I'm someone who is a combination of both; I'm in a school but I'm not completely sure if this is what I really want to do for a bunch of different reasons.

You thought you were really good at drawing and decided that you'd take an animation course but now you're not so sure any more.

This could be due to any one or a combination of the following reasons:

1) You're good at drawing but not as good as most of the other people in the class.

2) You're good at drawing, maybe one of the best in the class but you weren't really prepared for the huge amount of drawing involved.

3) You're good at drawing but you like one area more than the others. Perhaps your perspective drawing is amazing and you can draw layouts and environments really well but you're not very good at character design or your animation isn't working very well, or maybe you can design characters but you just can't get them to move properly.

4) Your drawing ability is really good but you'd rather be doing comic books.

5) Your drawing ability is really good but your time management sucks and you can't complete any of your assignments on time and now you're in a position of possibly failing the program.

6) Your drawing ability is good but your money has run out and you have to drop out or get a job so you can pay for another year of school.

7) You thought it would be neat to be in animation and get all the girls but only geeks and freaks are in animation and no girl will go out with you because you really are a geek or a freak... or most likely, both.

I've compiled this short list based on some things that I've observed over the many years of teaching at Sheridan, Seneca, and Humber College. If you look through this list and find that you fit one or two of them, then you have some decisions to make.

Let's look at some options:

1) You're good at drawing but not as good as most of the other people in the class.
You might have to look at a couple of possibilities here;

1) you continue to sit at the level you're at in relation to your peers and at the end of the program sit and watch as they all get jobs but you don't.

2) you decide that you need to do something in order to improve your skills and you set out a plan to do so. You probably need a good kick in the butt.

2) You're good at drawing, maybe one of the best in the class but you weren't really prepared for the huge amount of drawing involved.
Yup, animation does require an awful lot of drawings. Get used to it.

3) You're good at drawing but you like one area more than the others. Perhaps your perspective drawing is amazing and you can draw layouts and environments really well but you're not very good at character design or your animation isn't working very well, or maybe you can design characters but you just can't get them to move properly.
You're probably like the vast majority of students out there who want to specialize in one area. Some people are really good at 3D modelling but can't rig a character to save their life. That's o.k. When you get into a studio, you're going to be a specialist anyway. Yes it's good to be well rounded and have abilities to do a few different things but if you're a character designer in a studio, you're not going to be called on to do layouts at the same time (unless it's a smaller studio and a layout artist suddenly dies before a big deadline).

As you move through your carreer, you'll get a chance to try out many different areas depending on what's available. My first job was as an animator. When that job was done the next job available was character designing. I wasn't going to say, "Nope, I can't do that because I'm an animator." I needed the job and so I became a character designer.

4) Your drawing ability is really good but you'd rather be doing comic books.
Much of the training you get in the first and second year of an animation program will help you with your general drawing abilities. Courses like Character Design, Storyboarding and Layout can only help with your design sense as it relates to comic books and animation is a great way to learn how to pose your characters... life drawing too.

I suggest you get what you need and then drop out and get a job with a comic studio (good luck there).

5) Your drawing ability is really good but your time management sucks and you can't complete any of your assignments on time and now you're in a position of possibly failing the program.
Hah, here's something I've never seen happen before.

You need to be slapped around a bit. If you can't manage your time in a college program, what makes you think you'll be able to do it any better in a studio?

If you respond by saying, "Yeah, but in a studio, I'll be getting paid to do my work." you'll be using the oldest line. Don't you get it? In school you're Paying To Be There. Doesn't it make sense that you should be trying even harder??! Duh.

6) Your drawing ability is good but your money has run out and you have to drop out or get a job so you can pay for another year of school.
Well, I guess you'll have to drop out and get a job so you can pay your tuition,,, and then go back to reason #5.

7) You thought it would be neat to be in animation and get all the girls but only geeks and freaks are in animation and no girl will go out with you because you really are a geek or a freak... or most likely, both.
Yes. It's true. You most likely are a geek, a freak or both. This is how it goes if you're a girl in animation:

7a) You thought it would be neat to be in animation and get to date all the hunky guys but only geeks and freaks are in animation and no girl wants to go out with a geek or a freak... unless you too are a geek or freak...ew.


Now I realize that some of these responses seem humerous and they are meant to be, but they're also mostly true. If you really are in any one or more of these situations, you really do need to stop and think about what it is that you're going to do with your life. Talk it over with your parents, the program coordinator, your instructor or the school guidance councellor to come up with some viable solutions.

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