Aspirations...

From Illustration Art (David Apatoff):

Vincent Van Gogh: Before he became a painter, Van Gogh aspired to be a magazine illustrator. He praised the quality of illustrations in magazines such as Graphic, Illustrated London News, L'Illustration, and Harper's Weekly, and clipped out their drawings, which he pasted in portfolios for further study. UCLA art professor Albert Boime quotes Van Gogh's correspondence on this topic: "[Van Gogh] declared: 'I would like to go to London with portfolio and visit the editors and managers of the illustrated journals-also get information about the different processes-a double-page spread allows for broader style.' That he fully intended to specialize in magazine illustration is seen in his hopeful observation that magazine editors would welcome 'somebody who considers making illustrations his specialty.'"

..and this was my dream in college at Parsons. To be an editorial illustrator, in the tradition of Pyle, Lyendecker, Rockwell, Tepper, Holland, Kelley, and Silverman. Ah. 

Turned out okay (from an historical point) for Van Gogh... right?