My speech to the graduating art school class of 2009

This is a big week for many schools all across the country which also include many art schools. I figured, with me being a professional illustrator, that it would be nice to give my own commencement speech, to all you graduating illustrators, even though none of you have asked for it.

OK here it goes....

Thank you very much for having me here. It is a great honor for me to be here today at (SAY ART SCHOOL NAME HERE) to speak with you the graduating class of 2009.

(crowd applauds for themselves)

Right now, I'm sure most of you have nothing more than a mound of debt, your incomplete portfolios, and the shirt off your backs and even those probably have some paint somewhere on them. Fortunately, the degree you have just earned will be your ticket to opportunity and a chance to partake on the journey of making your own mark on the world. It will now be your opportunity to work among the best and the brightest who originally inspired you to take the long road towards higher artistic enlightenment in the first place! Let me be the first one to say congratulations to you all and more importantly...

Welcome to the real world!

Statistically less than 12% of you will be able to make a living out of this profession. Less than 6% will do well enough to do it full time, and less than one percent of one percent will become an artist that people have even heard of.

It's a tough world out there! If you plan on working in print be prepared! With the rapidly changing improvements in technology and the spread of information, print is quickly dying thanks to many blogs, tweets, and news websites! Magazines and newspapers everywhere are going under and filing for bankruptcy all over the country and because of that, work for the artist has been in a steady decline over the years.

Did you know Google is offering work to a few lucky select freelance artists with no payment, but rather, a promise of 'exposure"?

By the way, Google made over 1.2 billion dollars last year. How's that for respect?

The entertainment industry isn't much better! Thanks to this recession companies are downsizing and employees are forced to work much longer hours with much larger plates of work to achieve in less amounts of time. Dozens of video game companies all over the world have been either swallowed up by larger developers or forced to close due to lack of funding and many of those remaining companies who managed to stay afloat have incurred massive layoffs.

Sadly, in a recession art jobs are the first ones to go. Right now there are hundreds, maybe even thousands of artists out there who are unemployed. They have more experience than you, they have more connections, and chances are many of them didn't pay nearly as much as you did for your degree.

Did I forget to mention... No one asks to see your degree at a job interview?

Did I crush your spirit? Do you want to give up?

Did you expect to enter the real world making a six figure income?

You should have been a lawyer like your parents wanted you to.

Did you have dreams of being famous?

You should have worked harder on your jump shot.

Interestingly enough, with all that said, you shoud be happy....

There's a saying.... "Do what you love and never work a day in your life"

According to a recent poll on MSNBC, statistically, over 70% people hate what they do for a living. No one is ever born saying "I want to sell copier machines" or "I want to be an accountant" and job security these days is not a guarantee. They may have more money than you. They may drive a better car, but it's still a job, and only real benefit to their profession is waiting for the day when they can retire and reap the benefits of their pensions and 401K.

But that's not until you're 65.

I wager that for most of you, ever since the day you were born you loved art and KNEW you wanted to do it for the rest of your life.

The fact is, if you love art enough you'll make it work, and if you're like me, you'll be happy just 'creating' art.

Nearly a dozen studies show that happier people live longer. They're also less likely to suffer heart attacks,  strokes, and pain from conditions like rheumatoid arthritis. Plus, Carnegie Mellon researchers last month found that people who express positive emotions come down with fewer colds and flus after being exposed to the viruses than those who express negative emotions like anger, sadness, or stress.

Need to make ends meet by taking a part time job? There's nothing to be ashamed of. Albert Einstein was a part time patent clerk so he could have the time to work on his physics experiments and he's known as the smartest guy who ever lived.

Chances are, you won't be rich, you won't be famous, and somehow after time you'll realize that it is you who is the envy of all your friends who dabble in the 'real world'.

You may hear quotes like....

"You make picture books? Your job must be so exciting!"

"You got an illustration in Fisherman's monthly? You're Famous!"

and my personal favorite....

"I wish I could draw."

The fact is that we artists are the keepers of visual culture. We make the world a more beautiful place and it's a thankless profession. Most of your efforts will go unnoticed by name, but, if we all work together we can make a lot of the ordinary much more appealing and we'll have fun doing it.

So congratuations class of 2009! Welcome to the real world!

Now, go have some fun.

Comments

[Nina]

Thanks- I needed that!

[Katie McDee]

Hawt Dang! Wish you had spoken at my graduation. I woulda felt more nervous but insanely inspired as opposed to letting my mind wander as a history professor guy droned on about... hmm you know I can't remember? Well, glad I could hear your commencement speech today [standing applause with a whoop whoop!].

[Connie]

I wish I could draw.

[Carolina]

Great speech!