15 year old n want a job in the art industry

[lew424]

has anyone got any advice
and can you tell me what brushes are best to use on adobe ?

[Venger]

Forget brushes, go do a 'foundation course' (if they still do those?) - basically a 1 year course covering all aspects of 'art' (graphics, illustration, ceramics, fine art, textiles etc) this should give you an idea about what you really like to do.
From there you can progress to a more specialised course.

[LuvataciousSkull]

I have to say, 15 is a good time to decide what you want to do with your life. That's a personal opinion, mind you, but I think when your a teen that's a plus to have because around your 20's seems to be the time your course is set.

At any rate...

Right now, just keep an open mind. Take as many art classes as you possibly can, namely the foundation course that was already mentioned. Mo matter how good you think you are, you realize how little you knew after you start these things. If your high school has an art program, look into it. There more likely than not are a few art classes around where you live, too.

Most importantly, KEEP AN OPEN MIND! Trust me, it's way too easy to get wrapped up in one thing and then not do anything else, especially when your still starting out. I went from wanting to be an architect to an animator to a comic book artist. Now, I just get any freelance work I can. Life is a funny thing.

:mod:

[Vhan Juju]

Unless you have a highschool with an eceptionally good art class, and a good teacher (the teacher is everything here)

My personal advice, and experience is to AVOID IT AT ALL COSTS.
Look, I know that MOST of the time it is proabley a good idea to go ahead and take a high school art class...if they are actually going to teach you something worthwhile, you gotta treat it to a case-to-case basis, but don't be fooled. if your Serious, your gonna want to buy an anatomy book, sit down at home and do it, you will proabley learn more that way than in a class room with a teacher teaching you how to melt crayons on a piece of wax paper for a window decoration.

But if you put up with that at least ya got it on your transcript for collages...so..

[creatix]

I'm all for improving your skills at an early age and being as good as you can be as early as possible but why the rush?

If you are speaking more in the context of "I'm 15 and I know what I want to do" then that is different, but if you want in the industry RIGHT NOW?

Live life a bit, experience things and have fun. When you are young you can draw without responsibility. Parents (in almost all cases) take care of everything. You create just to create, no other reason.

Sometimes when you start to HAVE to create because of a deadline, because of the paycheck, etc. it takes away some of the essence of things. That is stuff you won't understand until you have lived a bit.

I'm sure you could be so good at an early age that you offer whatever company you work for an amazing energy, vision and overall creativity but otherwise, what experience do you offer outside of that? Non art related?

You cannot exactly go out 'drinking with the guys' after work. Art directors that have loved, lost, been married, are married or have kids might tell you their stories during downtime but can you relate? You gonna ask your parents if they can come over your house to BBQ sometime just to get to know em better? What about the good ol' days. When they reference some old 80s Hanna Barbara cartoons or the original Star Wars movies as to why they got into concept art, etc. Can you relate?

I'm not judging or doggin' on you in any sense. Like I said, artistically you may have what it takes to quickly fit in at your age but what other experience do you offer to the team you work with? You might be the coolest guy on the planet but your age alone might cause a seperation in who you hang out with. Contributing to any company artistically is one thing but then you could be that guy in the cubicle that just draws robotically. I see the industry (at least the companies in which I would want to work) as a much more dynamic life experience thing. I don't just create art with them, I learn to develop relationships with them. I'm not being an ass to what you might offer in life but I just generally don't see that being the case when your Art Directors might be in their 30s, co-workers are 20 something, someone has been around the block and is mid 30s to 40 and then you have the 15yr old genius in the corner that has seen the world outside of art through his Sophomore in high school goggles...

Take the time to live first, then worry about getting paid for drawing.

just my 2 cents.

[deliciouspeter]

Art Industry!

[Ashkitty]

...AVOID [high school art classes] AT ALL COSTS.

Oh, I have to totally disagree.

My high school art class experience was absolutely terrible. My teacher was an art reject that continuously failed to show her own art, so I think she was all theory. She was a crazy hippy and had obvious favoritism for the students who traced and copied photos instead of those who actually worked at learning basics and stocking up their mental reference libraries.

Yes, of course high school art classes suck. It's high school. All the classes are just menial drivel to keep kids busy and now, to learn how to pass relatively pointless state sanctioned exams. However, I would recommend taking an art class in HS because:

-You learn a little bit of everything, and get a taste of what you like and don't like. For example, I learned that I love sculpture while I can't stand many aspects of lithography. It also breaks people out of their safe zones, getting digital-exclusive artists on real paper and clay and vice versa.

-You get your first experiences making artwork within boundaries set by assignments and meeting deadlines. This is VERY important if you want to start seriously considering a career in the "art industry".

-It's generally a really easy class which could provide some relief from more mentally stressful classes. Like math. Yay math. (Note, that is my experience only and completely confined to HS Art... art college classes are a whole 'nother ball game.)


As for photoshop brushes? Get good and used to the good ol' default round. Once you can paint something well with that you'll be better equipped to tackle custom brushes. I've found that most custom brushes are very specific to the user's style and momentary needs, making their use rather narrow. It's best to just make your own.

Oh, and learning to paint well on real canvas with real brushes and real icky gooey mushy happy paint first. (GASP, NO CTRL+Z?!) That helps a lot. :)

[enrigo]

If you are speaking more in the context of "I'm 15 and I know what I want to do" then that is different, but if you want in the industry RIGHT NOW?

Live life a bit, experience things and have fun. When you are young you can draw without responsibility. Parents (in almost all cases) take care of everything. You create just to create, no other reason.

No offense to the OP but from what I've seen, people who ask what brush to use on photoshop (especially which one is "the best") is not to the point of working professionally. So you might not need to worry about relating to 80's guy for your boss or something a little far fetch.
But hey, 15 is the perfect time to start getting serious about stuff.

[Farvus]

My advice would be - Don't just wait for some good chances or for getting into art courses where some teacher will give you everything on plate. Buy some books about art. Read them regularly and start drawing regularly.

Professional artists can do wonders with simple hard round brush (NoxIzMad is a good example). It's not so important which to use but how to use it.

[Elwell]

has anyone got any advice
and can you tell me what brushes are best to use on adobe ?

Yes, here's my advice: It's never too early to worry about grammar and punctuation.

[DAVEZILLA]

Surprisingly, I gained some reassurance from this thread.
I'm a 15 year old art student interested in maintaining my artsy side when I grow older.

Thanks to everyone who commented. :P

[Pawkfox]

Growing up sucks =(
The older I get and the more serious I get in the industry the less freedom and the less motivation I have when making my art. It's not about me and what I want to do anymore. It's about what my employer wants and his visions.
Drawing, creating is an awesome feeling but when you have to draw according to someone else direction I just don't feel any fun in it. Of course the benefits of working for someone else is that you no longer have to struggle on WHAT to draw since the usually have a few/bunch of ideas sketches on what they want. And you get paid..

[Vhan Juju]

Yes, here's my advice: It's never too early to worry about grammar and punctuation.

heh...eh....heh...eh...hehe...eh...erm...um....heh ..... (vhan leaves the thread)

[Coinpurse]

15?!?! man, at 15 I wanted to become a pilot of the USS enterprise. Naaa i'm kidding, I wasn't that much of a dork, but I'm still a complete douchbag if you can't smell the sarcasm. Aside from the people that think anything is possible, Your too young kiddo. Thats a fact. Live life, make plenty of mistakes and learn from them. Even if you were the best artist in the world, your chances are slim to none right now because of your age and lack of experience. You have no professional working experience (bagging items at your local grocery store does not count), you've no idea what to expect and what will be expected of you. There is no work ethic here... this is something that needs to build as you begin to work at different places. Before you worry about breaking into the industry, take small steps and worry more about your prom date and highschool sweetheart. When you finish highschool, go to fuckin college kid. Trust me, use up your parents money while you still have the chance, otherwise you'll be hitting the hard route like the ones many of us took here @ CA. ~Good luck kiddo

[Vhan Juju]

Good points Ashkitty...definitley consider what (s)he said!

But You would still have to drag me kicking and screaming into a HS art room...

[aylap]

(Even though I grew up on cartoons like Hannah Barbara and stuff, I'll go with the rest of your point, creatix. xD)

What creatix said is definitely true; take it from experience. I work at a place where people are on average 5 - 10 years older than me, and just that little of a difference in age makes a big difference for me socially. I mean, sure, they're all still nice to me and and talk to me while I'm there; they're great people, but I can't join in on their conversations about what happened at the bar last night. I don't get invited to go out anywhere by anyone there because when people go out together there they typically are going to a bar, and I'm too young (and, OMG I don't drink!). It really does make a difference how old you are when you work.

[Maidith]

Companies may not want to hire a 15 year old, however, if you really know that you want to become a professional in the art industry, start learning about it now :)
Besides getting really good (you'll only get a job if you're really good) buy the Graphic Artists' Guild Handbook of Pricing and Ethical Guidelines, and read about the juristic stuff, the professional price ranges, and everything else that concerns freelance artists. Surf job forums like that on CA and Deviantart and check how much (or little) many employers offer, and how little many artists take, and how professional or un-professional people can behave. Read advice and blog about the industry, for example, http://cedrichohnstadt.wordpress.com or http://freelanceswitch.com/ or read forum discussions like these here or at Epilogue.net . Many contain advice on usual commission procedures, and how not to get ripped off.
If you have a professional looking online portfolio with your best works, as well as a halfway professional attitude, you might want to get some experience - put up a profile at websites like Elance or Guru and offer your art/illustration services.

[Dorkthrone]

15?!?! man, at 15 I wanted to become a pilot of the USS enterprise. Naaa i'm kidding, I wasn't that much of a dork, but I'm still a complete douchbag if you can't smell the sarcasm. Aside from the people that think anything is possible, Your too young kiddo. Thats a fact. Live life, make plenty of mistakes and learn from them. Even if you were the best artist in the world, your chances are slim to none right now because of your age and lack of experience. You have no professional working experience (bagging items at your local grocery store does not count), you've no idea what to expect and what will be expected of you. There is no work ethic here... this is something that needs to build as you begin to work at different places. Before you worry about breaking into the industry, take small steps and worry more about your prom date and highschool sweetheart. When you finish highschool, go to fuckin college kid. Trust me, use up your parents money while you still have the chance, otherwise you'll be hitting the hard route like the ones many of us took here @ CA. ~Good luck kiddo
Personally, I'm 16 years old and I want to be a caveman. Not only are the hours good, but the wooly mammoth carcasses you get can feed you and your family for a good long while.

My only worry is that business hasn't been great since the Ice Age ended.