Professor said I will never make it as an artists.

[karta tajba]

While you was in school have you ever had a professor who told you that you will never make it as an artist because your skill level was not strong enough?

[Mrianna]

No, but I also went to school for Graphic Design.

If you where told this, just work hard and prove them wrong.

[keeptime]

We went on a field trip to a bunch of galleries in downtown Toronto. At one of them a student asked "how can we become gallery artists?". The owner laughed and replied "FAT CHANCE!". Then he went on to elaborate how we can plan on marrying rich because an artist's career is non-existent, and we will never ever become successful. Needless to say the owner has probably lost all business with the university and definitely has lost any good reputation with our classes. I'm sure he thought he was being very funny, but if that's how he treats all amateur artists then his gallery is slowly inching towards the cliff of oblivion.

[Shorinji_Knight]

While you was in school have you ever had a professor who told you that you will never make it as an artist because your skill level was not strong enough?

Did this happen to you? It may take work, but the professor has no power of prophecy to see into your future. Only you can decide if you're going to do the work it'll take to make it.

[Maidith]

I think everyone had an experience like that.

When I was 14 I took a two-week acrylic painting workshop, and one day the teacher took me aside, out of the room, to unleash a cascade of very serious sentences upon me that I didn't really understand back then but it all came down to, "being an artist is crappy, almost no one does well at this job, you can't make a living doing art, DON'T BECOME AN ARTIST, don't even try EVER, you'll be disappointed and die alone, blah blah blah".
I just said, "okay, whatever", and continued painting. At fourteen I was very optimistic in a naive way, thinking "I want to become really good at painting anyway. All my art idols are really good. And they 'made it', and are doing great. I want to do it like them. This teacher has no idea. Stupid grown-ups, hurr hurr derp."

(In one point she was right, though. I never became an "artist" - I'm an illustrator now)

[francois_k]

I only have the experience of drawing a lot and a dick in my class kept bragging about he's better than everyone. He also wants to be a concept artist , he's been drawing longer than me so obviously he's better but I've almost been drawing for a year and I'm getting closer to his skill level.
I also get my profs. constantly poking fun at me for wanting to become a concept artist but when I spoke to them they said that it'll be hard , but if you keep at it , it'll work out.

[Arshes Nei]

You may never make it as an artist, you may make it as an artist.

It's all up to you...

[TinyBird]

I think I've been lucky in a way that my teachers have known that skills are a thing you can get more.

[Reutte]

I can totally believe that there are people who do graduate from art school who are still not at a professional level by the end of it. But that doesn't mean that they won't improve in the future.

[arenhaus]

We went on a field trip to a bunch of galleries in downtown Toronto. At one of them a student asked "how can we become gallery artists?". The owner laughed and replied "FAT CHANCE!". Then he went on to elaborate how we can plan on marrying rich because an artist's career is non-existent, and we will never ever become successful. Needless to say the owner has probably lost all business with the university and definitely has lost any good reputation with our classes. I'm sure he thought he was being very funny, but if that's how he treats all amateur artists then his gallery is slowly inching towards the cliff of oblivion.

He wasn't being funny, I suspect, nor is he pushing his business to oblivion. He knows what your university apparently doesn't: the modern gallery art scene isn't a seller's market, but it isn't a buyer's market either. It's the reseller's market, and has been for decades.

He'll be able to find or make any number of would-be artists to supply his business, don't worry.

[keeptime]

What do you mean by reseller's market? The works he had installed at the time were by a local artist, so someone must have picked her up at some point.

[dpaint]

The thing about skills levels is they change if you work to improve them. So, what you are today you won't be in two years if you keep working at improving. Don't listen to other people, just go about your business and if you want to be an artist you will find a way to be one. I did it without formal training and without support from most of my family and friends and co-workers at the time. I just ignored them and told them they were wrong. Their attitude was who's going to let you be an artist and mine was always who's going to stop me from being one. Nobody, only I have that power.

[Qitsune]

A lone sentence without a context means nothing. Did it mean:"You will never make it as an artist because you are lazy and everyone is improving but you?" Did he mean"You will never make it as an artist because you always do the opposite of what is asked of you and you still can't tell linseed oil from turps?" We will never know.

[JFierce]

Well it could be a trick. Either A) your un-dedicated and take a teachers word for it and quit which if that's the case you wouldn't make it as an artist or B) you have the drive to say fuck that I'll get better I just have to work at it in which case you prove him/her wrong and you make it as an artist.

If they pose the question in that sense the Art teacher wins regardless.

[karta tajba]

If you guys don't mind can i used this for a journal or an article credit to all of you?

[bcarman]

If you take raw percentages your teacher was right. I do a segment on children's books in one of my illustration classes and tell them getting a written and illustrated book published with the big publishers is like winning the lottery as far as odds. Each editor at one of these companies get at least 10-20 submissions each day and usually more. Then I end my discouraging rant with but someone has to do it.

Will it be you? Usually the ones that make it just go and do it.

[Januz]

Not really. But what I've found over the years is that advice/opinions given by other people about your life is almost always wrong. Do what you want to do, set your own path.
You can always go live with the Amish if you screw up.

[GEMMA]

You know, people who told me I couldn't do something have been my greatest driving force. When I was 8, my teachers told my parents that I would never succeed in school because I was " wasting all my time drawing". I graduated this year with a 93.2% overall average/ 4.33 GPA, which shocked pretty much everybody in my graduating class (I was never one of those kids who was loud about my grades, and apparently I look like a stoner so people had these completely incorrect preconceived notions about me). My High school art teacher thought that because I mainly draw in a semi-realistic, anime-inspired style, I wouldn't be able to take her class because "the photo reference assignments will be too hard for you, you're so used to stylization you'll have trouble doing realistic pictures". And... well... I think I did pretty well. Not nearly as good as most of the stuff here, but I'm still proud? Other peoples opinions about your life? Always bullshit.

[Kolbenito]

While you was in school have you ever had a professor who told you that you will never make it as an artist because your skill level was not strong enough?

Find a new teacher, this one is terrible.

[karta tajba]

no, she not she just pushing for results i was curious about if other people experience.

[Tim Murphy]

no, she not she just pushing for results i was curious about if other people experience.

Ignorantly telling people they'll never succeed based on their current skill level (which, you know, changes) != pushing for results.

[blogmatix]

While you was in school have you ever had a professor who told you that you will never make it as an artist because your skill level was not strong enough?

I have never taken art as subject except for the few compulsory art classes I had in primary school, so I have no experience of that. However, in the introduction to one of his books Andrew Loomis reports that his own art professor advised him to give up because he would never make it.

And if memory serves, it was Harold Speed who said something to the effect that "the only students worth encouraging are those who will not be discouraged."

Thus I would advise you to ask yourself how badly you want to achieve professional level skills, and what you are willing to give in return, and to pay no attention whatever to any remarks by any art professor or anyone else that are not relevant to achieving your goal.

Hint: Remarks like "your perspective is way off; go look again at one-point perspective" or "your figure is out of proportion; go take another look at the proportions of a standing male figure" are relevant.

A remark like "You'll never make it because you just don't have the talent" is not.

[bcarman]

I think someone up above in this thread already mentioned this but context is everything. This has happened here more than once where someone says something about a teacher and we all sit back and take potshots without having a clue as to the real context of the situation. Teachers have different teaching styles, one of the things that makes school tolerable. Take advantage of what you can, lose what you don't need. That is the essence of especially higher education. Learn to edit your life. Sore point for me being a teacher. I have said some things which could sound really mean out of context when it was only a little mean at the time.

[Arshes Nei]

Well the professor is right if the person if the OP wants to make it as a plural.

[Cider]

I had a brief stint in architecture school where the "studio design lab" professors (three of them) told the entire class that they didn't have to pass anybody if they didn't want to, and they would be happy to help us transfer to another major or even another school if we wanted. Then they spent an entire miserable summer trying to convince us to quit. I passed and then got out of architecture. I thought they were jerks at the time, but in retrospect it was good advice, for me at least.

[Vinicam]

The thing about skills levels is they change if you work to improve them. So, what you are today you won't be in two years if you keep working at improving. Don't listen to other people, just go about your business and if you want to be an artist you will find a way to be one. I did it without formal training and without support from most of my family and friends and co-workers at the time. I just ignored them and told them they were wrong. Their attitude was who's going to let you be an artist and mine was always who's going to stop me from being one. Nobody, only I have that power.

Hehe, I have almost the same problem actually. My mom don't disagree, but I can see she isn't sure about it anyway. My dad is absolutely against it, he think it's a waste of time and that I should be following his steps so I can manage the company. My friends are very uncertain about it, even that some of them don't really show. Just one co-worker think I can make it in the real industry. Others just think I should make money doing portraits in the street. lol

[Forrest_I]

While you was in school have you ever had a professor who told you that you will never make it as an artist because your skill level was not strong enough?

A lot of people still think that becoming an artist is like the stereotypical starving artist thing. That you'll be broke all the time trying to sell your pieces on the streets or in small little art fairs, but honestly that's bullshit. There are still starving artists but it's because they don't know what they're doing ha. If you want to be a artist then go for it, learn what you need to learn and keep working hard. Go back in a few years to that professor and send them a large signed print of your best work as a big "F U" to them. I've had friends tell me I should stop drawing, that it won't work out, that I should just go find a job at some fast food joint instead. As if suddenly working for a fast food place will make me more successful, it's not success though, it's just the norm. But the good thing about being an artist is we don't do things normally, we like to do things differently.

Go for it man, become a badass artist.