Well... here I am.

A long while ago, I posted my woes of wanting to be a Concept artist on Conceptart.org, remarking that I was getting a Bachelors in Graphic Design. They pretty much said that it was a useless venture, and that I should look into illustration instead (despite the fact that I was almost done with my BA by the time I asked). I also posted some concept work there in the critique section and it got ripped up really badly... among other things, they lauded me for watermarking the design as if it was akin to cropping in paint. I wasn't aware defending your art in such a way was a minus...

Anyway, this wasn't to bash Conceptart.org (though I wonder how many CAs come across as being just as arrogant... 'nother rant), but to ponder if I have what it takes to be 'desired' as a concept artist.

The field, at least in my worldview, is very niche and very tiny. Whenever my mom talks to be about getting jobs and such, she's stuck in this perspective that as a Graphic Designer I'd be happy doing logo work, layouts, posters, that kind of thing. I don't want to be doing layouts for the rest of my life, or letterheads or posters. I'd rather be opening the valve for my imagination and finally getting paid for it, not become the "hand that draws".

I've been drawing ever since middle school, specifically drawing robots, spaceships, and machinery (take note, aspiring artists, I've been doodling in class all this time. THAT's how I got good, not any God-given skills). If possible, for a real job I'd like to be doing this with some possibility of advancement to higher levels. I don't want to take up a job doing layouts for posters and getting stuck there for three years.

The pressure is mounting though. To appease my parents I need to show some progression in finding a job... but somehow I feel stuck.

When I talked to one of my professors about the big companies here that might want a concept artist (EA, Lucasfilm, Pixar), he warned me against going there because they can be "obnoxious to get into". Apparently they're bombarded by amateurs who think they have the talent regardless of quality, so they turn away most other people and are resistant to applicants. I wonder if I'd be turned away just as quickly, even though I feel I have talent higher than that of crayon drawings...

I suppose I could trawl craigslist, but of the applications I saw there only one of them seemed relevant... an artist for a casual game company. I don't feel there's much room for advancement there... as for the other applications, almost all of them want some years of experience. So there's the irony: I need experience to find a job, but I need a job to get experience. Freelance work, then?

So really I don't know what to do. I want to find a job where I can get hired to concept machines, props, robots, starships, or any other contrivance. But if such jobs are so far above me, then what would I need in my portfolio to become attractive to such companies?

There's also my boardgames. I need them tested, but what is the potential to get them marketed? I ordered a book to help me on this subject, but it seems to be taking forever to get here (unless it was shipped to my campus? Oops...). As I'm still paranoid of my ideas being stolen by THEIVES (Re: My Relic avatar being stolen) I'm hesitant to release any original material to the public. Is this being unnecessarily paranoid, and should I just go with it anyway?

So....here I am.