The best piece of advice for someone starting out is really simple, yet only whispered in private conversations and dark bars: Don’t get married or start a family until you achieve some semblance of stability.

-James Jean

....seems appropriate considering the post I made about Rockwell resulted in an interesting conversation.
-fv

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'll one up James on this one:
"don't get married or start a family ... ever."

“Marriage is the unsuccessful attempt to make something lasting out of an accident.”

“Marriage is like putting your hand into a bag of snakes in the hope of pulling out an eel.”

Vishaka said...

Although I've never been married, I agree with this in theory. I don't want to dig in until I have a steady career and income. I've always imagined that the stress of trying to build success for yourself combined with the restrictions of marriage would be disastrous.

However, unlike the commenter before me, I think the support a marriage could offer would be great once, you know,... you have your shit established. :P

Kendra Melton said...

this was one of my favorite lines to that interview.

Anonymous said...

"Marriage is a great institution for those who don't mind living in an institution."

Love and marriage are only to be avoided by those with the highest aspirations. If all you want to do is be a successful commercial artist then marriage shouldn't cause much of a problem and could even help.

- Anonymous from the other marriage thread

Jonathan Woodward said...

Whoooa guys - why such a downer on marriage. I can see where you are coming from, but I'd like to offer a perspective from a married guy (with a baby on the way!)...

Everyone is different, marriage doesn't have to be about restrictions and lack of focus on your art, it can also be a valuable support system of encouragement, love and even a whip cracking other half to keep you focused on your art - it doesn't have to only be distraction or lead to a dilution of your creative self.

James Jean has been married for a while now. Yes, he already had the skills and put the time in to his craft before he was married, but has now moved away from commercial art into only personal work - he did this while being married and it hasn't harmed the prolific output of his work or the quality - he is better than ever.

Also look at amazing artists like Jon Foster - he attributes his success to the love and support of his wife (whom he met and started dating in art school).

Like I said though, everyone is different, but I just wanted to weigh in with another perspective.

Great blog Francis - you're work is inspirational (love your colour palette) and it's always interesting to follow dialogues like this on your blog too.

Cheers,
Jonathan
twitter: @jonwoodward

Unknown said...

cool image,
love the light!
the man-skecth is great..
thanks for sharing
G

B said...

I want to marry another artist.
We both can be poor and happy. ; )

mackenzie said...

I have to say that I shared those same views when I was first getting started in the industry, but now that I'm married and have a kid my perspective on it has changed a bit.
While I think having a wife and kid make it more difficult to be selfish with your time, I have also found that my family makes make me much more efficient. I still have time to work on art, but I don't have as much time to waste on video games, television and sleep.

Caleb Prochnow said...

I have to disagree with James on this one. I married my wife while a student at Ringling. She has been an encouragement to my career. If I had never married her..... I wouldn't be a professor at Ringling. I wouldn't have been able to support a family (or myself) with my freelance work. I wouldn't own a home. I wouldn't have a child (with another on the way).

Life is much more enjoyable when you have someone to share it with.

francisvallejo said...

Anonymous 1: I can sort of see where you may be coming from. Marriage is definitely a large, scary commitment, but I don't think its all bad. Your view seems overly negative, and you are definitely entitled to your own opinion, but hopefully your opinion will change.

Vishaka: Yup, you gotta have yourself established before you can make such a large commitment.

jonathan: thanks for the post!

B: haha

Bob: That's a great counterargument! I suppose that you would really have to have an understanding with the girl, and she understands that there is a time to create art, and a time to relax. I hope one day to find myself in your situation!

Caleb: Hey man! Nice words, I can't really argue with that.

I still have to lean towards agreeing with James on this though. I've personally seen my buddies have their work drastically altered by girls. It must come from your own discretion on the girl you pick, then. But I see it as being like: say you are with a girl and you want to study abroad. You may alter that decision for her even though that overseas gig may greatly benefit your career. I know you can't plan love (man who would of thought I'd ever be typing about that on my blog...haha), but you can take your time and not rush into it. This would seem to allow you to put all your energies to your career.

Unknown said...

hey Francis, could you tell me where was this interview posted?