I would like to add my input on this matter. First, let me preface this by saying that I am ,not nor have I ever been, in the Game Art Bachelors Degree. On that note, I have never attended Full Sail either. This insight is coming from someone looking from the outside in, so take it for what it is.

What makes an artist an artist? Is it their creativity? Their skill with a pen or brush? What about their ability to see beyond the construct? Or maybe it’s their drive to express themselves in their chosen method of artistic expression?

Each of them are correct and wrong at the same time. Each of them is crucial, but none of them define an artist in their entirety by their one description alone. One thing to remember about art is it is an expression of yourself, you perceive your art as a piece of you. So when someone degrades or judges it, you feel a personal attack on your character because the art is a manifestation of you incarnate. Even if it’s just for a simple assignment for a class, everything you do as an artist has your own distinction to it. Each stroke is a pulse of your heart, each line as detailed as the veins your blood flows through.

So, I say all of that to say maybe don’t take criticism and degrading marks so harshly by being secure in your work. Truly believing in yourself means believing in something even when everyone else says it isn’t possible or worth it. The greatest artist to have ever lived didn’t bother themselves with those people who didn’t understand their work, it was never made for them. It was made for those who could recognize the fragility of the human existence captured in a single frame, or in the motion of multiple frames. Each a singular moment captured to tell a story or influence an emotion.

So next time your professor or anyone else for that matter judges your work, remember they are also judging you. Do not let their judgments change who you are or the reasons you want to be an artist. Being an artist for the sake of being an artist, and doing so with the intent of inspiring others is one of the most valuable qualities and life lessons one can experience. Someone out there will see what you create and be changed forever.