I really need an advice on time management as a student

[Davidok]

Hello,

I visited this beautiful website few months ago, and I had to go back to my school life so I didnt have much time to revisit and update my portfolio. (I worked and done some works tho)

My mock exam finished last month and I was having some time to seriously think about the Art I want to do, and even the University, (Im 16 now) and I faced a problem, and a question.

How should I manage my time on Art?

I mean, i try to work on it every time I have chance, and recently I've been working at least 3~4 hours per day, and I know it's really pity time to practice on Art.
But I'm not even in University, and I have crap loads of other subjects (I'm aiming for UCLA art school) and grades that I have to manage, so I always find myself lack in time to practice art because of all the other things like SAT(Im in british school so I have to work on it myself) and even my grades. I just try to draw everytime I have a chance, but it seems so little.

And I'm starting IB course this year, which can give me some time to work on Art, but it will also keep me from art cuz of other loads of subjects.

Anyway, my question is, that everytime I walk through the websites and I see people working on their Art skills for like 8~12 hours per day. And believe me, it will be my dream to do that, but I really can't afford that. I try to do it everytime I take a break, but sometimes it scares the hell out of me that I'm kinda left all behind in this. Hell, I dont even know how to draw on tablet or sth (i've been an off-line worker).

Do you think it will be best to start focusing my whole daily routine on Art from now, will it be too late if I start that regular 12 hour Art thing after I go to Uni?

I know my question sounds really crap and I look like some lazy ass, but I've been getting straight good grades on other subjects too, so it's kinda hard to just let those go.


I'll accept any harsh criticisim on my attitude, but one thing I want to tell you is that I tried my best to spend most of my free time on Art.

And this is a picture of my recent biro drawings, just quick ones, took me about an hour

[Elwell]

Stop stressing. Spend the time that you can on things that you enjoy. If that's art, great.

[rem92]

You are just 16 man, do practice.. but dont take it too seriously, you got plenty of time, just enjoy your friggin adolescence

[ebi]

I agree with the above.

You're a teen! Don't go adding extra pressure to your life, you'll get enough of that later. Good grief. Enjoy your freedom while you can ^_-
You say that you try to fit in drawing wherever you can, so you're doing the best you can at this moment, right? Don't be so hard on yourself.
Maybe use holidays to boost your drawing output a little.

If you really have doubts about your artistic skills, how about visiting various open days for art schools? There will usually be some teachers there willing to talk to you about admissions/what the course is like etc. Bring some of your work with you and ask a teacher there whether it's good enough.

Or ask whoever is teaching you now.

I'm not in art school (because I lack serious skills/confidence and..well.. long story), but when I was younger, out of curiosity I visited an art school (albeit, not the best).
When I told a teacher there that I was interested in animation, but that I'd never be good enough because I can't draw, he told me that usually they're not looking at people with the best drawing skills, because they'll teach you how to refine that anyway, but they're looking at people who can convey ideas clearly.

I'm not saying this is the same at your school, but it can help to visit the school and find out what they expect from you when you sign up.

[Davidok]

I'd like to thank for all of you, hahahahahahahaha

I grew up in Korea, and this whole 'career' thing is really harsh and fierce in there so we were told to think about these things since we entered our junior school.

Well, I don't know how else to put it. Thank you all for your great answers, it really helped me going through. I had a talk with my Art teacher too, and she said I definately should aim for doing art for living, so I guess I'll just keep do what I can do.

[Davidok]

Thank you! I visited my Art teacher, and she gave me quite a positive answer about doing art, and even introduced me an exhibition

I don't know how else to thank you. Your answer really helped. Thanks again!

[Ryan Provenzano]

Well, I'm 16 also, and a student, so I can relate to everything you're saying. I don't get to work on my art as much as I'd like to because of school, but I still think that I manage to get stuff done anyways. I just want to say that art skills alone are not good enough. If you don't have anything meaningful to say, you're like a camera with nothing to take a picture of. That's why we get an education. You are helping yourself become a better artist every time you are learning something significant to you, regardless if you're holding a pencil or not. The key is that you need to make the information significant, otherwise you'll just be a short-term memorizer who ends up losing all the information in a couple of months. And some information will just not be significant to you personally, and that's alright.

I've fantasized of quitting school and focusing everything on those art skills. But that is a stupid fantasy, and a double-edged sword. Learn, read comics, look at a shit ton of art, look at and do everything that interests you because we develop artistic skills in the first place to show everyone else what interests us.

[Chris Bennett]

(I'm aiming for UCLA art school)

UCLA? Is that University Collage London by any chance?
If it is, then it must be the Slade...
They ain't gonna be too impressed by superhero stuff.

If you want to get into games and fantasy illustration you'll have to change your target pretty quick.

The question you should be asking yourself is:
"What is my greatest strength overall?"

Answer this as honestly as you can, without seeding it with what you think you might fancy doing.
Reason:
Your natural strengths will be with you all your life. What you desire to become will ebb and flow with the Siren's song.

[Davidok]

hahahah Thank you!

No, I was talking about UCLA in USA, and I'm not really into the superhero stuff, I'm just a big fan of that movie so I tried that one.
Well, I'll keep think about that question haha

I think one of my strength, not sure it can be, is that I'm quite obssessive about details and those kindof stuffs, so it allowed me to differentiate me from other students at least for now. And I got some, you know, really creepy sketches that would scare the hell out of some people, so I guess I can dig into that. I just like to 'express' the depression and all the pressures I get

[Arshes Nei]

Uhh UCLA isn't an art school. It has art programs, but it's not an art school - http://www.ucla.edu/

[Davidok]

Yeah, that's exactly why I want to go to UCLA.

Yes, I do love art and wanna do it, but while I do it I want to experience other subjects too, so yeah.

[[email protected]]

Timewise, there are three times worth managing. The past is when you should have done things, but usually didn't do. The future is when you are gonna make up, but probably never will. What remains is now, which is the right moment for most things...

[Maidith]

As everyone said.

Also, take the "I practice 8-12 hours a day!" claims with a grain of salt. Only few actually do that. You can become great on less hours - some people will take longer, some slower. In the end it matters only to find a time schedule that you can keep up with, something that's sustainable, that will fit into YOUR life. Otherwise you're not gonna last long.
Not the actual hours matter, but persistence and motivation in the long run.

[mickeymao]

4 hours of smart, guided practice will beat 12 hours of dumb practice.

Fantasy and superheroes are fun, but basically no art school wants to see a portfolio filled with that.

Speaking of time management, I myself went to a not-exclusively-art school (RIT) because I wanted to sample other subjects. Your experience may differ, but I found that there was not anywhere near enough time to really do this. College classes are a lot harder than high school classes. My art classes took up all my time, and with a few exceptions the classes in other departments were too advanced for dabbling. For example, I had won awards in HS math tournaments, but college calc basically covered all the calc I'd done in a year of high school in the first week and then proceeded to accelerate from there. Non-art classes often don't count toward your credit requirements either. I thought I might like to play sports too (something you won't find in an art school), but the same problem applied -- the practice schedule was insane. It quickly helped me focus my priorities on art, and at that point I realized I needed to be in the best art school I could manage, so I transferred to Parsons.

As an aside, RIT does actually have a couple of strong programs. Illustration IMO is not really one of them, but Industrial Design is, and that's a good major if you want to be a concept artist. Also Syracuse had a very strong illustration dept. back in the day, and probably still does even though Murray Tinkelman isn't running it anymore.

[NicoleWG]

You don't have to have 6-8 hours every singe day to sit and draw/paint. Most people have school/work/family/etc that eats away time. Even if you can work out a hour or 2 chunk of time that's better than nothing. Just concentrate on studying smart with the little time you may have