Hi! I'm the author of this post -- it was an unlisted draft that I shared with a few friends, was planning to rewrite most of this before publishing. Please forgive the rough edges<p>Main changes I'd make to this article<p>- Agreed with others that I might be naive, but I'm 20 y/o and now's the right time to shoot for my dreams rather than settle<p>- I'm applying to animation school soon (Sheridan). I started coding when I was 12, I expect this career change to take a few years, and am in it for the long haul<p>- My worst case is I don't enjoy working in art, and go back to tech. I don't believe you can make a successful career change without going all-in<p>Happy to answer any questions :)<p>Made a little music video with some of my art if you'd like to take a peek<p><a href="https://twitter.com/LiamHinzman/status/1589660449271959552" rel="nofollow">https://twitter.com/LiamHinzman/status/1589660449271959552</a>
The grass is always greener! :-D<p>I smile because I left commercial art back in the 80's to become a software developer!<p>More power to Laim and I hope it works out well for him, but I have my doubts. Working as a full-time (especially on-staff) artist answerable to an Art Director sucks!! Artists are not respected, paid terribly and just generally considered disposable. At least that's how it was in my day.<p>Again, Liam, go for it, but keep your eyes open going into it! Some things are better left as hobbies (which I do not consider a dirty word)!
Some thoughts:<p>- Reminds me of a GitHub commentor saying they left tech to build furniture out of wood ("I no longer build software" [0]).<p>- AI art might eat your lunch, especially in the concept art world. The main guy on Twitter who put out the thread about Stable Diffusion was a concept artist [1], and I think concept artists, graphic designers and generally non-fine-art artists will be hit the hardest.<p>- The part about a more diverse player roster was interesting given that ATVI use a tool for it, although not for Overwatch apparently [2]. Some people were outraged online (on both sides of the political spectrum) but personally I don't see a problem with it. People may not necessarily remember the various axes on which others operate (race, class, gender, sexuality, etc), so there's nothing wrong with a tool that can help people analyze that and create characters for that. It reminds me of the outrage doctors first had over needing checklists for tasks, but they actually <i>do</i> work when studied. They're just tools, nothing more, nothing less.<p>[0] <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24541964" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24541964</a><p>[1] <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32461138" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32461138</a><p>[2] <a href="https://www.pcgamer.com/overwatch-creators-explain-they-didnt-use-kings-creepy-diversity-charts/" rel="nofollow">https://www.pcgamer.com/overwatch-creators-explain-they-didn...</a>
> In the near future I want to become a concept artist in the games industry<p>Worst industry ever by all the accounts I've heard. Part of the compensation package is that you are working in the gaming industry. Long hours, lousy pay, ill treatment. Go for the art mate but pursue a different industry.
OP I read your text. As an teacher of VFX in an (european) art university let me give you a few tips:<p>You are only 20. You should not worry about your age <i>at all</i>.<p>Art school is ¼ about the skills and tricks you learn there, ¼ about being forced to put something in front of others who won't be wooed by fancy eye candy, ¼ about creating and finding a network of people and ¼ being exposed to other styles of art. Some of those things are influenced by the size and location of the art school, some of those are influenced by how much time you can spend with your collegues and at exhibitions or similar. Make sure to go to a school, where people are better than you. Going there just to learn the handywork is a waste of time. You should go there to learn the skills AND to create a network that can help you get jobs after. Feel free to take on work during your studies.<p>Also: The things that matter when doing great art are mostly about the brain. And the ability to see the right way takes time to develope. Make sure to do something daily. Maybe a daily comic strip, a daily drawing or whatever. Put it online so you are forced to never skip a day.
As a technical person, it’s an interesting time to do this given the change that’s coming from “generative art” tech.<p>I’m 30 years (and one exit) into my career in tech. Still thinking about being a rock star… or at least learning to play guitar well enough to share it with people.<p>I still struggle with the question of whether to follow passion or money. I recently had an exit as the CEO of an HR Tech company. I’d love to make a Sci-Fi game. My old co-founder and I have it partially spec’d out. We love it and there’s much joy in building something like that.<p>But games are like movies… the audience is fickle and you can easily make a good game that is a total financial (hobby) failure. Where as another HR Tech startup feels… not like a total layup exactly, but like making a dish that you’ve made several times before, a crowd favorite. You know how to do it. You feel good about pulling it off. It’s not super fun content but at least it’s creating something and you feel like you can make something good that people will like, which means financial success.<p>Good luck to you. YOLO.
I did something similar though I never made it into tech, I dropped out of a bachelor's in math to pursue art, this was roughly 5 years ago and it's been a tough journey, I wish you the best of luck.<p>Some resources that will help you a long the way:<p>youtube:
proko
steve huston
steven zapata
ahmed aldoori
sinix<p>nma.art
watts atelier
schoolism<p>Try to find a local life drawing class and go every single week.<p>Animation specific check out Toniko Pantoja, ModerndayJames.<p>I'm currently trying to change my relationship to art from something I pursue to make money, to something I enjoy doing to fuel my soul. I haven't drawn in a couple months, but I've come to terms that it's something I'll always be pursuing, in what capacity I'm not sure, but art, is the coolest thing that's ever come into my life.
Lots of cynicism here, typical whenever art is compared to tech, but I wish him the best. Might as well give it a shot and see how it goes, you can always fall back into tech if needed later on.
I had a tiny dream the other day, to leave for a silent retreat in a monastery and study cosmology.. something about the scale and timelessness of it was appealing to my soul
If you don't like tech then there's no reason to force it but a lot of this is fairly naive.<p>>churning out code to solve problems I don't care about?<p>Career artists often churn out art they don't care about. Pick a job that solves problems you do care about! The trade is a separate choice.<p>As someone who works in games, I can assure you there are tech people that think about kindness, creativity, history, culture, art, emotions and aesthetics.<p>Ending with a quote from a Pixar movie is especially ironic considering they work on the cutting edge of art and technology.<p>I wish this young man the best of luck.
I’ve been a visual effects artist for more than a decade (Nuke Compositor), last year I did the inverse move to tech, already predicting that AI would make my life a bit harder.<p>All the articles you see about the state of the industry are no hyperboles, my life as developer is a walk in the park compared to what I had to go through as an artist. But as your intuition already told you, not going all-in is a mistake. Ignore people saying to do this as a hobby.<p>It is not remotely the same thing, especially if you are ambitious and not taking this path because you had no better option.
> Beyond paying for rent and groceries I don’t have many material desires.<p>Something about this mindset never ads up for me. Sure, this sounds cool in your 20s or early 30s. (although does it? you don't want to eat out with your friends? go to the bar? live in something better than crappy apartments. things are expensive these days)<p>But what about when you are 60? When you are on this path you certainly aren't saving for a house. I mean art is better than manual labor or something in the sense that you are physically capable of going until much later in your life. But do you want to be grinding out cartoons to buy food when you are that age?<p>My gut is that:<p>1) a small number of people make these romantic visions work<p>2) A large number end up in difficult situations they regret. Some just a bit of regret but some in really bad situations.<p>3) They have money coming from the family or something like that in a way they aren't being transparent about that means there is really no choice to make at all and they are going to be fine no matter what<p>And nothing against people in group 3 either as long as they are honest about their situation.
<i>"The most important thing when creating art is that you know what you want to say with it."</i><p>When I make art I do so only to please myself and without any preconceived notions or intentions as to what it should be or what messages it's to convey.<p>It completely does not matter to me what, if anything, anyone else gets out of it.
I am an "artsy" person myself, both digital (3D, photography, vfx, animation, manipulation, digital drawing, infographics, etc.) and traditional (drawing, craft, sculpting, etc.), However, it's just as a hobby as others mentioned here, it will be a struggle when it comes to financial support even if you are top of the line. What I did instead is going into engineering (electrical one, yeah sounds far even with software devs), but you would be surprised how your artsy skills play a big factor in your work, because at the end of the day, your data/info/ideas/etc. needs to be presented and communicated, either internally or with clients, and it actually most of the time put me ahead of my colleagues/competitors.
There are some GDC talks that give insight into the concept art industry, e.g. <a href="https://youtu.be/CYbYvImd7Bw" rel="nofollow">https://youtu.be/CYbYvImd7Bw</a><p>The general sense that I get from that talk about what it’s like to work in concept art is not sunshine and rainbows.
I'm sure you'll do some thinking on the philosophy of art front. To name a few recommendations: Adorno's <i>Aesthetic Theory</i> (1970) and Dewey's <i>Art as Experience</i> (1934).<p>> Art [as a creation] does not imitate nature, it imitates a creation [or nature, in a Spinozian meaning, which is but an eternal activity of creation], sometimes to propose an alternative world, sometimes simply to amplify, to confirm, to make social the brief hope offered by nature. (John Berger, "The White Bird")
I like the author's website. It's an interesting idea to be able to list bullet points of what you did in a month (not too granular), add recipes etc. Really becomes your own space.
Before there was a market for Art, it used to be heavily subsidized by rich people. It was basically contract work. (Medicis etc).<p>As long as you find that there is a vibrant market, go for it.
But otherwise I would keep it a hobby and try to get wealthy enough to retire and only then, do it full time.<p>The best would be to be able to associate your hobby and your jobs so that your jobs feels like a hobby but also pays the bills.<p>The obvious intersection between visual arts and programming is video game making for instance.
to echo other replies here, OP might be idealizing the artistic field. why not do both, until you can only do one?<p>that's my own plan.<p>by the way, concept art is one of the hardest, if not the hardest field in art. these people crank out designs upon designs. and if Feng Zhu didn't make an entire YouTube channel showing what they do, i would have never known they existed.<p>edit: well, other pages on his website suggest that OP already did what he said. good luck, pal!
More power to you, and you always have software as a backup plan if things don't work out.<p>One of my close friends went through a similar change from software to art. It took 4 years until she found her way and her audience. She's still not making much but she is much happier than when programming.<p>It's still going to be a hustle for you, but it's a different kind of hustle. And that's ok. Enjoy the journey!
I like the idea of leaving art uncompromised, independent of earning money. I can count very few people that can involved money and get away with it. The problem with this is that you have to have a job to support your art, and that reduces the amount of time you can spend with art. They key is and i believe what is comming, work for a company that actually makes the world Better place
I'd recommend checking out books on career transitions before pulling the trigger, for example <i>The Squiggly Career</i> and <i>Refuse to Choose</i>. Also try reaching out to working artists and ask them to a coffee to discuss what the life is like: many people actually welcome the opportunity to give a stranger the advice they wish they had known when they were younger.
Good on you! I did something similar (tech to music), the irony is now I am drawn to programming as a hobby as there are some bits of the brain music just doesn’t exercise. On the whole a happier person.
Good on you, Liam! Tech will always be there and relatively easy for you to come back to. Take your chances now while you're young and don't fret about the money while you don't need to.<p>Best of luck
Learning blender myself and this character modeling looks unique ;)<p>I know people always say "we should start splinter group X". But a gallery for hackers to show off serious art is always welcome. Like Postmasters in NYC!