How to Become an Artist

Video Transcript

"Okay, folks, in this clip, I'm going to talk to you about how to become an artist. That largely depends on what type of artist you want to be. If you want to go into school for design and architecture, obviously, you need to go off to design school or to a university and major in architectural design or graphic design. It largely, these days, deals with computer software, a lot of your work now is done with computer and no longer by hand, but it is definitely still a very popular form of artistic expression, I would say. And there's a lot of money to be made in it. Another route you might choose to go is the animation or visual illustration, such as graphic novel, that particular route. What I would advise doing in that is, if you feel like you need to take courses or classes or get your degree in art or studying art in any way, shape or form, that would be great, not entirely necessary though. What you really need is a lot of practice. And what you also need is a very good portfolio. These two things combined will come through crystal clear to you when you're applying to these types of jobs. Granted, it always looks good on your resume to say that, yes, I majored in art design in school and art history or whatever to show that you got your degree. But at the end of the day, what they're really going to care about is your portfolio. So, if you're going to go in the animation route or the illustration, graphic novel route, make sure you have a very, very comprehensive portfolio of your work, one that really showcases what you can do. That is the most important thing to become and becoming that kind of artist. Now, if you want to be free of all that, you know, daily grind, working, punching a clock, working for a boss, you know, nonsense, you can always go the freelance route, where you take on gigs based on, you know, your own skills and availability. You could open up your own gallery, which is, you know, going to take a lot more than just a wink and a smile. You know, you're going to need to find a building, obviously, potentially some investors who are willing to initially back you. You're going to need to have something to sell. You're going to need to be able to create a product that people are crazy about. And, eventually, when you build up your own reputation, your success, you know you're pretty well established at that point and that would, in my mind, be the cream of the crop job for any aspiring artist, having your own art gallery and have your work displayed in galleries across the world. That would be another route that you could take. I say, good luck to you, if that's the route you decide to go on. But, honestly folks, at the end of the day, just having the God-given talent, a pen and a piece of paper to draw on is really all you need to become an artist. Develop your skills early, be passionate and diligent in your work and you, at that point, will be well on your way to becoming an artist. It doesn't matter what type of artist at that point. You, my friend are definitely an artist."