Hello friends.
So I've been trying really hard in the past few months to do two things. The first, is to create a more professional body of work. The second is to get employed in a bigger art/production studio and transition out of my full teaching/part time artist role. Needless to say, that while I have not achieved either in completion, I have learnt a very valuable lesson. What is it? I'm so glad you asked.
Since 2004, I realize that I all the necessary skills to start a professional career as a practicing artist. I was 16 at the time. The reason for this is because I had a unique opportunity to attend an institute called the CFAD every Saturday between 2003 and 2004. The CFAD is a tertiary institute and I was still in high school. I had my mum to thank for getting me in there. The programme lasted 3 years, and I had only attended for 2 since in 2005 I was in my last year of highschool. Regardless of this, I had practiced both drawing and digital design to the point of producing work that was decent enough for publication. I don't say that because I want to sound impressive. I say that almost out of regret, because in retrospect, I didn't realize it at the time. Comparing the work I do now, and the work I did back then, I'd say the skill level isn't far off. Sure I understand better techniques and practices now, but its been 10 years since then! That's 10 years within which I could have established a name for myself as a practicing artist or industry professional. In 2005 I started doing some commission work in my free time. I never took it very seriously though. Why? I think it's because of the influence. My parents, dad especially, pushed me toward studying further. Now that I look at it, he didn't believe in my art. He would have liked me to become a doctor or planner or something. My mum on the other hand tried motivating me towards the art. She seemed to always appreciate it more than me. So I looking back now, I think I gave into both sides. I decided to get a "proper tertiary education"just like my father said, but I chose to get into an art related course because it was "something I liked". Unfortunately, I didn't think about it carefully.
You see, here in South Africa- Durban specifically, we have few institutes that specialize. Probably the biggest university in Durban, is UKZN. Then we've got DUT and some other, smaller technical schools. My dad pushed me toward UKZN because... well, it was university. I hadn't researched enough to figure out what they specialized in, and honestly, I thought it was the best I could get. So of course, I gave in. I chose something Fine Art related, and something media related. I believed that by the time I got out of school, I would have enough knowledge and experience to "walk into" any job I wanted, just like my father said. Boy was I wrong. After my recent experience of applying to dozens of studios, I realize 2 things matter:
1. Experience
2. A solid portfolio.
There are probably a handful of companies that actually require a tertiary education. But most of them don't care. Guess what though. My premise was that the more education I had, the better chance I had of becoming an industry professional. Of getting hired. So.. get this.. I ended up studying for 6 years after highschool. Coupled with the 2 years at the CFAD, that's 8 years in total. For the last 3 years, the best job I could get was being a teacher. A TEACHER! While trying to freelance inbetween my teacher schedule. Why didn't UKZN or Wits help me? Well, simply put the programmes offered by these "prestigious" South African schools are very general. As an art and media student, all I ever did were introductory practical courses in drawing, or painting or animation. I'd say a large percentage of those programmes focused on teaching students how to think critically. How to research. How to become a so called "academic". So I'd say, after a good 6-8 years of studying in tertiary institutes in South Africa, the best thing I learnt for all those thousands of Rands was to write a good essay or question some view of the world.
In retrospect, how my practical skills for art developed? I'll happily admit that a large part is self taught. While I want to create some happy ending to this tale, I don't think that there is one. But alas, there is good news. The good news I think is that while I am 26 years old now, I did FINALLY realize it. I did realize that by 30, I will be an established artist- it's my goal. I realized that while I am a teacher, that's just my day job so I can eat. I realized that every single hour that is not spent doing teacher work, can be devoted towards my goal. My hope is also that this may help anyone out there realize the same. That we as creative people need to really think long and hard about it is we want in this life, and to choose our path very very carefully.
Till next time friends, take care.
So I've been trying really hard in the past few months to do two things. The first, is to create a more professional body of work. The second is to get employed in a bigger art/production studio and transition out of my full teaching/part time artist role. Needless to say, that while I have not achieved either in completion, I have learnt a very valuable lesson. What is it? I'm so glad you asked.
Since 2004, I realize that I all the necessary skills to start a professional career as a practicing artist. I was 16 at the time. The reason for this is because I had a unique opportunity to attend an institute called the CFAD every Saturday between 2003 and 2004. The CFAD is a tertiary institute and I was still in high school. I had my mum to thank for getting me in there. The programme lasted 3 years, and I had only attended for 2 since in 2005 I was in my last year of highschool. Regardless of this, I had practiced both drawing and digital design to the point of producing work that was decent enough for publication. I don't say that because I want to sound impressive. I say that almost out of regret, because in retrospect, I didn't realize it at the time. Comparing the work I do now, and the work I did back then, I'd say the skill level isn't far off. Sure I understand better techniques and practices now, but its been 10 years since then! That's 10 years within which I could have established a name for myself as a practicing artist or industry professional. In 2005 I started doing some commission work in my free time. I never took it very seriously though. Why? I think it's because of the influence. My parents, dad especially, pushed me toward studying further. Now that I look at it, he didn't believe in my art. He would have liked me to become a doctor or planner or something. My mum on the other hand tried motivating me towards the art. She seemed to always appreciate it more than me. So I looking back now, I think I gave into both sides. I decided to get a "proper tertiary education"just like my father said, but I chose to get into an art related course because it was "something I liked". Unfortunately, I didn't think about it carefully.
You see, here in South Africa- Durban specifically, we have few institutes that specialize. Probably the biggest university in Durban, is UKZN. Then we've got DUT and some other, smaller technical schools. My dad pushed me toward UKZN because... well, it was university. I hadn't researched enough to figure out what they specialized in, and honestly, I thought it was the best I could get. So of course, I gave in. I chose something Fine Art related, and something media related. I believed that by the time I got out of school, I would have enough knowledge and experience to "walk into" any job I wanted, just like my father said. Boy was I wrong. After my recent experience of applying to dozens of studios, I realize 2 things matter:
1. Experience
2. A solid portfolio.
There are probably a handful of companies that actually require a tertiary education. But most of them don't care. Guess what though. My premise was that the more education I had, the better chance I had of becoming an industry professional. Of getting hired. So.. get this.. I ended up studying for 6 years after highschool. Coupled with the 2 years at the CFAD, that's 8 years in total. For the last 3 years, the best job I could get was being a teacher. A TEACHER! While trying to freelance inbetween my teacher schedule. Why didn't UKZN or Wits help me? Well, simply put the programmes offered by these "prestigious" South African schools are very general. As an art and media student, all I ever did were introductory practical courses in drawing, or painting or animation. I'd say a large percentage of those programmes focused on teaching students how to think critically. How to research. How to become a so called "academic". So I'd say, after a good 6-8 years of studying in tertiary institutes in South Africa, the best thing I learnt for all those thousands of Rands was to write a good essay or question some view of the world.
In retrospect, how my practical skills for art developed? I'll happily admit that a large part is self taught. While I want to create some happy ending to this tale, I don't think that there is one. But alas, there is good news. The good news I think is that while I am 26 years old now, I did FINALLY realize it. I did realize that by 30, I will be an established artist- it's my goal. I realized that while I am a teacher, that's just my day job so I can eat. I realized that every single hour that is not spent doing teacher work, can be devoted towards my goal. My hope is also that this may help anyone out there realize the same. That we as creative people need to really think long and hard about it is we want in this life, and to choose our path very very carefully.
Till next time friends, take care.
