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Dilemma «

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Registered: Oct 2000
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Oh, I definitely think you should stick with medicine...dentistry or otherwise. There are no ups and downs with a career like that. Have you ever been around people who have to struggle to earn a living? It's not fun nor funny. I've never heard a doctor or dentist say, "Boy, I don't know if I can make the rent this month!" But how many artists--really good ones, too!--struggle just to get by. Now I'm getting to my main point: studying medicine does not preclude your continued interest in graphics! You can do both! You obviously are very smart and can do both. But I wouldn't advise you giving up a medical degree to pursue a graphics career--certainly not at this early point in your life. Become a dentist first and then see! Well....that's what I think!

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Registered: Aug 2000
Location: Myrtle Beach, SC
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Thanks GFY. That has gone through my mind quite a few times.

Oh yeah, they thought I should include more images, so MisterG added a few more for me. Thanks.

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Behold! The Power of Cheese!
Graphic Cheeseworks.

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Registered: Oct 2000
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quote:

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Originally posted by Roshigoth:
Thanks GFY. That has gone through my mind quite a few times.

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Registered: Sep 2000
Location: The Bottom of the Toyem Pole
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Roshigoth-

I agree with GFY in that you should continue your present academic course. You always have time to quit being a dentist or whatever, but it is much hard to get back on the track if you bail now. By all means though, keep up the hobby and keep your eyes open for possibilities. That stuff you showed looks really great; I wish I could make stuff even 1/10 as cool as that.

If nothing else, the graphics hobby will keep you sane if you get stuck doing dentistry and don"t really like it. I suspect that you will enjoy it, at least enough that you don't regret becoming a DDS. If you were to switch tracks though and struggle as an artist, you may, er.. correction, you WILL always wonder how much better life had been had you stayed in school.

As for the academic writing, I have been through grad school in Anthropology and have my writing institutionalized as well. It is difficult for me to be casual and fun in my writing so I feel your pain. I just hope that if I ever make the Asylum member section, I don't bore people to death. We'll see.



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Evolution: brilliant at optimizing, stupid at strategizing

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Registered: Oct 2000
Location: Illinois
Posts: 1217

Artists are many. Talent is limited as are the jobs. Art is a tough field to make it in, but if your passionate about it, do it. If its just for the work, go with dentistry.

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Leroy Binks' Caffeinated Drinks

Internet Coffeeshop Talk at its most Peculiar

Coming Soon: Faces of the Apocolypse

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Registered: Aug 2000
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roshigoth,

as always, do what you feel is best. the field of multimedia design can always be a backup career for you if you ever decide that being a doctor of sorts isn't the thing for you. Hell, you can always make some extra money off of it if you wish anyways.



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-brimstone
"sometimes things just get a little bit out of hand"
http://darkhosts.com/brimstone

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Registered: Aug 2000
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Thanks for the input everyone. Guess I'll be sticking with the dental thing, though I think that's always been my intent anyway. It helps to hear it from a lot of others, though.

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Behold! The Power of Cheese!
Graphic Cheeseworks.

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Registered: Oct 2000
Location: Dumbfucksville!
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quote:

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Originally posted by Roshigoth:
Thanks for the input everyone. Guess I'll be sticking with the dental thing, though I think that's always been my intent anyway. It helps to hear it from a lot of others, though.

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Registered: Aug 2000
Location: Cnafilornia
Posts: 405

And now, time for the voice of dissent...

Mr. Rosh,

Pragmatism never made a great man or a memorable life. Sadly, it has been the basis upon which most of us base our decisions for quite some while. Marriages, careers, whole lives from beginning to end planned out on nothing more valid then economics. Maybe that's your way. If it is, I cast no disparagement.

Your question is a valid one, I will give you the best answer that I have.

Dentist, doctor, artist...if you're choosing to "be" anything on the basis of "what pays the rent" or "who drives the cooler car," you're going to be a poor example, no matter which path you choose. If you've got a heart, follow it. If you've got something that you love, find the courage to pursue it and ultimately bring honor to it. Life will not hand you a second chance.

The reason that I initially abandoned medical school was the preponderance of passionless "rich-kids" who cared nothing for or about anyone but themselves. They thronged the halls. Hollow men like that bring shame wherever they go. Once they have attained that mantle, whatever they touch turns to shit. They go through the motions, but they do not have the heart for it. No sacrifice, no love, just economics.

If medicine is your passion; if you find yourself filled with compassion and the need to bring ease to those who suffer, do it. Take it up and do not let it go. But, do it for the money, and you've just become another one of them. There is a fine line between the parasite and the healer. Becoming wealthy off of another persons suffering is...it is anathema to everything that healing is about.


Just a tiny voice in the maelstrom,
redguard@blackvault.com

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Registered: Jul 2000
Location: Minneapolis, MN
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ive gotta say i agree with redguard 100%. You cant let what you're 'supposed' to do rule your life. A career is something youre stuck with for along time, and the key to being happy with your life is being happy with your career.

First off, you're too modest, the images you made are spectacular.

Second, you're not just an artist, your a computer graphics artist, fuck computer graphics artists probably make more than dentists, money is NOT an issue here, youre living large either way.

Do what is gonna make you happy for the next 40 years or however long till you retire.

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Registered: Jul 2000
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hahahahahahahha.

I saw the first two replies, and though I disagreed, was gonna keep my mouth shut. Redguard draws me out.

First of all.....DENTIST!? What the hell lead you down that path? I don't get it. You may be the first young person I have ever met who has WANTED to be a dentist. I don't chide you for it at all, just seems strange to me and was wondering why you are following that path? The dental one specifically.

Did you know dentistry is the profession with the highest rate of suicide. I have no idea if it is true or not, just something I heard.

In any case, go with what you want. No equation should be much more complicated than that, especially with life plans. If dentrisy really trips your trigger, go for it. But if graphics design is something you have more of a passion for, go for that.

We're not talking watercolors in a studio appartment at Haight-Ashbury here, this is graphics design. The demand for it is immense, as is the pay (from the little I know). I was named for a close friend of the family who also happened to be one of the ground breakers in the field (Bradbury Thompson). While the demand for it is indeed high, there are also scores of people doing it, many of whom you will find, and I hate to tell you this, gonna be a lot better at it than you. So what? You are good at it to, and will only improve as you get more practice, more designs, older (what are you, 19?). It's a computer related field, albeit a more artsy one, and ANY computer related field at this point in history has IMMENSE demand. So I am not sure where you are getting the "starving artist" part from. Just for shits and giggles, put up a resume with your skills on monster.com or some such place. I would be interested to see what comes up. Competition is intense in those fields, but so is demand. If you get a degree in graphics design or whatever the hell what you do falls under, I wouldn't forsee you having much difficulty getting a job.

But all of that is irrelevent. It comes down to a matter of choices. Do you choose a path out of fear, or out of passion? Far too many choose out of fear, myself included, and it very rarely leads to fulfilment. "Hedging your bets" or whatever rarely lead to self-actualization.

For every starving artist you meet, I can find you 5 wannabe starving artists, brilliantly talented painters or poets who are accountants and dentists and secretly dream about the "what ifs" of that path, but are too scared of losing their security to follow their dreams, and end up an integral part of the Rat Race.

Ok. ok. I'm rambling now. Just thought I would throw out one or two thoughts that sprang up. No idea how relevent they are to your situation, but there they are anyway.

My first post of the day. Very rarely coherent. I need a stiff drink.

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Registered: Jul 2000
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And let me re-iterate once more.



The competition is fierce.

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Registered: Aug 2000
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OOOOOOooooooooo Let me tell ya something!

And this I know!

there is a Huge market for what you are doing. Esp with games.

OH yes! you can make Moola on this one. The graphics you're doing aint my gig, but at my Skool, people majored in doing this and are doing very well for themselves.

It all depends on what you want in life, but yes, you can make a hansome living off of that!

and you're good at it too!

and I dont give out empty comments on art gawd damn it!

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when life gives you poop, make poop juce

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Registered: Aug 2000
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Well, then... why were ya'll hiding till Redguard spoke up?

Yes, the dentistry idea was pragmatism, I'm sorry to say. Why dentistry? It's the same amount of school time as a standard MD, makes about as much money, and you're not on call most of the time. Sure, you're hated and feared by many people, and there are high suicide rates among the dentists... well.. I guess I've got a nice dentist.. when i had him yank my 4 wisdom teeth, he drugged me up so well I didn't feel a thing. And I never needed the pain killers he gave me afterwards (demerol) so he's apparently a good dentist, too.

On the other hand, I'm not especially "passionate" about the graphics, either. I enjoy it, and I'm reasonably good at it (in fact, it's about the only thing I'm really any good at). So either way it's pragmatism to some extent. I've never found anything that I was passionate about. So no matter what I end up doing, it'll eventually come down to paying the bills.

As for the graphic design, I'm still looking into it. I plan on taking a few art/graphic design courses while I'm here to at least see what I think of it all. I'm also gonna try to find a graphics job/internship to work at over the summer to see if I like the work aspect of it. I sink a lot of work into this stuff, but the truth of it is that I also have quite a bit of help for many of my images. Poser takes all the skill out of making people, and there are ample models/morphs/textures/clothing available for download to customize the people to be how I want them. I do my own share of modelling as well (I did all the modelling for most of the images I used as examples), but I'm horrible with textures (which is a major component of getting things to look good.. especially for games). However, my modelling skills are still way behind a large number of other people I talk to on the 3D Commune.

Thanks for the input everyone. This is really making me think about what I want to do for the rest of my working life...

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Behold! The Power of Cheese!
Graphic Cheeseworks.

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