Best Daily Drawings: Hi my dream is to work in animation but my grades in high school were pretty bad and my art is not that great (I’m working on that tho going to take drawing classes soon) do you have advice for getting into the industry even if you have bad grades? Thanks for reading sorry if something like this was already answered.

https://www.williamsonhomepage.com/parents-guide-for-middle-school-and-high-school-homework/article_ca0a274f-d9c5-57c1-b141-64fa4ae037d7.html

Strap in

The mods talked a bit back and forth about this, we all have vastly different experiences in regards to how we’re educated artwise, but also how our grades looked when we graduated high school. However, the consensus was that your focus should be on your portfolio rather than grades (if you find yourself in a situation where you have to choose). Knowing what the school your applying for wants from you specifically, and then following those requirements to a tee when forwarding your portfolio is more important than top grades, so if you want to apply - start working on your art fundamentals and start working yesterday. Unless you’ve got failing grades all over the board there are definitely schools out there who want you if you can meet their craft-related criteria. Some of our mods are taking more craft-oriented classes ( classic art, animation, etc ) which require very finely tuned fundamentals skills. While some of us are studying with more theoretical and method-oriented courses (Visual Design). In many cases, there are large differences between Craft-schools and Design schools, both in what they require from their applicants and students, but also in the way the schools teach you. They’re both valid and valuable ways into the industry, but you will be educated into different types of jobs. Always research the school your applying to extensively to find out if this what you’re looking for, and what sort of skills you need to enter. (You can read more about this on our post about portfolios for art-schools https://theredlinestation.tumblr.com/post/178674670521/hi-i-was-wondering-if-any-of-the-mods-have-tips )

Storytime (This is going to be a little long but i swear there’s a point to it.)

The system we adhere to in my country is rather different from yours but roughly converted I only managed to haul in C’s and D’s with only two B’s in my finals for your equivalent of high school, meaning my average was beneath average by the time I graduated.

I’m just not book smart like that. But from what I was told by mentors, teachers and psychiatrists were that I needed to focus my attention on the things that mattered to my continued education, and as with you - that was my portfolio. (and in my case my English grade ). I worked my ass off and whipped out a portfolio two years in a row for the school I’ve dreamt of studying at for nearly a decade. I never got in. While I was working on my portfolios (and had graduated high school with lacklustre grades) I worked a minimum-wage job during the day and spending the evenings and nights practising art. Eventually, I managed to land a spot at a 6-month course that my prefered art-school was hosting on art fundamentals. After 1½ year I joined and got my first tiny diploma in classic art (which I also did really poorly at, but my development was immense since it was the first time I’d received consecutive formal art training outside of 1-2 hours weekly in highschool). After I finished my semester there, I asked myself if I wanted to forward another portfolio, but by the time I felt that I’d been “stuck” applying for this school long enough, and my parents were getting impatient. So I googled around till I found a few other schools. In which the only one really spoke to me, it was a master’s degree though, so I’d have to take a bachelors degree in a broader topic before I could apply for that one. I applied for three schools that summer. I failed two of them for graphics design ( both partially deliberately as I was betting all of my horses on the school and the degree that appealed to me). I was rather depressed at this point, feeling like I might not really go anywhere within the art world in any way I wanted to. But come midsummer I was invited to the final test and interview - which, much to my surprise I aced all the way through.

Now I’m only some months from graduating with my first degree from this school and heading straight for my masters - with plans of taking another bachelors degree in Cinematography and Animation when my finances will allow it. It’s been a long and gnarly road, where I expected my path to be straight forward.

https://pixabay.com/da/photos/search/sketchbook/

The point I want to make with this little tangent (aside from hearing myself talk), is that sometimes our path is not straight-forward. Far from it. It can be full of twists and turns, you give up dreams to get new ones. I’ve found that even if my current course doesn’t teach me how to draw pretty things, it has taught me other skills and introduced me to a new dream that’s even closer in tune with my ambitions than what they were before. All because I googled around a bit. Stay open to new ideas cause its unlikely that everything is going to go exactly to plan. And remember to just .stay. the. course. Understand that there are times where things will seem impossible, allow yourself to grief when things don’t go right. Make sure that you’re taking care of your life ( hold down a job if you can, keep yourself fed ) - but never stop trying for better. It’s going to take a long time so strap in.

Network! network! network!

While there is already a heap of things that you want to keep track of, there is one more thing. Network. Even if you’re only now applying for art schools, it is worth it to start building your network. Right now, this network will serve as a base of improvement and common interest. Find art friends, maybe even art-students at established schools that can guide you in how to properly apply. They’ll keep you motivated and make practising extensively a little more bearable. On top of that, knowing someone who knows someone can expose you to new opportunities ( new schools, courses, projects) that can broaden your horizon. Learn from your network, sponge up all the knowledge they have. You should also use this network as your source of criticism.

Later you’ll build more on your network, once you graduate and look for a job or even when looking for internships, stakeholders of all kinds are valuable for your network. A stakeholder is a person within a company that can hold valuable opportunities for you ( an HR representative, an artist from a studio, etc ). Start collecting these bad boys like trading cards, they’re going to be important sometime.

Look for courses (if you can afford it)

If you have the means to get any formal training in your craft, absolutely go for it. You can teach yourself a lot of things, but there’s only so much you can do from your own internet browser and art books. With that said, go for courses that has established, skilled artists. No hate on the nice little weekend courses hosted by the librarian down the street, but you’re on a timer and drip-feeding your funds away on courses with no educational value is for a later date. Look up the artists who host the events and determine for yourself whether or not this looks like someone who has something important to say. If you’re like me, and you are really really bad in classroom situations - find courses that suits your kind of learning the best. No matter what you -are- going to it through some theory though, so prepare to stock up on coffee and attune your ears to the teacher’s voice.

https://www.smk.dk/en/event/tegneworkshop-kroppen-i-kunsten/

Self help

There’s a great chance that you won’t be able to simply make do with whatever courses is in your area. You are going to want to take on a bit of learning yourself. You need to be pretty vigilant about this, so find a strategy that works for you ( ex. I’m going to spend the next two months studying anatomy ). I personally don’t have a sponge-brain. For me to retain information I need a lot of time and repetition. I need to write it down a number of times and try it out with my own hands for an extended period, so I need to plan around that. Your way of learning might be quicker, or slower depending on you as a person - so don’t follow other’s suggested plans to a tee, only you know how you learn most effectively. Be honest to yourself about this too, nothing sucks more than rushing through topics and then ending up on the other side of a year feeling like you’ve just wasted your time.

Books

There’s a couple of books I recommend, you can take a look at them and decide if they apply to your needs.

Barrington Barber “The complete book of drawing”https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Book-Drawing-Essential-Skills/dp/1848375360

Andras Szunyoghy “Anatomy drawing school: Animals”https://www.amazon.com/Anatomy-Drawing-School-Szunyoghy-2015-04-28/dp/B019TMJOB0Daniel Carter and Michael Courtney “Anatomy for the Artist”https://www.amazon.com/Anatomy-Artist-Daniel-Courtney-Michael/dp/0752586661

Scott McCloud’s series “Understanding comics”, “Making comics”, “Reinventing comics”

https://www.amazon.com/Scott-McCloud-Understanding-Invisible-Paperback/dp/B01FOCIZ50/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=understanding+comics&qid=1578672779&s=books&sr=1-2

https://www.amazon.com/Making-Comics-Storytelling-Secrets-Graphic/dp/0060780940/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=understanding+comics&qid=1578672779&s=books&sr=1-3

https://www.amazon.com/Reinventing-Comics-Evolution-Art-Form/dp/0060953500/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=understanding+comics&qid=1578672779&s=books&sr=1-4

Will Eisner “Comics and sequencial art” and “Graphic storytelling and Visual narrative “https://www.amazon.com/Comics-Sequential-Art-Principles-Instructional/dp/0393331261/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=comics+and+sequential+art&qid=1578672912&s=books&sr=1-1

David Chelsea “Perspective! For comic artists”https://www.amazon.com/Perspective-Comic-Book-Artists-Professional/dp/0823005674/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=perspective+for+comic+book+artists&qid=1578673084&s=books&sr=1-1

Richard Williams “The Animator’s Survival Kit” https://www.amazon.com/Animators-Survival-Kit-Principles-Classical/dp/086547897X/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=the+animators+survival+kit&qid=1578673164&s=books&sr=1-1

VideosThere are also a couple videos, video-series as well. these are great to have running in the background while you practice, or as fully-fledged classes for you to get immersed in.

AlanBeckerTutorials “12 Principles of Animation”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDqjIdI4bF4

FZDSchool, particularly their Design cinema serieshttps://www.youtube.com/user/FZDSCHOOL/videos

Sycrahttps://www.youtube.com/user/Sycra/videosProkohttps://www.youtube.com/user/ProkoTV