How To Become A Fine Artist: What It Is and Career Path

What is a fine artist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

Quoted Expert

Tess Elliot

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a fine artist. For example, did you know that they make an average of $29.65 an hour? That's $61,680 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 6% and produce 2,900 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a Fine Artist?

Tess Elliot

Assistant Professor, University of Oklahoma

Stay true to yourself. Be patient and have confidence in yourself and your work. Artists early in their careers often don't make money from their work. This is okay. Find a way to support yourself while continuing to make and share your work and things will fall into place. Seek out that unique path to career fulfillment.

ScoreFine ArtistUS Average

Salary

4.8

Avg. Salary $61,680

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

3.5

Growth Rate 6%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

4.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.84%

Asian 7.68%

Black or African American 4.34%

Hispanic or Latino 14.25%

Unknown 5.92%

White 66.98%

Gender

female 59.83%

male 40.17%

Age - 39

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 39

Stress Level

3.5

Stress level is moderate

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

6.1

Complexity Level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

7.7

Work Life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a fine artist

Explore fine artist education requirements

Most common fine artist degrees

Bachelor's

68.8 %

Associate

12.8 %

Master's

9.3 %

Start to develop specific fine artist skills

Skills	Percentages
Graphic Design	11.42%
Sculpture	9.15%
Adobe Photoshop	8.98%
Portfolio	8.70%
Fine Arts	8.30%

Research fine artist duties and responsibilities

Manage studio workload and advise print direction to in-house and freelance cad artists.
Create sculpture, illustrations, and cartoons for private customers
Utilize social media platforms including Facebook to connect with college community.
Conceptualize and develop terrain models using Maya and partner with director and animators to correspond and produce effective shots.

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