[nUcLeArEnVoY]

I do a lot of graphic design, but it's one of those things where a natural talent is what will really dictate whether or not you should make a living off it. I am a good artist but honestly I do not want to make a living off of it since I really don't take it that seriously, not to mention I do not want to draw crap other people want at their schedule since it'll make me grow to hate it.

Half of these kids you see that have never even gone to a college do that kinda stuff 10x better than a college graduate just because they learned it on their own. That's why I think 'art school' is just some stupid ploy to lure pretentious 'starvin artists' to blow 40K on a watered-down education that they could've gotten by spending 20 bucks on some prisma colored pencils, tech pens, a bristol sketch pad and some freakin' anatomy tutorial books with a little helping of motivation. 3D Animation? Same exact thing - half of the tutorials you see online are from 20 year old kids who never even went to college.

Sometimes what they say about college is true, man - why spend 40-50K on an education you could get with 5 bucks in library late fees? Now don't think I'm an advocate of not going to college, but really, when you go there it's unlikely you'll walk those "sacred halls of academic virtue" and see a bunch of intelligent scholars (they're there, yeah, but not the commodity)... you'll see guys drinking and girls doing the same shit they did in highschool. I'm still going since if you don't go, it's risky living, but either way, the pressure they put on you that if you don't go you'll end up jaded and homeless is kind of extreme.

But in the end, the rule of society is... experience and talent in a field gets you nowhere, look at Megan Fox (face it guys, she's no Meryl Streep). Person A with the utmost skill in 3D animation and graphics who is a freakin' mastermind won't get the job because Person B with his 'college degree' yet not nearly as much talent has the credentials. It's really a stupid system.

Overall, my advice is, if you want to get into the field, download the programs and try it for yourself and see if you catch onto something before throwing money out the window for stuff that you can teach yourself. This isn't law or med school - art can be totally self taught.