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I plan to leave tech to pursue art

liamhz.com

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Re: I plan to leave tech to pursue art

#41

Post by canpan »

JKCalhoun wrote: post #26
eludwig wrote: post #4

The grass is always greener! :-D I smile because I left commercial art back in the 80's to become a software developer! More power to Laim and I hope it works out well for him, but I have my doubts. Working as a full-time (especially on-staff) artist answerable to an Art Director sucks!! Artists are not respected, paid terribly and just generally considered disposable. At least that's how it was in my day. Again, Lia…

I stood at a fork in the road, so to speak, when I was kicked out of the house and had to decide whether to pursue art or tech (I enjoyed both). It was clear to me tech would pay the bills — the art I could do in my spare time. Retired (am I?) now, I can do all the art I want.

This is the way I plan to go!

I love coding and I have my own dream projects. My plan is to earn enough to be independent and follow my dreams.

Not retired yet, but collected some nest egg. Since then, I stress less, only work on what I find interesting and speak up when I want to. Funny part: I only got raises faster this way.

Re: I plan to leave tech to pursue art

#42

Post by tartoran »

LiamHz wrote: post #29

Hi! I'm the author of this post -- it was an unlisted draft that I shared with a few friends, was planning to rewrite most of this before publishing. Please forgive the rough edges Main changes I'd make to this article - Agreed with others that I might be naive, but I'm 20 y/o and now's the right time to shoot for my dreams rather than settle - I'm applying to animation school soon (Sheridan). I started coding when I…

I think it’s a good move if that’s what you’re itching for, especially at an early age. I’ve been for 20+ in the software industry and would myself want to do art instead but I am now 40+, have a family and hard responsibilities. I still do it (I paint) and loving it but as a hobby instead. If I had the chance to make the same money I’d switch in a glimpse. I wish you a great journey, regardless where your destination ends up.

Re: I plan to leave tech to pursue art

#43

Post by [deleted] »

aiappreciator wrote: post #19
djha-skin wrote: post #16

> In the near future I want to become a concept artist in the games industry Worst industry ever by all the accounts I've heard. Part of the compensation package is that you are working in the gaming industry. Long hours, lousy pay, ill treatment. Go for the art mate but pursue a different industry.

Its also literally the worst type of artist to be. Concept art is the most vulnerable type of art to AI. AI already does concept art way better than humans, 1 concept artist can now do the job of 10. Because AI is good at variation and creativity, bad at detail/coherence, concept art favors the former, needs less of the latter. Why doesn't OP MAKE games instead of being a mere artist? If you can program, and have a p…

[deleted]

Re: I plan to leave tech to pursue art

#44

Post by tartoran »

Baeocystin wrote: post #37
cpsns wrote: post #25

Lots of cynicism here, typical whenever art is compared to tech, but I wish him the best. Might as well give it a shot and see how it goes, you can always fall back into tech if needed later on.

Hell, I welded in a shipyard for a while after the first .com crash. Fallback skills of all flavors are useful!

Plus a break from the industry is healthy anyway even if one needs to reskill a bit upon reentry.

Re: I plan to leave tech to pursue art

#45

Post by shon »

As a technical person, it’s an interesting time to do this given the change that’s coming from “generative art” tech.

I’m 30 years (and one exit) into my career in tech. Still thinking about being a rock star… or at least learning to play guitar well enough to share it with people.

I still struggle with the question of whether to follow passion or money. I recently had an exit as the CEO of an HR Tech company. I’d love to make a Sci-Fi game. My old co-founder and I have it partially spec’d out. We love it and there’s much joy in building something like that.

But games are like movies… the audience is fickle and you can easily make a good game that is a total financial (hobby) failure. Where as another HR Tech startup feels… not like a total layup exactly, but like making a dish that you’ve made several times before, a crowd favorite. You know how to do it. You feel good about pulling it off. It’s not super fun content but at least it’s creating something and you feel like you can make something good that people will like, which means financial success.

Good luck to you. YOLO.

Re: I plan to leave tech to pursue art

#47

Post by kinleyd »

canpan wrote: post #41
JKCalhoun wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I stood at a fork in the road, so to speak, when I was kicked out of the house and had to decide whether to pursue art or tech (I enjoyed both). It was clear to me tech would pay the bills — the art I could do in my spare time. Retired (am I?) now, I can do all the art I want.

This is the way I plan to go! I love coding and I have my own dream projects. My plan is to earn enough to be independent and follow my dreams. Not retired yet, but collected some nest egg. Since then, I stress less, only work on what I find interesting and speak up when I want to. Funny part: I only got raises faster this way.

It's a risk/reward thing. Some people go all in with their passion first, consequences be damned, and it pays off. Others, I think the larger portion, aren't so lucky. Conventional wisdom is to take the safe job first, and then go from there - the risk here is never getting out of that rut. It's a hard decision, but being really focused on defining and attaining what independence is for you, is the key to taking that safe job first. My 2c.

Re: I plan to leave tech to pursue art

#50

Post by dinosaurdynasty »

kinleyd wrote: post #47
canpan wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the way I plan to go! I love coding and I have my own dream projects. My plan is to earn enough to be independent and follow my dreams. Not retired yet, but collected some nest egg. Since then, I stress less, only work on what I find interesting and speak up when I want to. Funny part: I only got raises faster this way.

It's a risk/reward thing. Some people go all in with their passion first, consequences be damned, and it pays off. Others, I think the larger portion, aren't so lucky. Conventional wisdom is to take the safe job first, and then go from there - the risk here is never getting out of that rut. It's a hard decision, but being really focused on defining and attaining what independence is for you, is the key to taking that…

Being in a rut is better than being homeless.
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