I’d love to be an artist and be paid for it!
Job Search July 28th, 2008Many of you are artistic and dream of a career as an artist. You envision loving your work and it being in such high demand that you live a comfortable life style.
Artists create art to communicate ideas, thoughts, or feelings. The definition of an artist is wide-ranging. Employment for artists is expected to grow in the next decade.
Demand will most likely grow for the following artists according to the Bureau of Labor & Statistics:
- Illustrators who work on a computer will increase as Web sites use more detailed images and backgrounds in their designs.
- Cartoonists, in particular, who opt to post their work on political Web sites and online publications.
- Medical illustrators (currently a small number) will also be in greater demand as medical research continues to grow.
- Multimedia artists and animators as consumers continue to demand more realistic video games, movie and television special effects, and 3D animated movies.
- Web site development and for computer graphics adaptation from the growing number of mobile technologies.
- Animators who are finding work in alternative areas such as scientific research or design services.
Below are different types of artists according to the Bureau of Labor & Statistics:
- Graphic designers—or graphic artists—plan, analyze, and create visual solutions to communications problems. They find the most effective way to get messages across in print, electronic, and film media.
- Craft artists make a wide variety of objects, mostly by hand, that are sold either in their own studios, in retail outlets, or at arts-and-crafts shows. Many craft artists also use fine-art techniques—for example, painting, sketching, and printing—to add finishing touches to their art.
- Fine artists typically display their work in museums, commercial art galleries, corporate collections, and private homes.
- Medical and scientific illustrators combine drawing skills with knowledge of biology or other sciences. Medical illustrators work digitally or traditionally to create images of human anatomy and surgical procedures as well as 3-dimensional models and animations. Most cartoonists have comic, critical, or dramatic talents in addition to drawing skills.
- Sketch artists create likenesses of subjects with pencil, charcoal, or pastels. Sketches are used by law enforcement agencies to assist in identifying suspects, by the news media to depict courtroom scenes, and by individual patrons for their own enjoyment.
- Sculptors design three-dimensional artworks, either by molding and joining materials such as clay, glass, wire, plastic, fabric, or metal or by cutting and carving forms from a block of plaster, wood, or stone. Some sculptors combine various materials to create mixed-media installations. Some incorporate light, sound, and motion into their works.
- Printmakers create printed images from designs cut or etched into wood, stone, or metal. After creating the design, the artist inks the surface of the woodblock, stone, or plate and uses a printing press to roll the image onto paper or fabric. Some make prints by pressing the inked surface onto paper by hand or by graphically encoding and processing data, using a computer. The digitized images are then printed on paper with the use of a computer printer.
- Painting restorers preserve and restore damaged and faded paintings. They apply solvents and cleaning agents to clean the surfaces of the paintings, they reconstruct or retouch damaged areas, and they apply preservatives to protect the paintings. Restoration is highly detailed work and usually is reserved for experts in the field.
- Multi-media artists and animators work primarily in motion picture and video industries, advertising, and computer systems design services. They draw by hand and use computers to create the series of pictures that form the animated images or special effects seen in movies, television programs, and computer games.
Despite the competition, studios, galleries, and individual clients are always on the lookout for artists who display outstanding talent, creativity, and style. Among craft and fine artists, talented individuals who have developed a mastery of artistic techniques and skills will have the best job prospects.
The Bureau of Labor & Statistics gives tther workers who apply artistic skills: architects, except landscape and naval; archivists, curators, and museum technicians; commercial and industrial designers; fashion designers; floral designers; graphic designers; interior designers; jewelers and precious stone and metal workers; landscape architects; photographers; and woodworkers. Some workers who use computers extensively, including computer software engineers and desktop publishers, may require art skills.
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