What I would tell myself right before going to art school.

My name is Jarred, as I assume most finding their way here would know. This is going to be the first in my new blog, and I wanted to touch on what I might tell myself, or maybe more so, a young art lover that has committed or maybe is considering going to art school. So just to start out, if you’re considering it, I want to assure you it was one of the choices I stand behind and really was one of the best experiences I’ve had. On the other side of it, it is a huge investment, and for me what made it worth it has never been a financial payoff. I have been a professional designer for about 5 years working in-house with huge clients and freelance with authors writing their first books, and I have taught from elementary school to high school levels briefly. Art school informed all these experiences.

So almost everyone will probably meet you with why you shouldn’t… and a lot of the points are really valid; I am not going to go into that yet. I want to start with the positives: it truly changed me as a person in some great ways. Art school is what you make of it, and you truly have to have a huge amount of love, drive, and passion for the arts and being present and making connections with the people around you. 

One thing I want to mention, and I think everyone thinking about going to art school should consider: I highly recommend doing your basic education at a local community college. It saves a lot financially and it airs out that reckless entry period when you start out at college; it helps you figure out more about yourself as a person. For lots, it will be the first time really having some true independence. This initial period should be all about learning who you are independantly,and I think community college is the perfect place for that.

Moving to my experience in art school, I was truly at one of the most vulnerable points in my life and decided to make a big change and risk for what I wanted and loved. I moved out of state and found myself alone at Savannah College of Art and Design. It started a little rough and overwhelming, but I soon met some great roommates that I think will be lifelong friends. This is one of the most important aspects of art school: searching out the friends with that true love for the arts. If you decide to go, really search out and connect with people that just so vibrantly shine and ignite your passion for the arts. The connections are more important than anything and the people around you will influence you as an artist and as a person. Be very careful about surrounding yourself with friends that will influence you in ways that make you grow and light you up.

Circling back to that time starting out… take the fundamentals seriously, but always be thinking about how you will apply them to your artistic vision; don’t get caught up and lose sight of that. I did, after some time, make some great friends, but it was a little lonely in the beginning. If you find yourself like myself, join some events on campus and maybe a club or two. You might find yourself in those core classes feeling they don’t relate to your major, but they do. They all do; it is about building your visual and narrative taste. It is about building the toolkit to communicate.

I soon found myself reaching my first classes in my major: illustration! Up to this point, I had primarily had experience with realism and things like oil painting and, honestly, a lot of copying. I think I had this idea of what illustration was or what I thought it needed to be. This is a fundamental problem going into it. I had compromised my own voice by fake expectations I had set based on what people publicly call illustration, especially on things like social media. You can see the image on the right of the characters, I think this was the first time I really had started to find my illustrative voice.

I will be focusing on my experience in the illustration major, but think there are takeaways for any field in the arts. So I now know illustration is just communicating through visual design, the important part being telling a story. The false expectations of what I thought illustration was led me to really struggle in the beginning, but these struggles really taught me a lot. Let yourself experiment, explore, and find out what you are not. The “are nots” will inform just as much as what you are. Your peers will also influence you a lot.

Once I had settled in, I would say towards the end of my freshman year, I soon found myself making many friends and meeting some just incredible artists, such as Ted Michalowski, Stephen Gardener, Mike Wimmer, Ron Spears, Megan Berkheiser, and many more. I encourage anyone reading to look them up and take in their work and follow them as mentors. They truly shaped my views on design today and made me a better person. I only wish I was at a point where I could have processed everything they had to teach me during my time in school. This brings me to another important point: Anyone attending art school should be sitting with the advice and everything shared by their mentors and teachers long after they graduate.

I learned more from sitting on the things shared with me and reflecting on what they really meant after lived experiences than I did during the time I was there. If you go, don’t just set and forget; truly reflect on what was shared with you and fully let it shape who you become. Being an artist is a way of life, not just a career; it will shape how you perceive the world around you and everything you experience. It is the best decision I ever made.

Around my senior year, I really got involved with events, activities, and clubs. I recommend you do this sooner. My favorite event I attended was called Drawsome, hosted by Ted Michalowski, where students and staff came and posed for each other and we would all draw them from life as they posed. I also learned something like this could be illustration, and I love drawing directly from life to this day. I attended every week; let things like this be more than just something you visit and forget. It was an amazing community and I met some incredible friends, people, and artists. I learned as much there as from anything else.You can see in the image below one of my live drawings that was actually done during Covid of guest musician Chet Williams, at this time we were quarantined but did not let that stop the electric energy from the live drawing events. Make the most of challenging moments.

Towards the end of my senior year, I had different professors telling me different ways illustration was supposed to be for a career. It’s important you learn from all of them, but don’t let it define your individual path. Some will be more focused on the business parts and others are trying to teach how to really live like an artist. Take in all they have to give and form connections. I wish I had treated all of my professors as just super amazing individuals I was getting to know, and I encourage you to do so: form strong bonds and connections.

So we find ourselves at the end towards graduation. I experienced some truly difficult times during this period due to family mental illness and Covid being prevalent. It was still such a shaping time for me. The most important thing you can do during this time is form strong connections in your last year. Spend time drawing together. Take in the beauty of the people around you, who they are, and tear through and really connect with them; make sure they are friends that influence the positive parts of you and your art. You can see a photo of my friend Mak posing in front of the beautiful Savannah buildings on the left side. Appreciate your friends and be mindful of them and their peace, as well as the things the people around you might be going through. I managed to ruin some amazing friendships due to the hardships I was facing . Learn how to sit with your problems and come to peace with what is happening, life is a fleeting moment that we need to make the most of and cherish. Put those feelings into your art but don’t let them take over it and who you are.

I hope this helps shape someone’s decision or path in a positive way. We mentioned the negative at the beginning—it is pretty much just the financial aspect. It is really expensive. I have found myself in jobs as a designer that eventually made a pretty good salary, but currently find myself making a modest amount. For me it is enough, but before you decide—make sure you love it and can ignite your inner spark for a full burning flame of passion in everything you do for the arts and the connections you make. Lastly, never ever give less than your full effort; give it all you have and live with no regrets doing so.