"A career in the arts?" Ben asked, "You mean have a career as an artist?"
"It is possible, and if you do it as a hobby, it is an option that is enjoyable," Mrs. Johnson said politely, and she continued before Ben brought up the obvious counter, "and it isn't as though an artistic career means you'll be like Van Gogh... going through years with marginal success, if any, and not making money off of his work until after his death. I won't lie and say that people will suddenly flock to new artists or will pay to have your drawings in their homes or in a museum, because that will all be up to personal opinions."
Ben stood there as Mrs. Johnson backed up from the desk she was at and began shuffling through something in a drawer underneath the desk. She eventually brought up a series of pamphlets that covered general information on options open to art majors. Ben noticed some of the various icons for comic book companies, some were book publishing companies, and even a few other business contracts as well.
"Your work is good, which could help you if you put together a good portfolio, you could put together options to apply for work with some of the various comic book companies," Mrs. Johnson commented, "it my require some change in your style, but to a great extent that wouldn't be too much of a change... though, you'd have to talk with the company or the writers on how they would want their instructions interpreted. I'd think you'd have relatively free reign to interpret how the characters look."
Ben watched as Mrs. Johnson opened up the pamphlet and pointed to some of the images that showed Spider-Man, Batman, and Witchblade in rather dramatic poses.
"There is also the option for work in animation," Mrs. Johnson continued, "and while a lot of that now is also increasingly computer animated... artistic design is still big and in some cases... hand drawn artwork does still work."
Mrs. Johnson then moved her finger to another section of the pamphlet and pointed to the logos for Disney and a few other animation companies and even for cartoon network. She then moved to point the photographs of several children's books that were open, but focused more on the artwork in the books.
"You can also work with various book publishers and authors with regard to children's stories and so on," Mrs. Johnson continued, "as these books commonly need illustrations to help highlight the book's story or lesson. Now, much like working with the comic industry, you may get some free reign with regard to the artwork... but with book illustrations... that could differ, particularly if they have more detailed descriptions of what characters look like and what the background looks like. Some authors and publishers might even want to have some control over some very specific details. That'll be something you'll need to pay attention to... but it would work well, and would be less drawings per page than comics or less work per "book" than you would with animation and might even give you some share of the earnings from the sale of the book."
"Interesting," Ben commented.
Mrs. Johnson nodded, "and the last option would be to offer artistic services for promotions, advertisements, designs and logos. Companies will want designs for their logos and for advertising. This would be more commission based... but it would also be something that you could use with regard to artwork."
She then folded up the pamphlet and handed it to Ben. He took it politely and nodded in response.
"And of course... you could draw what inspires you for your own interest and for sale," Mrs. Johnson finished, "and from what you've shown me here... you certainly have the skill to succeed."
"You think so?" Ben asked.
"To make these pictures as lifelike as they are from nothing but memory?" Mrs. Johnson asked as she gestured to Ben's cellphone with the picture of the semi-completed picture of Kenya still showing, "that's a great deal of skill... and maybe something you inherited from your mother."
That actually sparked more of Ben's curiosity than some of the information on a future career. Samantha and Frances had been there for him as long as he could remember, and he loved both werecats as dearly as any son would... or at least should love... his parents. But that didn't necessarily mean he didn't want to live in ignorance of who his biological parents were. Often times people didn't say anything at his name, because Ben Twist wouldn't necessarily alert anyone to who his birth parents were. They'd know he was adopted, because he was a werewolf and both of his mothers were werecats who, to most people's knowledge in Moon Lake had never accepted a male "visitor" to have children, but unless they knew his biological family, they might not necessarily know exactly who Ben Twist was. Mrs. Johnson, however, seemed to either know his biological parents or at least know of them. That raised curiosity on his part.
"You knew my parents?" Ben asked after a moment... "Your ideas are pretty good... may be worth looking into... but you made mention on my parents and what they did..."
Mrs. Johnson gave a soft and understanding smile, "and that brought about something to wonder about? I understand."
Ben watched as Mrs. Johnson nodded and placed her hands down on the desk and folded together. After a few moments she did continue with her answer.
"Well... honestly I can't say I knew them personally," Mrs. Johnson spoke, "Saw them in the hallway in High School and when I was in college here... that sort of thing. But we were never real close friends."
Ben looked down for a moment and gave a sigh. There were times where he wished he could know more about his birth parents. His moms had told him their names and that they had been friends with Samantha and Frances, but there was still the issue of wanting to know more at times, especially when all he knew of them was limited warm feelings that they were good to him. It was a curiosity that at times needed to be satisfied. He felt Kenya put her hands on his shoulders as if to comfort him as he looked down, and Mrs. Johnson did catch on to it.
"I'm sorry I couldn't be of any more help," Mrs. Johnson spoke, "but for what its worth... they were good people, and I'm sure they'd be proud of how you turned out."
"Thank you," Ben answered simply.