Is it too late and what's the direction?

[Line]

Hello everyone. This is my first post here although I have been lurking about for a couple of years and still the amount of information, productability and inspiration in these forums bewilders me.

I have already looked at some of the previous posts here, concerning education, but I feel my situation is somewhat different.

Like all here I am interested in making the life-long 'hobby' of drawing/painting into a profession. Becoming an illustrator is what I am aiming for, making covers or working as a concept artist or anything this field may branch out to. The first problem is that I am amost 26 years old and I have only had a few months of formal training although my advance was great. The only source of direction I have had is George Bridgeman's A guide to drawing from life and Andrew Loomis' Figure Drawing for all it's worth, Creative Illustration and Color Choices by Stephen Quiller, though I have limited myself to drawing with pencil and charcoal frankly because getting into color and painting are somewhat costly and I feel I need some direction. Even the little formal training I have aquired (just some still lives and about ten 3 hour nude sessions, all in charcoal and pencil) I persued after being persuaded by both Bridgeman's and Loomis' books.

So my first question is, as being a person who isn't in his teens anymore and having not had the training most of you have at my age, what are the chances of getting into this profession?

Next I would like to know what most of you, who have gone through all this, would suggest as a training regimen. Mind you that I am not interested in any diploma, I understand that this is an industry where what you show that you can do is what get's you work, which suits me perfectly (unfortunately other things have gotten in the way since I finished school so I couldn't persue this earlier and I still have some things that will stall me for the next 6-8 months).

I understand that I am quite behind, but judging from the leap in my performance from the little training I had, and my eagerness to do this type of work and nothing else, I have the commitment to practice hard and hone my skills (otherwise I would have given up all my thoughts at this type of work ages ago) as much as is nesseccary.

All I can do for now is get some advice from all you who may know better. In any case, because I haven't the money to move back to the states yet or to the UK (I am a US citizen and an EU citizen) to train in some renowned studio or school, I am planning to take up the lessons from where I left off (basically drawing from life with the teacher helping out and indicating what needs to be done, but basically I did most of the 'learning' myself, the teacher just helped with the guess work and also taught me some methods, beats drawing from memory all the time without having had any real referance before). Still, I would like to have all the information I need, beforehand so I can plan ahead or, if you all feel it's too late for me, to bite the bullet and quit (though I don't think I will).

Thanks in advance.

[etherealist]

I'm pretty much in the same boat as you. I'm in my late 20's and looking to go back to art school. I just posted another thread in the Art Schools forum. Please let me know if you get any helpful advice.

--James

[Deselect]

Bump?

[rogfa]

It's never too late. I'd say the chances of getting work at any age are really good. There's a popular 3D artist over at ZbrushCentral.com. Named Kris Costas. He has a very inspirational story. He was a banker for sixteen years in Brazil. Sixteen years! And he did 3D modeling and animation as a hobby. Now he's in the US doing it fulltime. His work is amazing and it shows that with hard work anything is possible.

I'm 29 and face that same question everyday. Is it too late? I surely felt like that after the Montreal workshop. It was inspirational and depressing at the same time. I'll be a realist and say I'll probably never get a fulltime gig but if I get some sort of parttime or freelance work I'd be satisfied.

Keep posting and Good luck to you.

[Line]

Well, it's not that I feel depressed or anything, nor do I feel that I haven't got what it takes to be a fulltime artist, I have all the patience to go through all that is needed to reach my goal. It's just that, at the moment, I am so distant from all the action (where the mass of all professional art takes place) and being isolated makes me feel like I am in the middle of an ocean and the starting line to the race (because like many competitive and productive jobs, commercial art is a race of sorts) is at the beach, the race has already begun and I have to swim all the way to the shore before I start running.

Thanks for the replies. If anyone has more for me, specific advice, personal experience, how things have turned out for you, what you have gone through ect, please share, it will help.

[dguy]

Um, do you have more specific questions? People can't really give you real replies except generalities like "don't give up, it's never too late," or "work on your drawing skills as much as you can," but everybody knows that's what it takes to be a success already.

[Line]

Dguy, you are correct, I am assuming people will reply to more than what I am asking for. Well here are my questions.

Based on your experience how does my situation and of others like me seem? Also, if any of you have been in a similar situation in the past and have gotten past it, what was it that you did, how did you choose to develop.

I am guessing that most people are or have gone to a university of sorts for this, my game is more in the lines of an atelier, like that WATTS atelier. So I would like to know how things have developed for people who went to an atelier and to those who have gone to a university.