How Easy Is It to Get an Art Job
Last Updated on May 27, 2021
Where can studying Fine art or Pattern accept yous? What kinds of careers be for those who study artistic subjects at high school? While you might have heard that condign an builder, fine creative person, sculptor or gallery assistant is an pick for those who report Art or Design, at that place are many other careers available for those who are able to envision, pattern and create beautiful things. This article highlights a pick of these – including digital and graphic blueprint jobs – and illustrates the range of heady art-related careers that are possible. Information technology contains a list of over 150+ awesome careers, with 25 examples showcased in detail.
A growing listing of art careers
Whether yous beloved photography, graphic blueprint, painting or whatsoever other fine art-related speciality, career options are limited merely by your imagination. Art education propels people towards artistic and unexpected destinations – many of which take not even been discovered yet. As noted in Need a Job? Invent It, in the New York Times:
…knowledge is available on every Internet-connected device, what y'all know matters far less than what yous tin do with what you know. The capacity to innovate — the ability to solve problems creatively or bring new possibilities to life — and skills like critical thinking, communication and collaboration are far more important than academic cognition.
Information technology is hoped that the 25 hand-picked, creative, inspirational people below willawaken your imagination and remind you that the world needs (and appreciates) those with creative skill.
Movie Set / Costume / Special Effects Designer – Sir Richard Taylor
Sir Richard Taylor is the co-founder of the Weta Workshop, a New Zealand visitor that provides digital and physical special effects for film and television, producing costumes, props, make-upward effects, prosthetics, models, miniatures, vehicles, armour and weaponry. Weta Workshop has won 5 Oscars, four BAFTAs and many other awards for their work on a range of well known flick and television projects, including Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings. Sir Richard Taylor studied at the Wellington School of Design and attended the Dick Smith makeup training programme. Some of the piece of work completed by Weta Workshop can be seen in the video below.
Upcycled Jewellery Designer – True cat Ivins
Cat Ivins found a collection of blackened car plugs in her married man'south truck repair shop and began designing jewellery using these and other recycled materials. Later on ten years of working in a bank, she had no prior experience and attended a welding class so that she was able to create the jewellery she desired. She began selling these through Etsy, an online market for artistic people.
She describes her feel in the Etsy Quit Your Day Job series:
I started a business organization selling from mall carts during the holidays — I too sold things I made at craft shows during the yr. Afterwards a while, I idea it was fourth dimension to go back to school, when my niece showed me Etsy and I just fell in dear with it. People making things with their own hands and making a living by sharing those makings with other people — information technology was exactly the fashion the world was evolving and I knew I wanted to be a function of it.
With two Etsy shops (Polarity and Uncorked), sales from her own website, doing shows and wholesale, Cat has a sustainable, full time income. She credits part of her growth to 'artistic tithing' – giving a percentage of her profits back to the customs.
Web Based Curator – Christopher Jobson
Christopher Jobson finds, discovers and shares artwork via his website Colossal. Colossal has more 350,000 Facebook followers, 76,000 Twitter followers and 33,000 Pinterest followers and has about five,000,000 monthly page views. Work that is featured on Colossal often turns into a viral cyberspace sensation.
In an interview with the National Endowment for the Arts Christopher explains:
Colossal was built-in from a lack of creativity and inspiration in my own life. I had been working for years as a spider web designer in a office that was personally unfulfilling and was unsure of what to do about it. Equally a style to expose myself to new ideas in art and design, I started the blog as a way to catalogue and share the interesting things I encountered effectually the web. Three years subsequently it's all the same going and has completely taken over my life – Christopher Jobson
Game Designer – Stephen Harris
Stephen Harris co-founded the game company Ninja Kiwi with his brother Chris. Ninja Kiwi's most pop game, Bloons, involves monkeys popping balloons with a dart. Later on attention Western Springs College, Stephen gained a degree in geophysics and, later on, a Post Graduate Diploma in Game Development from the Media Design School. It was hither that he learnt programming, blueprint and employ of Adobe Photoshop – and was surrounded by others who 'lived and breathed' game design.
Ninja Kiwi makes close to $x one thousand thousand NZD in revenue a year and has about xl employees. They earn money by selling advertising on their website, virtual currency and smart phone apps.
Firebowl Sculptor – John T. Unger
John T. Unger creates sculptural firebowls that are paw-cut from recycled industrial steel tanks using a plasma torch. Providing light and warmth, the firebowls create a dramatic centre point in an outdoor environment.
Although I did nourish the writing program at Interlochen Arts Academy in my senior year of high school, I dropped out of college the first year to pursue my art. I got my didactics past buying books, tools and materials, past making work, past looking at art in galleries and museums and past occasionally working for more than established artists equally a studio banana. The upside of this arroyo for me was that I had no loans to pay off, was able to focus solely on learning about the art that resonated for me (which is quite a wide area), and my do was easily-on and built a trunk of work. So many of the friends I have who went to art school eventually abandoned their art to accept jobs that would pay off their loans. – John T. Unger
John reaches a worldwide audition using his own website and online network, and has so far shipped over a thousand firebowls (typically selling for between $ane,000 – $3,000 US each) to twelve different countries.
Upcycled Furniture Designers – Jason and Adam Podlaski
Jason and Adam Podlaski design unique, upcycled piece of furniture made from broken skateboards for their business organization Deckstool. The scraped marks on the skateboards go featured surface decoration, with every furniture i-of-a-kind. Deckstool accept recycling programmes in place to collect broken boards and produce furniture that combines modernistic construction techniques, fine craftsmanship and an artistic aesthetic.
Digital Portrait Artist – Cliff Roth
Cliff Roth paints digital portraits using Google+ 'Hangouts on Air', creating the works live on video – the equivalent of a modern day street caricature artist. His subjects include a number of famous people, including Guy Kawasaki. While it is free to attend i of Cliff's Hangouts and potentially be painted, $twoscore guarantees you will go one. The portraits are completed in x – 60 minutes using Adobe Photoshop CS5 and a Wacom Cintiq 21UX (digital pen and screen).
Cliff studied Fine art, Photography and 3D Design (Sculpture) at Hopatcong Loftier School, taking as many classes as he could, followed by introductory courses at Country College of Morris. He also completed The Fine art of Caricature, an online course by Jason Seiler.
Live speed-painting has allowed Cliff to amass a huge Google+ post-obit, with almost 300,000 in his circles. Information technology has also additional the number of paid commissions he gets (for more detailed, fully rendered digital paintings, as in the examples below).
Magazine Art Manager, Graphic Designer, Photographer – Adrienne Pitts
Adrienne Pitts discovered a passion for photography at historic period 16, when Kristin Schoolhouse outset introduced the subject. Adrienne studied both Photography and Design in her senior high school years and, after a year-long educatee exchange in Chile, completed a Bachelor of Blueprint from Massey Academy, achieving First Class Honours. Although majoring in photography, Adrienne ensured that all of her elective papers helped fix her for a graphic design job, allowing her to become the best out of her 4 year degree.
I found my caste set me upwardly for my career – equally I essentially did my ain fiddling double major. I came out of University able to find piece of work every bit both a designer and lensman – and I nevertheless do both. These are added strings to my bow, and the quality of education I received from lecturers who were passionate and leaders in the field really made a huge difference to how I approached finding work 'in the real world'.
A degree in a creative field can exist a funny thing. I think much of information technology can be learned in real life, on the job, notwithstanding internships and apprenticeships in things similar photography and design didn't really exist when I was at Academy in NZ, and I knew I wanted to become the all-time grounding and education possible. – Adrienne Pitts
Adrienne is currently an award-winning Fine art Director for the Jamie Oliver magazine in London.
Brian Wood – graphic novelist
Brian Woods studied Analogy at Parsons the New School for Pattern and is a now a popular writer and illustrator of graphic novels. Later working nights and weekends for six years, Wood now works full time.
Having a career in comics is a lot like being in a band. You have to start modest and play a lot of free shows. But yous have complete creative freedom. – Brian Wood
Brian has won several Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards and his books accept been translated into several languages. Some are currently being developed for the large screen.
Pet Stone Painter – Ernestina Gallina
Ernestina Gallina paints detailed, realistic images of animals onto smooth river stones. Subsequently the cracks on the stones are filled, outlines are sketched with chalk earlier the animal is painted using acrylic. Ernestina did non nourish fine art school, but has refined her arts and crafts through endless exercise. Based in Italy, Ernestina teaches rock painting and sells her work via shops, exhibitions and her own website.
Personalised Sticker Designer – Emily Lopez
A huge number of people take monthly photographs of their babies to certificate their growth. When Emily Lopez had her own children, she began creating personal, custom designed baby stickers to assist with this process and then selling them via her Etsy shop PurplePossom. Emily has a degree in public relations and graphic design.
PurplePossom has made over l,700 sales through Etsy at an average cost of $11 – $18 NZD (this equates to an judge average of over $8,700 a calendar month).
Handmade Stamp Maker – Susan Walton
Susan Walton runs the Prophylactic Postage stamp Tapestry with her family in North Carolina. The stamps are handmade from wooden pegs and rubber and are used to create frames, borders, decorations and other artwork on cards, stationery, scrapbook pages and ceramics. The stamps are sold through the Rubber Postage stamp Tapestry website or via an Etsy store, where they are 1 of the top sellers.
T-Shirt Designer – Stephen Harris
Stephen Harris sells T-Shirts and other products through his Redbubble store Zomboy. Redbubble is a website that allows designers to take advantage of impress-on-demand technology, with products printed and shipped as they are ordered (all the artist needs to practise is upload a design; anyone can sellonline without any upwards-forepart investment and make profit from the first sale). In a field where there is tough contest, Zomboy is consistently in the Redbubble Tiptop Seller category.
Stephen designed his first T-shirt when he was twelve years onetime, using permanent cotton markers. He studied both Design and Technical Drawing at Auckland Grammer School and gained a Criminal Justice degree from Griffith University. Stephen credits his success to his discipline to draw every day, a passion for concepts and a commitment to trying new art techniques.
Upcycled furniture designers – Hoda Baroudi and Maria Hibri
Based in Beirut, Hoda Baroudi and Maria Hibri run the blueprint and craft studio Bokja, creating furniture pieces made from recycled textiles and tapestries: harmonious combinations of blueprint, texture and colour. Bokja avoids mass production and employs only local artists, carpenters and designers.
Maria studied Arabic Literature at the American Academy of Beirut and Journalism at the Lebanese American Academy. She cultivated her love for furniture from the l's and lx's during her time as an antique dealer. Hoda Baroudi has a Bachelor degree in Business Assistants and an MBA from the American University of Beirut. Following years of experience in finance and cyberbanking, her life-long involvement in traditional tapestries, textiles and rugs of the orient lead to the creation of Bokja.
Education can really open doors, merely at the terminate of the solar day talent is what actually leaves a mark. We are a poster company for this, neither of us have a formal education in what we are doing. Information technology is that talent behind this visitor that has made it what it is. We have an centre and an instinct for what we do and it's non so much the result of our instruction, merely our passion.
Bokja is an amalgam of things, information technology is layers and layers of reactionary thoughts, it is 'of the moment' and transient. Our designs are never innocent as they are often references or reinterpretations of something from our past. Within these objects there is a tangible charm that takes us back to the way things used to be, when products carried legacies that transcended time. We have created a cult following around the world; our designs speak a universal language, while appealing to people on a personal and emotional level. – Bokja Pattern
Their article of furniture is available in the US and sells for well over $2,000 USD a chair
Font Designer – Daniel McQueen
Daniel McQueen is a young, entrepreneurial typographer and owner of Ten Dollar Fonts – a website where selected designers sell font licenses to the world. Subsequently studying both Pattern and Photography at St Bede's Higher, Daniel gained a degree in Visual Communication from CPIT Schoolhouse of Art and Design, with a focus on typography.
When his fonts began to proceeds attending on the social media website Tumblr, Daniel decided to sell licenses to his fonts. Worried that his piece of work would go lost amongst the crowd on an existing font marketplace, he created his ain website. Ten Dollar Fonts gained the attending of several well known designers and features prominently in social media.
Daniel gives advice for new graduates in an interview with Zoe Nash of Design Assembly:
…if yous're like me and you're not excited past the idea of working for someone else, my communication would exist as unproblematic as practise something for yourself. Have projects that you enjoy and take it seriously. Be patient and stick at it, you never know where it could take you lot. Even if you do have a full time job, accept creative outlets and work hard at them. You're immature and most likely don't have to back up anyone just yourself correct at present, and then there is no ameliorate fourth dimension to put your ideas to work. – Daniel McQueen
Graphic Artist / Printmaker / Collage artist – Matt Dinniman
Matt Dinniman is a graphic creative person with over 15 years of experience. He has made a proper noun for himself selling affordable hand-fabricated prints, using a combination of photography, digital collage and mixed media. He sells his work via his own website, Collage-O-Rama, and his Etsy store. His almost well known works are animals printed onto dictionary pages.
We have old books about to be destroyed and upcycle them in order to give them new life. The crumbling, slightly-yellowed page is carefully removed, and the prototype is printed straight on the recycled newspaper.– Matt Dinniman
Based in Seattle, Matt has made over 55,100 sales since joining Etsy, with artwork commonly priced between $8 – $24 NZD (this roughly equates, on average, to sales of over $ix,500+ a month).
Pic Concept Artist – Dean Sherriff
For many Art students, the notion of creating beautiful, imaginary worlds is the dream career. Dean Sherriff does this for a living, as a concept artist for Universal Pictures. He has produced concept designs for pop films such equally Afterwards Earth, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Day the Globe Stood Still and Night at the Museum. Dean trained at Ontario College of Art and Pattern in Canada, gaining an Honours in Illustration.
Cake Decorator – Brian Stevens
Celebrity Chef Brian Stevens co-founded the specialty baker Crazy Cakes with his married woman, Jennifer. Brian has an Art caste, and became a block creative person after a varied career, including sumo wrestling, digital illustration, sculpting and video game development. He has starred in the Food Network and TLC'due south Cake Boss: Side by side Smashing Baker. He is known for producing meticulously mitt-crafted sculpted cakes of all kinds, with detailed textures and realistic painting.
Soft Toy Maker – Wendy Tsao
In a earth when things are readily bachelor to everyone, original, handmade items are in demand. Wendy Tsao makes soft toys that are inspired by young children'south drawings, taking orders through her website, Child'due south Own Studio. Her work has become an cyberspace sensation. She recently opened for orders and in three hours was booked out for the whole yr.
I am inspired by the child's drawing, a wonderful expression of babyhood. Typically, a drawing is sent to me, and I decide if I tin work with it. (I normally work but with children's drawings, mitt-drawn and coloured). In that location may exist notes included with the drawing. I may ask for clarification near some details. And and so I get to piece of work, in my Vancouver studio. The machine whirs, pair of scissors snip, needles zilch, and everything gets covered in fibrefill fluff. – Wendy Tsao
Illustrator – Ryan Berkley
Afterwards working in a small Arts college for ten years, Ryan Berkley and his wife Lucy set up Berkley Analogy – an Etsy shop where they sell Ryan'due south prints – often animals wearing suits. The illustrations are drawn using markers and coloured pencil, sometimes with digital blocks of colour added in the groundwork. A self taught artist, Ryan speaks well-nigh his regret about not attending Fine art schoolhouse in the Etsy Quit Your Day Job Serial:
And I am regretful for many reasons. I feel like I could have learned how to properly draw the man figure, rather than learning from comic books. I also feel I could have an actual understanding of colour theory, which would be nice. I would have loved to acquire some painting techniques. I was always jealous of my friends being in college in general, and in other cities, living on their own. I remember that would have been fun. Especially with a bunch of talented art kids.
With over 41,000 sales made in Etsy, and items commonly priced betwixt $12 – 24 NZD, Berkley Illustration generates approximately $7,000 per calendar month in sales on boilerplate. This income is supplemented with wholesale orders, gallery shows and commercial commissions, including large clients like Nike, The Discovery Channel and Spoon.
Online Fine art Gallery Creator, Creative person and Engineering Entrepreneur – Amanda Lane
After completing her high school education at Rangitoto Higher and studying Movie Blitheness equally part of her Graphic Blueprint caste from Auckland University of Technology, Amanda began a rich and varied career, working as a traditional animator, theatre and picture show scenic creative person, fine art director and set designer. She now co-owns Exhibbit, a software evolution visitor that sells virtual Art galleries to students, artists and traditional galleries. This means that people are able to embed their ain virtual 'gallery' within their website (see the image below).
…I have had a number of jobs inside the creative industries – there is huge telescopic for creatives in business, especially at present the internet plays such a big role. – Amanda Lane.
Pet Portrait Artist – Ron Burns
Focusing on a particular niche (pet portraiture) and combining artistic skill with generosity and business noesis helpedRon Burns turn painting into a lucrative career. Ron has adapted a fashion that sets him apart from the ordinary (the market is flooded dull, realistic pet portraits) and produces vibrant paintings that are rich with emotion-filled colour. Ron began painting dogs in animal shelters (giving a percentage from sales back to the shelters) and, after 9/eleven, documenting dogs that have lost their lives in tragedy or were involved in bomb detection, disaster relief, or search and rescue. Focusing upon heroic or disadvantaged animals, Ron has supported spay and neuter programmes, anti dog-fighting legislation and helped to generate significant funds for non-profit organisations. Ron has received several awards, television and media publicity and public commendations for his efforts – exposure that has helped to cement Ron every bit 1 of the leading domestic dog portrait artists.
Through his ain website, Ron sells prints and ready-to-hang, commissioned acrylic paintings of pets to their owners.
Printable Wedding Invitation Designer – Eleanor Mayrhofer
Eleanor Mayrhofer designs downloadable wedding stationary, invitations, greeting cards and other newspaper items. With quality printers now at an affordable price, Eleanor creates and sells PDF templates with editable text via her Etsy shop e.m.papers, assuasive people to print their own invitations at home. Afterwards graduating from Art schoolhouse equally a graphic designer, Eleanor was employed past a consulting firm. She now works full fourth dimension on east.chiliad.papers. Her products have been consistently featured in the media, appearing in magazines such equally Marth Stewart Weddings and BRIDES.
Ceramic Artist – Karolina Grudniewska
After gaining a Bachelor of Arts, Karolina Grudniewska worked as an English teacher and a florist, before returning to college to study Interior Architecture. After a varied career, Karolina has become a self-taught ceramist. She sells piece of work from Ireland via her Etsy store KaroArt, and her work is available locally through stores and craft shows. She is full fourth dimension Etsy seller, with an online store filled with functional items with beautiful, organic form. Every bit she commented in the Etsy Quit Your Mean solar day Job series:
I observe working with dirt very intuitive. One time you get the nuts, at that place's a world of possibilities in front of y'all. Information technology takes hours and hours of practice, with many trials and many failures, but each broken piece teaches you a lesson. Practice and repetition brought me to proficiency, simply I feel like I'thousand learning a new affair about every day, and at that place'due south notwithstanding so much I'd like to find and learn.
Repurposed Piece of furniture Designer – Rupert Blanchard
Rupert Blanchard takes mundane, discarded pieces of article of furniture, reclaimed plywood, used wooden fruit crates and other donated or discarded items and reassembles these to create stunning, contemporary furniture pieces. Working with an array of styles, techniques, surfaces, patterns and materials, Rupert creates dressers and piece of furniture items that are reminiscent of abstract fine art: functional installation pieces for the modern home.
Every bit described by the gentle author:
Rupert has developed a trained eye for the beauty of the disregarded and, equally a consequence, lives at the mercy of his compulsion to hoard it, taking him to at least 3 car boot sales a week and connecting him to an elaborate network of scavengers, junk dealers, firm clearance people, skip raiders and sabotage workers. "Fourth dimension volition run out before the rubbish does," he pronounced, pulling a long quizzical face, shaking his head and crossing his arms in bewilderment at his crazy hoarding instinct. Yet everything here is wonderful in its mode, and Rupert has found means to requite new life these artifacts once their original incarnation is defunct. About of his furniture is i-off pieces, however some have a more streamlined production process.
Final words
The examples of Art, Photography, Sculpture, 3D Design, Game Design and Graphic Design jobs illustrated above are just a handful of the heady career paths that are possible for high schoolhouse Art students. Information technology is clear that the journey to a creative career is not always clear cut. A Fine Fine art degree is not always necessary. Related degrees (Graphic Design, Animation, Computer Science, Web Design, Architecture, Marketing, Business) and/or skill-based courses – among many others – may besides lead to successful outcomes.
Skill is practiced and refined ultimately past doing. Combine your artistic skill with ambition, generosity, persistence, hard work and business organization sensibility.If you want a creative career, carve out a little infinite in the world where you tin can become an good: strop your craft via daily exercise and make something that people love. Build a website and evidence off your talent. Permit your work spiral out through social media and exist discovered by the world.
And remember: if yous are one of those lucky enough to be good at Fine art and other things…be prepared for people to endeavour and convince yous that Art is a swift and certain route to poverty (it's not: read nine Reasons to Study Art in High School). If this happens to yous, proceed in heed that those who are good at Fine art and other things are in the all-time position of all to succeed.
This article is a work in progress. New careers volition be added regularly! You may wish to bookmark this page.
Amiria has been an Art & Blueprint teacher and a Curriculum Co-ordinator for seven years, responsible for the course design and cess of student work in two high-achieving Auckland schools. She has a Bachelor of Architectural Studies, Available of Architecture (Beginning Class Honours) and a Graduate Diploma of Teaching. Amiria is a CIE Accredited Art & Design Coursework Assessor.
Source: https://www.studentartguide.com/articles/art-careers-list
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