Questioning my future

[Vausch]

I'm studying to be a mechanical and electronic engineer right now, but as of late I've been having a lot of second thoughts. I'm unsure of where to go after I'm done with community college, if I'll be able to afford further schooling, or even if it's what I want to do with my life.

As much as I love technology and working with it, I'm torn between it and my passion for drawing. I'm no Alex Ross but many people have said I could make a professional career out of my comics, but I'm unsure if that's worth pursuing through school because of the heavy competition.

I have some path choices set up but I still feel like I'm second guessing everything. Has anybody here any advice?

 

[edens_shadow]

Well, I'm a writer at heart so I can relate to your passion. You have to put into consideration what will drive you forward and what will bring home the bread really.

My advice is rather then go one way or the other, stick to a well paying job that you might get out of your course and do your artistic works on the side, at least to begin with. If opportunity strikes and you are offered money for your comics or art (at least enough to live off) then go for it and be a full time artist. It's a hard road, but alas it's the sad path of a creative mind stuck in a world filled with others who take the spotlight. Good luck to you.

 

[Vausch]

Well, I'm a writer at heart so I can relate to your passion. You have to put into consideration what will drive you forward and what will bring home the bread really.

My advice is rather then go one way or the other, stick to a well paying job that you might get out of your course and do your artistic works on the side, at least to begin with. If opportunity strikes and you are offered money for your comics or art (at least enough to live off) then go for it and be a full time artist. It's a hard road, but alas it's the sad path of a creative mind stuck in a world filled with others who take the spotlight. Good luck to you.

That's what I thought would be a good option. My friend who's going into character designing told me that if I wanted to do something art related I need to dedicate myself to it, though. That's where my issue arose.

 

[edens_shadow]

Ah, and so you've found the big divide right there. It's a matter of perspective now I feel. Ultimately the choice is yours but at least you have a few options (at least in my eyes, and as such I don't know you or your personal life and such so take of this what you will)

1)Dedicate your whole time and effort into your art, which might make you a bit financially unstable, at least for the start.

2)Go half way between dedicating work and art, which has a risk of you not having enough time to dedicate yourself to your art.

3)Dedicate yourself to work, save up some good money and then set yourself up to go art as much as you need.

There could be more options available, but those are the ones I can just think up on the spot, so I reckon you should consult your close friends and perhaps some professional artists in forums if possible to direct you to the best outcome.

 

[lettucethesallad]

When it comes to the choice of profession, I'm agreeing with edens_shadow on this one. One of my roomies is a sculptor, and while he's very talented and has a bachelors degree in fine arts, I see him torn with apprehension for the future because of his unstable financial situation. Right now he works part-time in an art supply shop, which seems to be a good deal, but he's also said that in the future he'll want to focus on his art 100%, because after all, it's his profession. Point is, it's a hard road.

Now I wanted to become a comic book artist too. Hell, I still do. Still, I chose to go to school to do something that I find rewarding but still brings in a paycheck, in my case architecture. That doesn't mean I've given up on the dream. I work on my comic stuff, slowly but surely, whenever I have free time. When I'm done with school, maybe I'll move towards putting more time into my art, maybe I'll just keep it on the side. You don't have to give up on art to be financially more secure.

If you need more time to think about what to do when you're done with community college, why not take a year off and work? That way you'll have more time to figure out what drives you and what you want to do, while having the benefit of a steady paycheck.

Good luck, I wish you all the best.

 

[Keoul]

Perhaps you should start a webcomic or something, get your art and ideas out there and see if it's popular and successful. If so then go right on ahead and dedicate to it full time

 

[Giftfromme]

lol I started off doing a Bachelor of IT, then in the third year decided I liked writing more. Then I did a graduate diploma of writing, and now I am doing my Masters of Writing. Best decision of my life. Sure it won't do much in terms of jobs, but its expanding my knowledge and helped my writing heaps. I am writing a novel now, and hope to have a draft done this year. So yeah see how it goes.

 

[Vausch]

Perhaps you should start a webcomic or something, get your art and ideas out there and see if it's popular and successful. If so then go right on ahead and dedicate to it full time

That came up as a solution with my friend to get us some extra money, and while we did have some ideas for a gag-a-day (more like every other, I like putting effort into pics even if it's just for comedy purposes) we didn't want to fall into that overused formula of two guy roommates who play video games, then start down one of the 3 roads: the actual impact on culture road, the awkward tonal shift that leads to the token female having a miscarriage, or the one that just has you fall into the ocean that is the internet and die.

Actually we applied for the position on the escapist, I just wasn't able to finish all 3 of the entries because of my job at the time. Damn Walmart.

 

[Vausch]

When it comes to the choice of profession, I'm agreeing with edens_shadow on this one. One of my roomies is a sculptor, and while he's very talented and has a bachelors degree in fine arts, I see him torn with apprehension for the future because of his unstable financial situation. Right now he works part-time in an art supply shop, which seems to be a good deal, but he's also said that in the future he'll want to focus on his art 100%, because after all, it's his profession. Point is, it's a hard road.

Now I wanted to become a comic book artist too. Hell, I still do. Still, I chose to go to school to do something that I find rewarding but still brings in a paycheck, in my case architecture. That doesn't mean I've given up on the dream. I work on my comic stuff, slowly but surely, whenever I have free time. When I'm done with school, maybe I'll move towards putting more time into my art, maybe I'll just keep it on the side. You don't have to give up on art to be financially more secure.

If you need more time to think about what to do when you're done with community college, why not take a year off and work? That way you'll have more time to figure out what drives you and what you want to do, while having the benefit of a steady paycheck.

Good luck, I wish you all the best.

I tried that year prior, didn't go well. It was mostly because the school screwed me over and didn't put me in any of the classes I signed up for then called me 2 weeks later and said I hadn't been at any of my classes. I've been saving up all the money I can and can go about a year with rent if I have to, though.