Illustrators: Salary, career path, job outlook, education and more
Illustrators create pictures for books, magazines, and other publications and for commercial products, such as textiles, wrapping paper, stationery, greeting cards, and calendars. Increasingly, illustrators are using computers in their work. They might draw in pen and pencil and then scan the image into a computer program to be colored in, or they might use a special pen to draw images directly onto the computer.
- Education Required
- Most fine artists pursue postsecondary education to earn degrees that can improve their skills and job prospects. A formal educational credential is typically not needed for anyone to be a craft artist. However, it is difficult to gain adequate artistic skills without some formal education. High school classes such as art, shop, and home economics can teach prospective craft artists some of the basic skills they will need, such as drawing, woodworking, and sewing.
- Training Required
- Craft and fine artists improve their skills through practice and repetition. They can train in several ways other thanor in addition toformal schooling. Craft and fine artists can train with simpler projects before attempting something more ambitious.
- Job Outlook
-
The projected percent change in employment from 2016 to 2026: 8% (As fast as average)
(The average growth rate for all occupations is 7 percent.) - Advancement
- Craft and fine artists advance professionally as their work circulates and as they establish a reputation for their particular style. Many of the most successful artists continually develop new ideas, and their work often evolves over time.
- Median pay: How much do Craft and Fine Artists make?
- $48,780 Annual Salary
- $23.45 per hour
Careers for Craft and Fine Artists
- Book illustrators
- Calligraphers
- Caricature artists
- Cartoonists
- Ceramic artists
- Comic artists
- Comic book artists
- Comic illustrators
- Commercial artists
- Concrete sculptors
- Editorial cartoonists
- Fashion illustrators
- Fiber artists
- Fine-art painters
- Free lance artists
- Fresco artists
- Furniture artists
- Furniture makers
- Glass artists
- Hand potters
- Ice sculptors
- Jewelry artists
- Medical and scientific illustrators
- Medical illustrators
- Metal arts production artists
- Mural painters
- Muralists
- Non-representational metal sculptors
- Oil painters
- Pattern illustrators
- Political cartoonists
- Portrait artists
- Portrait painters
- Printmakers
- Public artists
- Quilters
- Scientific illustrators
- Sculptors
- Sketch artists
- Sports cartoonists
- Stained glass artists
- Tattoo artists
- Video artists
- Water colorists
- Watercolor artists