What should I do with my future. Need help!

[Marquisdp]

My name is Marquis and I turned nineteen last sunday. I just attended my first year of LaGrange College in Georgia. I had to attend this school due to my fathers niceness of letting me live with him. Long story short, he screwed me over, stole my money, and I was pretty much couch-surfing my whole way through my first year. This (amongst a whole slew of bad things) caused a considerable drop in my gpa. I'm not stupid or anything. I just had a lot of trouble getting to the college and other things. I don't think I can keep going there since I can't get work study at the campus (this causes a lot of problems).

I really would like to go into the field of concept art. It doesn't really matter where, as long as it pays really. I'm trying to figure out whether or not I should transfer to some sort of art college/school in Georgia, or just drop out and work on a portfolio and submit everywhere. I've been an independent since I was sixteen. And I can get about 22,000 worth of aid.

Here is a recent (yesterday) picture I have done. I really like Magic lol

http://s3.amazonaws.com/data.tumblr.com/tumblr_lm59tqAoRG1qj2a9co1_1280.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId =AKIAJ6IHWSU3BX3X7X3Q&Expires=1307141825&Signature=0B7LDM4HyDsfEBDEfOKJVdm7AFM%3D

[Marquisdp]

It seems I may have to move out of state to do anything in this field :/

[Mirana]

Many people do work in concept art without a degree. You do have to be one of those people that is extremely self-motivated, and disciplined, though. If that sounds like you, then go for it. There is no time-limit on when you can go to college if working on your own doesn't work out. If it's not you, then school could help. Or it could not. No guarantees.

If you go to school, I always recommend that you start out with a local university or community college. Unless you do a concentrated atelier-style (not to be confused with 2-yr business degree-style), a 4-yr degree will require certain core classes like math, science, english and so on. Some of these may be relevant and some may not. Either way, you get a fine level of schooling on these low-level subjects at a local college and then transfer these credits to your preferred art college. For a LOT less money. When I did this, it was about $300/class compared to $3000 per class. If you're going to flunk out of anything, the money wasted is a bit better to handle too. :/ Going to school out of state can cost even more. Taking two yrs at a local school also allows you to build an even better portfolio for scholarships.

Once you transfer to an art school (and make sure before you start, that the classes you take at the local school match up to what the art school will require), you can go anywhere you like. It might interest you to know that SCAD (in Atlanta and Savannah) has Game Design and Sequential Art, and both have a spate of Concept Art courses. The ones taught in the Sav Seqa major are taught by a former NASA and Disney Imagineer designer, for example. If you stay in-state, you'll be eligible for HOPE as long as you make sure your GPA recovers from your first yr.

Yes, you may have to move out of state. You may become a freelancer and stay in-state. Either way, you should develop a portfolio and get a job before making a plunge. Not all concept jobs are in the same place.