Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media
Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators
Create original artwork using any of a wide variety of media and techniques.
MAY 2025 · OCCUPATIONAL WAGES
A wage reference for United States.
Published wage percentiles describe a distribution within the source occupation group. They provide context for a career decision; employer packages and job offers have their own terms.
Source wage group: Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators
This wage group may include multiple detailed occupations. The figures are for the source group, which may be broader than Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators. They are not an exact-title, employer, experience or seniority match.
May 2025 · USD · United States. Annual and hourly figures are shown only when the source publishes them; neither is calculated from the other.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics occupational wage data, distributed through the O*NET® OnLine service.
Median annual wage$55,490USD per year · Published 50th percentile
Median hourly wage$26.68USD per hour · Published 50th percentile
Annual wage thresholds
USD per year
Hourly wage thresholds
USD per hour
| Percentile | Annual wage (USD/year) | Hourly wage (USD/hour) |
|---|---|---|
| 10th | $31,630 | $15.21 |
| 25th | $37,560 | $18.06 |
| 50th · Median | $55,490 | $26.68 |
| 75th | $83,200 | $40.00 |
| 90th | $144,210 | $69.33 |
“≥” means at least the published amount; “≤” means at most that amount. These are bounds, not exact values. “Not published” means the source did not provide that figure. Occupational wages follow the source definition and do not establish an employer’s base salary, equity or total compensation.
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THE WORK BEHIND THE TITLE
What this career involves.
Occupation definitions describe common work. Responsibilities and requirements vary by employer and specific job.
Selected title examples
3D Artist (Three Dimensional Artist)3D Artist (Three-Dimensional Artist)Animated Cartoons PainterArtistArtist in Residence (AIR)Automotive ArtistBalloon ArtistBlacksmithBook IllustratorCard PainterCaricature ArtistCartoon Artist
Expand more title examples (48)
CartoonistCharacter ArtistColor ArtistComic ArtistComic Book ArtistComic Book DesignerComic IllustratorCommercial ArtistCommercial IllustratorCommercial RetoucherConcept ArtistConcrete SculptorCrayon PainterCustom Motorcycle PainterDelineatorEditorial CartoonistExhibit ArtistFashion ArtistFashion IllustratorFine ArtistForensic ArtistFreelance ArtistFresco ArtistGlass ArtistGraphic IllustratorHistological IllustratorIce CarverIce SculptorIllustratorLandscape ArtistLandscape PainterManga ArtistMedical ArtistMedical IllustratorMotion Picture CartoonistMotion Pictures CartoonistMultimedia IllustratorMural PainterMuralistNewspaper IllustratorNon-Representational Metal SculptorOil PainterPainterPatent IllustratorPattern IllustratorPicture PainterPolice ArtistPolitical Cartoonist
Typical tasks
- 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.
- Study different techniques to learn how to apply them to artistic endeavors.
Expand more tasks (22)
- 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.
- Photograph objects, places, or scenes for reference material.
- Model substances such as clay or wax, using fingers and small hand tools to form objects.
- Create sculptures, statues, and other three-dimensional artwork by using abrasives and tools to shape, carve, and fabricate materials such as clay, stone, wood, or metal.
- Set up exhibitions of artwork for display or sale.
- Render drawings, illustrations, and sketches of buildings, manufactured products, or models, working from sketches, blueprints, memory, models, or reference materials.
- Shade and fill in sketch outlines and backgrounds, using a variety of media such as water colors, markers, and transparent washes, labeling designated colors when necessary.
- Frame and mat artwork for display or sale.
- Submit artwork to shows or galleries.
- Submit preliminary or finished artwork or project plans to clients for approval, incorporating changes as necessary.
- Collaborate with engineers, mechanics, and other technical experts as necessary to build and install creations.
- Cut, bend, laminate, arrange, and fasten individual or mixed raw and manufactured materials and products to form works of art.
- Provide entertainment at special events by performing activities such as drawing cartoons.
- Develop project budgets for approval, estimating time lines and material costs.
- Create and prepare sketches and model drawings of cartoon characters, providing details from memory, live models, manufactured products, or reference materials.
- Create finished art work as decoration, or to elucidate or substitute for spoken or written messages.
- Create sketches, profiles, or likenesses of posed subjects or photographs, using any combination of freehand drawing, mechanical assembly kits, and computer imaging.
- Trace drawings onto clear acetate for painting or coloring, or trace them with ink to make final copies.
- Apply solvents and cleaning agents to clean surfaces of paintings, and to remove accretions, discolorations, and deteriorated varnish.
- Collaborate with writers who create ideas, stories, or captions that are combined with artists' work.
- Brush or spray protective or decorative finishes on completed background panels, informational legends, exhibit accessories, or finished paintings.
- Teach artistic techniques to children or adults.
Skills used in this work
- Active Learning
- Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Critical Thinking
- Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
- Active Listening
- Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Reading Comprehension
- Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
- Speaking
- Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Expand more skills (29)
- Complex Problem Solving
- Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Social Perceptiveness
- Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Time Management
- Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Writing
- Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Monitoring
- Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Operations Analysis
- Analyzing needs and product requirements to create a design.
- Coordination
- Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Service Orientation
- Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Learning Strategies
- Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
- Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
- Persuasion
- Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
- Quality Control Analysis
- Conducting tests and inspections of products, services, or processes to evaluate quality or performance.
- Systems Analysis
- Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
- Mathematics
- Using mathematics to solve problems.
- Operation and Control
- Controlling operations of equipment or systems.
- Systems Evaluation
- Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
- Equipment Selection
- Determining the kind of tools and equipment needed to do a job.
- Management of Financial Resources
- Determining how money will be spent to get the work done, and accounting for these expenditures.
- Negotiation
- Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
- Management of Material Resources
- Obtaining and seeing to the appropriate use of equipment, facilities, and materials needed to do certain work.
- Troubleshooting
- Determining causes of operating errors and deciding what to do about it.
- Instructing
- Teaching others how to do something.
- Management of Personnel Resources
- Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
- Programming
- Writing computer programs for various purposes.
- Technology Design
- Generating or adapting equipment and technology to serve user needs.
- Equipment Maintenance
- Performing routine maintenance on equipment and determining when and what kind of maintenance is needed.
- Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or programs to meet specifications.
- Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the needed tools.
- Science
- Using scientific rules and methods to solve problems.
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