Are my reasons enough as is needed to do art.

[ZenzybaR]

The main reason i'm on the art path is that i need to do SOMETHING in life. And since i would be doing art even if i became a cat burglar i might as well become an artist and kill 2 birds with 1 stone.
But also, i don't want to be a tramp on the street, i don't want to die and be a distant memory, i don't want to be uneeded, and i dont want to be a let down on anyone who does need me. So i'm gonna need some sort of profession.
I can't be the man who feeds his family working solely at McDs his whole life. If i worked at McDs while being an artist then maybe.
I'm aiming to become an artist because i mostly love but somtimes like art, and because i'm going to need to survive somehow, and so i'm not a disappointment to my family.

So do you think this is enough reason to pursue a career in art?
And at my age, will there be any point is trying?

[Flake]

No, there is no point, do one. Begone.

[dcorc]

And at my age, will there be any point is trying?

No, you're far too ancient and over the hill at 21 to do anything other than climb into the coffin, and just lie there, waiting patiently....

(I'm 49, by the way ;) )


Dave

[Musselfarmstudios]

Yes, yes they are………Dude…save the melodrama for your sketchbook…while your asking this question your competition is out there drawing. Don't waste time second guessing your passion (if in fact it is your passion)…all you do is open yourself to ridicule and sarcasm…DRAW! and make it happen or you'll forever be stuck at that McJob.

[ZenzybaR]

Musselfarmstudios: lol, thanks for the motivation, i should think like that more.

dcorc: Are you starting to a path in an art as well? I mean, i know anyone can start art at any age for fun, but since im aiming to do it full time, i want to know if it's worth the journey.

Flake:??? noob.

I don't work at McDs at the moment. I'd work at McDs to help put myself through the art course i'm going on next month if there was an opening.
I have worked at McDs in the past and its all work and little pay. My payment was all accounted for before i got it. If i was lucky and got £3 surplus i'd buy a new pencil and comic book. I forgot how happy i was to get a new 50p pencil back then. It almost makes me want to cry lol.

What i mean is, at this age, is it worth it? Yes people are going to say "It's about the passion yo, if you dont love it then don't do it." But can i feed my hypothetical family off art starting at this age. Will my hypothetical kids complain and call me a bastard father and incompetent because i started art at such a late age. Will my wife sleep with the banker behind my back so we can pay last months rent.

These are my concerns.
I read the thread with the guy saying 40,000 a year and stuff just now. It helped a little but his was a different question.

[Elwell]

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=144069

[Hyskoa]

Let's see. Most decent artists start to take their art seriously around the age of 16-18.
Mostly 18. Before that they mostly doodled and didn't improve their level very much.
So at 21, you'll have to work an additional 4-6 years before you retire when compared to people who started early.

You be the judge if that is reasonable.

Also, if you want to do art as a living, and not be a teacher, go to an atelier, not a public school.



And life isn't a Charles Dickens novel.

[ZenzybaR]

Hyskoa: That makes sense, i guess. But i've always read, "since i was a kid". Unless "kid" is 16-18 to these people. I never thought about it that way. Kid is 8 to me.
Also i'm going to a college with a separate art department. I've heard they're are decent. Is this sufficient. Also the course is 1 intensive year of art and design. Then i'm going to do something higher, this is just to give me a better chance getting onto a higher level course. I'm actually under qualified for the course and had to do an interview. She didnt want to take me at first. But then she changed her mind. I think it might have been that i said "i'm going to keep drawing, and i'll get better. So even if this college or any others don't accept me then i'll keep going on my own and make it." She said she'd give me a chance so i'm happy with that.
The course is Foundation Degree is Art and Design (Deploma). I don't know what it means but i can get higher up with it so whatever.
I've also never heard of an atelier until you posted it. I've only been on CA properly since about 3 months ago even though my account is old.

Elwell: Thanks for posting that link. It was a great read. Exactly the kind of thing i needed to see.

[Bentley]

I looked at your sketchbook, and it's pretty good. Keep at it and maybe one day you can make money off your talents, if not go into graphic design. lolz

[dcorc]

Depends how committed you are, really, doesn't it. Read the thread that Elwell linked to, above.

There are certainly people who've started far older than you who become professional artists.

For someone a little older than you, when he started, there's no more needs to be said here than Mindcandyman
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=870
check out where he started, and where he's got to, now.

[ZenzybaR]

Bentley: thanks
Dcorc: thanks for the link, its good to see someone improve over time.
Flake: Man whats your problem. You came with your, i hope, "tough love" and i didn't like it. Why are you trying to turn it into something!? I came asking advice from people who have been through or who might know what i want to know. I need to make the right choices and failure will leave me in a VERY bad position. I don't know your circumstances, so maybe you have a nice life where you can get what you want easily, but right now, 4 wasted years is not an option. So go watch your UFC. i bet you boo whenever Machida wins cause he doesn't provide your nonsense.

[dcorc]

Flake - I know that for those of us who've been around here a while, this thread seems rather "same old, same old" - but its obviously not so for the original poster.

As you well know, much of the art "education" in the UK isn't worthy of the name, so its hardly surprising we get people coming along feeling rather confused, unsure, and uninformed.

Dave

[Flake]

Fairy nuff Dave, I'll shoosh.

[Baron Impossible]

This isn't a criticism of the OP but I just wonder where people get the idea that at 21, they're too old to consider starting. Someone must be putting it about, so come on, who is it? At 21 it would be another 14 years until I picked up a metaphorical pencil, so whoever it is I'm glad I never listened to them.

[dcorc]

I just wonder where people get the idea that at 21, they're too old to consider starting.

Only guessing here, but I suspect it might have something to do with being the age at which, if you've gone straight on from school, you'd be finishing a typical 3-year degree (which as we all know, is the be-all-and-end-all of education :P ). So, if you haven't completed your degree by then, you're done-for, a no-hoper? :D

[choke up]

This isn't a criticism of the OP but I just wonder where people get the idea that at 21, they're too old to consider starting. Someone must be putting it about, so come on, who is it?

I think questions like these are just people looking for reassurance. Pointless really, but hey, whatever motivates. ;)

[ZenzybaR]

I don't think anyone put it in my head but it's just that i've been idle for the past 3 years partly for reason beyond my control but within my grasp to change, and living in a way that was constantly on the edge of a metaphorical knife. It took massive amounts of luck for my life to be at crap level. Crap is passible but to the state that you wish you weren't born. Not shit where i want to kill myself.

I do also want some reassurance and i won't lie about it. It's a little dissuading when everyone is saying they've been doing it their whole lives. I haven't. So i just want to hear a couple success stories.
This is a life option right here. I'm planning to make art my means to survive. I'm barely getting by now. I'm already worried about not being able to pay my way through the course i'm going onto, which is the first of i don't know how many.

This isn't all about creditable either i'd imagine. I'm slightly bothered that someone who HAS been drawing since they were a kid will just snap up the job cause they've been drawing that long. Or even someone my age, "their whole life" comes along and destroys me. Forget "passion for the arts" when i'm sitting with the bums.

I'm being humble and sincere, i just want some people who are more experienced to let me know. I have no knowledge other than what i've seen here in the last 2 months, what i think up to practice next, and minor things. I don't know any pros, unless they live in another country and wouldn't give me the time of day, i feel stranded and hard work in the wrong direction can be more fatal than doing nothing.

I'm also not saying i have no motivation. I do want this. I would draw even if you all told me No i can't make it. I'd be hurt, but i'd still try. I'd just keep looking for more success stories and late starting pros to become the backbone to my beliefs. I'm just also trying to know the possible consequences for me.

So i guess it is pointless if you reply.
But at the same time, when your unsure about something unknown to you, remember that its pointless to ask for reassurance. Just jump into a shark tank and beat all the sharks up.

[Baron Impossible]

Forget about your age and how long you may or may not having been drawing. All that matters is how good you are and how professional you are. You need to make the decision yourself is art is the path you want to take and then put everything you have into making that happen.

[JParrilla]

i understand your concern.. and its a common feeling. Im not a pro.. but they will all tell you. You are definetely not too old or too late... a tad bit behind compared to some young guns? maybe. But thats nothing that hard work cant make up for

[Baron Impossible]

Only guessing here, but I suspect it might have something to do with being the age at which, if you've gone straight on from school, you'd be finishing a typical 3-year degree (which as we all know, is the be-all-and-end-all of education :P ). So, if you haven't completed your degree by then, you're done-for, a no-hoper? :D

Damn, I forgot all about getting that degree. No hope for me then... ;)

[ZenzybaR]

Thanks baron, bigjoee, and everyone else. From what's being said so far, it's as i thought.
Keep focused and keep going.
Also, there are only two confirmed cases here of over 18s. Jason Manley i think the name is, and Vangogh. One is happy from the sounds of it, and the other died alone and poor. So i have a 50/50 chance lol.

[Viridis]

Plenty of people start art at a later age and become quite successful.

If you want another example, I give you Ursula Vernon (http://redwombatstudio.com), one of my favorites. She got a degree in Anthropology, then started to seriously learn drawing at around 25 when a friend wanted her to do a graphic novel. She's currently 31 and makes a living from art, with an ongoing graphic novel/webcomic (Digger (http://diggercomic.com), which got nominated for an Eisner award in its first year), two children's books published and two more forthcoming.

So don't worry about starting at 21, seriously. You might not be able to survive solely on art immediately, but if you work at it, you can definitely get there. It all depends on your drive.

[Maidith]

There's only one way to find out :)

http://img36.imageshack.us/img36/463/nikejustdoitad.jpg

[Xeon_OND]

The main reason i'm on the art path is that i need to do SOMETHING in life. And since i would be doing art even if i became a cat burglar i might as well become an artist and kill 2 birds with 1 stone.
But also, i don't want to be a tramp on the street, i don't want to die and be a distant memory, i don't want to be uneeded, and i dont want to be a let down on anyone who does need me. So i'm gonna need some sort of profession.
I can't be the man who feeds his family working solely at McDs his whole life. If i worked at McDs while being an artist then maybe.
I'm aiming to become an artist because i mostly love but somtimes like art, and because i'm going to need to survive somehow, and so i'm not a disappointment to my family.
You're just like what I am now.

I'm now working as a crappy clerk and am hating every moment of it because these filing jobs are just not for me. I find that I would be way happier if I work in the creative industry since this industry is more of my style. I mean, in those standard office jobs, you can't exercise any bit of creativity. I mean, how do you use creativity to file documents? U don't need any. :D


So do you think this is enough reason to pursue a career in art? And at my age, will there be any point is trying?
I should be the one posting this thread, not you. :p

If anyone should worry about being too old in life to start art, it's me, not you. :)

I see your sketchbook and your drawings are way better than any crap I can produce in 10 hours. U're only 21 and you can produce such ****, and I'm 25 and can't even draw a realistic looking apple.

So obviously, you're light years ahead of guys like me. :)

You should start now, and not wait for 4+ years before you consider a career in art. When I was 21 years old back then, I wanted to do stuff like this but I keep telling myself "No!" and just keep denying my interest.

In the end, I'm now working in a stupid job and need at least 5+ more years before I can be decent in art. Hopefully, I'll be like Ursula Vernon one day, since we're both 25 yrs old when we start to really draw seriously. Well, I hope so.

[Baron Impossible]

I mean, how do you use creativity to file documents?

Tint them various colours and stick them to the outside of your office building so that, from a distance, they form the image of a giant arse.

There's always a way...

[Black Spot]

You go now. Don't waste as many years as I did before realising I had dug my own grave. Once you do that it gets harder to break free from the regular income, then there are kids and a mortgage. The facilities and internet weren't around when I was your age - maybe I would have travelled a different path, but I don't regret my husband or kids. Work hard and try to fly to the stars. Even if you get knocked down, don't despair as there can always be another way, even if it takes longer and is more tiring.

[Xeon_OND]

Tint them various colours and stick them to the outside of your office building so that, from a distance, they form the image of a giant arse.
There's always a way...
Oh yeah, now, that's lame. :D
No offense, though!

Creativity could be put to better use, like drawing fascinating imaginary creatures or interesting poses of people (not that I can draw them at this stage, anyway).

Anyway, to Zenzybar: as you can see from the many replies here, there's many people like me and Black Spot who really regret not having start at a younger age and now we're regretting like hell.

What you gotta do now is to pick up art books and start drawing.
By the time you're my age (25 yrs old), you would very likely be doing your own web comics or illustrating for some studio.

[Costau]

You go now. Don't waste as many years as I did before realising I had dug my own grave. Once you do that it gets harder to break free from the regular income, then there are kids and a mortgage. The facilities and internet weren't around when I was your age - maybe I would have travelled a different path, but I don't regret my husband or kids. Work hard and try to fly to the stars. Even if you get knocked down, don't despair as there can always be another way, even if it takes longer and is more tiring.

"Shoot for the moon, you will land on a mountain." ~ Can't remember but it stuck with me

[Xeon_OND]

"Shoot for the moon, you will land on a mountain." ~ Can't remember but it stuck with me
I thought the line was supposed to be "Shoot for the stars, and if you fall, you'll still land on the moon". :D

[Alex Chow]

This isn't a criticism of the OP but I just wonder where people get the idea that at 21, they're too old to consider starting.

I don't know if this is even relevant but when I was contemplating my future like the OP (albeit younger than 21), I was intimidated by seemingly godlike 14-17 year olds, online and offline, who draw and paint a billion times better than me (and probably still do). Just the feeling that there are people at your age or younger who are working in the industry or close while you feel you've lagged behind beyond repair (of course, not "you" to anybody specific but in general). Not sure if others feel/felt this way.

On a lighter note, I say just go for it. In every single one of these threads, I used to link Jason Chan's gallery years before he became the "Chan Man" he is today. Everybody starts somewhere, at all ranges of ages. You can probably find inspirational progression like MindCandyMan and even some in deviantart.

[Pierce9]

Wise words from a wise man : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIcBfJw__k0 .

I'm thirty and I regret every moment wasted aiming for a goal I wasn't passionate about.

[Mock]

To be honest, fuck the reason behind it. Whatever reason you have for pursuing art as a career doesn't matter, as long as it gives you the drive you're going to need to succeed at it. If your reason is enough for you to work hard and become as skilled as you need to be, then that answers your question. There are tons of people who pursue art for reasons other than the "love of drawing," most of them just don't want to admit it. So don't worry.

As for your age, the only time that is going to interfere with your ability to succeed is when arthritis keeps you from picking up a pencil or your urgent need to urinate every 5 seconds makes it an impossibility to sit still long enough to draw.

[Black Spot]

As for your age, the only time that is going to interfere with your ability to succeed is when arthritis keeps you from picking up a pencil or your urgent need to urinate every 5 seconds makes it an impossibility to sit still long enough to draw.

I'll be getting a commode then.

[J Wilson]

You're 21, you have PLENTY of time to get amazing. The people who have been doing it "their whole life" prior to 21? Well, I hope you have better faculties than the average 8 year old. Yeah, maybe they have a few years on you, probably spent poorly drawing anime characters from tv. You didn't miss much. Even if they got serious about it in high school, they maybe have a handful of years on you. Maybe at 21 that seems like a lot. It isn't. You'll laugh at the idea of a few years soon.

When it all boils down though, what REALLY matters, more than anything else, is doing SOMETHING. You're interested in art? Go for it! It beats sitting around thinking "man, I'm 2-3 years behind all the other guys. Why did I waste that time?" Meanwhile you are sitting around wasting MORE time crying about it. If it's between art and something else, then maybe you have some thinking to do. If there isn't anything else, you've got nothing to lose and everything to gain.

If you are serious about it, and work at it hard, you can get amazingly good in a really short amount of time. If you want, think of being older as a huge advantage. You don't have as many bad habits to unlearn, and you have a fully functioning adult brain with which to learn with. Whatever a kid learned over the course of years, you can beat in weeks or months. Practice your ass off, and commit to learning. There is a ton you can learn for nothing more than whatever your internet connection costs you, so even not having money is no excuse. Cheap pencils and free paper bags or cardboard is all you need to make a ton of progress.

[Nrx]

i don't want to be a tramp on the street, i don't want to die and be a distant memory, i don't want to be uneeded, and i dont want to be a let down on anyone who does need me.

you cant do this out of fear, ive always drawn (all be it badly) it was simply a decision between learning to draw good or focusing on somthing else.

if your doing this to give yourself a title, then im not saying its impossible, but motivating yourself is gonna be really difficult.

Someone must be putting it about, so come on, who is it? At 21 it would be another 14 years until I picked up a metaphorical pencil, so whoever it is I'm glad I never listened to them.

really baron, thats awesome can you tell us a little more?

[Kitten Poker]

If it makes you feel any better, I am 31 and just starting :op

[Xeon_OND]

As for your age, the only time that is going to interfere with your ability to succeed is when arthritis keeps you from picking up a pencil or your urgent need to urinate every 5 seconds makes it an impossibility to sit still long enough to draw.
Arthritis = can be fixed by using mechanical device attached to the arm to aid in picking up pencil

Need to urinate every 5 seconds = can be fixed by placing a large stipoon / basin at the bottom of the floor between your legs and u take off your pants while drawing

[Quasi-almost]

Wait a second....

We need a reason to create art!?!?!
MY GOD, WHAT HAVE I BEEN DOING????
Expressing myself?

Truthfully, some people don't even need a reason to live in the world and they get along just fine. As for your age, just start drawing and never look back.

[ZenzybaR]

lol, i'd be doing art simply cause i enjoy it, and i like to be good at everything i do, but deciding to aim to be a pro was slightly because i can't think of anything else i enjoy that can also allow me to make a living. I also won't lie that i'm doing art aiming to be a pro simply because i feel like i have no other REAL choice.
And i've never really expressed myself with art, i don't think i know how to. That or i'm not good enough yet.

I'm not talking about art in general, but pro art.
A 98 year old man can start art right now if he likes. He can draw in the sand and it's all good, but if he wanted to be a pro cause he wants to meet young chicks, not many people will say he has a good enough lifespan to make it, and some will say its a dumb reason.

Sooo. . . . yeah.

[Rist]

I thought it was always down to whether you yourself wanted to do it. Fuck youtube videos, they have no clue.

[Xeon_OND]

deciding to aim to be a pro was slightly because i can't think of anything else i enjoy that can also allow me to make a living. I also won't lie that i'm doing art aiming to be a pro simply because i feel like i have no other REAL choice.
I believe you ain't alone in this....and there's many others with this kinda mindset too (take me, for example.....I just realized drawing is fun and because I'm not interested in the jobs such as accountants, IT professionals etc out there, I decided to go into creative industry one day and thus art.....I also aim to do my own web comics for fun in future, if I can draw decently)

I'm not talking about art in general, but pro art.
A 98 year old man can start art right now if he likes. He can draw in the sand and it's all good, but if he wanted to be a pro cause he wants to meet young chicks
Dude, first of all, you're 21, not 98. Secondly, your sketchbook shows that you've some good art foundation and can draw better than the average man on the street such as myself.

Thirdly, since you're 21 and already have some foundation in drawing, give yourself 8 years. If you work hard everyday during these 8 years, don't tell me you won't be achieving any decent or even good results by the time you're 29 yrs old.

By then, you already have a huge and decent portfolio to throw in the face of those job interviewers. You gotta start now, cos' if you don't, then by the time you know it, you're already 23 yrs old, then 25.......you get the idea.

And btw, since you seem to like chicks and like to meet chicks (which healthy man doesn't), you gotta know a guy in his mid - late twenties is super hot compared to a 12-year old pre-puberty tween.
Just work hard and the chicks will come later, trust me.

Guys who have successful careers in their mid-30s and all the way up to the late-80s are still bedding a harem of chicks everyday.

That's my dream.....I hope to be able to draw well someday, get a job in the creative industry and bed at least 1 chick every 2 days.
That should be your dream too. :yum:

I know of this 23-yrs old guy who got injured in a horrible car accident and was paralyzed all the way down from the neck and he needs a ventilator and breathing tube inserted down his throat forever. He can't move his arms, legs, nothing, and he has difficulty breathing and speaking.

I told myself I don't wanna end up like him, and that's why I'm working hard now so that I'll have no regrets.

I thought it was always down to whether you yourself wanted to do it. Fuck youtube videos, they have no clue.
Er-hem, don't scold Youtube.
They've an ocean of good tutorials on drawing. :D

[Mikko K]

21 isn't old at all. The Whit's and Jaime's and Chan's are the exception, not the norm. Unless you're a Picasso or a Frazetta, I can't see how those first 20 years would make such a difference anyway. It's not about the "years spent" doing art, it's the time you actually spent making art during those days and hours that counts.. so everyone here has probably drawn since they were kids, but most likely not in a very professional environment. Start now and you'll do just fine.

[Purrdey]

Well I'm at the opposite end of the path you're contemplating, I wanted to go to art school, my parents wanted me to "get a proper job". I didn't fight hard enough (as I think they would have supported me if I had) and here I am working in a bank and hating it. Sure art is a hobby but I do regret not seeing where I could have taken it.
Also as Alex mentioned, my best friend at school was an artistic genius and I thought well if I'm not as good as her then I'm cr*p. That's a destructive waste of emotion and time and opportunities. I'd say go for your dreams - worry about income when the time that a hypothetical wife/child/mortgage comes along and see where you need to go then.