Photo: Los Angeles Times (CC BY 4.0)
Job description
Independence defines the role: most fine artists develop their craft and body of work solo in a studio, across mediums like painting, sculpture, or illustration, then market that work through galleries, websites, or direct client relationships. Many take on commissions for individual clients, publishers, or art directors, which means balancing personal creative vision with someone else's specific requirements and deadlines. Because the field has few traditional employers, most artists build a self-directed career and often supplement income with teaching or a second job.
Pros
- Standard, predictable full-time hours (30-40/week) compared to many creative fields
- Only vocational training, apprenticeship, or an associate's degree is required, not a four-year degree
- High creative autonomy, developing personal style and choosing projects independently
Cons
- Employment in this field is projected to shrink over the next decade (-1.2%)
- Only about 2,200 positions nationwide, so traditional employment opportunities are scarce
- Income is highly variable and dependent on marketing and selling one's own work
A typical day
The studio warms up with coffee and yesterday's canvas on the easel, examined in morning light for what still is not working — the artist scrapes back a passage and rebuilds it before noon. Midday shifts to the business half nobody romanticizes: photographing finished work, emailing a gallery about the spring show, packing a sold piece for shipping. The afternoon is the deep-work block, three unbroken hours of painting while the light holds. Evening might mean a commission sketch for a client's approval or prepping panels, because a working artist is always feeding two pipelines: the art and the income.
Tasks at the job
- Use materials such as pens and ink, watercolors, charcoal, oil, or computer software to create artwork.
- Integrate and develop visual elements, such as line, space, mass, color, and perspective, to produce desired effects, such as the illustration of ideas, emotions, or moods.
- Confer with clients, editors, writers, art directors, and other interested parties regarding the nature and content of artwork to be produced.
- Maintain portfolios of artistic work to demonstrate styles, interests, and abilities.
- Market artwork through brochures, mailings, or Web sites.
- Study different techniques to learn how to apply them to artistic endeavors.
Workplace & working conditions
Work happens indoors in a climate-controlled setting.
There's a regular, moderate amount of time pressure, and you're expected to exercise significant independent judgment day to day. The work is highly structured, following set procedures.
Education necessary or common
Vocational training, apprenticeship, or associate's degree
Common college majors
Related fields
Courses to take
- Studio Art (all levels, then AP Art and Design) — the portfolio is the credential
- Art History — you are entering a conversation centuries old
- Photography — documenting work well is a professional skill
- Business/Entrepreneurship — a working artist is a small business
- English — artist statements and grant applications are written
Clubs, activities & competitions
- Build a portfolio relentlessly — daily sketchbook, finished pieces monthly
- Enter the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards — the national stage for high school artists
- Art club, and volunteer to paint murals or sets
- Sell at a local art fair or online — learn the market young
First steps you can take now
- Commit to a daily sketchbook habit starting today
- Enter the Scholastic Art Awards this cycle
- Study one master artist per month by copying their work analytically
- Set up a simple portfolio site or account showing only your best ten pieces
