Rambles #3: Types of Artists

I'm getting really rant-y. ^_^;

(Some of this is just types of students in general).

Ever since I entered the real art world- meaning when I first started college in pursuit of a degree, I've picked up on a pattern of personalities regarding different kind of artists. Ones that are great and ones that are not so great. Now obviously, just like everybody, there are different traits and attitudes, but I pick up on these same ones no matter what art school or what major. And these observations may be insignificant, but honestly, it's helping me keep in mind what kind of artist I strive to be and not be.

There are the hard workers, which is pretty self-explanatory. These people ask a lot of questions and problem solve. I consider them both good noodles in the classroom, and also go to whatever efforts they can to participate and do work outside of class, which is what is probably most admirable. I feel like a lot of students, the work ends once they leave the classroom. Now, obviously it's fine to have hobbies outside. But for as incredibly competitive as the art world is, it's important that you maintain and sharpen your skills and are able to enjoy and feel motivated to do your work even when no one is telling you to.

There are the good noodles and the lazy good noodles. They are the people who are good students, but then that's it. They work hard to get their school work done, but then it ends there. They don't go to other events are ask for help that often. And sometimes they just do the bare minimum. Or all they care about is getting it done. They're not trying to gain anything from it and sometimes even if it looks amazing. They just get it to look good enough and get it done.

Then there are the people who think that they are already great and don't need to get better or refuse to learn anything new that they believe doesn't apply to them. Now granted, sometimes there are things that don't apply to you or your work, but when it comes to trying new things related to your field, it's best to give it a fair shot. Because who knows? You may find a new love. And having more knowledge can only help you.

For one of my classes last quarter, we had to film our own footage and edit together a fake trailer. There was a girl in that class that literally said, "See, I'm not a film major so I didn't shoot anything. I just edited clips together from other movies." Now perhaps this could be considered "creative". She did shoot a few clips of her own dog. And I hate to admit it, but her editing wasn't bad. However, this attitude ticked me off. Because I'm not a film major either and I don't think anyone in that class was for that matter. But that was the assignment and everyone had to do it regardless of their major. But for some reason, she felt like she was excused from doing the actual project. I don't know if she just felt embarrassed that she didn't think she could actually film something good so she just didn't want to try or what. But this kind of attitude is really off-putting to me. This was also the same girl who in this same class, when we were learning Maya, never turned anything in. I remember her saying, "Yea, I can draw this stuff. But I can't do this stuff. It's too hard." Or something along those lines. Either way, it was her, again, dismissing this thing that was out of her comfort zone and putting it off on the idea that she is good at something else to make up for it.

I'll be honest, I totally understand when you're not catching on to something and you kind of dismiss it in your mind because you know you'll never use it again, but when it's your assignment especially in this class that you pay for and are required to take, you need to at least try. I sucked at chemistry in high school, and I understood that I would most likely never have to apply this ever again, but I still tried to understand enough for the tests. I didn't do a good job, but I tried.

So after that long, ranty anecdote, the last example would be the students that just plain don't care. Sometimes it's like they just decided to go to school because they didn't know what else to do with themselves. Of course, it's fine to go to school to figure out what you want. I mean that's kinda what I ended up doing. But there are some kids that I've met who clearly just don't care. They just do it to kill time or because their parents told them they needed to. And in my opinion, if you really don't know what you want or don't even have a general idea, it does not hurt in the slightest to wait a couple years until you're certain. Because let's face it, school is expensive. Most of us can't afford to be wasting that much time and money. A lot of times I see these students are convinced that a job will just fall into their laps once they graduate. It's just like high school where the next place you need to go will just be told to you or handed to you. Grade 9 goes to grade 10, grade 10 goes to 11, etc. And then after high school you go to college. It's just what happens. After college you get a job; without even thinking about it... yea... reality check: no. (and yes, sometimes people do get jobs set up for them before they graduate, but those people still worked to get it). I had another girl in one of my classes last quarter, who I heard talking to some other girls and as she was just carelessly slathering expensive paint over a piece of tracing paper, she said, "Yea, I don't care about school. That's why I go to art school." I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Because here I was, just feeling so grateful every day that I was able to come here, meanwhile this person is saying this.I wanted to ask her why, if she didn't care about school, would she choose to go to one of the most expensive art schools in the country.

But I'll move on before I get too frustrated thinking about it.

With a lot of the young artists, they are convinced that "well, I'm just really good, so I'll get a job." These are the students who don't go to the extra efforts of getting help outside of class or participating in workshops and company presentations. They don't make the efforts to network because they just expect to ride their talent and get a job.

Reality check again: it's going to take a lot more than that.

Those last two got very rant-y. But it's all very real. But honestly, this entry is just a good reminder for myself to keep the hard-working attitude and strive to do my best and get the most out of everything.