Is it really worth to follow your dreams?

>>17701440
It is almost never worth following your dreams. It almost always ends in failure, and with it being a failure of your income, you will be left without a house. Find something that isn't your first choice, but you don't hate, and something that makes money. Pursue that.

>>17701450
Dont listen to this dumbcunt

>>17701440
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eiy9legEW-U

>>17701440
Always follow your dreams. Never give up. I'm a sophomore student in business school. Dropped out last week because I decided to follow my dream. Which is going to acting school and thag is exactly what i'm going to do. Whether I fail or not, i'll be content with myself for trying, but I dont think you can fail in anything ur so passionate about and would put all of your effort in. Follow your dreams. I support you man. Don't listen to the dumbcunts, they're probably discouraging you because they never had the balls to do what you're doing. Remember, it's gonna take a lot of hard work. You're gonna have to put your all in it to get something out of it. But, when it's something you love, you'll do it with passion, it'll be fun, so don't worry.

>>17701485
Don't listen to this failure of a dumbcunt either.

>>17701492
nah don't listen to this guy.

People who follow their dreams and it pays off always advocate never giving up.

It's confirmation bias at it's ugliest.

It's way more likely you're digging yourself a hole by chasing your dreams, and if you don't aim lower you will eat shit and die.

t. objectively correct pragmatist.

>>17701502
Don't listen to this idiot.
He's not aiming hollywood high you piece of shit. The guy is interested in digital art and animation. Which is very achievable and will not leave you homeless to eat shit and die. You're a dumbcunt who should eat his mother and suck my dick while your father fucks you from behind. How do you even speak of this without firsthand experience you piece of shit?

>>17701518
It's not achievable at all. Unless he wants to make $10k a year if he's lucky doing freelance work and living in a caravan?

You're hugbox "Be positive xD" attitude literally leads people to ruin. It's a pattern I've seen in people I know and expressed as a warning IN ART DIRECTED TOWARDS ARTISTS all the fucking time, a great example being >>17701485

>>17701518
also, note how angry this guy is at the hint of the idea he made a bad choice to *drop out of business school to pursue acting*
Of course he's going to give you a biased answer. If you look at things realistically they're not so pretty. The fact that this guy resorts to ad hominems just because someone disagrees with him really should tell you a lot. His dream was to go to business school and get rich -- and he's failing. In a desperate attempt to cover his ego's shame, he's decided to revert back to his childhood dream of becoming an actor. It's transparent as day, but he'll deny it because he's a hypocrite soon-to-be washed-up LA phony.

>>17701440

Nothing worth doing is easy. One of Bill Gates's teachers told him he would never amount to anything.

Musicians, artists, writers and creative types spend a good deal of their life hearing that they need a "back up plan" or "something to fall back on" and maybe you'll fail but I hardly see how using your one life that you have right now to do something you want and possibly failing isn't worth the risk.

>>17701440
It is possible to make a living in any field. There is a substantial scope for work in digital arts/animation.

I understand that you can't go through the intricacies of everything in on an imageboard but I would be interested if you could tell us what sort of job you want to have/what sort of work you see yourself doing or what sort of product you see yourself creating?

>>17701588
Maybe taking a 1 in a 1000 shot at success is a stupid idea compared to taking a sure stab at mediocrity. Maybe Bill Gates was a shrewd businessman in the right place at the right time, and even then he got incredibly lucky to be where he is today? Maybe Bill is a terrible example because he is an outlier, and for every Bill there are literally 2000 bums who made risky decisions that didn't pay off. See the selection bias point in >>17701502

OP here

>>17701492
Thanks for the words buddy, I wish you luck with your acting school.

>>17701600
Well the reason I want to study animation and digital art is because I always wanted to make animated series, movies and comics. I sure do have a lot of stories in mind and I would like to share them with the world. Wouldn't you like your name in a successful movie/comic/series?

>>17701602
I too think Bill Gates might not be a great example. Besides, weren't his parents already rich?

>>17701440
I had a friend. He was a film major, also did animation. He got a bachelors in film. He currently works at Olive Garden.
I think he ended up that way party because he is married. Also, while he pursued his dreams, he also was not driven. I mean you have to be fucking driven, really, really, driven. You really have to be a little crazy. Have a maniacal faith and confidence in yourself. Fail a thousand times and keep going.

What is this life for? Eat, shit, work. Sleep. Repeat for 15,000 days. Die.

Existing is easy. Living is hard. It's an art.
I have a masters in Chemistry. I saved enough money to live in Thailand for a year. Im going to a tropical paradise. Spend six hours a day training to fight.
Im absolutely sure of this. Im even risking my relationship.
Fuck it. Im living my dreams. Just for a year.

Why don't you try doing both? Be a computer programmer and do animation on the side?

>>17701440
I know exactly how you feel because I've dealt with this thought many, many times over the past years.
I live in Brazil and I'm nearing college age, there's a ton of complicated shit that I need to get through. My plan is to eventually become a filmmaker/animator. I know this shit is hard, I know there is a very likely chance things may not happen the way I want them to, and I have indeed considered choosing other careers. But I'm not giving up in any fucking way.

My life's ambition has become my top priority to the point where I'm willing to sacrifice literally everything for the sake of attaining it. I do not care for friends or money or even good living, I just want to become a filmmaker. I do not allow myself to think about giving up, but at the same time I've grown to accept the possibility of failure as just a temporary setback. I'm willing to keep trying and trying for as long as I can, even if it takes a lifetime.
I know it sounds cliche, but determination really is the most needed thing. Because with the right mindset, you can fall a thousand times and keep on going. My entire life has been devoted to the pursuit of whatever intellectual interest I have at the moment. I spent my entire childhood in my house looking up information about dinosaurs and sharks, and those years of knowledge allowed me to even go on television to speak about the subject and write a book about it. I spent years pursuing different topics, and now it's filmmaking. Every fiber of my being exists for the sole purpose of pursuing a passion of mine.

What I'm trying to say here, OP, is that, at least from my experience, you need to have the determination that allows it to become an obsession. I know this sounds unhealthy, and it probably is (I've been getting a lot of headaches lately), but I don't give a shit. And I think that you should do the same. Dedicate yourself 100% to what you want, and it'll come to you in some way or form.

>>17702014
Continuing from my post.

Let me be perfectly honest: if you are getting second thoughts and considering giving up because your family doesn't support you and your field isn't respected, you are not in the mindset to ever achieve your dreams. You will NEVER achieve your dreams if you let this kind of shit stop you or even scare you.

Who cares if those people are telling you if you are wasting your life ? Even if you are, it's your goddamn life to waste. If it all fails and you just can't take it anymore, you can take the quick way out and kill yourself or keep fucking trying.

If the fear of failure prevents you from trying, you are not ready to achieve success. To settle for the lowest common possibility is to surrender your life to failure.

It's common for most artists who want to pursue their talent to hit this kind of existential crisis. It's part of the process of growing up. Overcoming this kind of road block is something I, an anonymous stranger on the Internet, will help you do. You're gonna have to do it yourself

Eventually, you will hit a point in life where you'll determine whether or not you really, really want to pursue art or figure out if it was just a teenage fantasy. But never give up on this dream because you fear of failure. If it's something you really want to pursue, then go ahead and do it. Even if you fail and fall flat on your face.

Look, I am a 19 year old Uni student who fucking hates going to college, my dream is to be a screenwriter/actor, my family doesn't support this, they would disown and my grandmother would probably have a heart attack if I dropped out. But it's miserable wasting your time on something you aren't passionate about. Life is to shoort to not do the things you don't want to do. The people who advocate following your dreams, the artist, writers and celebrities who have made it in life, they faced the same struggles, Brad Pitt was a chicken mascot in LA before he made it big, many people start from the bottom, but it's about the determination and hard work you put into your dream, how you prepare, how you market yourself and meet people, take every oppourtunity you can. My father is the only person who really supported my dream "Do it son, I see no reason for you to be unhappy and not be you, you're going to have to try really hard, and you're going to have to fail, and learn from it, and try again even when the going gets tough, start from the bottom, work yourself up. Get an internship, be some diretors coffee boy, volunteer wherever you can, because all that is going to create experience and connections for you to move up in your career, never consider something beneath you and seize every oppourtuntiy you can." And with that advice I am leaving school this year and chasing my dreams in LA, it's difficult, there are thousands of people trying to do the same thing, but these odds don't scare me, because I know in 40 years if I made it I'll love it, if I didn't, I won't have to worry about the "What if" and hate myself for it. So fuck it, do what you have to do man, just give it your all and it will reflect. Live, learn and don't let anyone tell you, that you can't do what you want to. I was offered a $70,000 job today after sneaking into a Grand hotel, scavenging for food, and running into a convention full of people distinguised in their fields, crazier shit can happen.

i go to calarts

everybody here is at their dream school and knows it and everybody has respect for every other student and the faculty and everything

yes it's worth it

>>17701440

Hey dipshit. You don't need 50k of debt to study art. Pick up a pencil and get your ass busy.

--love, /ic/. Read the fucking sticky and don't post.

I both draw and write (novels), but on the side. I still have a career and dayjob.

>>17701896

This "why don't you do both" thing is the stupidest fucking meme, or everyone who says it must work in the cushiest 9-5 with absolutely no demands that I can imagine.

I come home every day mentally exhausted, miserable, and stressed, knowing tomorrow's tasks are just on the horizon and I was just given 10 more projects while still in the middle of completing 15.

By the time I get home, the only emotional energy I can muster is enough to put something in the microwave, crack a beer, and watch a couple of hours of tv, or go to the bar with my friends and complain about how shitty work is. Not get my creative juices running and write an inspiring story.

That's because I didn't follow my dreams and just ended up in a high demand field where no one is ever going to want to hire me for anything else because the skill set is pretty rare.

Chase your dreams, anon.

I followed my dreams, I got really lucky and actually landed some version of my dream job in my early 20's doing some real deal shit. But that's the thing, I got lucky. I put in all the work and I had the necessary skills and all that, but end of the day it all came down to knowing the right person, being in the right place at the right time, all the old cliches. If that never happened I would have never got a chance.

That job eventually went away and I was able to get another, but it took forever and it went away even faster. After that I decided it wasn't going to work realistically and I started working regular jobs. I still do what I like in my free time, and it actually makes me enjoy it more. When it was work I grew to dislike it because it was something I had to do every day, not something I got to do for fun or as a release.

>>17701440
>should I major in my hobby or should I try to get a real job?
lol

Feels good to be a STEM major

File: 1462601170386.jpg (72KB, 594x425px) Image search: [Google]

72KB, 594x425px

>>17701440
Fuck the haters do what you want it's your life. Worst case scenario is you go back to a 9 - 5 job in which u earn enough money to live comfortably not rich but comfortable

Currently employed 3D animator here. I feel like my opinion matters here. I am gainfully employed in the field, I like my jobs, but the lifestyle isn't for everyone. Ask me whatever.

My first piece of advice is consider not just what career you are happy in, but what kind of lifestyle you want.

There are many types of animators, and in this field your lifestyle is bound to that branch, almost like the military.

Studying interactive media, planning to become a digital artist. I spend all my days drawing anyway, it's the one thing that has always made me happy, so as long as I can make enough of money to have a roof above me and food I'm good. If I can't make it as an artist I'll just get an easy basic job like McDonalds and draw on my free time.

For me it's not really even a choice, I know I can't work a regular 8h boring ass job 5 days a week and live a boring meaningless life, I'd kill myself pretty fast. Making art is the only thing giving me purpose, so that's what I'll keep doing. Would I recommend going down that path? No. Only become an artist if you absolutely need to.If it's what you want and nothing else will satisfy you. Because the chances that you'll actually make it big or whatever are low, you gotta do it because you want to do it.

>>17701440
I can't talk in first person but let me tell you that this is the easiest of times for an artist to become well-known and recognized. And this is through social media.
The path is longer than studying in college and getting a 'normal' job, but if you are good at it and work hard enough, you will get there.
My wife is like you. She's a digital artist (illustrator, not animator) and things are starting to fall in place for her just this year (she's 29). She's gathered enough audience on social media to be able to publish her first book through a crowdfunding, and gained the attention of some publishers.
She also had some crisis moments like you, but I always supported her in following her path.
I'm a dreamless IT wagedrone but I don't hate my job, so I don't mind providing for her financially, but she helps out whenever she gets some money. We're not swimming in cash but we're doing good.

I followed my dream and my passion, which was Asian Studies and the history of medicine. Despite ending up in the Ivy League, it is not a bright future for someone with a PhD in history. I wish I had followed a more standard career path. Many people I know are doing very well, they didn't follow their heart, they went into accounting or computer programming or went to flight school. They didn't spend time exploring the humanities - they got down to business.

To be honest, I wanted to go to graduate school to be a social worker, but I was accepted into a program at an Ivy League and my family put SO MUCH pressure on me, that I would have such a better life being an Ivy League historian. Now that I almost have PhD in hand, I do deeply wish I had followed social work path. Sure, the pay isn't great, but with my intelligence and passion I could have probably made a much better living for myself.

>>17703019
Not op but I also want to be an animator will you go into more detail? I want something semi stable as much as anything can be stable in the animation business. I'm switching my major this semester to animation.

>>17703108

Is it too late for it though? Finish your PhD and go study what you actually wanted all along.

>>17703127
What kind of animation are you interested and where do you see yourself living in the future?

I wish I considered this more. Myself I've shifted away from actual character animation type roles into more of a technical artist. I do a lot of rigging, and VFX. I am something like a half artist/ half engineer coder. A lot of studios need people to bridge the gap between techies and artists.

Nothing is really stable in animation. It's a "stable instability".

Once I made 20k in one month from a freelance project on the side, on top of my normal pay from my studio.

Then I was unemployed for a whole month. There is always this fear that "what if the next job doesn't come?" But if You are good, it will.

Above all I'd say stay open minded. Originally I wanted to be a stop motion animator. But there are like, two studio to really work for with stop motion. That being said if you really, and I mean REALLY work hard, you'll get into a role at a studio eventually.

Myself I'm a oddball sort of "all-rounder" but that's pretty uncommon, and I got lucky and got the "all-rounder position" which I like a lot because it's not repetitive. Somedays I'm learning motion capture, the next I spend a whole day translating a video into Chinese.

I'm changing gears because I'm really not a city person. I want to be able to work at home in a more country setting so I'm trying to shift into a freelancer for hire focusing on VFX/Particle Sim, because there is a bit of a shortage of good "special effects" artists in CGI.

You need to be more specific. For now I'd say try everything, but slowly trim it down to being good at a few in demand skills.

You may really love to animate characters. but realistically you'll be animating really boring Nick Jr shows for awhile. Do stuff you REALLY want to make in college.

Above all. Be IN THE STUDIO. SIX DAYS A WEEK MINIMUM.

Your job is to be the best in you class. Believe me, they'll be people that are better than you. Beat them.