Life after the BFA

[N D Hill]

Hey all

I could use a bit of advice as I'm in a serious rut creatively and career wise. Having Graduated with my BFA this past fall, I found myself more than a little unprepared. Turns out my plan from getting from school (point A) to that magical place in life where I'm suddenly supporting myself full-time with illustration and design work (point B) was missing a few intermediary steps.

I, at one point early on, even entertained the idea of going off to an atelier after I received my degree. I had even correspondence with one of them and had a few good professors go through the trouble of writing letters of recommendation for me. But of course that all would've cost a shit-load of money that I just didn't have and I really did have to start supporting myself with full-time work as my student loans were moving out of their grace period. Plus it's no fun being 25 and moving back in with your parents, so I wanted to avoid having to do that as well.

And as much as I complained about the quality of my State University 'Fine Arts' education, I'm finding that I miss that bubble and I miss that regimen of working 30+ hours a week on art. Even without the direction I knew I was missing. Now I'm in a client tech support job at a medical database software company, I've been there since early march and my creative life could not be less managed. I haven't finished a painting since early march either. All that aside, I know my poor work habits are my fault and I've started to catch myself on my poor time management outside of my day job. I get in a couple hours here and there and do a little better on my free weekends. I'm trying to establish a more strict regimen for myself. I tried to see if I could get a apprenticeship spot in the mentoring forum but I know how much of a a long-shot that is.

Anyway. That's the state of things. As I tell other people with similar rants, usually problems aren't as bad as we make them out to be, it just takes someone else to point out the options that should be obvious to us. And I guess that's what I'm looking for.

Do I have to count out any formal continuation of my education if I'm already up to my ass in debt?

Is my portfolio good enough to sustainably support myself at least part time with smaller profile jobs, and if so, where do you find them? The few I've had were a complete mystery as my past clients have all found me and any attempt I've made to bid on a commission usually loses steam somewhere along the consideration process. Then again, I've only ever known to check CA's own employment classifieds.

Cheers. Any advice at all would be appreciated.
-Noel

[Mirana]

Seems like you might be using the "go back to school/atelier" idea as an excuse to have someone else tell you what to do and demand deadlines of you. It helps you avoid getting or pursuing that "real" job too.

If you're only looking at jobs on CA then you aren't even trying. I think you know that.

So what's the real deal? What are you afraid of? What are your excuses for not doing art? What kind of job were you looking to get into anyway?

[UrsusArctos]

Welcome to the real world!

I graduated in May and am working in an unrelated field for a bank. Now, you must realize, the good news is that we both have jobs that are considered "career", and not some schmucky fast food gig- so things could be worse.

I'm a point of trying to figure out where to go as well. I looked at getting my MFA- but I realize that even though it would be very easy to sign my life away to 100k of loans, and I would undoubtedly enhance my skill to a huge degree- It's just not financially realistic.

I earned a BA and emphasized in graphic design, but the program was sort of weak, so to supplement, I am taking a course in Flash/Dreamweaver this fall at my community college. I am also taking a course in Intro to Business, because I want to be a successful freelancer, and my community college offers many courses in entreprenueralship, which I think is a wise thing to study. I am also going to try my hardest to sneak in an Animation course if my boss will let me rearrange my schedule.

Lifes going to be a lot tougher now for the both of us- Time to support ourselves, pay back those loans, and also struggle to work in our field.Right now I am focusing on boosting some skills, learning some about business (and taxes!). In the end, perhaps even more important than skill, is the drive that makes you draw for 5 hours after working all day at your dead end job, and the guts to keep sending out another 50 promotional mailers after your previous didn't get any results. Expect to look hard and long and to hold onto your current job (or similar job) for a while before something comes your way. But, hopefully, if you work your butt off, you'll find something.

And as a personal note- I make it a goal to read an industry related book every month, and starting next month, I'm going to focus on experimenting with new media, in addition to drawing exercises. Consider starting up your own blog and joining groups like Illustration Friday or Artday Monday. Find a way to get yourself motivated and out of a rut.

[N D Hill]

Seems like you might be using the "go back to school/atelier" idea as an excuse to have someone else tell you what to do and demand deadlines of you.

Yes! As arbitrary as it is to have someone else set the standards for you, it works amazingly well. I have no illusions about my portfolio and it's deficiencies in regard to the professional standards. It's not there. As much of a cop out you believe formal training and direction to be, it works. I want it.


It helps you avoid getting or pursuing that "real" job too.


nope. Lack of technical skill is doing a fine job of that already. I don't remember saying that I want to attend classes at the exclusion of work either.


If you're only looking at jobs on CA then you aren't even trying. I think you know that.


Now we're getting somewhere. To anyone reading, feel free to post links to decent freelance directories and online classified. I know I'm not looking in enough or the right places.


So what's the real deal? What are you afraid of? What are your excuses for not doing art? What kind of job were you looking to get into anyway?

Anything at all where I could apply what skill and creativity I have and at least get my foot in the door and not lose my home. I'm only afraid of having to talk to pissed off doctors and their underpaid staff for another year about databases. I'm doing that because it pays the rent.

[N D Hill]

I'm by no means claiming my needs are greater than anyone else's here and I'm aware that a lot of my problems can be solved by a swift kick in the ass i terms of discipline and time management, and trust me, I'm working on that. However I'd be eternally if maybe a professional or two could give my portfolio (http://ndhill.com/) or mentoring thread (http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=123886) a glance and give me an idea where I could be going.

[sula_nebouxi]

Getting a job involving illustration is pretty difficult these days. Our graduating class this past year had 100 students and only a small fraction of them are working right now at a steady job (relating to illustration). A few are taking jobs outside of art to pay the bills. A good amount are trying their hand at freelancing.

It's a rough world out there and college degrees won't always land you the job you want anymore. It's a combination of skill, connections, and a fair bit of luck. Having an MFA most likely won't help you in getting a job, unless you're going into academia. It might help if you're planning on teaching at a college level but I wouldn't know for sure.

To get your name out there you just have to explore some avenues like getting a table at a comic con and doing sketches(while showing off work), talking to old classmates and see if they can get you in touch with HR directors, self-publishing webcomics, etc...

As far as motivation goes, it sounds like a lack of passion. If it is, you might have to ask yourself some hard questions about whether or not you want to continue in this line of work. Passion is what drives artists to do better and it forces them to always draw and improve. But if you want it badly enough, you can find work. It's just like Randy Pausch said...these brick walls are there to show us how badly we want things.

[UrsusArctos]

Ok, I just have to add something here.

I see a lot of people here who seem to say the same thing, "An MFA won't do anything for you.". To me, thats kind of an odd thing to say.

I don't think anyone here who is interested in an MFA imagines it to be some sort of golden ticket to a career. A lot of you art students who go to top of the line art schools seem to forget that a great majority of students who are interested in a career in illustration, are not able to go to these top of the line art schools, for whatever reason, be it initial talent, financial (the big one), or perhaps finding your passion later in life.

It seems to me, that most people who want to earn their MFA really want to earn to to "catch up" with the rest of the top art students. Personally, I couldn't afford to go to a fancy art school- My parents are at the poverty line. So earning an MFA seemed to be a good option to increase skill, and yes, also increase the hirability when it gomes to working for universities. But for me, its still too expensive and sadly out of the question.

Yes, you can learn art on your own- but would any of your RISD or CalArt students trade in your education for a self taught lifestyle? Why do people get so down on people who desire to advance their skill level, when they did not have the same opportunity to study at top schools?

I do believe you have to be extremely responsible and CAREFUL if you decide to take out megaloans. Again, its a decision I have sadly chosen not to make- but if money was not an issue, I would absolutely be earning my MFA right now (still have the acceptance letter on my fridge). Just know that a lot of people arn't 'copping out' trying to get an MFA- most of us just sincerely want to be able to compete in the first place.

[ConCrete]

Four years ago I had no idea what college to go to, and no idea what concept art or game design really was but I wanted to do it. I cruised forums asking for help and advice and got one chunk that meant anything. Do the best with what you have. I went to a local 4 year liberal arts school for cheap where NO ONE knew what concept even meant. Wacom was a place in Texas. I learned to draw with pencils during the day and spent my nights here, learning, slowly and painfully on my 6x8. Here I am again, no one is showing me where to go and I feel unprepared. But I am better for my experience and I know if I don't give up I cannot fail. I may need more school because I am not up to standard, but I know what I have to study. It doesn't matter how much I pay for it, just that I do it. After grad school, get a part timer and start designing business cards and looking for gigs illustrating, is it going to be hard? Yeah, but thats the point, I am doing the best with what I have and I would not have it any other way.

I think you reach a threshold when you realize this is IT. And it gets suddenly easier to get where you want to go. Not easy...just easier.

Type "Illustration, Graduate School, Loan" into the Google search bar and do the best with what you have.