open up a huge amount of doors for me, which is why I feel like it might be worth it. I would be so much happier working for them too, which I know is a big plus for the wife. Where I live, metro Phoenix, my observation is that photography is like any other service industry - reputation and referrals are a lot more important than your background or technical know how (though a base line has to be there.) So really I read your situation as most likely saddling the wife with the kids while you pursue your career, which seems fine as long as you're on the same page about all that. Even if you move to another metro area it will take her some time to get established unless she's already got prospects with some kind of commercial outfit, or is one of the rare super-famous photogs that is known everywhere (I am betting she is not given the tone of your post.) And if you're in the middle of nowhere with no reputation, good luck to her building that photography career. Or any career whatsoever. This is really a discussion for you and your wife to have, since you have so much additional poo poo on the line: your wifes career, your kids futures. And you should discuss all the possibilities, like her handling the majority of the child care and foregoing serious career opportunities (whatever direction she's headed.) The reality of any career minded individual in this day and age is that you're gonna have to move a few times, it's unfortunate but that is just how it is. But don't kid yourself about the impact all that will have on everything else. Lastly, don't bullshit yourself about numbers - do some real analysis about what kind of pay jump and opportunities you're getting vs. what you lose from whatever wifes income, plus potential income over the next 3-5 years, you lose. I am not married right now but the prospect of losing a 2nd income + possible future cash for extended period would really put me off this scenario. Especially if I had kids.
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Jun 22, 2010 05:52
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I've never done a concept art workshop but I have a bunch of videos I've collected from different sources by some of the concept art teachers. I think they're good, and I often just leave them playing as background noise when I'm working. I think Jason Manley (massive black) is one of the main guys making the ones I've seen. These are from the downloadable content, not the online classes. Manley, at least, really knows his poo poo and I find the way he talks to be very engaging. He doesn't waste time bullshitting. So there's that to their credit. The thing is, if you don't have time, you don't have time. I really think with creative work (or any work) mastering what you're doing is very important. If you just approach figurative stuff half-assed, you will never master it. It's simply too time consuming. So it's an issue of priorities and professional goals, rather than interest. Everything is interesting. I think print design, web design, industrial design are all really fascinating but I don't focus on those things right now because I have a particular end-game in mind which doesn't really place any of those things at high importance. I can hire someone or have a motivated intern to do that kind of work if necessary, later. I also think workshops are for working professionals or retired rich folks. Where I live workshops are fairly pricey and unless you get a break by expensing it they're probably the worst bang-for-buck training you can get. A working pro who already has years of experience drawing or painting will be able to apply that knowledge a lot more readily / easily than a student will, and maybe get some value out of whatever they learn at that workshop.
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Jun 27, 2010 22:53
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Yeah I know both fine artists and designers who use blogspot, as long as your photos / examples are clean its not a big deal. I personally have a wordpress blog on a custom domain for my own poo poo, which is almost the same thing. Taking photos of my paintings is enough of a pain in the rear end that worrying about the design of stuff for something that only a few people really give a poo poo about isn't worth it. If I made six figures a year it might be, but at my level it's definitely not.
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Aug 31, 2010 21:46
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The "common sense" in me tells me anyone doing web based work should be doing their own site's design, certainly. But what I said may also have to do with the fact that I'm not talking about top flight designers or world class art personalities.
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Aug 31, 2010 21:57
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With the fullbright having individual or institutional backing is really important, as well as having really clear goals that obviously can't be achieved inside the US (studying traditional Japanese pottery making techniques, etc.) The other thing I have noticed with fullbrights is that they are usually really well connected academically and usually have really interesting projects they are working on - something they've thought through very thoroughly and have been working on a long time. I'm not actually a fullbright right now, its just something I have my eye on in my long term plans. Your portfolio will obviously be reviewed by professionals who will be taking your background into consideration (student, etc.) but I think the most important thing is connections and your proposal being really bad rear end.
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Oct 6, 2010 07:16
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Not to poo poo in your salad or whatever but I don't think you're on the right track with that. When it comes to advertising and marketing firms in countries like the US are going to be extremely sophisticated compared with other countries, and schools are going to have a bigger pool of teaching talent to draw from, and have more up to date technology to teach with. So as a general response I think you're on the wrong track there. There are probably many schools in Europe that are competitive but nothing that provide something you couldn't get comparably here and that's something you should consider in applying for a fullbright because that's what the review panel will talk about. The fullbright is really about enabling people to do things they couldn't do domestically. On top of that I have never heard of them sponsoring anyone for anything in advertising or the like, which I would align as closely with a business function as I would with an arts function. When I think of the arts fullbrights I know (and people who have applied and been rejected) it has been for things like doing field research on specific objects/people ('quianlong era painting at the national museum of china in beijing') or location specific research ('cross cultural grafitti'); doing field work with established artists in a country ('studying akita pottery in rural japan in a community there') etc. Thats the kind of poo poo you're competing against. If you are hellbent on doing something related to advertising you would need to have some kind of cultural spin on it, and have a research advisor who is established at the institution you're applying to. I'm assuming you don't since you haven't mentioned it, so you'd have to look into that. You are kind of behind the game in terms of timing for that, I'd expect plans for that to be happening at least winter-ish of the previous year but it could happen if you know someone at the institution and can hustle.
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Oct 7, 2010 21:13
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Well, studying pottery techniques with an akita potter is one I have heard of. Another guy I know applying is photographing gangs involved in drug trafficking in Brazil, and the gigantic slums there, as part of this ongoing project he's doing. I run into more humanities fullbrights over the years since there are just more of them :/
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Oct 8, 2010 08:54
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TheKingPuuChuu posted:So I've been back from my internship for about 1 month now and I don't know if it's just the industry or what, but I can't seem to get a job. I've had several interviews in the Phoenix area that went no-where, and those were even for junior level positions. I remember you posting before. I have a mixed bag of feedback regarding your work. But first, let's talk about Phoenix. The market in Phoenix for creative work has always sucked a cock. Now it's just amplified. A lady I know just graduated from RISD and currently works for PetSmart doing their bullshit design work. There is simply not enough big industry here to sustain a lot of creative work, and it's going to be like that for the next 5 years. If you're looking to work in design, Phoenix is not the place for you. On the other hand, Phoenix is a great place to be involved with artists, or as an artist. It's a completely different game, but there are a lot of opportunities if you have a lot of hustle, decent skills, and can think of interesting ways to create work and self-promote. This is what I've been up to the past year and a half, and so far it's been a very interesting journey. No way in hell I'm going into detail about what I do here but if I ever run across you I'll introduce myself. If you're set on sticking in Phoenix I'd suggest two things, one is to start networking at things like Creative Connect or whatever the equivalent is for web design now. I used to go to one but thought it was fairly worthless so I stopped, but I know there's two or three active groups here. People there will in the least tell you the lay of the land. Creative connect can be alright. I am loosely affiliated with some of their movers and shakers... Job hunting here really, really sucks. On to your website: in short, your print work is much stronger than your web work. It's obvious your fundamentals are strong but you need to axe the website and re-do it. Here are some of the things that really irritate me about it: 1. Having to dig for your work. Zero clicks to see examples of your work. [0] Zero. (The number you get when you subtract one from one.) 2. On my PC your website does not display properly in IE or Chrome. Because I frequently use design programs like Photoshop and Illustrator I use a large monitor with large fonts as the OS default and while every other designers site I look at looks fine, yours looks like a gigantic pile of text mashed together. What does that tell me? 3. I don't care about any of the words you have written. Your work should speak for itself. Stop talking. I'm serious: get rid of all the text. I can see that you're trying to be humorous here but it's not really funny to me. I know enough loving tongue-in-cheek hipsters. If I wanted to meet more I just need to find some lovely photography on display at First Fridays, it's like a magnet for dipshits. 4. About a half a dozen other things but I wont list them all. My "big" suggestion is to give your website some serious reworking while you're unemployed and have time to put into it. My other suggestion is, if you're set on working in phoenix, to try to get a job at a medium sized firm doing anything, and "moving over" into whatever kind of creative roles they require. Because the economy sucks such a cock here, that's probably the best way to make a living in the short run. In the long run if you want to do real design work you should seriously consider leaving phoenix. Even the design jobs in medium sized firms are going to have you putting out really average, mundane poo poo. You wont be working with motivated people who are really going to push you to learn and bust your rear end. It's Phoenix - you can't expect a lot.
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Oct 24, 2010 09:32
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QUEEN CAUCUS posted:I just put up my new site at https://www.katielisk.com I like that I don't have to hunt to find your work, I'd say thats probably your strong point. Links/news/about me section are all very 90s. I'd axe them all. If you're looking to tell people about your life and views I'd nix all that bullshit and add a blog. Really - we don't care. Otherwise I'd keep the portfolio and the contact info/resume section. About the porfolio. Speaking generally, I fail to see any kind of cohesive focus, theme, message, or style. It's a hodgepodge of mostly fantasty stuff with some other random poo poo thrown in there. I think you should take a critical look at it and get rid of about 2/3 of it because it doesn't make you look strong. Some of it does, most of it doesn't. Cutting out a good portion of it will also help with the whole "short attention span of most audiences." I see that you are interested in working in concept art. Unfortunately when I look at your figure based work, which is most of what you have, I think you should be investing more time on honing your drawing/rendering skills and less time copying Blizzard entertainment fan art. Look at the big names in concept art, how many of them have a background in figurative work? Quite a few. Take that to heart. When was the last time you spent 50 hours rendering one drawing? If you want to be in concept art, that's what I'm expecting to see: really mindblowing drawings/paintings that are putting new ideas or concepts in front of my eyes. I see you want to work in flash in the future. Some links to examples of prior work, clients, projects, etc would be good. Lastly I'll agree with other people on the whole art deco background but for a very different reason. A porfolio is to showcase your work. I think your port should showcase your work, not your personal preference for art deco or french wallpaper. Either ditch it or tone down the contrast 80% and show your audience (which is who again?) that you have some solid skills and can implement them tastefully rather than blasting us in the face with your opinion. Basically, if you want a hobby / fun site, make it separately. Make a blog and post interesting poo poo in it. Stylize it with art deco and dress up like hello kitty so conceptart fags can paypal you donations or something. Keep the portfolio simple and if you want to heavily stylize it, realize that it's going to take a lot more work to do tastefully than what everyone else uses because it's simple.
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Oct 26, 2010 07:34
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how can you beat comic sans tho
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Oct 27, 2010 11:52
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What art fields? the only art field you mention is animation, and you don't find a lot of people working in animation non-commercially because it's such a labor intensive process. Flash, illustrator, etc, are not fields, they're just programs that people use to create with. For me this question boils down to what you want to do, and how you live your life in your 20's and 30's. Building yourself up as a designer or an artist means making very different choices about how you start out your career. Both are relatively "risky" in that a lot of people fail and you have to work your rear end off, and your core education are extremely important. If I were to make a general comparison I would say there's definitely money floating around in the world of fine art but it takes a very different set of skills to get your hands on it, and being a good artist is only one part of that. If you're serious about being an artist, have a look at how some contemporary artists work and get paid and take a long think about whether or not you see yourself doing any of the things they do. There's that, and years and years of living poor while you develop your craft. Grant funding, residencies, gallery sales, all of this poo poo is complicated, time consuming bullshit you almost have to put up with in order to be an artist. Also while there are several designers (Shepard Fairey comes to mind) who move in and out of the worlds of "fine art" and "design", and there is some overlap, there is a lot less horizontal mobility than you probably think - especially once you get outside of photography and printmaking. So you need to have a good think about that. You may think you can be a great designer then become an established artist but I personally think those cases are fairly rare. If you're working 60 hours a week at a good design firm good luck finding extra energy to develop your craft on the side. I have been at this awhile and I know very few people who have that kind of grit (they happen to be the famous or up-and-coming ones, though.)
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Nov 2, 2010 07:03
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When I see disgusting poo poo like that it makes me glad I stopped watching TV years ago. It is memorable though. Jesus christ.
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Nov 2, 2010 08:34
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Pantothenate posted:That sounds awesome. Could I get you to shoot an email to hull.wj at gmail dot com? I'd love to hear more about what media you've been working with, how the job climate is down there, etceteras. I personally find it hard to discuss work that becomes famous off of shock value and that kind of celebrity. But I don't find it glorious at all really - I think it's lame, sophomoric bullshit. So, perfect for TV. Anyway this kind of discussion should probably be in another thread (if someone else wants to make one).
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Nov 3, 2010 07:24
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The Mobile Sponge posted:Thanks Beat, I was hoping I'd hear from you Working your rear end of does pay...just not money, usually. Unfortunately. That takes awhile. There are a few ways to learn about artists. The best way is to find someone locally whose work you like and apprentice/slave labor for them for a year or two. But usually they'll want you to have a solid background in what they do - you can't just walk in. And then you will probably be doing 90% lame poo poo for awhile. You might need a personal connection. But you can learn a lot about the everyday work, and the business side of art this way. Another way is to look up good faculty at universities and study with them. The problem with that though is that you're just another student to them, unless you're putting out phenomenal work they can brag about in staff meetings or grant applications you won't get a lot of focused attention. And you're relegated to the academic semesters, which are awful for learning how to make good work (I think.) But the thing with good faculty is that they often have a lot of "good old boy" connections in the art world with artists, galleries, collectors, etc. You can volunteer/intern with galleries, museums, art organizations, etc. and learn a lot about their side that way if you keep your eyes and ears open. If you're going that route you should try your best to thoroughly research the leadership, so for a museum that will be senior curators or directors. For an art org that could be anything, director, project manager, etc., but the point is you want to be volunteering or interning as close to the leaders as possible. Don't waste time at a big famous museum if all they're going to is put you behind a desk filing papers or answering phones. gently caress that poo poo.
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Nov 5, 2010 00:22
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Anyone got any examples of CVs (not resumes) that they think are good?
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Dec 29, 2010 23:18
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I'd wait
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Mar 14, 2011 05:09
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Send them a professional looking email and ask. If they broke off another studio it may just be a few people working with no budget for a secretary, thus "appointment only." And have a portfolio ready, even if it sucks. As a student they're more likely to be lenient in that regard. People usually like interns who are motivated and seek poo poo out on their own.
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Jun 17, 2011 01:06
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It could be a megathread. Are you trying to get your work sold at the dollar store or what? Artvendor.com?
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Feb 1, 2012 23:33
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Shnooks posted:I'm graduating in a week with a BFA in Fibers from MassArt in Boston. I work full-time at a yarn store and have a ton of experience working with fibers. I don't really know what I want to do right now but I'm overwhelmed at how lovely the job market is and how dumb I was to get a loving fine arts degree in fibers. I'd be happy to work at a gallery if any of them were even hiring. You have a few actual options available to you, none of them are really great in the short run. A few things that come to mind - Find an actual established artist to work for/apprentice for for a few years. That will help your craft as well as help you network. Both of those things will be necessary if you want to work in fine arts. Explore the supply chain in other directions. You can make a decent living doing things like shearing sheep or other fiber bearing animals in some areas. It's very physical labor. I know a guy who shears and spins his own niche market type fiber. He has a nice house and a decent life, and is able to raise a family etc. Of course it helps that his wife is in real estate. I don't know anything about working for commercial operations except that the bulk of them are not in the USA - I think something like 80% of the worlds wool comes from NZ now - so you'd be involved with smaller niche type stuff.
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May 14, 2012 21:32
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Unfortunately getting good at creative work takes a lot of actual work. Some people get a lot of exposure growing up, most people don't and just have to work their asses off. It looks to me like, given your record, you've basically not put your nose to the grindstone and I think that if you want to get into a good art school, you're going to have to actually do that for a few years. It's good to aim high, but to get into a good program you're also going to have to bust your rear end. If you're not ready to do that, nobody here is going to suggest going to an Art Institute or any other school. It would be a waste of money if you're not ready to bust your rear end and it would be a waste of time if you aren't on the same baseline technical level as your other students which - for undergrad programs - is really not THAT high. A rejection is just telling you that you need to be more diligent - if you're not ready for that, art school is a waste of your time. Despite the high cost of art schools in general I think it CAN be a solid investment if you are ready to work very, very hard. If not, you are in the wrong field to begin with.
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May 15, 2012 22:41
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If you're looking at a school, think really seriously about the particular field you are interested in. Look at the faculty work - the quality of the work, and what they do on the side. Do they show? Are they represented by ->quality<- art galleries? For designers, are they associated with any well known design studios on the side or do they do design work that is noteworthy? Do they have examples of student produced work that impress you? Look at graduates of that department. They should have online or readily available examples of recent graduate work. Do you think this is good work? I have/had a tough time getting motivated by instructors that I feel are poor or even average artists. I can't take a teacher seriously if the poo poo they make is only, in my view, "decent." In my city we have an Art Institute and I know some of the teachers. While they're nice people, and decent artists, I definitely don't think they're of the caliber that the well known / more respected programs are able to maintain. If you're going to drop piles of cash, its worth going to a school that will provide you with faculty that are top notch, and not all faculty are once you start getting to know your field of choice. Don't listen to the poo poo people say. Look at what they do, and the work they make. That will help guide a decision better. Every school you go to will piss up and down the street about how fantastic they are and all the poo poo their graduates do. And for the record I definitely don't think you have to pay through the nose to be a good artist or designer. If you're motivated, the most important thing to do is be in an environment where you can make work - even if it's your own home. If you have the discipline for that. You have to make, and make, and make, and learn as much as you can about the poo poo you're making. If you're not ready for that kind of commitment, any art school is really going to be a waste of time and money.
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Aug 3, 2012 21:55
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if you're in the sticks and there are no real programs nearby I would suggest reading a lot and working your rear end off in those community college courses
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Aug 31, 2012 08:18
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Actually SFAI is not a bad school as far as "art institutes" go, but if you can't be motivated to read the past 5 pages I don't know if it would be worth your money. I think the an important thing to ask is, what is it that you actually want to do? not, "I like 3d stuff," but, really try to figure out what it is you want to build your career in. If you don't know, maybe taking classes at a community college or something would be better before you start dropping thousands of dollars on a "real" school. It would also help you narrow down schools. Because schools are mostly, in my opinion, a scam, unless you're really motivated and the people there can actually help position you well for the future in your field of choice. Even then, I know people who go like 80k into debt for an undergrad degree and will be making like 15k a year or less when they finish just doing the poo poo work trying to get "started" in certain fields (ceramics.) I don't think thats a great path of action, but on the other hand, they're doing the things they really love to do and don't really give a poo poo about the money (most of them are in their 20s...)
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Sep 10, 2012 07:12
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Captain Knots posted:I was recently invited to an artist residency program in Europe and have some grant writing ahead of me to help fund the flight and some other (not low) fees. I just did a residency in China, which was partially funded by grants. I'm planning to go back sometime next year if I can get the money to do it again. Actually sometime in the next few weeks I may post a thread about the whole thing. I think you should make a thread and post photos of your work and your artist statement, and just ask for feedback. It's really hard to judge where someone is at with nothing to go on. Writing a concise artist statement is very, very difficult. Writing an artist statement which actually matches the work is even more difficult. My general advise is: Your statement is about your work, it should focus on the work, and make specific argument(s) about why your work is important and different. Avoid anything that has to do with your personal philosophy. If there is a very strong tie with your work it might be appropriate, but for a beginner I'd just avoid it. An example of this would be something like "The big bad corporations like wal mart are taking over the world and my work is about exposing them by recycling mcdonalds trashbags into mega sculptures." Keep it short and clear. Show it to non-art people and ask them if they understand. If you sense any hesitation or sandbagging, then you need to do it again. Basically you are trying to communicate in visual language, the work is the MOST important and your statement should just back up the work. Here are some examples of artists who I think have excellent work as well as artists statements - sorry they're both ceramic but basically that's my area. Both of these people are highly respected in their fields. I often suggest people struggling with artists statements to read these: http://susanbeinerceramics.com/statement.html http://www.donreitz.com/new%20site/statement2.html As far as the grant writing goes, it depends a lot on the grant. Usually grants have some sort of "competitive" review process involving a panel of people who work in the realm of the arts. So naturally knowing some of these people helps (not even kidding.) But talking broad strokes, I would say, read your grant applications carefully: Usually you're not supposed to write more than one or two pages. Personally I think even one page is usually overkill if you actually know what you're going to do. You can put a lot of information in one page if you write clearly. What you write needs to be tailored to the application specifically. Focus on why doing your work THERE is important vs anywhere else. If you're going to study with someone famous, or do work at somewhere famous, and you have their endorsement, name drop when you can. If it's feeding into some bigger project or something you're doing in your home country, mention that too. Again, avoid statements about personal philosophy and really complex "art language." Be short, clear, etc.: who, what, where, why, when, and focus on the WHY - why should it be you and not someone else who is an equally talented creative person? Another thing that is generally appealing is if your work is collaborative or you're trying to bring in other artists or community people, because then it looks like the money isn't just going to fund your expensive vacation. One reason I got the grant I got was because I'm trying to do an exhibition of Chinese artists (to be clear, an exhibition excluding myself) now that I am back, and it will be at a well-known venue. But I had to do all the groundwork before I actually left. The other thing is that you have to write a lot of grants, and you should expect a lot of rejection. If you just write one, you're not going to get it. And the more you do, the better you get at it... good luck.
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Dec 16, 2012 01:23
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mutata posted:Get an AA from a community college to be your "permission slip" to work, then take ~20% of what you would spend on art school tuition and use it to buy training materials/take classes online and just work on projects until you get a job. The money issue is a big one, and art school tends to be overpriced by comparison. From the financial standpoint you make a sound point, but in my personal educational experience, I have had a few really fantastic instructors who have/had a big impact on the way I make, and the way I think about making. When I say that, I mean that they helped lay foundations both in visuality/theory and understanding why we think some things look good and others don't, as well as work flow and work ethic. For creative types I often see work ethic as being a gigantic issue... especially young people who 'aren't really sure.' While it may sound stuck up, you would never find these individuals teaching at a community college - I know because I took courses at a community college for a few years from different instructors. It was fun, and at the time, I thought they were decent. Looking back, I wish I had spent my time elsewhere. It wasn't necessarily wasted time, but I definitely was taught more rapidly and more rewardingly when I started apprenticing with a local artist in my city - that was also my first instance of meeting an artist who works goddamn near all the time, and one of the few I know making a decent living as a younger person. He went to Laguna, a fairly expensive school, and every semester he went he had about 15,000 reasons to bust his rear end. afgrunden posted:Anyone attended/know important information for prospective students about any the following schools: MICA, CCA, SVA, RISD or Pratt? Out of those, I think RISD is probably has the best reputation. I have met RISD grads making a living, let me say that. I haven't actually heard a lot about Pratt, so I looked at their website to see who their faculty were (I have been considering an MFA recently and this is my first step in how I size up a program quickly, it's not the best way, but I figure in the very least if someone's teaching me they need to make good work for me to respect what they're saying.) So anyway, I couldn't even find a link to faculty bios for their programs, whether I am just missing it or its intentionally omitted, it gets on my nerves. As far as the money thing goes, if you want to go to a good program, you are going to have to take out some loans. That is the unfortunate state of the game right now. There are other alternatives - community college, working on your own, etc. IF you have the work ethic for it, that can work. But I do think in the top programs (RISD, SCAD, etc.) you learn a lot more, especially about work ethic and developing a critical eye about work... those things, you are not really going to get at a community college or working on your own. I mean I'm sure some people are born with the ability to grind on a drawing for 12 hours straight, but I have never met any myself. Basically what I'd say is, if you're not certain, then don't go. It's ok to take some time and think about it, or take a community college class, or whatever. Figure out what it is you want to do... but in creative fields, including any fine art or illustration, if you don't love it enough to do it 12 hours a day, you're probably working in the wrong field. Because those kinds of people exist, and they're the ones who are successful. By and large, the ones that I have met have had significant, formal background/education from some program that was decent (state college or above.) I do know a working illustrator who was self-taught, and he is good, but he lived in Chicago and would go to open life-drawing sessions for like 6 hours a day, every day, for years. So it CAN be done, but he has a very strong work ethic, you know he would go to these sessions and work his rear end off, all the time. And he is quite a bit older, I think he started in his late 20s, so that helped him.
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Jan 8, 2013 06:45
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I am really more angry at the way the whole system has developed than anything else. I think big ticket prices on any undergraduate education are more or less a scam. The unfortunate situation with art/design is that once you finish you're just in poor shape to pay that money back unless you live in one of the few places of the US where it's plausible to do it (NY/Chicago/California). But the other half of that is I often see people unwilling to take out a few loans and get a real education because they're just not committed to it at that level. A lot of the people I've met who have fallen into that category were simply not hard working people. I don't think $50 or $60k of debt, even in a creative profession, is all that crippling if one actually knows how to work and uses the opportunities presented to them BUT most people do not and those are the people who shouldn't be jumping into it... unfortunately I think those are the people that are in the majority in most schools, in most majors, not just art. I work as an administrator (in a financial capacity) for a research center at a large public school, which is well known for science research. I'm also a masters student in their art history program, which isn't famous but it is decent. And they have great ceramics facilities, really some of the best in the country, so I can work on my artwork along with doing the art history thing. The reason I took this job is because I get a 100% tuition waiver and I wanted to study more... thats part of the benefits of being staff here. It's also one of the reasons their base tuition is so egregiously expensive. There are a lot of other reasons - we have a ton of what I see as basically worthless infrastructure being financed by the school, and all these departments who exist to help pull in federal money and philanthropy money just for departments (hard sciences) without any kind of regards to the humanities. And the base tuition for art/art history masters students is something like $24k/year... I could never stomach that for art history BUT I do know art history graduates who make 40-50k/year - a decent wage in this area - doing arts administration of some sort. Those that want to do PhD level work are basically hosed, I think the average wage for an art history adjunct was like $24k/year for teaching 3 courses a term for an academic year. So I mean, it really depends a lot on what kind of work you want to do and where you'll end up. In someplace like NY or San Francisco, 60k of debt is not a big number and there are a lot of opportunities to do arts administration or gallery sales type work were that someones inclination. But to work at a museum or a university, otoh, you basically have to have a trust fund or something to live because you could never do it on their salaries. What I'm saying in a nutshell is that it depends a lot on a persons individual motivation and situation. But the fiscal aspect of it is just one part of it, and I think a lot of people get caught up on it because they don't want to actually bite the bullet and bear into doing real work, because a lot of it is a grind. And a LOT of people, including masters students in different fine arts practices I see here, are really not hard working people. Sometimes I even wonder why they're here.
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Jan 8, 2013 18:19
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Al-Saqr posted:Here is something I need to ask, does SCAD have that low of a reputation? I'm currently thinking of heading off to get an MFA in animation from there, and here is my situation:- I don't really know anything about animation and I doubt you'll get a lot of animation-focused answers here. My suggestion would be to email some people that are actually in the program, ask the admissions counselor or whoever is in charge of graduate admissions and see if they can suggest them. I know a few people who have graduated from there, one of them is a close friend who studied printmaking and he is now very successful, but I think it's mostly due to his work ethic and personality, which he had before going there. But he has always talked highly about his time there - but it's printmaking, not animation.
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Jan 13, 2013 20:57
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Shnooks posted:I'm going to apply to some gallery shows and they all require me to send in a CD, which is cool. Should I also include my artist statement and CV? Do I print it out or just stick it on the CD? it should be in the call, if it's not you can, but they're probably doing the first cull based on images alone... most places do... but you do need your contact info in there, if they have a separate application form or whatever that's what they want
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Jan 25, 2013 21:58
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rosselas posted:Would somebody mind taking a look at my portfolio? You need to spend more time drawing. A lot more. Don't even think about money for the next 2 years, just think about how you can spend as much time drawing as you can, and draw everything you can.
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Feb 22, 2013 22:05
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rosselas posted:I will. I know my drawings now aren't the best they will be. But I also want to at least try to start a professional career. I believe that I've improved quite a bit at imaginative drawing in the past couple years and I would like to test my skills. You are just distracting yourself. What you need to do is build up your core skills. If you want drawing to be the core of what you do, you need to make good drawings. If you don't focus on that, you'll never build any kind of career at all. If you just want to get $5 or $10 commissions or whatever here and there, fine, whatever. There's no reason you can't try to do that, but drawing well is a skill that is learned. It doesn't just come out of nothing, and your best bet is to find a good instructor that can build really solid fundamentals, or in some other fashion meet people who do it well and try to learn from them. Another thing about drawing is that you can get into some really bad habits that can be really hard to "untrain" later down the road if you just do everything on your own, which is another reason I suggest seeking out a good instructor. Seriously: I know people who will spend 12 hours a day on a drawing. Maybe not every day, but if they have a show coming up or a deliverable due. This is the kind of person you want to "compete" with. I mean if you are really serious, don't beat around the bush. If you want to just dink around here and there, it's another thing entirely. Just don't bullshit yourself... better to spend that time making work.
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Feb 24, 2013 06:20
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Nessa posted:As someone with who's familiar with the comic industry rosselas could do way more than $5-$10 commissions. That would be selling himself short. I personally do $10 commissions for drawings of cartoon ponies and I don't have a tenth of the art skill that this guy has. God, I just hate it when my anime connoisseurship gets called into question. rosselas posted:My impression of you is that you are a hard rear end. Let me frame it another way. You know what you could do? Pick someone/someones in your area who is "successful" by whatever metric you think is important. Call them up, and politely ask to do a 15 minute informational interview. Ask them about their training, background, and how much time they spend on a piece before they deliver it to whoever their client is. Whatever their client base might be, since you give us basically no idea of what it is exactly you want to do. Their delivery may be more polite than mine, but I bet you they won't jerk you off.
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Feb 25, 2013 21:04
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Best bet is to look at past residents at wherever you're interested. Residencies basically fall into two categories, the invite-only hosted residencies and the pay-to-play variety. Most of the paid / subsidised residencies (Anderson Ranch, Penland, etc.) are gained through reputation/personal network by people who are well established in their field - that is, people who are showing/have shown work regularly and are basically career artists. I have never heard of / seen a prestigious residency not go to someone who didn't fit that bill or wasn't blowing someone on the board of directors. The ones that are pay-to-play are usually just an issue of coughing up the dough and work examples that show you wont wreck their facilities out of sheer incompetence. I don't know what kind of work you're looking to do but if you can't work at home, maybe look for group / co-op shared spaces near where you live - or consider moving to where some are in the short/medium run. Most metro areas of the US have spaces like this.
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Feb 17, 2014 22:55
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Creative writing is a little different from fine arts in general, in that having a fine art MFA might give you a slim chance of some kind of job with benefits at a school or tertiary institution. Whereas with creative writing it will help you 0% and you know that from the get go. One of my good friends did a creative writing degree but she already had a day job that paid a shitload of money and it was just "for fun" to give some structure to her writing development. In that case I'd just say go for it. But like, paying 60k for one is a pretty big pill to swallow if you're just looking to not participate in real life for a year and a half.
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Feb 9, 2015 20:17
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