It's been a few months since MCA and I've had a lot of time to think about how things went and how things may go from here. During my time at MCA, I didn't learn a damn thing, and there's a reason for that. It wasn't the place for me. The teachers are cool, and so is the staff. The vice president there is one of the nicest people you'll ever talk to, but for someone like me, going there was nothing more than chasing a cloud. In the end it's all just vapor.
For all intents and purpose's, I should have gone to SCAD, however, it's hefty tuition isn't something a Mississippian and just up and afford, especially if they come from a family like mine. Money-wise, MCA was the best choice, but skill wise, it was the worst. Plain and simple, I'm not into fine art to be a fine artist, and if you go to MCA, while the commercial art programs may be good, you'd damn well better be into fine art. Also, aside from that, you'd better be willing to take the same class multiple times, most likely the same time at once. I don't mean literally the same class, but in essence, the difference is slime.
Take two drawing classes with two drawing teachers, one teaches life drawing, the other teaches drawing one. Both classes are nearly the same, except one has you drawing still life, and the other has you drawing live nude people. Is there a POINT to taking both classes? Hell yeah. You're never going to learn to draw a person if you're drawing the same lamp again, just as you'll never learn to draw one hell of a good lamp while drawing the same chick over again. Either way, the two will still teach the same thing when it comes to how to use your tools.
Honestly, I'd rather save the technique learning for a lower foundations class, though, that does not mean I don't think they shouldn't be implemented. The real problem is, MCA is also more contemporary. Where as Picasso mastered things like anatomy and environment first, he then moved on to the work of art you know him for today. Since MCA is contemporary, you're likely to skip over the boring things such as skeletal structure or muscle structure. Or you may not, that depends on the teacher.
Like I said, MCA is a great place to learn to be a fine artist, and this is especially true if you want to keep up with today's competition in the fine art world. However, if you want to be a neoclassical artist, you're best learning from somewhere else. MCA isn't about how real or perfect you can draw or paint, but how really or perfectly you can express yourself. How was that for me? It was VERY disorienting. I come from Southern Mississippi, all my life I've lived with down to earth, hard working, people. Honest and dishonest alike. If I see a squiggly line passing through a straight line, I'm going to think it's a squirmy line passing through a straight line. My first thought is NOT going to be how the squiggle represents me and how the straight line represents society and conformity.
Not saying that such symbolism isn't without it's merit. If you know the BS to look for, it's quite fun TRYING to guess the artist's motive, even if it isn't BS to them. It has it's value and I'm not going to say that's a bad thing, but it wasn't for me. To me, being someone who likes drawing comics and doing things more traditional with it comes to my other art, I felt like I had to regress from 12th grade to kindergarden so to speak. On top of that, I also felt like I had to pretend I was on some serious drugs in order to move in the direction that the teachers wanted. I mean, some SERIOUS drugs. (For some poeple, that was easier than others, as there were some people there who WERE on drugs.)
So, I was mostly disoriented, very off-put by it, and ultimately drained from disappointment. Disappointment in myself and at the school. It wasn't what I was expecting, and as such, I couldn't mentally get into it. I would get so disinterested that I'd just stop caring. The philosophies were very different between me and the school. If the school had it their way, you'd wake up, go to class, work, get out of class at the end of the day, continue working, eat one meal if you're lucky, then get your two hours of sleep for the next class. The only real way to have social time is to work with other people.
As I said, I come from a poor family. I NEEDED a job during this time BADLY. This lead to another point in my disinterest. My family was pretty bad off financially, and my dad was still suffering from tobacco withdrawal, causing him to have intense bouts of rage. Me having to spend 1000 a month on paper and food was too much strain to put on my family. Regardless of that, I had little choice. The paper requirements were plenty, and man cannot live off ramen alone. I learned this in highschool. This further lead me into depression and further disinterest.
When I left, I didn't want to return. I made some good friends while I was there.
and
are two examples, and to be honest, they helped keep me sane the whole time I was there. They, and a small handful of the others, were the only people I could talk to while I was there and feel like I could be myself without worry. The only thing I really felt sad for, when I left MCA, was that I had to leave those friends behind. They were the only people that felt real to me there.
Even though I was away, everything that went on during that time hit me pretty hard. I wasn't really depressed anymore, but I was still disoriented. MCA has given me the worst art block of my life. I hardly want to draw anymore, which is a first for me. My inspiration was practically drained. What do you do when your motivation is gone? You talk to those important to you, and you meditate.
some of my other good friends like
and
have been a big help for me, in their own ways. Yes Nux, for as much as I've been recluse, you've had your way of helping, you pain in the ass.
Outside of art, I've also noticed that, well, I don't need college. The idea of college is to put yourself in a position to make better money than the person that didn't go. When you don't care about being richer than your neighbor, what's the point in having more money? As long as I can pay for what I need and still be able to do something I want from time to time, I don't really care. I didn't come from a family that had the money to blow on flying a plane to Disney Land, while renting a hotel, and staying for a week. I came from a family that, when we wanted to go somewhere, we saved our money, set ourselves out on a road trip, and drove for a day to get somewhere. Even though I'm not all about spending time with my family like my family wishes, I grew up on the values of being able to enjoy yourself as a family.
We never needed money or vacations, or brand new cars to prove anything. We have a nice home, a comfortable life, and everything we need, and from what? Nothing. My mother and father don't even have a GED. My parents can't even do an equation like getting a by itself with something like a-b=c. My dad is about to do something he's wanted to do all his life, be his own boss. He's about to RUN the place he's worked at for so many years doing the thing he will reluctantly admit that he loves (by reluctant, I mean he'll never admit it), doing a hard day's work. If a man can get that far in life with not even a GED, I have hope I can make my life work for me with an Associates Degree.
Simply put, I don't mean to put down the whole college thing, but it wasn't for me. I just want to draw comic books and have a family. You don't need to be rich to have a family, you just need to be smart about how you do it. Simply put, I'm tired of this block, and I'm tired of feeling like I screwed up. I've only been giving what feels like 10 percent this year. I'm quite ready to start giving 110 now. Sorry for this long journal. I'll try not to blast you with one of these until I do one or both of two things, marry the woman of my dreams, and become a pro comic artist
Thanks for listening.
Life Since MCA 
Excited
Joy
Gloomy
Unhappy
Sentimental
Probably retarded. Yup. 
