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one year older, and some life insights.
14 years ago
General
Commission info is below
Have been very busy, but things are starting to smooth out, and with the changes in weather, things feel a lot more manageable. This winter was very depressing, and despite the "mild" winter in the valley, in the mountains we spent a lot of time taking care of snow.
I just turned 26 the week before last, and as I hit the end of my mid twenties, I find myself a bit nervous about the future. I'm working very hard in two jobs that are fairly dead-end. I mean, I enjoy one of them, the receptionist position in a department in the local university, and it's a pleasant place to work, but unless I plan to do administrative work, it's not where I see myself in 5 years. I'm good at it, but it's sad how few people respect the real work it takes to be academic staff. In the past year I've had so many people ask me the question "what are you doing here?" and not realizing it can be quite hurtful.
I studied to be a biologist, and really wanted to go into environmental science or Ornithology. Unfortunately most of my actual experience is with laboratory work, and I've found that as I've gained more experience I've had more and more difficulty working in a lab--I have an anxiety disorder and am afraid of chemicals, a terrible handicap that hasn't been mitigated with treatment. At the moment, for my second job I work part-time in a lab in an assistant position that is thankfully also heavy with administrative and billing work. Despite the fact that I am paid nearly minimum wage (yay loopholes -_-) I don't think I could find another position I can do in the industry without anxiety attacks. In the fields that are my dream like environmental science, it's expected that you work for free in the various internships that guard the door to sort those "truly dedicated" to the field. The reality is I don't have the resources or the support to do that. Many of the environmental jobs have been cut because of the recession, and a number of the jobs left are working for the very corporations I'd want to fight against.
Because I don't want to take on the risk of going for a second degree that may be worthless, I'm holding back until the situation improves. In the meantime I work so that I can have healthcare through an employer and decent benefits, even if the pay is low and the people treat me like I'm stupid because I don't have a PHD. Needless to say, it can be depressing, even when the work is OK. My new dream is to get to a point artisticly that I can feasibly conceive of living off of it alone. To that end, I have been studying almost every waking hour. This is why I haven't been producing much. I've been copying page after page from anatomy text books, measuring out perspective, studying light and form...and it's why the stuff I have been producing looks very different than the stuff before it. I hope, for the better! And i plan to stay with mostly animal subjects, because I do feel that my broad knowledge of animal behavior and anatomy will come in handy, so my degree isn't totally useless!
I will be taking on more work in the future, now that things are getting more steady. I did shut down my commissions temporarily, as I prep for Anime Boston which is usually my best convention of the year sales-wise. I hope that after the convention I can slow down the studying and produce some real work. I will be working towards producing true portfolio pictures and hope to have more to share with you soon. Also, I will be moving all of my adult art to a new account, as I want to separate this name from any adult work. I will announce it a week before, however if there is a particular piece you enjoy please save it because I may not reupload it if I don't like the quality.
And on a note for people who are studying art as well, I had the most amazing revelation when studying page 48 of Loomis's "Successful Drawing" (you can find a free online copy here: http://alexhays.com/loomis/) I had been struggling very much with perspective and hope that little trick solves the problems I'd been having. Maybe it will work for yours as well? I felt like my brain melted for a moment XD
I just turned 26 the week before last, and as I hit the end of my mid twenties, I find myself a bit nervous about the future. I'm working very hard in two jobs that are fairly dead-end. I mean, I enjoy one of them, the receptionist position in a department in the local university, and it's a pleasant place to work, but unless I plan to do administrative work, it's not where I see myself in 5 years. I'm good at it, but it's sad how few people respect the real work it takes to be academic staff. In the past year I've had so many people ask me the question "what are you doing here?" and not realizing it can be quite hurtful.
I studied to be a biologist, and really wanted to go into environmental science or Ornithology. Unfortunately most of my actual experience is with laboratory work, and I've found that as I've gained more experience I've had more and more difficulty working in a lab--I have an anxiety disorder and am afraid of chemicals, a terrible handicap that hasn't been mitigated with treatment. At the moment, for my second job I work part-time in a lab in an assistant position that is thankfully also heavy with administrative and billing work. Despite the fact that I am paid nearly minimum wage (yay loopholes -_-) I don't think I could find another position I can do in the industry without anxiety attacks. In the fields that are my dream like environmental science, it's expected that you work for free in the various internships that guard the door to sort those "truly dedicated" to the field. The reality is I don't have the resources or the support to do that. Many of the environmental jobs have been cut because of the recession, and a number of the jobs left are working for the very corporations I'd want to fight against.
Because I don't want to take on the risk of going for a second degree that may be worthless, I'm holding back until the situation improves. In the meantime I work so that I can have healthcare through an employer and decent benefits, even if the pay is low and the people treat me like I'm stupid because I don't have a PHD. Needless to say, it can be depressing, even when the work is OK. My new dream is to get to a point artisticly that I can feasibly conceive of living off of it alone. To that end, I have been studying almost every waking hour. This is why I haven't been producing much. I've been copying page after page from anatomy text books, measuring out perspective, studying light and form...and it's why the stuff I have been producing looks very different than the stuff before it. I hope, for the better! And i plan to stay with mostly animal subjects, because I do feel that my broad knowledge of animal behavior and anatomy will come in handy, so my degree isn't totally useless!
I will be taking on more work in the future, now that things are getting more steady. I did shut down my commissions temporarily, as I prep for Anime Boston which is usually my best convention of the year sales-wise. I hope that after the convention I can slow down the studying and produce some real work. I will be working towards producing true portfolio pictures and hope to have more to share with you soon. Also, I will be moving all of my adult art to a new account, as I want to separate this name from any adult work. I will announce it a week before, however if there is a particular piece you enjoy please save it because I may not reupload it if I don't like the quality.
And on a note for people who are studying art as well, I had the most amazing revelation when studying page 48 of Loomis's "Successful Drawing" (you can find a free online copy here: http://alexhays.com/loomis/) I had been struggling very much with perspective and hope that little trick solves the problems I'd been having. Maybe it will work for yours as well? I felt like my brain melted for a moment XD
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Commission status: CLOSED to most projects email mvigeant86[at]gmail.com
Current Commission/trade list:
Request status: always closed except for specific journal entries
I Accept
Tips HERE
Commission status: CLOSED to most projects email mvigeant86[at]gmail.com
Current Commission/trade list:
Request status: always closed except for specific journal entries
I Accept
Tips HERE 
Can't wait to see more art from you! It's always cool to see improvement and evolution in art styles
Thanks, I look forward to posting more :)
If I'm lucky, I'll find something like you have with art - something I enjoy and am motivated enough to pursue as a career.
My fear of the private sector comes from watching my father who has his masters in environmental science. He ended up working for a number of years for an engineering company having to use that knowledge to justify building permits in critical habitat areas. He now works for the DEP for a much lower wage but is much happier. I went into biology instead because I thought it would give me a broader background to pick and choose later, and hadn't realized how working for a microbiology lab for 3 years might pidgeon-hole me later down the line.
When I've asked others who have experience in the field most are working near minimum wage without much hope of a raise anytime soon. It's a labor of love. Unfortunately, I can't afford to take on a higher debt load to do so, and I lack the experience needed for anything more than an internship since all of mine is in the lab instead of in the field. I had asked different government branches and the responses were basically the same. They explained that there are so many people for so few positions that experience is critical. With internships now being the norm, rather than entry level positions that pay wages, I can't compete.
hm, animal behaviour... I wonder what you would make out of D&D's wemic race? (lion centaurs which the monster ahndbook states are descended from feral lions of some sort. I suspect someone has thought up such creatures as a result of some magical experiment, with the magician long dead and gone and the critters still roaming the lands or something, creating a kind of culture of their own. with most monsters this is never really explored, if only hinted at. I guess players can run free with imagination if desired.)