500 words "Why I want to be an illustrator"

Ever since I was little I loved to draw. When I was about 5-6 years old I won my first art competition, then over the following years I got awards for how creative I was. At my first school I won an award for the best artist as well as at the end of middle school. I never really realised how good I was at art I just enjoyed producing drawings that I never really thought about it. During middle school I really enjoyed drawing and creating my own fantasies through drawings, I would sit and draw things like dragons and other mystical creatures which led me off into my own world.

Because I kept getting recognised for my work and I enjoyed it so much I thought that art was my best choice of subject to pursue. I took art & design for G.C.S.E and had fun learning new techniques and about artists I'd never heard of before. Over the years we visited galleries and studios of artists which made me realise that it was exactly what I wanted to do. I started to doubt myself when I got into sixth form, art &design started to become more demanding and more stressful and i started really doubting it was what I actually wanted to do and there was always that one person that was better than you which made you want to give up, but i carried on and tried my hardest to complete the course. After this I wasn't 100% sure it was what I wanted to do anymore but couldn't think of anything else I was good at, at the time. So i decided to pursue it further and go and do a foundation degree that would help me look at a wider range of areas for art & design and it would help me decide if it was what I really wanted to do. I didn't want to go to university with this doubt in my mind.

Over the last couple of years my skills have developed greatly and I have learnt things I'd never tried before such as print making and photoshop. I have loved learning these new skills and if it hadn't of been for last year I wouldn't be doing a BA level illustration course and I still wouldn't know what I wanted to aim towards. At the beginning of last year I thought I originally wanted to look more into doing Graphics based work. But my course last year helped me to figure out what I was best at and what I enjoyed doing the most. Besides a few aspects everything lead me towards illustration, ever since then I have loved drawing even more and I can't wait to see where it takes me in the future. I have started to love art again and I'm happy I made the decision to come to Plymouth College of Art to pursue art in illustration. I know that I can do this course and I can do it well, I just need to push myself and I will get there.