This is a post for the artists, and the people who want to understand them a little better.

Of all the artists professions it’s pretty clear that the Games and Animation Industry has the fastest moving tool and knowledge set. Every 5 years there’s a paradigm shift where the majority of old skills and techniques get heavily changed. This means that anyone who wishes to work (or continue to work) in this industry needs to be furiously researching new tools and techniques while they work diligently on what pays for the food and rent this month.

Note that this isn’t a pity post; oh no! Anyone who has chosen the game industry has done so fully knowing this. It’s  a passion–something you don’t see too often these days. This passion is more often pawned for higher paying vocations. Of course, no judgement on anyone who has done so. In fact, I’m a little jealous you were able to.

From what I’ve observed in the Games and Animation industry, the most surefire way to stay current and have a sharpened skill set, is to simply commit your entire life to it. I’ve worked with some absolutely fantastic artists. They work 12 hour days, at least 5 days a week (with a smile) and they go home to work on their projects for another 4 most nights (though I do believe Friday nights are reserved for Street Fighter). They are amazing. Loyal to a fault. Hands as skilled as a storybook god.

Perhaps this is some kind of mental condition, but I wholeheartedly believe that working on their drawings, animations, models, etc gives them the same enjoyment that most of us get from going out to a movie, playing our favorite video game with friends, or playing sports in a team. If I ever find out the formula to adapting one’s self into this mindset, I’ll happily share it (or sell it?).

The objectivist side of me feels that I should be getting these people coffee, or brushing their eraser dustings off the page for them, hoping that I will earn enough consideration in their servitude that they will share their secrets with me. Of course, that won’t help. If gawking over other people’s artwork and asking “how did you do that” all day long made you more successful, DeviantArt would be full of employed artists (Sorry DeviantArt, I know that was a low blow).

It’s all just practice, really. Skill speeds up learning and determines someone’s ceiling, but really, you can grab anyone off the street and teach them how to have a contributing role at a Game or Animation studio. I hear stories about Animation Studios in India doing it all the time.

So then, what’s the value of someone who spent years in College studying this stuff, if they aren’t going to spend 16 hours a day practicing it? We need to be careful not to fall into the trap where we find a comfortable job, and grow obsolete working at it. It seems the only options are…

• Spend your unpaid time learning and practicing
• Take a annual/bi-annual Sabbatical
• Settle in somewhere that seems stable and cross your fingers
• Work in another industry

Frankly, I’m a huge fan of #2. Unfortunately, most employers aren’t. If you can convince them and if you can support yourself financially during that period, I say do it.

#1 keeps coming up as  the simple answer. “Just work on your own stuff in the evenings, dummy!” Anyone who’s tried this and failed knows why this is a very tall order. Why? Because we’re all lazy.

Like a lot of excellent artists, I’m lazy. Yeah! Totally. I don’t want to spend more time doing anything than is required. Also, I don’t want to take any shortcuts on that something that will require me to pick it up later and work on it again. Laziness forces me to be efficient. The laziness that we frown upon is simply laziness without foresight (Greed is the same way, btw. We actually all big fans of greed, we just like greed with foresight into the consequences of our actions). So when I get home, and I’m tired, I’m inclined to do something that’s relaxing, or something else that needs to be done like household chores, or maybe even something romantic. The last thing I can get excited about doing is more of what I just did all day long (even if it’s different subject matter).

I know there’s a lot of like minded people out there, and you may be tired of me just blathering about everything that already occurs in your head. Okay, I’m done! One of the purposes of this blog is therapy, so there you go, I feel better having just thrown my thoughts into the internet.

I urge you to comment if you have any feelings about this from any perspective. Perhaps a part 2 of this will spawn, and perhaps it will have some conclusions in it.