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Ask HN: Give direction to artist for developing technical skills as backup plan

2 points by c_prompt ↗ HN
I know an artist (primarily painting and drawing) in her late-20s who lives in a small US town (2-hours drive from any major city). Not starving but hard-pressed to live solely off her art. Didn't complete her college degree, work experience is very minimal, and doesn't have any other well-developed skills. Smartly, she wants a backup plan while still pursuing her passion. I've encouraged her to consider tech as an option because: 1) there's a push to encourage women in tech which might give her opportunities she wouldn't otherwise have; 2) there is much she can learn for free if she's self-motivated; 3) she likes the idea of "designing websites to make them look better"; 4) tech skills can be a great source of supplemental income for short durations; 5) I once convinced her to start learning HTML by taking a free course on the Web and she seemed to enjoyed it (but didn't stick with it more than a few days on her own); 5) she's good with Photoshop.

She thinks she could invest a little of her minimal savings to take courses (unclear how much). I've suggested 3 areas to research: graphic design, UI/UX, and programming. I explained that, although GD is where she'd see the most overlap with her current skills and, thus, be the easiest transition, GD has the least applicability to most tech jobs and likely would be much more useful for certain jobs in advertising/marketing (both of which she's not interested in). She really likes the idea of UI/UX but admits her organizational skills aren't good and her thinking strikes me as not hierarchical or data-driven (and sometimes even a bit scattered). She thinks she could stay motivated in a coding class because others would be pushing her, but learning on her own isn't going to happen.

Any advice? She's such a good person, enjoys learning, and wants to support herself but self-motivation, especially in the early stages until she develops self-confidence with a particular skill, would be a challenge.

2 comments

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MalcolmDiggs
> "I once convinced her to start learning HTML by taking a free course on the Web and she seemed to enjoyed it (but didn't stick with it more than a few days on her own"

That's a red flag for me. Your heart is in the right place, but at the same time: You can't force anyone to change. They have to do what's right for them. This is a hard field; it's very very hard actually. If she doesn't have enough passion to even stick with a course more than a couple days, then I doubt she'll be able to stick with it long enough to become employable.

Yes, it'd be great if this was a backup plan that fit her interests, but it doesn't seem to be that way. Life's too short to work jobs you hate, I'd recommend that she continue pursuing her passion, and continue exploring other backup options. Are there junior colleges / trade schools in her area? There are many in-demand fields, I'd recommend that she gets into a program (like at a junior college) where she can bounce around, take different types of classes, and figure out where her interests lie. Who knows, maybe she'll find out that she loves real estate, or welding, or cooking, or nutrition. She's still young, she has time to find those answers.

c_prompt
She actually tried the junior college route when she lived in a college town to finish her degree. Hated it (not to mention the financial burden).

I'm frustrated with myself because I'm out of ideas. I know I can't be her internal fire and I can't tell her what to do. But she's such a good person. If I could just help her get exposure to something she enjoyed, I know she'd run with it and have the security she needs.