Florida schools - my goals
I kind of wanted to stay local, I live in Ormond Beach, Florida, with college meaning I wouldn't mind traveling anywhere within the state. Im planning on becoming a concept artist/3d modeler (which ever I feel more strongly about in a year) and majoring in either illustration or game art. I got a 27 on my act and a a 1640 on my sat. I'm at about a 3.5 or 4.0 GPA right now. I feel pretty confident about my art. I am, however, poor as hell and require scholarships. I've heard Stetson's art program is good, as well as Ringling's. I do not know which school I should choose, or if I should look at some other schools around florida. Any advice?
cross post from conceptart.org, cghub.com and polycount (wanted to touch base with a wide audience to get a lot of feedback, if you're active on all of these forums - sorry if it's annoying you)
cross post from conceptart.org, cghub.com and polycount (wanted to touch base with a wide audience to get a lot of feedback, if you're active on all of these forums - sorry if it's annoying you)
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for some reason my signature isnt showing up
I recently graduated from the Art Institute of Tampa. There are a couple other AIs in Florida. Overall not the best bet, but I know people who have gone to: Ai Jacksonville, AI fort lauderdale, Ringling, USF, and full sail, and they ALL complain about how much their school sucks how most teachers don't know anything, etc. I'm not saying that to deter you - I'm just saying, expect that sort of talk regardless of where you go. No college is perfect.
In the end it's really about what you put into it. You can learn a lot from school, and it's good for guidance, but you will probably learn the most on your own. So I say, pick the school that has a curriculum best suited to your needs, are affordable, and convenient to go to.
As for needing scholarships and stuff like that... these schools all WANT you to go to them, and they will likely work very hard to set up a financial plan that will help you. I had to pay a little tuition once a month for my first two quarters, then after some scholarships kicked in I paid nothing for the rest of my time in school. I will still have to pay off loans for quite some time, but that's expected. So don't worry about it too much.
Im wanting to be a concept artist for game and film development - like do the developmental art for characters, environments, scenes, etc etc.. - and or do the 3d modeling for them. I will definitely be putting my nose to the grind stone this summer and next year and really hitting improvement hard.
thank you all for commenting
Have you thought about getting your actual degree in something else that you can fall back on, but secretly polishing your art skills? As an artist, it may be interesting to go for something environmental relatated, or architecture... some field that isn't really related to drawing, but will give you a lot of background. That way, when you go to concept something, you really know how that something works.
Or maybe something art related, but not as hardcore... you can get a graphic design degree for cheap. No need to spend a shit ton on it, just enough to get an associates and start freelancing and building your portfolio.
I do not recommend an expensive art school either. I also don't recommend getting your degree strictly in art. That's just me. Feel free to disagree.
Full Sail was ok, but was so fast paced that sometimes it was hard to keep up with what they were teaching. You almost don't have time to absorb the full weight of the lessons you are taught. That being said, they do have some top of the line gear and plenty of open labs where you can hone your skills. The catch to that is you have to force yourself to attend these open labs as much as you can in your spare time. I didn't take advantage of this and I feel that my skills suffered from it.
Depending on if you go to a regular school, sometimes DBCC (I think it's Daytona State College or some nonsense now. over on International Speedway) had some pretty affordable classes for undergrad as well as there art department wasn't too bad. I took some classes there on drawing, painting, and printmaking and have to say that I was impressed. I know that for me the feeling that I had to get the hell out of Daytona was overwhelming, but for the idea of saving money, there are worse places to start.
HOLY SHIT. I'm a junior at mainland! I'm dual enrolled at dbcc (daytona state college now) and well i'm taking a few drawing classes over there too. haha. Wow. but I was thinking about going to full sail, but i heard it isnt really worth the money it costs to go there. Ill definitely be taking some more classes over at DSC next year. Any other tips?
Focus on drawing, painting, and other fine arts. What you learn from these will help you in the long run.
would you recommend going into fullsail's game art program? if thats what you went into? Did they help with career placement?
=D thank you
I said it before, that I learned quite a bit from Full Sail but the thing is, I should have learned more. It wasn't the schools fault necessarily, the curriculum was well made when I attended, but I should have pushed myself harder. This is what I mean by your school is what you make of it. You can go to a high tech school and still learn nothing even if they have a great curriculum and the best equipment. Or you can take architecture classes at a college and learn foundations for making more believable environment art. Or fine art sculpting lessons that will transfer a working knowledge into ZBrush or Mudbox.
You have another year to decide where you want to go. Don't get me wrong, it's great that you're planning ahead and considering options this far ahead though, but you have some time. Here's what I would say. Apply anywhere you are interested in. It is possible that not everywhere will accept you and it's better to have a fall back than not. Worst case, knock out the first two years at FSC on the cheap, get your AA and then transfer. It's not a bad approach.
Also, apply for any and all scholarships you can. I mean everything, even if it doesn't apply to you. I had it explained to me once (albeit poorly) that most places will who give out specific scholarships need to give them out ( tax reason or some such) and if they have 10 scholarships and only 8 people apply, well they want to give out as much as they can and you may get lucky.
Year subscription to Gnomon: 400-500? Too lazy to look it up
Year subscription to Digital Tutors: 300-400?
Professional critique and networking via polycount: FREE
Honestly, and I'm sure I'll piss a few people off, but college is becoming more and more of a ripoff. You're told it's the key to your future, but in our arena, the game art arena, that is becoming less and less true. Now, I did find a job post-grad, but that's only because I put in an assload of work outside of the classroom, networking, getting my name out there, etc., etc.
You could spend 60,000 on 4 years of school, or you could get a year to 2 years of tutorials and critique for next to nothing. I know you said your dad will be pissed, but trust me, do yourself a favor, go to community college, get a well-rounded education, make sure you can read, write, and speak effectively, all the while working as hard as you can on your portfolio. You will save yourself so much wasted time and money.
/my opinion
I wouldnt say not to get a degree at all.. because now i see more and more jobs requiring it, so you definitely would want to go to a school for art, but you'll really just need to go in KNOWING that you will not learn everything you'll need to know from your instructors. Practicing on the side and doing projects with friends/peers is a great way to keep your skills sharpened. Most people who i went to school with expected that theyd either A. be playing video games all day, or B. have a "make art button." and never put forth any effort. Its frustrating to deal with but so long as you surround yourself with people who are determined, you cant go wrong.
This applies to everything, it isn't specific to our industry. Anyone who thinks they can literally be taught everything about any subject without putting in any effort themselves is either spoilt, lazy or just stupid.
do a few years of community college getting fundamentals out of the way. then apply and finish your degree at a game school. i can recommend full sail, some of the art institutes, usc and scad. they rae pricy but if you finish your gen eds for a few thousand youll be in a better place.