Should I pursue my dream?

2

I want to become an animator. That’s the gist of it. I can see you wrinkling your nose at me already.

I am very confident of my art and I’ve been practicing endlessly for years upon years. Although my parents don’t like the idea of pursuing an art career, and I can understand where their worry lies. I /have/ been letting the thought rot in my mind at night for several months now.

My parents have already listed several alternatives, a few of which already integrating art in some form. I /did/ consider their options for a period of time and disregarded art as a possiblity. With the inspiration of some friends although, the spark that fuels my passion for art has returned at full throttle.

I am aware of some difficulties that come with pursuing art. The lack of demand, the lower pay, the difficulties of marketting yourself if you choose to be self-employed, having to spend extra hours out of your time so that you can meet your deadline with quality work.

But I’ve grown to doubt myself. I worry if I really won’t be able to find myself a job as an artist, while I understand through my research that such opportunities are provided through knowing people moreso than skills. Or thatthe amount of work I input won’t output that of which should meet my needs… financially or the like. I worry that if I /don’t/ pursue art and choose to go for something that will please my parents, that I’ll grow sick, tired and bored of my choice and yearn for my dream and feel regretful. This lack of resolve makes me feel sad.

… If anything, I believe I am capable of having to live frugally. It’s not like I haven’t been doing that for the past couple of years.

I would greatly appreciate your input a lot more if you know/knew anyone who decided to pursue an art career!

Category: Tags: asked November 2, 2014

6 Answers

3
If you like animating, become an animator. As you said, you might start with a bit of a challenge, but if you accept some smaller freelancing jobs and keep updating your resume you'll get a good job sooner or later. Certainly with the amount of indie developers these days getting smaller jobs is quite doable.

Best of luck making your decision :)
2
GO DO WHAT EVER THE FLUFF YOU WANT! ( yes that came from a 12 year old *bows* ) if you want to do animation you go do animation! Why bother investing in a job that's going to bring you down emotionally when you can do whatever you want and feel happy doing it! Same if you wanted to play bass guitar for a hardcore rock band and travel the world inspiring people to stay alive. ( that may or may not be my dream *looks around*. All in all chase your dream, grab it by the scruff of jst neck and drag it into your life. Okay, hope I have helped. ~Angel
1
You can aim towards a compromise, finding a job and doing that but on your free time practice animating and finding contacts. As you say knowing people in the business is vital, so give that your best shot. But I wouldn't recommend you to put all the eggs in one basket, if you see what I'm saying.
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I'm into art as well. And being an animator is one of my childhood dream , same as you my parents choose the degree for me which is quite far from my childhood ambitions. When i entered college , my time was consumed chasing my parents dream for me. i was in a medical field (nursing) so you can imagine how i cant juggle my dream and their dream when you don't even have time to sleep.and now that i've graduated and working, i can finally do what i want at my own expense. it might sound late to build my own dream, but its our life, do the things you want as long as you can afford it.. in that way you cant blame anyone for that decision.
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be willing to teach art as a back up plan. be willing to go into marketing/advertising. realize that even graphic design is a very crowded, very competitive field. i went to art school, never finished, have know LOTS of unsuccessful artists.
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Yes! Go for it.. I do recommend you to follow some sort of education as something to fall back on. BUT I do want to say to go and follow your dream. Who cares IF you fail, if you do you could at least say you have tried. Don't go for the easy way just because it's safe and easy. You only live once, you got to make it worth while. Go live and dare to dream and pursue it. If you fail then you have experienced it anyway and there are tons of other stuff you could do when that happens. However you could succeed :) You won't know unless you go for it. And lastly be honest you will only really fail in life if you won't live your life because you're too afraid to take risks and follow your dreams. If you do follow it then you have already succeeded! Good luck!!PS: Yes I do know someone who pursued a risky career. Someone who wanted to break trough in the music industry related to games. However it's not sure that people will like his music and that he will be successfull. Still he has people whom are supporting him like his friends and his mother. He is working a lot to succeed and he is also working part-time to finance it all. He is focussing 100% on his music while at the moment, he has booked no success whatsoever. But that doesnt matter to him, he is still moving forward and working hard. You CAN do it and I think you SHOULD. But it's your choise and yours alone to make. Follow your heart.