My daughter wants to study art in collage…

[Dragon]

It's college, btw, not collage.





An art degree opens many doors and with her talent it would be an investment more than an expense.

[MarineUS]

WOW! AMAZING! I'm jealous. I've always wished I could draw. She's got talent.

[lyric1]

  Sweet 

[DangerousGame]

Very nice stuff

[Shuffler]

She has the talent to go far in her chosen field. Best of luck!

[G0ALY]

It's college, btw, not collage.

Another reason why she should go to college... It is painfully obvious that her father did not.

[clerick]

.. art degree opens many doors and with her talent it would be an investment more than an expense.

a vast majority of graduates never see a return on the investment at current costs, ESPECIALLY in the arts. Education is important but please do your research. Many state schools just aren't worth it any more. It's easy to graduate with $60+K in debt at insane interest rates that even bankruptcy won't erase under current laws.

the days where a student could pay their own way are gone. I'd give serious consideration to community/technical college. She obviously has talent, but don't let that cloud your judgement.

[LCAMerciful]

She's good.  Definitely persuade her to get into graphic design as that's where the money is at in the Art profession.

Some people make good money designing Tshirts.  One example is http://shirt.woot.com/Derby/ as it has a weekly competition that anyone can enter and make money with.. I think it's about $2 for every shirt they sell with your design on it (if you have one of the top three designs that week).  If nothing else creating T-shirt designs can get her a lot of experience and the community there is very helpful as well!

Also consider getting her a PC design tablet if she doesn't have one already!

[texasmom]

Impressive!

[Bodhi]

Really impressive talent. 

Bit of advice, never have regrets.  They are haunting.

[Penguin]

And no matter how much money you make doing something else, they will never, ever, go away.  Even if you die poor and satisfied, you're better off than rich and angsty.  That's not usually the case, but doing what you love is more important than anything else.  In fact, if you think about it, it's the only thing that really matters.  Everything else is just a means to that end.

-Penguin

[sntslilhlpr6601]

Yeah...right now an art degree isn't exactly the "right" choice for someone's future.

Depends on your situation though. I wouldn't go into debt for it. I have a cousin who got a BA...and promptly went back to school. She now has two masters, one of them from Harvard.

So yeah, If the money is there then go for it. If not, you need to seriously consider whether your daughter is making the right choice for her future. That piece of paper don't mean what it used to. Several of the people I work with are fresh out of college. We make 25K. 

[Tac]

My daughter, who has always been a doodler, wants to pursue a career in art when she graduates high school.

I fully understand how difficult it can be to make a living as an artist. But, I don’t want either of us to spend the rest of our lives wondering, “What if?”… So, we are going to take the chance.

As luck would have it, our local collage offers “Children’s Book Illustration” as one of the art majors. My daughter plans to major in that, with a minor in graphic design.  I was very interested to learn that the course in Children’s Illustration seems to be as much about business and marketing as it is about artistic technique.

Here are a few of the MANY artworks that she has done recently. There is always a project on the computer, or a doodle laying on top of the desk. And, these are not a version of somebody else’s work, she creates all of the characters herself.

Like her Dad, the girl is a video gamer.

.....

While this collage major may be an expensive risk, It is a chance I want us to take. An added benefit of the collage being local is that she can live at home and save money while she is in school. More than I like the idea of saving money, I’m glad we will have her close to us for a little while longer. She is a great kid.

Wish her luck!

She has the talent. Those are very,very good.


There's one great thing about it though. She has art skills both by hand and with the computer. She can do her bachelor's in art (drawing/whatever they call it) and either dual major or master in digital media. Digital Media is a really big industry now and she can be hired to do animation, marketing, art for websites, etc. Very flexible degree with lots of job sources. Best of all, she's doing what she loves. 

[Grayeagle]

OK.

She has a bit of talent.

Does she enjoy doin it?
I mean, late nites jammin to finish a certain look,
have to be called to remember to eat,
completely lost in it on occasion?

Passion, in other words.

If she has the passion then all she needs are the tools.
That is what college does.
College does not make you an artist.
You have to be an artist first.

IMHO .,. she should have a chat with the school counselor,
find out as much as she can about what her options are.

If the decision is made to go to college she has to embrace the fact that they are being paid to teach her as much as she can take.
Dis ..is *not* a toy!

ie: Go completely over the top learning the software and techniques,
play with *everything* ..jam 100 percent with light, color, motion, dynamics ..all of it.
Be a sponge .. learn as much as she can while she is there.

Personal example: Out of 32 people in my class, I was the second hired out of the program I was in.
The first guy was 'into' building dungeon levels ..got hired by some company called Blizzard or some such
about a week before I got a call from Jonathan 'Blue' Baron ..to come and be the Lead Artist for Air Warrior.

The video game industry just plain sucks .. unless you have the talent and passion for it.
I hope she enjoys college as much as I did.. the time spent learning new tools was priceless.

I hope she has a class spokesman come to her and tell her to 'lighten up, yer ruining the grade curve'

-Frank aka GE

[Tupac]

Those are amazing, and good on ya for letting her pursue her dreams!