Career Overview: Visual Arts

WHAT YOU'LL DO
The visual artist transforms raw materials-different colors of paint, for instance, or unused
film, or a giant block of marble-into works of art: things meant to be beautiful, to inspire, or to
provoke. Despite the heavy focus today on marketing and making big profits, most of us still
respect and admire great visual artists and the works they create, whether it's Michelangelo and
his David, Orson Welles and his Citizen Kane, or Georgia O'Keefe and her sensual paintings of
flowers.

REQUIREMENTS
Visual artists must have an artistic eye. They must also have a feel for color, light and
shadow, balance and weight, and composition. This can be taught, to a certain extent, but much of
it is innate.
It's important for all artists to supplement their talent with two ingredients: skill and
persistence.
Skill brings an artist freedom. When you know the fundamentals of your craft, you are
limited only by your imagination. Without technical training, you're stabbing in the dark. Sure, you
might create one or two truly great works of art, but they'll be unrepeatable accidents. You can
create anything your mind dreams up only if you know how.
Persistence is probably the single most important factor in any artist's success. All artists
must be internally motivated. Artists must spend time in the public eye-knocking on gallery doors,
tirelessly submitting their films to festivals or their photographs to magazines or stock agencies.
They may be rejected hundreds of times in their careers, but they can't let it stop them.
Many artists have a formal education in the fine arts. You may enroll in one of the big art
schools or a state school's art department, or you might take courses through your local
community college's continuing education offerings. There are also art schools that focus on
teaching technical skills and grooming their graduates for careers in design.

JOB OUTLOOK
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that the number of jobs for artists will grow at
about the same rate as overall job growth between 2004 and 2014. But because there are always
more aspiring artists than there are art collectors, more wannabe film directors than wealthy
producers, and more young photographers than magazines to employ them, competition for
careers in the visual arts will be exceedingly keen. This is a career field in which it can take
decades of practice before you can support yourself through your art. Indeed, many talented visual
artists never reach a place where they can quit their day jobs. The plum jobs go to the lucky and
the perseverant: Be aware that success in this field, as in all the arts, will probably depend as
much on your ability to network and market yourself and your art as it will on your artistic talent.

POSSIBILITIES
Some non-art-for-art's-sake paths that might utilize your skills as a visual artist include:
Graphic design
Advertising
Education
Journalism & Publishing
If you love to create visual art, but either don't mind doing so for commercial purposes rather
than to convey your own artistic message, or need more career stability than a fine arts career
usually provides, you should think about pursuing one of these options. Of course, many artists do
both-work in a commercial art-focused day job, and create their own art on their own time. If this is
the path you're thinking about pursuing, be aware that many, if not most, of those who use this
strategy end up letting their own artistic efforts fall by the wayside, as life responsibilities (bills,
family, etc.) grow and the would-be artist grows accustomed to the comfortable life brought about
by a steady paycheck.

CAREER TRACKS
Visual arts careers can be divided into "fine arts" what you see in museums, galleries,
and Art Forum and filmmaking, commercial photography, and other arts. Each of these fields
requires stamina, hard work, talent, skill, and even faith. If you're embarking on an arts career,
don't delude yourself: It will be difficult. You will have to prove yourself before you'll make any
money or gain any recognition. But money and fame are not why you're in the arts anyway, right?


COMPENSATION
Compensation in the arts varies wildly, from just-barely-making-it to rolling in the dough. It
cannot be said too often: Discipline and perseverance are vital. To be successful, you must have
faith in your abilities, and you must be fanatical about self-promotion. You can't ever give up on
your contest entries or your gallery visits. You have to believe that eventually they'll pan out.
However, if you go down this road, you have to realize that more than a few artists never earn a
penny from their work, most create their art while paying the bills with a "real" job, and only a small
percentage strike it rich.
Following are a few average compensation ranges for visual artists in salaried positions:
Painter/Sculptor/Illustrator: $20,000 to $75,000
Multimedia Artist/Animator: $25,000 to $85,000
Photographer: $15,000 to $70,000
Filmmaker/Director: $20,000 to $1 million or more


Source: https://www.wetfeet.com/articles/career-overview-visual-arts


GLOSARIO

aspiring artist: aspirante a artista
art-for-arts-sake: el arte por el arte mismo
commercial art: arte publicitario / arte comercial
would-be artist: aspirante a artista