101910So, some of you maybe wondering what happened and why I just kinda
vanished from the internet, closed accounts at dA (my deactivated page
still get's between 2 and 20 hits a day, which is more then when I used
it) and other art spots across the net.
It's always been an up hill battle for me, artistically speaking, I've
just never been interested in doing the same thing other people are doing…
realism is allot like shooting heroin to me, chasing the dragon you'll
never catch without clearly cheating, sorry, that's just how I see it and
nothings ever going to change that… but what did change was my views on
cheating. Well if everyone else is going to take short cuts then I guess
I'll have to too if I want to compete. But that was a large part of the
problem, I really want to just do my thing and fuck what everyone else
says and does. I have no interest in "competing" with other artist, I have
no interest in telling people how "awesome" their work is, because too me
it's not… well, 90% of what I run across any way.
So I switched gears and started exploring 3d and website design, something
other then drawing and painting. You see, I was going to school at Art Institutes and had
some so called teacher and faculty standing in my way with moving onto
more advanced art classes.
Let me kick 10 FACTZ about my experience at Art Institutes for people real quick:
1.) AI is selling you a degree, not the skills that go with it.
2.) They do not transfer credits from Community Colleges.
3.) At time of writing this, classes at AI run around $1800 per class.
4.) You can not take classes outside your major/degree program.
5.) You can test out of classes or submit portfolio's to prove you
know the material. However, once you cut too deep into how much
AI is making they find a way to reject you, or flat out lie about being
able to test out of certian classes.
6.) There is little or no actual class curriculum. Meaning you can take the same
class from 3 different teacher and not learn all the same information. I have 3
difference syllabuses for one class and none of them cover the same material or
work towards getting you the same skill set. Some AI classes are no more then
showing up and watching online tutorials for 4 hours... other's are just listening to
someone regurgitate a $20 book you could buy at Borders.
7.) 1/3 of the classes I took at AI had teacher that were less then competent
much less proficient in the subject they were teaching.
8.) Much of what is being cover in AI's first year classes is taught traditionally
to sell you over priced art kits rather then on computers where it would be more
beneficial long term for the students. Many classes cover material that is out of
date or subjective.
9.) A degree from AI in many cases means you'll need schooling elsewhere
afterward due to the slow pace of it's accelerated classes. I felt twice the amount
of material should have been covered in it's art related classes. In it's intro to
Interactive media class in 11 weeks I build 2 websites and recoded a single webpage.
That's it.... seems meeting twice a week for 3-4 hours a class 11 weeks in a row
we would have covered more. In a Computer Illustration Class I drew 6 apples, a
poster for an event and an Illustration for a quote... again, seems I should have had
more to show for 4 hours, twice a week, 11 weeks straight. But maybe I except too
much at $1800 a clip.
10.) AI's programs/classes very from area to area. So if you go to AI in say DC Metro area,
you'll be taught the software being used in that area or what the faculty heads like,
NOT necessarily the industry standards for your field.
Then about two month ago something happened. I realized if I was going to go
anywhere in art and not completely give up, I needed to go to a school
where I was going to learn some in demand skills. So I applied to
Gnomonin Hollywood CA. I sent in a portfolio to get into an advanced program
learning Maya and other advanced graphic tools. Now I pretty much let my
artistic career hang in the balance. If I got into the advanced program at
Gnomon then all the haters were wrong and that meant my life up to this
point wasn't a total waste. If I didn't get in, then I was done with art,
and it would mean I needed to figure something else out.
So after a nerve-racking couple of weeks I finally sent in the portfolio (
you can see it at
http://dswgraphics.com) and waited about 2 more weeks to
get a call that I had been accepted to the program at
Gnomon. And I don't
mean I got in by the skin of my teeth, I made it through with flying
colors, and this isn't an easy program to get into ether. Many students
with BFA's in art don't make it in the first time through…
now you might think this would make me happy, and it did, until I realized
how many petty people have just been holding me back and keeping me down
all these years…
then I started becoming very bitter, I still do art, regardless of what
you might read elsewhere on the net. The one thing I don't do anymore is
share it. Why? Why should I? I mean, where were all the people and
so-called fans when I was getting flamed and raked over the coals, while
tracers and other digital hacks just dogged on my shit and got hundreds of
hits for just doing digi-paint over Daz and Poser renders?
Fuck It, I can do that shit too LMAO!
well that's my prepared statement, hopefully it helps people who cared an
gives an explanation as to my whereabouts and disappearance…
I'm not writing this to say, SEE I WAS Right! It's more like, "ok, I get it now",
but that doesn't mean I was right or wrong, it's just what is.
more later,
$
