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Well, I officially withdrew from the Art Institute Online, and the finality of it all left me feeling a little taken advantage of by higher education. It's taken me a couple days worth of perspective to look back on what I learned, and find the value in it.

After almost a year at the Art Institute, I was starting to doubt that I could make an animator out of myself. I was taking Character and Object Animation, and the teacher left unexpectedly two weeks into class, and was replaced by a substitute who never introduced himself. The first time I "met" him was when he graded my first ever caricatures, a couple sketches I did of Johnny Depp. They aren't really caricatures at all, because I only managed to get his features instead of exaggerating them. I'd like to think they capture his essence fairly well for a beginner though, and I was proud of my work. The grade I got was 100%, but in the comments, I read, "Caricature is a complex and involved art form, and those who have done them professionally for years are still evolving and perfecting their technique. These drawings only slightly resemble Johnny."

Devasted by the harsh words, the obviousness of the statement about caricatures being difficult, and the lack of any suggestions at all, I seriously questioned myself for the first time about my choice of ambition. I figured I was too soft to handle the world of animation if this is what I was looking forward to as a career. I kept saying over and over in my mind, "They DO look like Johnny Depp! They just aren't exaggerated enough!" When I came to my senses, I realized a lot of valuable lessons about becoming an animator. The first is that I can't get bent out of shape if someone tells me something that I either don't agree with, or don't want to hear. The second is that my own critiques are perhaps the most valuable I can get, when I'm being honest with myself. If I had to do the assignment again now, I would have done another draft and tried to exaggerate his jaw a lot more at least, and I would have tried to laugh off what could possibly be the WORST critique.