But Savannah is a particulary pricey college, especially for those of us non-Georgia residents. I looked into it. It's way out of my league!

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I live under a bridge.

College is particularly pricey in general, especially for us with ridiculously low incomes. Savannah does offer scholarships to incoming applicants, and there are several loans, grants, and scholarships one can acquire through some research. In the end it all really depends on how much you really want to go to a particular school and how hard you're willing to work to get there.

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"The right to vote or equal civil rights may be good demands, but true emancipation begins neither at the polls nor in the courts. It begins in [the] soul." -Emma Goldman

And how much debt you're willing to take on ;)

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I live under a bridge.

Hey, good things don't come easy. ;)

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"The right to vote or equal civil rights may be good demands, but true emancipation begins neither at the polls nor in the courts. It begins in [the] soul." -Emma Goldman

Hah, I have thirty year old friends still working off their loans.

The nice thing about the comics industry is that you don't need a college degree. I asked specifically about this at Dragon Con. A degree is nice, but most people working in the biz don't have one or don't have one in an appropriate field. Having or not having one will not stop you from getting your comics published.

In the end, what draws the line between a comicker and a hobbyist is that comickers put in extra work. We work hard, whether or not we go to college. If you don't have the motivation, no amount of education will make you a good comicker. With all things in life, the spark comes from within. I would hate to see comicking become a "degree mandatory" field like graphic design.

Me? Well, I'd rather spend my time actually making comics than pulling two part-time jobs at a burger joint so I can pay to have a piece of paper that says, "Rachel can make comics." Doing is believing. If someone has the means to go to art school, by all means, they should go. But, I want to reassure readers that art school isn't a prerequisite for comicking, so don't feel bad if it doesn't work out :)

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I live under a bridge.

Oh, definitely not a prerequisite. However, there are people who would like to have the college experience but have a hard time finding schools that provide the type of training in which they're actually interested. This article was meant more for those types.

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"The right to vote or equal civil rights may be good demands, but true emancipation begins neither at the polls nor in the courts. It begins in [the] soul." -Emma Goldman

my aunt is a painter... i love her and all but i know they only reason she has lived well off for the past 20 years is because my uncle, her boyfriend, is a commercial artist and makes a disgustingly large salary.... she has only recently started making her way when she got a dealer and started teaching as a proff at a UNI.

even in the beginning, before my uncle started making oodles of money, they lived a meger life.... in fact they lived in a really scary apartment for a while beneath of psychologically ill man who believed demons were trying to come through the furnace vents, stuffed them with newspaper, and almost started a fire..... my parents always tell me about how they would be visiting and this man would start raving like a lunatic and you could hear him pretty well......

but you know what... that is living life... it isn't so much starving or not, it's just plain doing something

Hey, maybe you could interview your uncle sometime and post an article? Commercial art is often a side job of comicking.

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I live under a bridge.

I'd really love to get into my rant about how traditional colleges are an anachronistic form of education that has outlived its usefulness, but I get into that some other time.

Rachel is right about in the comic industry all that really matters is if you can do the work and do it right. The only other 3 things that seem to help more in the comic industry is if you A: Have a good working relationship with Editors and Publishers B: Have practical experience C: Have a bankable or marketable name to draw readers in.

That said there is one thing that a College could help with and that is developing skills. But I wouldn’t go full bore and spend tens of thousands of dollars for a degree. A lot of colleges and community colleges have good programs where you can just take continuing education classes on art.

But why would one need to develop one’s skills? Not to be cruel but despite how many manga you’ve read or how many good ideas you’ve had, it typically not going to add up to much unless you have some skills and experience to really make it work. And that’s where classes come in. If you don’t have an idea of how to develop your artistic skill set, a class may help you get a better idea on what you need to focus on artistically. I could go on a rant about how technology, like computers and graphic software, while being great tools have made some young artists lazy because since they use the tools they don’t understand the underline reasons on why certain techniques and effects work in art.

So basically don’t let a College try to fit you into one of their programs, why not treat it more like a buffet and take courses and classes that benefit you the most.

As a disclaimer, I have no intention of going to college. I’ve found with writing that most books and classes that talk about writing only refer to how they write because there is no right way to write (just some are more commercially successful than others). And it’s the same with art. There’s no “right” way, because art is so damn subjective.

Well, I'm going to college to study animation. I don't intend on making comics for a living. In any case, the cheapest method of becoming a comic book artist is pure hardwork, perseverence, and connections; unfortunately, not everyone has the personality type to fit that category of work (no matter how admirable people who can do it solo may be). For example, some people can pick up a manual and teach themselves how to do just about anything while others will never make heads or tails of anything without visual instruction. This article is not meant to promote one style of learning over the other. It's merely here to expose the reader to a possible option.

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"The right to vote or equal civil rights may be good demands, but true emancipation begins neither at the polls nor in the courts. It begins in [the] soul." -Emma Goldman