Feeling abit lost

[dtx]

Hello, I'm 22 years old and I live in Portugal. I've been a fan of video games since a little kid and always dreamed of working on the gaming industry, specially as a concept artist.
I'm currently at university studying Computer Science but I feel "lost" on that course. Programming is simply not my thing and I feel the necessity to make a change in my life.
This brings some concerns to me though, since game developing is not something you usually see in my country and there aren't any "serious" or worthy courses here focused on Entertainment Art.
Not only that but it also seems like i'm the only one believing i can make the change, since people around me keep giving me the same "quit dreaming advice".

The first question that passed through my mind was "Is it too late?". I know I'm not old but I'm also no longer 18 and I'm not "starting out" academic-wise. I followed the "Science" path in highschool and not Arts meaning my knowledge or "skills" are almost none existant, so the fear of being too late was huge.
Fortunately I've been reading some of the posts around here and learned that i'm not alone when it comes to starting out later, which gives me some hope.

There are still some things worrying me though and this is where I need some advices:


1) I don't have the money to study and live in the US at the moment, so the option of an online course sounds great. But is it that great? I mean, what's the difference between an online course and a "live" course ? Would I be in a disadvantage by studying online and not on the school ?

2) It doesn't seem to be easy to get in the US and get a Visa and from what I've heard having a degree can help alot to get accepted.
Having that in mind, what would be my best option in terms of (online) schools?


I'll probably have more questions in the future, but for now these seem to be the ones troubling me more.

[hippl5]

There's no secret video game concept art school or classes. What I've read on here before, people basically said that you just need to learn to draw, and it doesn't matter whether you go to a big name school or a community college, if you're willing to push yourself you can learn. I'm not saying classes are useless, painting and color theory were the most useful I've ever taken, I'm saying that your will to learn is more important. If you don't do any extra work outside of class, you probably won't be off very well.

I think people are going to say that if you really want to get good at drawing/painting, then study study study, practice practice practice.


Sorry I can't answer your online school questions, perhaps someone else can.

Also, you can come across free stuff like this: Loomis (http://alexhays.com/loomis/)

[dtx]

Thank you for your answer :)

I already knew about the "study study study, practice practice practice." part and I have no problems with that and I'll obviously practice alot at home :D

I just don't want to learn only on my own, I want to graduate and have classes and that's where my main questions are.
I've read about good and bad schools, about profit and non-profit schools and I can't get to conclusions about where to go considering my current situation (mentioned above).

I hope I can get some more answers and advices out there :)

[dtx]

Anyone ? :\