As someone kinda closeish to your age who recently dropped out of art school (and knows two people who also did the same), I would say...don't go.
It's entirely possible I'm a quitter and completely disillusioned, but from what I've seen, heard, and personally experienced, at least, the art school front has been a disastrous mess since at least the early 2000's, and it's not really getting better. Funding has been cut and cut and cut everywhere, and of course the first places to take the hit are the art schools. They are mentally and technologically so far behind the curve that you will never graduate with the skills you need in order to cut it in the industry, assuming making art commercially is what you want to do. Then of course, there was the whole Art Institute scandal...
What I would recommend instead, if you want a proper art education, is to look into an atelier. You will work and work and work, but you WILL get better, astoundingly better, and you'll be put in contact with industry professionals as well. The downside is you won't get a degree out of it; I've heard both sides of whether a degree or a good portfolio/network counts for more. In most cases the consensus from working professionals I've spoken to seems to be the latter, unless you're up for a promotion at a huge company. Many artists of the illustration ilk seem to work freelance, but they're also super happy doing it. The internet is a wonderful platform for illustrators, and you'll almost always be able to find an audience. Also, you get to set your own schedule. Also also, Patreon is a wonderful thing.
The most important thing, however, is that you're doing what you love. If that is art, if that will make you happiest, then don't be daunted by the odds -- just find your own way of doing it. Even if you draw for a few hours a day every day, and follow tutorials on youtube, that alone will improve your skill tremendously within the span of a few weeks. Technically you don't need an education, although having a trained eye who can catch all your mistakes on anatomy, color, and perspective definitely helps! That's probably the only thing I miss about school, is the honest feedback.
If this is what you want to do, you can do it. Just don't be fooled into thinking that the traditional methods are the only way to get there.
It's entirely possible I'm a quitter and completely disillusioned, but from what I've seen, heard, and personally experienced, at least, the art school front has been a disastrous mess since at least the early 2000's, and it's not really getting better. Funding has been cut and cut and cut everywhere, and of course the first places to take the hit are the art schools. They are mentally and technologically so far behind the curve that you will never graduate with the skills you need in order to cut it in the industry, assuming making art commercially is what you want to do. Then of course, there was the whole Art Institute scandal...
What I would recommend instead, if you want a proper art education, is to look into an atelier. You will work and work and work, but you WILL get better, astoundingly better, and you'll be put in contact with industry professionals as well. The downside is you won't get a degree out of it; I've heard both sides of whether a degree or a good portfolio/network counts for more. In most cases the consensus from working professionals I've spoken to seems to be the latter, unless you're up for a promotion at a huge company. Many artists of the illustration ilk seem to work freelance, but they're also super happy doing it. The internet is a wonderful platform for illustrators, and you'll almost always be able to find an audience. Also, you get to set your own schedule. Also also, Patreon is a wonderful thing.
The most important thing, however, is that you're doing what you love. If that is art, if that will make you happiest, then don't be daunted by the odds -- just find your own way of doing it. Even if you draw for a few hours a day every day, and follow tutorials on youtube, that alone will improve your skill tremendously within the span of a few weeks. Technically you don't need an education, although having a trained eye who can catch all your mistakes on anatomy, color, and perspective definitely helps! That's probably the only thing I miss about school, is the honest feedback.
If this is what you want to do, you can do it. Just don't be fooled into thinking that the traditional methods are the only way to get there.
Eliane Dufresne
The Dufresne Bellworks
The hand you are dealt is determinism; the way you play it is free will.
The Dufresne Bellworks
The hand you are dealt is determinism; the way you play it is free will.
