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What does a fine artist do?

Updated January 8, 2025
6 min read
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Fine artist responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real fine artist resumes:

  • 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.
  • Perform typesetting duties when necessary.

Fine artist skills and personality traits

We calculated that 11% of Fine Artists are proficient in Graphic Design, Sculpture, and Adobe Photoshop. They’re also known for soft skills such as Business skills, Customer-service skills, and Interpersonal skills.

We break down the percentage of Fine Artists that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Graphic Design, 11%

    Specialized in pet portraits, graphic design, paintings, drawings, ceramics, and photography.

  • Sculpture, 9%

    Coordinated project with children's art workshops, children contributed artwork from 3 states for Paper Sculpture Painting, Phoenix Rising.

  • Adobe Photoshop, 9%

    Scanned pictures and retouched when necessary using Adobe PhotoShop.

  • Portfolio, 9%

    Maintain portfolio and website of my work to demonstrate styles, interests, and all newpieces to generate new sales.

  • Fine Arts, 8%

    Combined knowledge of fine arts and digital mediums to create appealing works of art.

  • Watercolor, 7%

    Created hundreds of original art works in oils, watercolor, colored pencil and mixed media.

"graphic design," "sculpture," and "adobe photoshop" are among the most common skills that fine artists use at work. You can find even more fine artist responsibilities below, including:

Business skills. One of the key soft skills for a fine artist to have is business skills. You can see how this relates to what fine artists do because "craft and fine artists must promote themselves and their art to build a reputation and to sell their art." Additionally, a fine artist resume shows how fine artists use business skills: "freelance graphic design or art for small businesses and individuals. "

Customer-service skills. Another essential skill to perform fine artist duties is customer-service skills. Fine artists responsibilities require that "craft and fine artists, especially those who sell their work themselves, must be good at dealing with customers and prospective buyers." Fine artists also use customer-service skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "implemented automated tools to improve customer experience and product knowledge. "

Interpersonal skills. This is an important skill for fine artists to perform their duties. For an example of how fine artist responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "artists should be comfortable interacting with people, including customers, gallery owners, and the public." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a fine artist: "assisted with sculpture assembly and installation using interpersonal skills and multi-tasking skills to create a piece of artwork".

Artistic ability. fine artist responsibilities often require "artistic ability." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "craft and fine artists create artwork and other objects that are visually appealing or thought provoking." This resume example shows what fine artists do with artistic ability on a typical day: "commissioned to create artistic works for clients / sale of various works, specializing in watercolor. "

Creativity. Another crucial skill for a fine artist to carry out their responsibilities is "creativity." A big part of what fine artists relies on this skill, since "artists must have active imaginations to develop new and original ideas for their work." How this skill relates to fine artist duties can be seen in an example from a fine artist resume snippet: "web designs for creative professionals. "

All fine artist skills

The three companies that hire the most fine artists are:

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Compare different fine artists

Fine artist vs. Apprentice, painter, landscape

Technical illustrators create drawings or illustrations for various technical documentation through digital technology. Aside from being familiar with IT and design software, they have strong creativity and imaginative skills to provide illustrations that express an idea or concept. Also, they are excellent in drawing, painting, sketching, and photography. To become an effective technical illustrator, one must obtain a bachelor's degree related to graphic design and illustration since the job involves creating a diagram that depicts how a certain machine works visually.

If we compare the average fine artist annual salary with that of an apprentice, painter, landscape, we find that apprentices, painter, landscape typically earn a $26,181 lower salary than fine artists make annually.

These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a fine artist are more likely to require skills like "artist statement," "graphic design," "sculpture," and "adobe photoshop." On the other hand, a job as an apprentice, painter, landscape requires skills like "grass," "mowing," "shovels," and "prune." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.

The education levels that apprentices, painter, landscape earn slightly differ from fine artists. In particular, apprentices, painter, landscape are 6.8% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a fine artist. Additionally, they're 0.2% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Fine artist vs. Technical illustrator

Technical illustrator positions earn lower pay than fine artist roles. They earn a $8,852 lower salary than fine artists per year.A few skills overlap for fine artists and technical illustrators. Resumes from both professions show that the duties of each career rely on skills like "graphic design," "adobe photoshop," and "digital photography. "

Each career also uses different skills, according to real fine artist resumes. While fine artist responsibilities can utilize skills like "artist statement," "sculpture," "portfolio," and "watercolor," technical illustrators use skills like "adobe illustrator," "engineering drawings," "technical illustrations," and "solidworks."

Average education levels between the two professions vary. Technical illustrators tend to reach lower levels of education than fine artists. In fact, they're 6.2% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.2% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Fine artist vs. Medical illustrator

On average, medical illustrators earn lower salaries than fine artists, with a $9,536 difference per year.fine artists and medical illustrators both have job responsibilities that require similar skill sets. These similarities include skills such as "graphic design," "adobe photoshop," and "web design," but they differ when it comes to other required skills.

There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a fine artist is likely to be skilled in "artist statement," "sculpture," "digital photography," and "portfolio," while a typical medical illustrator is skilled in "animation," "adobe creative suite," "physiology," and "maya."

Medical illustrators typically earn higher educational levels compared to fine artists. Specifically, they're 12.9% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Fine artist vs. Mural painter

Mural painters average a lower salary than the annual salary of fine artists. The difference is about $17,534 per year.According to resumes from fine artists and mural painters, some of the skills necessary to complete the responsibilities of each role are similar. These skills include "adobe photoshop," "sketch," and "powerpoint. "

Even though a few skill sets overlap between fine artists and mural painters, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a fine artist might have more use for skills like "artist statement," "graphic design," "sculpture," and "digital photography." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of mural painters require skills like "apartment building," "art projects," "cultural history," and "adobe creative suite. "

Mural painters reach lower levels of education compared to fine artists, in general. The difference is that they're 7.3% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.2% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Types of fine artist

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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