Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators
Create original artwork using any of a wide variety of media and techniques.
Also known as: 3D Artist (Three Dimensional Artist), 3D Artist (Three-Dimensional Artist), Animated Cartoons Painter, Artist, Artist in Residence (AIR), Automotive Artist, Balloon Artist, Blacksmith, ...
Annual Salary
Median annual wage (May 2024)
Job Outlook
Projected growth, 2024–2034 (Declining)
What You'd Do
- 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.
- Monitor events, trends, and other circumstances, research specific subject areas, attend art exhibitions, and read art publications to develop ideas and keep current on art world activities.
- Study different techniques to learn how to apply them to artistic endeavors.
- Market artwork through brochures, mailings, or Web sites.
- Photograph objects, places, or scenes for reference material.
- Submit preliminary or finished artwork or project plans to clients for approval, incorporating changes as necessary.
- Create finished art work as decoration, or to elucidate or substitute for spoken or written messages.
- Cut, bend, laminate, arrange, and fasten individual or mixed raw and manufactured materials and products to form works of art.
- Render drawings, illustrations, and sketches of buildings, manufactured products, or models, working from sketches, blueprints, memory, models, or reference materials.
- Create sketches, profiles, or likenesses of posed subjects or photographs, using any combination of freehand drawing, mechanical assembly kits, and computer imaging.
- Create sculptures, statues, and other three-dimensional artwork by using abrasives and tools to shape, carve, and fabricate materials such as clay, stone, wood, or metal.
- Develop project budgets for approval, estimating time lines and material costs.
- Shade and fill in sketch outlines and backgrounds, using a variety of media such as water colors, markers, and transparent washes, labeling designated colors when necessary.
- Collaborate with engineers, mechanics, and other technical experts as necessary to build and install creations.
- Create and prepare sketches and model drawings of cartoon characters, providing details from memory, live models, manufactured products, or reference materials.
- Brush or spray protective or decorative finishes on completed background panels, informational legends, exhibit accessories, or finished paintings.
- Trace drawings onto clear acetate for painting or coloring, or trace them with ink to make final copies.
Top Skills
Importance scale: 1 (low) – 5 (high)
Knowledge Areas
Importance scale: 1 (low) – 5 (high)
Education Level Distribution
Percentage of workers in this occupation by education level
Technology & Tools
Software and tools commonly used in this role
In-Demand Technologies
Other Tools
Work Styles
Personality traits and work styles important for this career
Key Abilities
Cognitive, physical, and sensory abilities important for this role
Importance scale: 1 (low) – 5 (high)
Work Activities
General types of job behaviors occurring on this job
Importance scale: 1 (low) – 5 (high)
Work Environment
Physical and social factors that influence the nature of work
Related Careers
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Salary data: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2024. Outlook data: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–2034.
This page includes information from the O*NET 30.2 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license.