Creative Industries
Fine Artist, including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators
Create original artwork using any of a wide variety of media and techniques.
Annual openings
173
BLS median wage
$51,910
Typical education
High school (GED)
10-year growth
+10%
Career requirements
What does this career require?
The education, credentials, and on-the-job competencies Colorado employers expect for this role.
Typical education
High school (GED)
Credential requirement
No certification is required or expected for this job.
Work experience
No previous work experience is required, though work experience or work-based learning in this or a similar occupation is expected.
Work-based learning
No information available
Employer competency information
- Feedback from artists identifies the following competencies as being critical to success: Creativity and the ability to turn an idea into a work of art as well as entrepreneurship and the ability to promote that art to buyers.
Some Fine Artists, such as sculptors, benefit from training and experience in welding, fabrication, or other skilled trades.
Making a living as a creative artist requires a mix of skill, ability, and entrepreneurship - finding what you are passionate about and good at, and then finding a way to use that to create something that people want to buy.
Is this work a fit?
What the work actually feels like
How people in this career tend to spend their time, the interests it draws on, and a look at a typical day.
Work style
- With kids/peopleOccasionally
- On a computerOccasionally
- Outdoors / on-siteOccasionally
- With your handsOccasionally
Interests it draws on
- Arts, Design, and Entertainment
- Arts and Design
Automation exposure
Low exposure
Tasks here lean on judgement and people skills that are hard to automate.
A typical day
- 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.
- Market artwork through brochures, mailings, or Web sites.
- Study different techniques to learn how to apply them to artistic endeavors.