I am new here, give me a hand pls :S

[Gollorr]

Greetings to everyone kind enough to read this!I have several questions which are basic and very important.First of all to work as a concept artist and eventually TCG artist what should i specialize? I am visiting drawing lessons but i am not in Arts school :S I am willing to be a student in Arts colledge next year.But what should i specialize there- ilustration or smth else?
I have checked some great artists' biographies and some of them claim to have studied ilustration, animation, drawing etc. What is closest to Concept art?
Second question of mine is about the pen tablets- every1 is working with photoshop and mouse drawing is pain:( So what model would you recomend me. Keep in mind that i am a begginer in PC drawing. "Bamboo" are on good prices but arent they too small ?
Thank you for your answers and opinions

[Maxine Schacker]

You've posted in the wrong place! This thread is for scholarship info.

Here's a copy of a response I posted on another thread:

A concept artist isn't an animator. It helps to have an understanding of animation (and to that end we include one semester of classical animation). There are very few programs that teach the combination of traditional fine art, illustration and concept specific courses that he'll need. In my view he should start by getting a strong grounding in traditional fine art skills . For video games, he will be aiming for proficiency in trad representational painting.

As far as computer skills are concerned, while he'll need to understand Maya, he will mainly use Photoshop.

These careers, by the way, will be based on professionalism, creativity and knowledge and skill. No one will care about diplomas or degrees.