I think like Irish said that you need to sell enough art to make a living so I'd say you should put art like a side subject to study

Art is a very hard subject to get established in. You need to be able to produce/sell enough art to make a living, plus getting good at some art types takes a while, such as drawing anatomy.

Not for failures at all, though it's quite a difficult career however. Painting obviously is very difficult to get any type of famous in (to make enough money for a living). Knowing some artists myself i would not recommend it as a career if you want a large paycheck, this might change depending on how it goes but yeah. But i can guess it's a very rewarding career, and also kind of a brave move going rather for the thing you love than for what has the fattest paycheck.

If it's your dream go for it, if it's not you should try to find your passion. If it's your dream to be a youtuber for example, it's your dream not theirs.

I'll play Devil's Advocate here and say this:

They're not entirely wrong. Art isn't dead, per-say, but it's over-saturated. There are so many artists, graphical designers, game artists, painters, photographers, etc. that the harsh reality is, you won't make an impact worth a damn. Yes, there is that shining beacon of a chance, where you become a renowned painter, loved by all even after your death.

The chance of that happening is very, very slim.

Look. It's a fun pursuit, it grows you as a person, and if it makes you happy, so be it. Just make sure you have something you can fall back on, if everything goes south halfway through your degree.

I am 18,
I am a tradesmen, I work as a Builder and I studied 2 years at a school based around Technology and arts,

They had an arts program running there, but after a year it was closed and the school because 100% focused on the trades, Engineering, Builders, Plumbers, Cabinet Makers and so on,

Want to know why the arts program was shut down? Because it's a dead industry, your parents are right, Art is for people who aren't going anywhere in life,

Art isn't an essential asset to human life? Yes we've always appreciated art at it's finest, but there is no need to study it,

Doctors, Builders, Lawyers, Personal trainers, (I could go on forever) are all workers that people need, You hire a builder to build your house, A doctor when you're sick? I Lawyer to help you with the law, what do you hire an Artist for? That's a rhetorical question and if you don't understand that, you probably should study Art

I will get a lot of hate from this I am sure, but I am 18, full time employed in an industry that is always growing, I drive my own car, (Fully Paid For) I pay taxes and rent an apartment, and I play Paintball as a hobby, I earn 75k a year on average and claim 3k back on tax,

If you still aren't convinced after my point of view... Study Art lol,

Cheers

Art makeing can make you alot of money.
even if you do it in "computers".

But Dxl is right: Family wants you to have a great future, and they don't accept arts or video games as a job because there have been so many people in history of humanity that chose to do that and starved and they were living like vagabond dogs. But there are also many cases where art and what not led to succes.


i don't listen to my parents what should i do.
nah im makeing games.

I'm thinking they just wanted you to be successful and wealthy in life. Art can be a difficult thing to make money off of as there is so much competition. I am ALL for art, I love it, I attempt to make it. I find it to be a great hobby, it's very relaxing and pleasing, but it might not be the greatest choice as far as being successful.

I don't know your parents or the discussion you had with them, but 'Art is for failures' is certainly not the case at all. A lot of my favourite, most laid back people I've ever met were extremely artistic and imaginative.

If you want to get into art and journalism go for it, it's a very satisfying hobby/job.

I'm asian too ! Anyways, it's just your specific friends who hate it I guess. Art is very much appreciated by just about anyone I bump into. I get praised so much for my drawings at school even though I hate them myself. Art has a pretty much rough history. Most of the more famous artists in history was hated during their time but after they died, they became famous. Art is a good career. Nowadays there are a lot more jobs revolving around art. Concept art for games, movies. 3D animation, architecture. Even start a youtube channel around art! Nothing is wrong with art, nothing is wrong with math, science, or engineering either. They all are great subjects and have an equal chance of being successful. It's just that people tend to believe that the science and engineering ones pay better, which I do kinda believe too from my knowledge, just uh, do whatever you like . Art isn't hated at all! It is respected by every culture, country, religion, etc. in the world.

30k a year for not doing tens of thousands of boring hours? what is this? Sign me up.

I would caution your parents by saying that if you're living in an industrial, first world country, making the most money possible is a stupid goal. You should do what makes you happy, and honestly, you should make enough to scrape by doing anything, unless you have some other problem like an addiction or emotional issues, etc.

Most jobs that people call stupid (like being an artist) can be achieved and make you a lot of money if you just put the work in. For instance, my dad is a classical violinist. I'm studying archaeology, and I already have a job before graduating.

Would you rather work 8 hours a day, 5 days a week for the rest of your live for say, 80k a year instead of 30k, or would you trade 50k a year to avoid the tens of thousands of boring hours for the rest of your life? personally I'd trade a lot of money to avoid that

I would say your parents have a right to expect you to study certain things if they pay for your college, but if you have a conversation with them explaining why it isn't necessary to study, math, engineering, business-that kind of thing- and why you think you can be successful with another subject, who knows, maybe they'll understand.

Phonzyart is for people who cant work so they take their mouse and make a picture

Look people, another bigot! That's going in my collection!

Phonzyart is for people who cant work so they take their mouse and make a picture

Don't be a jerk. there's more thing i would like to say but....

Hmm, I believe that those who think that art is for failures are referring to the fact that jobs in the field of "art" aren't as plentiful or high-paying unless you really get yourself up there. It's not really a good idea to major as a visual artist or anything like that without anything as a backup.

Parents tend to push their kids more into the science and math majors, partially because they pay well, and partially because you're almost guaranteed a job once you're out of college. In the art field, it would be difficult to get a job since most companies will be looking for the "best of the best". However, if you get a degree in science or math, it's likely that you'll get hired just because you have enough experience.

I dunno, just my two cents, although most of this was based off of what my parents had told me. I planned on majoring in visual/graphic arts, maybe for video games or something, but then I decided that I would just major in physical therapy and be an artist as a side-job. :v

Art isn't hated, but it's one of those things that if you pursue it without a fallback you're going to have a bad time.

Personally I'm studying to be an engineer, but I'm keeping a few projects up within my spare time as a hobby.

Well, best of luck then, Aeropulse. I'm going for Environment/level design myself I think, though I have all traits of a generalist game designer minus the programming, which I am only progressing through extremely slowly.


Now, to return to the OP's posts, if your parents are pushing you to go for a sciency direction, make them aware that the game industry has already exceeded the movie industry in terms of size, and is still growing. while a skilled and experienced engineer can achieve a six figure salary if they remain in service long enough, their monetary gains are simply trading hours of work for a certain amount of money.

This holds true for a game designer as well, of course, except that you have a lot more flexibility. As game designer/artist, you will be in high demand in most growing companies. Of course, competition will be fierce as well, but you can set yourself apart more easily.
As an engineer, if you want to compete with another engineer in your field for a certain job, you can only use your references. After all, science and engineering are based on facts, and facts at a basic level do not change. So only what your previous employers say about you, or what projects you have worked on will allow you to distinguish yourself.

As a game designer/artist, you can actually directly show your potential employer what your skills are by showing them your work. This may not be 100% accurate for what your employer will think of it, but it is a LOT more accurate than a reference from a previous employer stating what you worked on and how well you did.

Another way to convince your parents is to show them results. If you want to go for art, make a drawing per day. If its character design, draw a face each day, and try to make it better or different each time. For environment design, do the same but with a house, structure or landscape.

If you want to go for writing, write a page per day, or even a paragraph. For journalism, write that page not on fiction, but on reporting a recent event, trying to make the read engaging while still holding completely true to the fact.

This goes for any creative subject.

If you do this while keeping up with your normal schoolwork and grades (however boring they may be), and then after a few months show your parents some of that work (or maybe someone else if they're REALLY blind). It should show them what sort of progress you have made, while keeping you in practice and helping you master it.

If all else fails, try convincing your parents that what you are doing can actually make you money.
My parents were very much against me playing as much Minecraft as I do. But when I showed them how much money I could make by doing commissions for servers, they were fine with it. Note that I don't do those commissions nearly as often as they probably thought.

That's all the advice I can really give you, apart from "survive until you're independent". Which is very much true for anyone who's parents disapprove of whatever path they've chosen, no matter the situation.

By the way, if you want a good direction to take with art, direct yourself towards Game Art. its a hugely flourishing area right now, as a lot of talented artists are using it to join big gaming companies with their abilities.
If you do, there are a couple of fields to consider.
First off, concept art. This involves being able to quickly produce a lot of ideas and accurately "sketch" them in a way that makes it clear what the idea is to someone that spends most of their life programming (game developer)

Next, Character design. Similar to concept art, this focuses on designing the build, looks and attire of ingame characters, as well as (sometimes) the way they move (though that is usually left to motion designers if you're in a Triple A team).

Then there's environment art, where you focus on bringing the world around the player to life using whatever art style has been decided on, whether full realism or some cartoony indie style.

If you specifically like to 3D model you can focus on that for props and level design as well.
If you like to work with textures and bumpmaps, that may also be a good direction, though the jobs available specifically for that will be restricted to large Triple A teams.

These are all game art directions I can think of at the moment, though I'm sure I forgot a few. All in All, unless you specifically like abstract artforms, this should allow you to go in a direction with art where there are a lot of jobs, and always will be as long as the game industry keeps growing.


EDIT: since you noted that art specifically isn't your only option, I'd like to say that my previous post applies to ALL creative directions, including Journalism, though that is all about truth reporting in reality, which a lot of people don't seem to realize.

Regardless of the creative direction you want to go in, the game or movie businesses are likely to have a spot open.

Guys, it is not like I literally want to do arts, I love journalism, Article writing, Fiction writing and Graphical art. But I was angry at the case that people say "art is for failures'

Also, i like architecture. Im so confused what to do and what not.... and I am forced to pursue what I don't want.

I think one reason why art is such a lowly thought of direction is because "art schools" and colleges try to teach Art the same way they teach Sciences or humanities. It doesn't work that way. Those 2 subjects tap into the logical half of the brain, while art taps into the creative half, which works vastly different.
They also do not teach how to use what you learn (if you learn anything in the stupid way they try to teach it) to make money.
Science and engineering tracks don't teach that either, but if you're a graduated engineer you're gonna get a job unless you mess up or get REALLY unlucky.
Art, however, has much less job opportunities, requiring you to think of your own ways to turn your efforts into cash. And since you never learn how to do that in school, a lot of people fail and end up (proverbially) working at mcdonalds.

Art is NOT for faliures! Go for whatever YOU want.

"Rationalism is the enemy of art, though necessary as a basis for architecture."- Arthur Erickson

Math, science, and engineering have plentiful jobs and are reliable. Art as a career has a LOT of unknowns. If you can find a steady job as an artist somewhere then you're set up for a while, but artists often have a lot of downtime between large projects which is part of why you always see them freelancing.

Art is Amazing (only if you can Master it )

Just do what you want to do... Art! People should follow their career dreams and not let others get in your way. Lol you can do a ton with art do it right I have a great career. Logos banners art paintings man a lot of art is worth a lot so don't let people say its not.

Actually art pays pretty much high, I once saw a blue painting on a canvas that sold for a ton.

how old are you? if you're older then 15 you should start to think if you want to have art as a career.

I know art is "easier to live off with" but I want to pursue my creativity... Its not like I want art to, you know, just live an easy life...

I think parents simply say it because jobs about science are paid better than art jobs. And I think art is a necessary thing in the life of people, because it helps them survive the everydays (while they work with science). I am not good in maths too, and I love to draw.

Art nowadays is easier to make a living off, it's your life not your friend's life.

Not all parents are like that.

But yeah, you should choose whatever inspires you in doing more of what you think that would be good. Also, there's no reason to be mad at your family, because they don't see with much enthusiasm what you thing is awesome. They're different. So, if you feel you do great art and it makes you do more and more as you progress, then go ahead and choose that path.

Family wants you to have a great future, and they don't accept arts or video games as a job because there have been so many people in history of humanity that chose to do that and starved and they were living like vagabond dogs. But there are also many cases where art and whatnot led to succes

Btw, this is probably the most inspiring thing I ever wrote.

I think the thing with art is that perhaps you don't need to study it in order to get a career in it. No self employed artist requires a degree after all. However, if you wanna do something creative and arty with a company maybe, then yeah I would say go for it and follow what you want to do.

I've recently moved to university actually, and am studying English with Creative Writing, love the creative part of my course, and I hope it leads me on to doing something that I love as well.

I live my the motto that: if I work hard in the present, then I can't blame myself for what happens in the future. The decision of what you study should inevitably be your choice (I'm lucky enough that my parents let me do what I want), so I feel bad for you that they are making the choice hard for you- wish you the best of luck

Art - as a career - is something pretty hard to get going in.
I mean one of my relatives does 'Arty' stuff for a career, and they go to all kinds of exhibitions, etc, so it can be a good career if you work hard at it.
I think it's that initial stage that turns people away. The fact that it is hard to start off in.
I was considering some kind of Art themed career (such as character design), which my Mum wasn't too keen on because of what I mentioned (I dropped Art anyway because I hated the course - it was so repetitive).

"Art is for failures" ... I feel like I would hate the people that you know.

I feel like people who dislike or have that opinion don't go have much of a imagination and probably also didn't go for what they wanted in life and think it's too late.
Everyone i've met that doesn't really like Minecraft or art in general have been extremely hard for me to reason with on most topics. Stick to what makes you happy, don't let someone else try to live your life for you.

Most of my friends are artists but they don't get so much hated. I think you're friends just don't appreciate it.

Weeeell... I wouldn't agree with saying that Maths and Science are an art. Science is the acquirement of knowledge, while art as a general term is the application of the human creativity and imagination into a specific object or activity. Maths is the solving of number-related (can be non-numeral in some areas of algebra) problems.
I guess your family doesn't consider art as a career because they believe that it doesn't input to society, even though it does. Look at Raphael or Leonardo. They did awesome stuff but they were artists. I think anybody would have a hard time calling them failures.

Oh, as for fact, Im asian xP