The Teachers

I had written a blog post last week, but decided it should never see the light of day.  It was all about my first week of school and the weeks leading up to it.  It was a bit of a rant and it transformed into a monster.

Needless to say it turned out kind of angsty and I trashed it.

I'll sum up that post for you right now:  Life sometimes sucks.

So for this post I wanted to talk about my wonderful teachers.  I am so thankful to have such amazing instructors who like me and continue to work with me.  I got three new instructors this year: Howard Fullmer, Bryan Beus, and Kent Christensen.

I don't have Richard this semester sadly, but he lets me sit in on his classes. And I have Don Seegmiller for figure drawing which is fortunate because he is an amazing figure painter.

For the majority of schools out there students don't have such amazing relationships with their professors.  I'm reading "How to Survive and Prosper as an Artist" (by Caroll Michels) for my Senior Seminar class with Kent and I think it sums the general problem up nicely:

". . . Many fine-arts faculty members are opposed to career development courses for selfish and self-serving reasons:  they are aware that today's student artists will become tomorrow's practicing artists, and eventually artists with whom they will compete for gallery, museum, and press attention, so there is much resistance to imparting any sort of information that could possibly give these future peers a career edge or jeopardize their own pecking order in the art world".

Yikes.

I thank my lucky stars that I was so fortunate to land at a school where the teachers are all about teaching you to be the best artist you can be.  Of course they're all such amazing artists that they really probably aren't afraid of competition from 20 something-year-olds.

From horror stories told around the model stand (get it? Instead of the campfire? ha ha I'm so witty) we learn that most teachers in most schools feel threatened by up and coming talent.  For them there is only a finite amount of work out there for artists and they don't want these upstarts to be good enough to steal all the opportunities.

I feel like that's an old and outdated way of thinking.  The truth is, is that there are more opportunities for artists now more than ever and it will keep on growing.  One just needs to know how to market themselves and their audience.

(Besides, if you're feeling threatened then you should step up your A game)

I don't think I ever would've survived if my teachers were deliberately trying to sabotage me.  When I started out my confidence in my artwork was so low that a small breeze could've toppled it over.  It has solely been the teaching and support of my teachers that has boosted my confidence to the point where I'm showing it on a blog for the world to see.

So Thanks.

If you're searching for the right art school to go to, make sure the teachers there aren't going to be against you.  An experienced artist is a wonderful insight and tool, one that I believe is invaluable.  So acquire yourself an old wise person today!

(Also, some stuff I've been doing this week)

Fin

If there is any topic you wish me to discuss, or any questions that you would like answers to please respond in the comments and I will blog about them!

Networking

Sorry, I've ignored you guys for awhile.  Been a bit busy with the pre-school rush (see my next post - for all the gory details).

Last week I went on vacation.  Honest to goodness not having to worry about food - how much the hotel costs - or even driving - vacation.  Of course it was with a school group, so it wasn't completely without business.

But I want to talk about the events leading up to the trip and expand from there.

I was browsing the UVU Illustration page on Facebook when a comment from an adviser caught my attention:  One of the school's journals was looking for an art editor.  I saw it the day after it was posted and immediately emailed the editor-in-chief.

He called me and after talking for a bit I got the job (the non-paying, completely voluntary job). That's how I ended up having a vacation with twelve English nerds at Capital Reef.

They're a different breed of person.

(I mean, so is everyone who specializes in something and when they get together with their other special people it's like getting a glimpse of another world).

My point is I don't usually interact with the English students because I'm too busy being strange with the Illustrators.  This is why I applied for the job.  Along with the experience it will give me as an art editor, the second-most reason I took it is:

Connections.

These people I'm working with will someday move on to work with magazine companies, publishing companies, or even writing their own works.  In the long run it would be nice to have an "in" with that crowd.

I might not ever want to do commissions for magazines or book covers or whatnot, but if it ever comes up then I already have friends and acquaintances who are embroiled in that field and may be able to swing a favor for me, or know somebody higher up who can.  Insurance.

Which is why I'm adding more to my workload and I'm doing it for free and with a giant smile on my face.

An artist doesn't just need to master art, they need to make connections in the professional world to people who can make jobs happen or give you opportunities to make a living.

I talked about this a little bit back in my post "Community Support System".  You need connections to other artists, to people who run the businesses you want to work for, in fields you don't think are relevant.

I knew networking would be huge when I started the Illustration program, so I immediately joined the Illustration club.  Were these people professional?  No.  Were they going to make amazing art in the future and be the next big thing?  Yes.  And when they make it big they're going to remember the people who helped them along the way.

Am I saying that I don't think I'll make it big, so I have to hang on the coattails of those who will?  No, but I'm being practical.  There's a lot of artist out in the world who all want to get paid doing art.  But employers are more likely to hire someone who was recommended by a friend.

So get out of your bubble, be a little social, and start making those life-changing connections.

Fin
If there is any topic you wish me to discuss, or any questions that you would like answers to please respond in the comments and I will blog about them!