Surviving as a Mediocre Artist

#1

Hey All,
I started up a new channel to talk about this industry and my life surrounding it.
I am a self taught motion designer/vfx artist and have been in the industry for 10 years. Being self taught I had to learn a ton from the people around me and this is the best way I could think of to give back to the community that has given me so much.

Let me know your thoughts and if you have any topics you would like me to discuss!
Thanks!
Chad

Most Recent:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KjfaQPl3io

Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjmgFw3xRaPo49RMm6rF4UA

#2

Really like the video.

I see these kind of things everywhere. Personally i also have experienced these problems where I push and push my self to get better and better as a 3D artist. I recently had to quit my job because the company wasn’t doing great and I’m maybe 8 months behind in payment. I luckily found something else and soon I will start at a other company. I’m really happy for that! But I’m very scared that I won’t see my money back and that I have been working my ass off for nothing. But what you say in the video has two sides of the coin in my opinion. yes there are other things in life that we have to enjoy. People lose them self’s in their jobs and it’s not uncommon to see people without a family or girlfriend because they spend so much of their time to their job. But in the video you talk about looking elsewhere because there are a lot of other companies out there where you can work. And i think that’s the whole fucked up thing about this job. There aren’t enough jobs if you don’t have the skills. Worldwide there are maybe a couple of thousand jobs as a 3D artist out there in the world. Maybe just a couple in my country. And the funny thing is that schools just promote these kind of jobs because its so popular. Everyone wants to end a job in this industry. So the whole market is flooded with students who all want a job with sadly just a couple of jobs available. You always have to work hard and get better to have success finding a good job. Because if you don’t, than somebody else will. I had to switched my job but I had to compete with other artist from all over the world to get this job. We all did a art test and luckily I came out as their favorite. And that was all thanks to hard work.
But I get what you’re saying. As a teenager I spent all my time doing the things i wanted to do. I always were in my little room doing nothing but learning and getting better. For me that was the best thing in the world. But I never got out. I never met new people or went out to the club. It wasn’t until I had house mates and met my girlfriend where I became more open and started living. Suddenly I saw that there was more in life than just a job.
But what I realize now is that you always have to work hard to have a good job in the industry. Because if you don’t than there will always be somebody else who does wanna work for the job.
So like everything in life, there should be balance. I would like to come home to my girlfriend and see her happy. I would wanna travel the world and grow old with her. But I have to work on my art because if i don’t, sooner or later you will get old with only old skills and work on my portfolio. The industry won’t be that forgiven. They rather take a 20 year old who is cheap and can grow with the company. Than somebody who is old and hasn’t learned much over the years.
Personally I found the dream job that I always wanted. I haven’t worked a single day in my life so far and I am very grateful for that. But I see that my paper isn’t worth much as a 3D artist. My portfolio is everything. If I don’t renew it once in a while, I will be done in the industry.
But I know that like in everything in life there should be balance.

#3

First thank you for checking out the channel and video and second thank you for taking the time to comment!

I have to say that I completely understand where you are coming from because I battle with this every single day of my career. This job can be unforgiving and the people can be ruthless. You can spend every waking moment working on your craft only to have someone with less skill and talent get the gig you wanted only because they wanted someone cheaper or they liked them personally better.

It is all subjective and that is incredibly difficult when we work so hard to continue growing. That is why I decided to turn my key focus onto the ones I love and not dedicate every moment on the job I love. My wife and son are the most important things to me and knowing this and setting up my priorities and time to show that was very difficult but, incredibly rewarding. I make sure that that time I spend in the office is 100% dedicated to the office without any distraction or screwing around and then when I leave, I leave my work there.

This business does get crazy sometimes and you will have to work long days sometimes but, that is the key word “sometimes” it should never be all the time like some might think.

I agree with you that this industry only has a couple thousand companies that we could get jobs from but, that is the top tier companies. There are so many small businesses and companies that do much smaller work but, stay busy and need artists that if your willing to do smaller work they would love to hire you. I know we all have dream places and dream jobs and we all want to do killer work with awesome people but, when I have to choose between doing killer work at a top tier company and not seeing my family or doing smaller work and seeing my family I will choose the later.

Again thank you for checking out the video! Let me know if you have any topics you would like me to cover!
Chad

#4

What about the story behind the artist. How did you get into the industry. Where do you come from? What can you expect when you begin or when you get older. What is the life you can expect. What do you do at work. Had that changed over the years. What are your proudest moments? Is it all fucked up or did you also have good experiences. What can people expect from the kind of people that work there.

#5

Thank you for the suggestions! I will definitely put those in soon. I did do 1 video where I talked a bit about my background. Check it out and let me know your thoughts!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rA3hbXgTt90