What You'll Do

  • 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.
  • Submit preliminary or finished artwork or project plans to clients for approval, incorporating changes as necessary.
  • Maintain portfolios of artistic work to demonstrate styles, interests, and abilities.
  • Create finished art work as decoration, or to elucidate or substitute for spoken or written messages.
  • Cut, bend, laminate, arrange, and fasten individual or mixed raw and manufactured materials and products to form works of art.
  • 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.
  • Study different techniques to learn how to apply them to artistic endeavors.
  • Render drawings, illustrations, and sketches of buildings, manufactured products, or models, working from sketches, blueprints, memory, models, or reference materials.

Essential Skills

Critical Thinking 3.25/5
Active Learning 3.25/5
Active Listening 3.12/5
Reading Comprehension 3.0/5
Speaking 3.0/5
Judgment and Decision Making 3.0/5
Writing 2.88/5
Social Perceptiveness 2.88/5
Complex Problem Solving 2.88/5
Time Management 2.88/5
Monitoring 2.75/5
Operations Analysis 2.62/5

Career Fit Overview

Use this summary to understand the kind of profile this role rewards. It helps you judge whether this career looks like a stronger match than your current role, a nearby move worth exploring, or a broader path to compare more seriously.

Top passions

  • Artist: Creating original work and expressing ideas feels natural.
  • Maker: Building and fixing energizes you. You like tangible results and practical tools.
  • Analyst: Investigating problems and finding patterns keeps you engaged.

Common styles

Innovation, Tolerance for Ambiguity, Achievement Orientation, Intellectual Curiosity, Initiative

Want a personal read on fit? Take the free assessment and compare this career to your current role, nearby alternatives, and broader stronger-fit options.

Key Abilities

This career demands strong capabilities in the following areas:

Originality 4.38/5
Fluency of Ideas 4.0/5
Visualization 4.0/5
Arm-Hand Steadiness 3.75/5
Visual Color Discrimination 3.75/5
Near Vision 3.62/5
Manual Dexterity 3.38/5
Finger Dexterity 3.38/5

Technologies & Tools

Adobe Acrobat Adobe ActionScript Adobe After Effects Adobe Creative Cloud software Adobe Dreamweaver Adobe FrameMaker Adobe FreeHand MX Adobe Illustrator Adobe ImageReady Adobe InDesign Adobe Photoshop ArtScope.net eArtist Autodesk 3D Studio Design Autodesk AutoCAD Autodesk Maya C# C++ Camp Software Art Licensing Manager ClassDojo Code Line Art Files

Work Environment & Strengths

Common Strengths for This Career

  • Innovation (High importance: 5.0/5)
  • Tolerance for Ambiguity (High importance: 4.31/5)
  • Achievement Orientation (High importance: 4.24/5)
  • Intellectual Curiosity (High importance: 4.24/5)
  • Initiative (High importance: 4.15/5)

Want to see how YOUR strengths align with this career?

Take Free 15-Min Assessment →

How to Become One

This career typically requires vocational school, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree. Some specialized training or certification may also be required.

Similar Careers to Explore

Also Known As

This career is known by many different job titles across industries. Here are all the variations:

3D Artist (Three Dimensional Artist) 3D Artist (Three-Dimensional Artist) Animated Cartoons Painter Artist Automotive Artist Balloon Artist Blacksmith Book Illustrator Card Painter Caricature Artist Cartoon Artist Cartoonist Character Artist Color Artist Comic Artist Comic Book Artist Comic Book Designer Comic Illustrator Commercial Artist Commercial Illustrator Commercial Retoucher Concept Artist Concrete Sculptor Crayon Painter Custom Motorcycle Painter Delineator Editorial Cartoonist Exhibit Artist Fashion Artist Fashion Illustrator Fine Artist Forensic Artist Freelance Artist Fresco Artist Glass Artist Graphic Illustrator Histological Illustrator Ice Carver Ice Sculptor Illustrator Landscape Artist Landscape Painter Manga Artist Medical Artist Medical Illustrator Motion Picture Cartoonist Motion Pictures Cartoonist Multimedia Illustrator Mural Painter Muralist Newspaper Illustrator Non-Representational Metal Sculptor Oil Painter Painter Patent Illustrator Pattern Illustrator Picture Painter Police Artist Political Cartoonist Portrait Artist Portrait Painter Printmaker Production Illustrator Quick Sketch Artist Reproduction Artist Resident Artist Scene Painter Scenic Artist Scientific Artist Scientific Illustrator Sculptor Set Illustrator Silhouette Artist Sketch Artist Specialty Artist Sports Cartoonist Stained Glass Artist Stained Glass Painter Statuary Painter Statue Maker Suspect Artist Tattoo Designer Technical Artist Technical Illustrator Texture Artist VFX Artist (Visual Effects Artist) Visual Artist Water Colorist Watercolor Artist

Career Fit FAQs

Is this career a good fit for me

This page shows the role itself. To see personal fit, use the assessment to compare your interests, motivations, and strengths against this career and against the role you are in now.

Can this help if I want to stay in my field

Yes. Many people use career pages like this to compare nearby roles in the same field and see whether they need a full switch or a better-fit version of the work they already know.

What should I compare first

Start with the daily tasks, the preparation level, and the work-style signals on this page. Then use the assessment to see whether this role looks like a stronger fit than your current role or just a different title.