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by Natalie Peeterse
npeeterse@armystudyguide.com
Army Study Guide Columnist

Soldiers with experience as Multimedia Illustrators (25M) have many options once they separate from the Army. If you are interested in the arts, you could follow your passion and become an artist once you leave the service. Many people will never have the luxury of a free arts degree, but you do. Using your Montgomery GI Bill, you can take the time and space to invest in creativity. Some of my favorite modern American painters did stints in the military. T.C. Cannon, a Kiowa artist from Lawton, Oklahoma, served in the Army and toured in Vietnam before attending classes at the Institute of American Indian Arts of Santa Fe. Your experience as a soldier can influence your creative work, too.
Earn Your Fine Arts Degree
Many schools offer outstanding programs in painting and drawing. With your experience as a 25M, you should be familiar with many of the tools used to illustrate both manually and digitally. Most arts degrees offer foundation level courses as well as specialized upper division courses in visual arts. Students can also take courses in anatomic studies, interpretive figurative works, and abstraction.

Tuition Assistance, Promotion Points and More...
All of this might sound like a far cry from what you do every day in the Army, but if you have the interest and the motivation, a fine arts degree is within your reach. You can take many of the prerequisites you'll need online, using your tuition benefits. You can also earn valuable promotion points. One day, you could be spending semester after semester focusing on your passion, and supported by your GI Bill.

Source
T.C. Cannon

About the Author
Natalie Peeterse lives in Washington, D.C. She is a freelance writer and teaches on-line courses to soldiers.

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