Does Art have a good amount of career paths?

Hi Lisbette

Yes, there are many different career paths for art, which one you choose all depends on your interests and skills. I've answered this question a few times before, so you might want to also check on my Career Village previous replies.

I used to do an exercise with my students, I'd show them a picture of say, a movie theatre lobby, and ask them to "find the artists and designers" who might have contributed to what they are seeing. So, we would find GRAPHIC DESIGNERS for the movie posters, the wrappers on the candy bars, the logo of the movie theatre chain, the design of the tickets, the sign in front of the theatre. We would also find the TEXTILE DESIGNERS, who designed the fabric of the rugs, the curtains, and seat cushions. We would find INDUSTRIAL/PRODUCT DESIGNERS, who worked on the designs of the seat themselves, the popcorn machine, and on the look of every computer aided piece of equipment, including cell phones. We would find the FASHION DESIGNERS, who created the uniforms of the employees, and what all the movie goers were wearing, and all the costumes in the movie itself. We would also see the work of the INTERIOR DESIGNERS who chose the color of the walls, the seats, the curtains, and the arrangement of furnishings and equipment, along with the ARCHITECTS, who designed the building inside and outside. Of course there are all the artists involved in making the movie you go to see, the ART DIRECTOR, THE VIDEOGRAPHER, THE COSTUME DESIGNER, THE SET DESIGNER, THE SPECIAL EFFECTS TEAM, and so on. So now, try to imagine the movie theatre lobby without artists and designers.

So I hope you are getting the idea that there are many different paths in Art, and these are not all. Of course, for many people, their idea of going into art means being a fine artist, (a painter, sculptor, or printmaker), but as you can see, there are a lot more other areas where you can apply your skills, experiences and passion for art, and get paid for it. I used my interest in art to go into art education, and l loved my job. I got to use my art skills and share my love of art everyday on my job while teaching kids.

Yes, getting a well paying job in art can be challenging---there is lots of competition out there. Many successful artists and designers got their start by doing internships while in college or art school. Generally, art jobs are low paying to start off with, but if you can stick with them, your salary will increase. Few people working in art jobs become rich, but they can be financially comfortable. So keep your grades up, and work on your portfolio.

You didn't say what year in school you are currently in, but I would talk to your current art teachers about your future plans. If your school has a career office, get some help there, or go to your local library and ask the librarian for help.

The previous replies have already given you some good information, I hope this helps too. Best wishes!

Hi Lisbette,

I'm happy to see that you're interested in art and that you're thinking about the future. There are many art careers out there.

I work in the video games industry as a concept artist. But just in the video games industry alone there are many more roles for artists: user interface design (creating layouts and art for menus and icons), 3D modelers (taking 2D concepts and turning them into 3D objects that the players can actually control and interact with), animators (bringing those 3D models to life), and even technical artists (they help to integrate the art into the working game engine). Many of these roles carry over to the television and movie industries as well.

Aside from these industries, there are also many illustrated books that need artists as well. Book covers need to be designed and illustrated. Children's books and picture books hire a variety of different artists with different styles. The comic book industry is also incorporates many different art specialties. You might be a penciler (the artist who draws the actual page layouts and panels), inker (they do more than just trace the pencil lines, they add values and separation to the scenes and make things clear and legible), colorists (add color and give additional form, lighting and effects to the page), and letterers (they create fonts for the text and also add in the big visual sound effects like "POW" and "BANG," etc.)

The fine arts can run the gamut from classical, impressionist, modern, post-modern, etc. They are more fluid and less about traditional careers in a company and more about becoming an independent artist, often working with galleries.

Then you've got artists who work at advertisement agencies, artists who work solely for specific companies creating everything from brand logos to websites and marketing materials. There are also many art studios out there that might work for one or more of these industries. So if you work at an art studio like Concept Art House, you might work on videos games for one project, movies the next month, and then comic books after that.

I could go on to more specialized jobs, but suffice it to say, there are many art careers out there. And yes, there are also many artists as well so you will have competition. But it's just like any other job, you have to work hard to get the best ones and keep working hard once you're there. Hopefully you'll enjoy all of the hard work like I have.

I hope this provided some more context and answers for you.

Hi Lisbette

While I have not recruited specifically forArtists, I have found that the best way to find out about any career is to go online and ask. There is information out there that will tell you what people do in certain careers, other sites that might describe a typical day in the role, jobsites with openings and job descriptions as well as salary ranges for the positions, etc. YouTube may have videos explaining the same. If you look at multiple sites, look for consistencies in what they say. This should help you feel more comfortable that the information you are reading is accurate.

I used Google and typed in your question. Here is what I found so far to get you started.

Hope this helps. Feel free to reach back out.

Carol

Jobs for artists with high pay - Business Insider

https://www.businessinsider.com/high-paying-jobs-for-artistic-people-2017-5

Mar 5, 2018 - Here are 15 high-paying jobs for artistic and creative people that pay on average more than $55,000 a year in a range of industries and fields: 1/15. Editors. 2/15. Makeup artists. 3/15. Film and video editors. 4/15. Landscape architects. 5/15. Foreign language and literature professors. 6/15. 7/15. 8/15.

10 Jobs For Artists And People Who Love Drawing | Monster.com

https://www.monster.com/career-advice/article/arts-jobs-for-drawing-0517

Using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and PayScale, Monster found 10 arts jobs for the doodler in you. Animator. Art teacher. Cake decorator. Fashion designer. Graphic designer. Illustrator and technical illustrator. Industrial designer. Makeup artist.

Painter Jobs· Illustrator Jobs· ‎These creative jobs are in high ...