master of none

[steve kim]

jack of all trades, master of none, how do you decide when an "interest" of yours is doing more harm than good?

for example, after being enamored with 3dcg nearly 5 years ago i promised myself i'd never touch it again, yet i find myself seriously thinking about it again...

...which really wouldn't be a problem if wasn't a full time illustration student who's already divided between fine art and entertainment (what?) with very strong interests in film and photography and product design (most recent).

ideally, each discipline would help and supplement the other. some connections are obvious, good drawing ability will translate to better sculpture and modeling in 3d. but sometimes i think i'm seeing connections and correlations that really don't exist :).

on the other hand i feel like i'm spreading myself to thin. i'll be 3rd term illustration and my figure drawing still sucks beans, what a disgrace to artcenter's proud line of draughtsmen! at this pace i'll be competing with 2nd term students drawing-skill wise when i'm ready to graduate :o.

vexed,
steve

[nova]

the way i've observed, is it's good to have many skills in the drawer, but choose one to make money with.

i'm graduating soon, and hopefully will get a full-time position at the video game company i'm working for. i've had a 'mistress of none' position here out of necessity, since i learned most of what i know now [modelling, texturing, animating, level building] from being taught at work.. and tending to be the person who fixes bugs.

but the other day my boss told me i need to make up a narrow job description and present that to them, in order to possibly get hired. but i know that all the skills i know will help me do what i end up chosing, and making $ with. it's going to be a tough decision, and i'll have to live with it for at least a couple more years!

and just looking at the artists i work with, i can see most of them are that way.. being knowlegeable about many things [not just art.. one artist was a greek history major and is now a programmer but still writes an art column for a magazine], but focusing on one thing to do really well.

it sounds like you already know when an interest of yours is doing more harm than good :) maybe i'm not the right person to tell you this, but you should definitely figure out what skill is best to sell to a company, and build on that.

hopefully helpful,
laura

[mtw]

Originally posted by nova
i'm graduating soon, and hopefully will get a full-time position at the video game company i'm working for.
You don't happen to go to UW do you?

[nova]

nope. henry cogswell college

[gallon]

better to be really good in one "trade" than trying to master all. Thats what I think...not sure if that is what you were looking for though