Creative & Media
Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators
Create original artwork using any of a wide variety of media and techniques.
Median salary (BLS)
$55,490
10th–90th percentile (BLS)
$32k – $144k
Job outlook
No separate BLS projection for this specific role
AI exposure
Early-career check: graduates of the matching programs below typically earn $91,000 ten years after starting college — an early-career figure, vs. the all-experience BLS median above. Source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard.
Plan a path to Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators
Education
Typical entry: Associate degree
Plan my path to this →Typical progression
Junior Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators
Entry / Junior
$31,630
~2 yrs to advance
Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators
Established
$55,490
~3 yrs to advance
Senior Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators
Senior
$99,850
Key skills
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.
Fields of study
Any field
Top colleges for Creative & Media
Explore all- University of Southern California12% admit · $86,000 grad pay
- New York University12% admit · $84,000 grad pay
- Northwestern University7% admit · $95,000 grad pay
- University of Chicago5% admit · $91,000 grad pay
Reputation-based selection; stats shown are outcome data per school.