Our realm of study is unique in the way it is perceived, and how people react to it. But we’re not alone. Art students and artists alike: please enjoy my take on the things we would appreciate hearing less of.
“Majoring in Art is easy.”
Majoring in art isn’t easy for everyone, and this applies to every major. Is it easy to pull several all-nighters a week finishing a project? Is it easy to read long, scholarly articles about art history and writing papers about or presenting on them?
Not all colleges are like mine, a liberal arts college, but at my school, it’s required to take two art history courses. Anyone who has taken an art history course will know there is nothing simple about the study. It involves deep, penetrative thinking, numerous hours of reading, research, assignments, and writing.
“Your major must be so relaxing!”
Okay, so my passion and my talent happen to be my biggest source of joy, but it's also my study and my academic life. An art student needs more than creativity; an art student requires marketing skills and the right connections to be discovered and hired.
For an introverted artist like me, it is especially hard to reach out. I wish I could just “relax” and paint or draw for a profit. I wish I could “relax” and create, but I have the pressure to create something perfect and beautiful.
“Can you draw something for my [insert subject here] assignment?”
No.
Correction: If you’re one of my three closest friends, then yes.
Do not ask unless we’re close.
“Your major must be fun!”
For me, my major is enjoyable. Would I call it fun? Sometimes.
Just like a biology student’s eyes light up during a fascinating lab, my artistic brain will be captivated by the beauty of another’s work. I will be ecstatic creating a work I feel proud of. I will be happy being an art major, and I will be proud of it.
Sure, it’s fun to move a paintbrush against a canvas, especially when it forms a line just right. But it takes skill and years of practice to perfect one’s talents and studies.
“Oh, an art major. So you’re going to be making no money?"
One of my favorite responses to when I tell people my major. The way you react to this response is your choice. You can take what some may call the “high road,” or you can be as fiery and defensive as you want.
I’m more on the sensitive side, so my typical reaction is sadness. If you’re like me, don’t let comments like these discourage you. Artists come in a variety of skills and career paths, including interior design, branding, graphic design, gallery art, teaching at many levels, storyboard art, comic book art, cartoons, and more. And may I say many of these professions do come with an impressive paycheck. But that’s not why we’re in the art business.
If you’re an art major or simply an artist, you’re pursuing it because you can’t do anything else. It’s a part of our lives.
“Can you draw me?”
Absolutely not.
“I’m just an art major.”
This one is obviously directed at ourselves. This is something I say to myself when I see friends hashing out formulas, studying for the LSATs, or memorizing countless bodily functions.
It’s something we have to stop telling ourselves.
Our work is challenging. Our work is legitimate and substantial. Our work promotes businesses and products, brings characters in movies to life, takes a drab room to a fab room, brightens the halls of a museum or a home, and what we create has the power to simply be beautiful or encourage viewers to question their opinions.
As I assume everyone else does, I enjoy looking at art. I enjoy making art for my own pleasure and sanity. Most of all, I enjoy making art for others. Whether it’s a portrait of a loved one for a loved one, a comic for a child to color, or a detailed mandala I draw for myself, I sure wouldn’t trade my passion or study for anything else.
