From impossible art history exams to paint-ruined clothes, here are some of the major ups and downs of being a Fine Arts major.
1. The look you get when you tell people your major:
2. When you get a B in a studio class that you poured your heart and soul into:
Subjective grading can be a great and horrible, horrible thing.
3. Three hour-long critiques:
Talking about art is great! Talking about it for three hours to the artist them self? Not so great.
4. When people don’t understand how hard some art history classes are:
And then beg you for help once the tests roll around…looking at you, Brad, the accounting major.
5. Having to remember 110 paintings for an art history test:
Not to mention the title, artist, and date of each piece. The mind is a powerful thing.
6. Getting oil paint on your favorite t-shirt:
7. Subsequently turning all of your clothes into “painting clothes”
Needless to say, I don't think Judith Leyster would've been able to afford to paint in this outfit.
8. People not believing you when you tell them you’re stressed out:
Finishing a piece of art is all fun and games until its the night before your final critique, you're running on Naked Juice and bagels, it's 3 AM, and you still haven't cleaned up your brushes.
9. Art competition is a real and dramatic thing:
So there's no real competition, and there's no prize... but when another student draws that vase slightly better than you, you're for sure going to be a little annoyed.
10. Being extremely proud and nervous at the same time when your pieces make it into a show:
11. Knowing it will be hard to find a job in your field.
And you might not end up in it at all. Which is OK.
12. And there won't be a lot of money involved for a while:
Unfortunately, you won't be living it up like King Louis XIV for a while.
13. But also knowing that if you do make it, you'll be in a career that you love and are passionate about:
In the long run? Priceless.
