Education vs Self teaching
“Should I got to university, or take the time to teach myself game art?”
Self teaching is great – it shows a company that you had the skills to pick up something by yourself, showing initiative. You’ll be able to learn exactly what you want in a timeframe that suits you.
Having a degree is superb because as well helping to protect your future, it will show a prospective company that you were able to complete a series of tasks and deadlines set by others – and to an ability level good enough to get awarded a degree. These days however there are very few courses that teach you exactly what you need to know to get a job. The courses are becoming more relevant, but university courses have to cater for a wide range of possible career choices, so they don’t seem to offer a direct path to a job making games.
So you could do both – go to university, get a degree in SOMETHING, and teach yourself art at the same time.