I have a passion for creating and developing stories, and I find concept artist or animator really interesting. Though, I currently have a job as a media planner in an advertising company, and this job nature has long working hours which limits my personal time to study and start developing my skills in digital illustration and animation.
Wonder if I should ditch my job now and look for a steadier working hour job to start training up my skills? Or are there any other better ideas for the situation I am now?
Wow, that’s a big question! I don’t know how anyone can advise you on that.
But I will say that I myself stayed in the wrong career for several years, and was fairly miserable. I finally gave it up to do what I always loved doing — programming, in my case — and I’ve been happier ever since. I do occasionally have a twinge of regret that I never finished my neuroscience Ph.D., but on the whole, it was absolutely the right choice for me.
But that doesn’t mean it’d be the right choice for you. Only you know your financial situation, what other opportunities are available in your area, etc.
You could try to get a job with your current skillset at a gaming studio, or related field (animation and CG houses). These places often have need for media planners and whatnot, and this would be a good way to get your foot in the door.
What kind of experience do you have so far? Have you ever used 2D or 3D animation software? Adobe Illustrator? Try to start simple. If animation is what you’re interested in, sketch out some short-hand drawn animations. Take pictures with your phone or scan them, and make them into a GIF animation. Don’t worry about colouring them, or even taking them beyond simple figure drawings. Just try to think about what your passion is and attempt to channel it into something tangible.
Thank you so much for your advise Iron-Warrior! I am actually more interested in concept art and illustration. I am self-learning photoshop cc digital drawing, and starting to use blender to get some knowledge in animation.
How could my current skills be used? Coz currently what I am doing is more on the agency side more than the creative side of the advertising company.
Thanks a lot JoeStrout Every reply I get is an advise to me! I currently thinks that my personality and interests/talents do not suit the job I have now, which is an agency kind of media planner. It is too fast paced, required a lot of multitasking and I am just not that kind of person that is good with agency work. I like to create, portrait stories and do something more meaningful (to me, at least).
Though, I have never tried, but whether being a concept artist will suit me is another question. I have a passion for drawing and story telling etc. Moreover, I need a certain skillset to fulfil my career, like digital painting, animation and so on. I have traditional art skills (pencil, colour pencil, watercolour etc), and now I am self-learning photoshop illustrating, and getting started in Blender for animation. I am thinking of start building my own portfolio, like a website or something, but how do I get noticed in order to get a foot into my desired career?
Thanks Joe! Enrolling courses in an art school is my ideal plan, though I do have time and financial limitations. Do you think short courses or online courses has the same result in terms of knowledge and qualifications? Or do employers mostly prefer a college degree in the subject involved?
Would your employer (advertising agency?) support you studying digital art & design? It would build your skill set that could help them in the long term, & supporting staff to learn skills that are also useful to the company is a good way to engender loyalty. Just don’t tell them that the real reason you want to learn digital art & design is so you can quit & get into gaming.
Thanks tedthebug My job now is more on the agency side instead of the creative side. I mean I would love transfer to the creative department for that, but the job market is bad in my area these days. I am not too sure if my agency side boss would actually let me study those since we dont need those skills being a media planner. We are also a relatively new team, so things arent as mature as other well developed departments, ie the creative side lol. Ill see if there are any availability in the creative side, and perhaps give it a try since its under the same company?
Yeah, that could be a problem but asking doesn’t hurt anyone & the worst that can happen is they say no which isn’t that bad since that is what you are expecting anyway. If you pitch it along the lines of trying to further your skill set so you are a greater asset for their company (who doesn’t want 1 person that can do 2 jobs?) in the long term it might work.
Otherwise all I would suggest, since job prospects seem bad where you are, is not to quit your job. Rather, force yourself to find an hour a day & find online tutorials to do. Get into a routine & practice, doodle on the bus or at your desk, turn the tv off & force yourself to practice. Otherwise it’s a massive risk for a skill set that has a lot of competition in the market, & no income (in tight employment markets part time jobs become even more competitive as people fight for any scrap of income) for the number of years it will take to get your art skills competitive could add a lot more stress than your current job gives you.
It’s a tough choice & there’s no right answer but the above is what I would do.
