Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators
Arts, Audio/Video Technology and CommunicationsO*NET 27-1013.00United States
Create original artwork using any of a wide variety of media and techniques.
- Median annual earnings
- $26,520
- Projected change
- +15.9%
- Typical education
- Some college
- Employment
- 72.78K jobs
50th percentile, United States
2025 to 2035
37% of the workforce
Growing to 84.31K by 2035
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The work
What fine artists, including painters, sculptors, and illustrators do
Tasks reported for this occupation, ordered by how often they come up in the role.
- 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.
- Study different techniques to learn how to apply them to artistic endeavors.
- Market artwork through brochures, mailings, or Web sites.
- Monitor events, trends, and other circumstances, research specific subject areas, attend art exhibitions, and read art publications to develop ideas and keep current on art world activities.
- Photograph objects, places, or scenes for reference material.
Pay and outlook
What the job pays and where it is heading
Annual earnings range
Reported earnings by percentile, United States
- 10th percentile
- $6,718
- 25th percentile
- $13,151
- 50th percentile
- $26,520
- 75th percentile
- $50,332
- 90th percentile
- $101,801
The gold marker shows the median. Half earn more than $26,520 and half earn less.
Employment outlook
2025 to 2035 projection
+15.9%much faster than average
202572,777 jobs
2035 projected84,313 jobs
11,536 more positions over the decade, before replacement hiring.
Preparation
Education levels
What people currently working in the career hold. These are not entry requirements.
- Some college
- 37%
- Bachelor's degree
- 35.1%
- High school diploma or less
- 27.3%
- Certificate
- 0.3%
- Master's or Professional degree
- 0.3%
Skills
Skills employers ask for
Technical skills appearing most often in job postings for this occupation.
How the work gets done
Core competencies
Broad capabilities associated with strong performance in this occupation.
- Active Learning
- Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Critical Thinking
- Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
- Active Listening
- Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Reading Comprehension
- Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Speaking
- Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Complex Problem Solving
- Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Time Management
- Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Writing
- Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Social Perceptiveness
- Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Monitoring
- Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Operations Analysis
- Analyzing needs and product requirements to create a design.
- Service Orientation
- Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Coordination
- Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Quality Control Analysis
- Conducting tests and inspections of products, services, or processes to evaluate quality or performance.
- Learning Strategies
- Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
- Persuasion
- Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
- Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
- Systems Analysis
- Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
- Systems Evaluation
- Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
In the market
Job titles and employers
Recent job postings in United StatesCommon job titles
- 01Teaching Artists318 postings
- 02Artists181 postings
- 03Music Artists146 postings
- 04Beauty Advisors114 postings
- 05Illustrators79 postings
- 06Pizza Artists78 postings
- 07Lighting Artists74 postings
- 08Artists in Residence65 postings
- 09Mac Artists64 postings
- 10VFX Artists64 postings
- 11Artist Assistants63 postings
- 12Technical Artists62 postings
- 13Freelancers59 postings
- 14Display Assistants55 postings
- 15Music Video Directors52 postings
- 163D Artists49 postings
- 17Artistic Directors46 postings
- 18Caricature Artists46 postings
- 19Artists/Painters39 postings
- 20Artists/Musicians38 postings
Top employers
- 01The Estée Lauder Companies216 postings
- 02Evil Eye Pictures60 postings
- 03Urban Outfitters54 postings
- 04Domino's Pizza40 postings
- 05Kaman's Art Shoppes36 postings
- 06Mac Foodservice31 postings
- 07Sonic Drive-In27 postings
- 0892Nd Street Y23 postings
- 09Walt Disney21 postings
- 10Robert Half19 postings
- 11Insight Global18 postings
- 12Painting With A Twist18 postings
- 132K Corporation14 postings
- 14Hybrid Apparel14 postings
- 15NBC14 postings
- 16Future Hearts Minds & Dreamers13 postings
- 17Komar Company13 postings
- 18Netflix13 postings
- 19Paramount Skydance13 postings
- 20Colleyville Lifetime Fitness12 postings
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