Where to go after high school?

[Great Distance]

I'm a high school student in Finland. I'm about to turn 17. I've got about two years to decide what to do after high school, and going to an art school is something I've been thinking about for a long time.

The thing is, I've got plenty of other options in my hand. I work hard at school and try to excel in everything I do. In our grading system that goes from 4 to 10, 4 being the worst, I've got a grade average of 9,87. I take extra classes that I might never need just because I'm not sure what I'm going to do with my future. I try to succeed in those as well. Because you never know.

My problem is that I know I could probably go pretty much anywhere I want from here. Doing art is my lifelong dream, but I could study languages or math or... I don't know, become a doctor. But still, I like to think of art being my main option. But trying to keep all the doors open eats out a lot of time and energy for me. After a long schoolday and doing homework, I just can't seem to find energy for doing art. Everything would be much easier if I just had a clear goal in my life and maybe one backup plan for when all else fails. That way I could concentrate on only the things that really are important.

I've had the idea of going into an art school for a couple of years now, but my determination of acrually doing it changes all the time. At times I feel like dedicating my life to art is the only correct option, I feel that I'm up to it, I can succeed and that a career in art is the only thing I really want from my life. But at other times I'm afraid that I can't do it. That if I do start studying art, try to get a career and then fail, I and everyone else will think about how there are so many other things I could've chosen to do. And how I would've been a lot better off if I just had chosen differently.

But I don't really have that sort of enthusiasm about any other choice of career. I don't spend all my time thinking about whether or not to go to law school - which will never happen, my social skills are nonexistent - I spend time thinking whether to study art or study something else entirely. If I decide not to study art, I could become an architect or study biology or chemistry... and so on.

Just how can I be sure what is the correct decision to make? Should I study something alongside art or just keep it as a hobby? I'm worried that if I do take up art as a career, I'll be under a lot of pressure to perform, or if I don't take it up, I'll never be able to fully enjoy my work. Doing art is something I enjoy, I don't want it to become just another stressful duty. Which is why I want to make sure, that if I do take it up, I will be as good at making art as I can be.

Which is where we come to another thing I'm worried about. Maybe I'm not good enough right now, maybe I'll never be. All I can do is practise, of course, but how to find all the time for that? I need time to do my schoolwork and I want to do it well. Trying to fit it all in is kind of stressful. Maybe it would be better for me if I switched all my attention to school and just use my free time to relax, play computer games, watch TV and do whatever other teenagers do. I could just forget about art and pursue other goals in my life. Or if I were sure about what I want I could lighten my workload at school and start concentrating more on doing art. That way I'd make sure I can get into a good art school.

There's also the unfortunate fact that there aren't very many art schools in Finland. But I suppose you can't help me with that one. Unless of course I decide to move into the USA or the like. Which would, actually, be very interesting. But that's a whole other discussion.

There's a lot of things I need to take into consideration here. What's your advice? Should I go to art school where I can fully concentrate on art or just keep it as a hobby? Anything would be really helpful at this point. :)

[Xayasha]

You know, there's a huge difference between being great at something, and loving it.
And the other way around is also true, you might love something, and suck at it.
The good news is that you can always find the drive to get better at what you love... but you can't force yourself to love something.

Although my little post will not answer your question (far from it), it's worth thinking about it.

Voilà :-)

[ikken]

I assume you will have no problem travelling through the Europe after completing high school - personally, I love Finland, but I never could find a decent fine art program in Helsinki or close to;
I'd suggest doing a little bit of research on good old Britain, and going there - it will not be SO expensive as going to the States, it won't set a huge distance between you and your homecountry (feeling homesick sucks at times);
it's also a question of what kind of art are you going to do?
Europe is great in terms of self-development, creating a very influenced and/or fresh stuff, however, if you're aiming for production-quality concept-art, there're not much options here.

And don't underestimate having a non-art related degree - you've mentioned architecture, and that could be a great asset for you as a future artist - pretty much as having deeper knowledge in physics, chemistry, medicine or biology.

However, for now, I'd recommend just beating the high-school and putting all the effort there - you'll have enough time to decide once it's done.

[ambro]

Hi,
I would give you my advice, well i don't know if it is and advice but it's my experience.
When I ended high school I had a similar feeling as you with art as a hobby but I chose to study computer science in Spain. I don't know if it was the right decision but I tried to learn from that.
Hopefully, I will pass the last exam of Informatics tomorrow but I realise that I don't want to expend my life doing a job that I don't like it.
In all these years I didn't want to stop doing sketches and I'm planing to enter into a art school next year. I don't know if it's a good decision but only time knows if it's right.
I saw this video that for me it's inspirational:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhqZ0RU95d4&feature=PlayList&p=89841E0E5FEEAEE4&index=66

So, look yourself in the mirror and decide.

Good luck!

[Lizzybeth]

I know the feeling...

I was in a pretty similar situation in high school. I did really well in all my classes of all sorts of subjects and could really go off and do anything I wanted. I didn't want to do everything but I was still torn between art and math/physics/computer science. There were a couple of things that made the choice clearer for me, however.

The summer before my senior year I participated in a computer science research project with rfids. I was interested in the project, I liked it, I applied myself while I was there, but during the day I would find myself watching the clock a lot, waiting to get out. With choosing a career path you should think about what you want to do day in and day out for hours and hours on end, because that's pretty much what you're going to be doing. That I didn't want to do every day. Art though, I could probably handle that, and so far so good. In college, having all art classes, I find myself much happier with the workload, I don't bs things just to get them turned in get my A and run (which had ended up happening a lot my senior year of high school), and really put in the time and effort into my work. Another thing was that going into my senior year I was signed up to take graphic arts and 3d design. After a summer of pretty much not drawing anything and still not drawing in school I started getting a bit depressed, not really knowing why. A couple weeks into school I decided to switch out of 3d into 2d design. After that I wasn't depressed anymore and it was then I came to realize that my connection to art ran deeper than I had thought.

I could go into anything coming out of high school. I had generous offers from various universities but I passed them up to go to art school. Some people thought it was a waste. I didn't. Knowingly and willingly spending four years of your life with something you like but know just don't love, that's a waste.

At times I still doubt my choice, but that's only natural, and I don't think about it too seriously, because I know that if I had gone the other way I would have just as many doubts and probably even more. I still stick with my other interests on the side when I can, just not as much as art.


You can succeed in lots of things. Maybe others even more that art, you know probably others more than art, because art is hard. But that's not the real question here. The question is: What do you want to succeed in? What is it that you love, that you want to follow in your life?

[ask maurice]

Understandably your intellectual investment is of major concern to you at this time of your life. Many artists are taught the harsh realities about the life of an artist. (http://www.askmaurice.org/artbios.html) This uncertainty is scary when you are in the mist of making these decisions. One question that I can answer for you is that "art is not a deed, it's a way of life". Every thing around you is art. It's the drive that will remain inside you and in good or bad will never desert you.

Since you have been doing well in school you'll most likely do best in whatever you decide. But will you be happy? I would agree with ikken's comment about Europe (England or France, even Holland) for school. There's just so much more to offer you there. Becoming bilingual is an added plus.

The English description for an individual who practices a liberal art as an "Artisan" by trade. Perhaps you could venture out to other art related trades to keep your sense of creativity active. Work as you know you must but in anything art related to stay happy.

Take the "whatmeartist course" by Eolake Stobblehouse (http://whatmeartist.com/course/index.html)



"Absolutely nothing is gained from an inhibited expression."

Maurice Garson



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[•Lindsay•]

Your choices don't have to cancel each other out. You can go to art school and still major in architecture, and nobody is stopping you from studying biology and chemistry either. If you go to regular school, nobody is stopping you from learning art, except maybe the awful art classes they have at typical colleges. (You can learn art on your own.)

I remember what I was like at your age, it was hard to think about college because I felt like any decision I made would change my life forever, possibly for the worse. (I’m not much older than you, but it seems like a long time ago.) The truth is, it isn't really a big deal. If you do change your mind and switch majors, it's not a huge failure. You still carry that knowledge with you, and you can use more than one kind of knowledge in your career. The guy who made Spongebob was a marine biologist for years... seriously.

Why you even considering dedicating yourself to anything other than art if you're not as enthusiastic about it? In your post, I never saw you talk about how interesting academic subjects are. You just talk about how other people are going to think you’re wasting your time. Chances are, nobody will ever judge you as badly as you imagine they will.

No one can tell you how dedicated you are to art, or if you will still feel this way 5, 10 years from today. Only you can figure that out, and you can only figure it out through your actions. Asking yourself what you want to do with your life is pointless. You never know what you really want to do until you do it. If you can spend hours drawing without feeling like you’ve wasted precious biology time, that’s when you know you can do art.

[Maxine Schacker]

it sounds as if secondary school education is still very good in your country! You are blessed. Education at that level is not very good in North America. A broad based liberal arts education is a great gift that will enhance anything and everything you do! You are very young and personally I hope you are finding learning exciting.

Education is not, or shouldn't be, just about deciding how you'll make your living. It's about developing your self, and beginning to actualize your potential. In addition to art, during my lifetime my love of music, gardening, reading, my interest in science and politics...all of these things have been and remain important parts of my life. The point is to develop as many of your interests as possible : find those things you can embrace and go after them. I hope you do many things that have nothing to do with a potential career.

To think about someone as young as you are agonizing over the future, that makes me sad. Just grab life with both hands. If you love art, draw in a sketch book everyday. draw from life. Draw because you are hungry to draw. Fit it in. Do a little bit each day. Look at great art every day. There's so much on the net! But do it from real interest, not from fear or anxiety...and do stay in touch and let us know how things are going.

PS What do you mean when you say your social skills are non-existent? Do you have at least one close friend? You are at an age that is difficult for everyone, but please try to allow yourself to have fun! Balance is the secret- and creativity needs to be nourished with play.

[Great Distance]

This has been really helpful, thank you. It's great that so many people are willing to give their opinion on this.

About the whole Europe thing, I agree, it does sound like a good idea. I like to think that I'm pretty good at English, so moving to Britain for example, that doesn't sound all too bad! I've been out of country only once in my life, though, so the thought of actually doing it is a little bit scary. I don't know anything about the travelling costs or any of the other things I'd need to take into account if I were to do that. I suppose I could do some research, but still, it's a very big decision to make. I do like the thought of walking around the streets of a big English city, though. There's something very attractive about that idea. Moving to another country... that's your chance to start over. Correct all those little mistakes you've done during your life, become something new. I like it.

Then there's also the fact that I've never lived on my own. But one can always dream, that's what I say.

I also agree that art is a way of life. If you really love doing it, you'll never be able to get rid of it. Even when I'm watching a TV show that I really love I could grab a piece of paper and start scribbling down random stuff from my head. And there are many, many ways you can involve art in your life. Right now I'm making a sort of a storytelling game with pictures I've taken in real life at another forum. I'm also working on a tutorial about drawing from reference. It's currently 7 pages long. That's more than I write for most of my school subjects! But with all my ridiculous projects I barely have time to actually draw anything nowadays. ;)

As for what kind of art I would like to study... I have no idea! What kinds are there? Illustration or something like that, that would be fine. But I'm open for anything. It's always good to try out all sorts of new stuff, I like that.


PS What do you mean when you say your social skills are non-existent? Do you have at least one close friend? You are at an age that is difficult for everyone, but please try to allow yourself to have fun! Balance is the secret- and creativity needs to be nourished with play.
Oh, I did have one close friend. Until I didn't. People go their separate ways, life goes on. She decided to be friends with everyone, I decided to be friends with no one. Strangely I feel much better now that I don't try to cling onto some specific group of people who couldn't care less for me. I do fine by myself, so I don't see any reason to change that. Some people might think you're weird if you're just sitting alone your head in the clouds all the time, but... that's me. I'm not sure I really care.

I do always find some way to entertain myself, even when I'm all alone and there's nothing to do. I'll just think about my favourite TV show or all the great ideas I've had. The TV shows alone could keep my mind busy for hours on end. It's actually happened before. I could just sit at the computer listening to music and thinking about what could happen in the next episode of House. For hours. It's fun!

Oh me, oh my. I should stop blabbering on like this. :)

[Maxine Schacker]

Start by trying to get a basic education. At Max the Mutt we call it "Visual Arts Literacy," traditional representational fine art skills. These include life drawing, perspective, structural drawing, basic representational painting, color and water based media, and what we call "Principals of Drawing," a course that uses still life to teach positive and negative space, measurement (point to point), planar construction, modeling and tonal pattern. This will give you a solid foundation that will enable you to go in any direction. The main commercial choices right now include concept art, animation, motion graphics, and illustration for sequential arts. I think it's been said already: you'll succeed at what you have passion for. However, sometimes one discovers one has a passion along the way. One of our CA students really came to us out of an interest in traditional drawing and painting and has turned out to be a natural and very inventive concept artist! She discovered that she really enjoys concept art and it shows in her work.

Most of these careers are collaborative and call for team work. I would suggest that you not cut yourself off entirely from other people. Most people have problems at the stage you are at, but there must be at least one individual you have something in common with. If you really can't find anyone at school, try out of school activities. You will need to "work and play well with others" to have a career. It's also a good idea to get some physical exercise every day. It helps the creative part of you to function, it helps the body release tension and creates endorphins that keep you balanced and positive.

Have you thought about posting some of your work?

[Great Distance]

Well, I did have a sketchbook here a while back, but I stopped updating that a while ago. I also had a self portrait thread, but I kind of forgot about that one, too. The same thing happened to my sculpture thread, but I haven't been making any in months, anyway. But I suppose I could post some of my latest stuff here.

Some things from reference:
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh107/GD_/Muut%20harjoitukset/treestump1.jpg
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh107/GD_/Muut%20harjoitukset/truckthing.jpg
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh107/GD_/Ihmiset/housecharacters.jpg

Stuff from my head:
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh107/GD_/Muut%20harjoitukset/monkeynight-1.jpg
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh107/GD_/Muut%20harjoitukset/well.jpg
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh107/GD_/Ihmiset/morefaces1.jpg
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh107/GD_/Muut%20harjoitukset/guywalkingoctopus.jpg

A couple of the old sculptures:
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh107/GD_/Valokuvat/sculpture.jpg
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh107/GD_/Valokuvat/headfordad.jpg

Most people have problems at the stage you are at, but there must be at least one individual you have something in common with. If you really can't find anyone at school, try out of school activities.
It's not that there isn't anyone I have anything in common with, it's just that I don't like to talk that much. If someone comes up to talk to me, that's cool, but I won't go and look for anyone to talk to. But again, that's a whole other discussion. ;)

[RyerOrdStar]

Your reference work is very good. You should continue down that road.

[Maxine Schacker]

Your work has a nice feeling for movement, proportion, and form! Now you have to decide where you want to study. Do your research. When possible, try to visit the end of year shows of short listed schools. Ask if you can contact some recent grads and current students. Check out the curriculum, class size, and placement success of graduates in their own fields (a job making burgers doesn't count).

Ask yourself what kind of environment you'd be happiest in- small school, big school etc.
Lots of luck. You have all the potential you need.