11 Art Careers To Consider (Salaries And Duties)

Updated 17 March 2023

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An artistic career can provide you with multiple opportunities to demonstrate your creativity and passion for art. Several thriving industries, such as digital marketing, graphic design and animation, offer positions in which you interact with artistic people, complete collaborative projects, promote your creations and build your career. Understanding what jobs are available is helpful for better understanding how your qualifications contribute to your goal of succeeding in the industry. In this article, we discuss 11 art careers to begin your exploration of the industry and help you determine your path.

Salary figures reflect data listed on Indeed Salaries at time of writing. Salaries may vary depending on the hiring organisation and a candidate's experience, academic background and location.

What Are Art Careers?

Art careers refer to jobs in which individuals with creative tendencies produce works of art, supervise the restoration of artworks, interpret meanings of archived creations or use their expertise to evaluate the worth of pieces. Job prospects include creative individuals with a passion for designing art, such as painters, sculptors and teachers who guide art students in their projects. Careers expand across the creative industries, involving other sectors such as fashion, media and entertainment, in positions such as marketer, content writer, illustrator or set designer.

11 Art Career Options

Multiple career prospects in several industries are available for artists and those with relevant backgrounds. Many job roles allow you to create, sell, promote, collect and display art in public galleries. Consider the following 11 art career prospects to start building your career as a successful artist:

1. Cake Decorator

National average salary: ₹2,64,019 per year

Primary duties: Cake decorators may design and arrange cakes according to customers' specifications and preferences for special occasions such as weddings and birthdays. People working as cake decorators are aware of the latest styles and techniques in cake decoration. Their responsibilities include providing and executing instructions on cake designs and packing items for delivery. Cake designers assist baking staff with producing innovative confectionery and icing them according to standard styles. Most own bakeries and work with a small team. Commercial and retail bakeries, restaurants, hotels and catering businesses appoint cake decorators to their confectionery teams.

2. Photographer

National average salary: ₹2,61,267 per year

Primary duties: Photographers working in the media field use their cameras to capture images of sensitive incidents or memorable occasions. Many types of photographers focus on taking pictures of different matters. Some arrange photo shoots for the fashion industry under controlled circumstances and supervised settings. Another type of photographer focuses on taking pictures of wildlife. Many work for news outlets and publish photos of candid and descriptive situations. They typically work for designated companies and media houses, but some work on a freelance basis.

3. Graphic Designer

National average salary: ₹2,62,617 per year

Primary duties: Graphic designers are responsible for designing creatives for sales, marketing and promotional materials. They combine images, typography and animated graphics to produce a design. Such designers use paid and unpaid computer software to create visual ideas for print and digital media that communicate with and captivate customers. Graphic designers choose colour palettes and text fonts to design logos and other visual assets to promote brand images. With the help of design software, they make digital illustrations and gather feedback through client interactions.

4. Animator

National average salary: ₹2,67,403 per year

Primary duties: Animators are multimedia artists who use their creativity to narrate a story on a virtual medium. They create image sequences of drawings and puppets for films, video games or other visual productions. Also known as digital cartoonists, they collaborate with writers and directors to design settings, sketch characters, draft new patterns and animate their illustrations by adding facial expressions using computer software. This art career option allows you to work for various companies within the media and entertainment industry, as part of a team or on a freelance basis.

5. Art Teacher

National average salary: ₹2,72,790 per year

Primary duties: Art professors teach students to produce art across multiple genres of traditional and digital media. Such teachers work with several materials, including clay, canvases, paper, dyes and textiles. Art instructors lecture their students about art history, techniques for creating art and concepts such as colour theory or drawing. They guide students in completing artwork by demonstrating proven artistic processes. Art teachers work at schools, teaching students how to paint and create sculptures and ceramics. Some art instructors engage with social workers and host art lessons at various community homes.

6. Website Designer

National average salary: ₹2,79,390 per year

Primary duties: A website designer's main responsibilities include creating layouts of website pages and generating visual elements for digital sites. They meet clients, record and understand their website design preferences and outline web pages based on briefs and add-on creative elements. Some web designers use advanced software to create draft designs or sample websites. They may use computer codes to test visual features of the website and ensure functionality. Website designers and computer programmers sometimes partner to make digital features such as animations, landing pages and easy-access portals.

7. Fashion Designer

National average salary: ₹2,79,152 per year

Primary duties: Fashion designers use their creative acumen to sketch designs and produce original clothing collections and accessories such as footwear and jewellery. They research current fashion trends and use art concepts to create new styles. Fashion designers sketch client outfits, utilise colours and fractal patterns, select textile materials and collaborate with tailors to monitor the creation of new clothing and accessories. Such work often requires adhering to minute details and adjusting their design ethics to ensure client satisfaction. Typically, fresher fashion designers begin their careers by assisting senior designers in a fashion house or retail company.

8. Tattoo Artist

National average salary: ₹2,99,778 per year

Primary duties: These creative experts may work in a tattoo studio and draw permanent tattoos on clients' skin. These artists receive training from mentors before opening their studios. Their job includes working with clients and tracing their designs on paper. Before they draw the tattoo, they clean the equipment and select the right colour combination to produce the desired visual outcome. Several tattoo artists work for established parlours where they complete their internship before advancing to more senior design roles. Some travel to their clients for tattooing appointments.

9. Interior Designer

National average salary: ₹3,10,610 per year

Primary duties: Interior designers style and arrange a house's inner space to make it more functional and beautiful. They determine the space's requirements and decide on essential decorative elements such as texture, colour, lighting materials, fixtures, floor plans and window themes. After conducting thorough research, interior designers may verify that the home plan follows all legal guidelines. They present their design to clients to verify that it matches their specificities. Such artistic designers sometimes use blueprints and sketches to mark the re-designed spaces. Interior designers may work as individual contractors or be part of an established firm.

10. Artist

National average salary: ₹3,30,221 per year

Primary duties: An artist is a person who participates in creating and demonstrating art across several media such as fine arts and digital art forms. An artist may be responsible for painting, sculpting, designing and sketching new graphics on software. They craft outlines for art pieces or collaborate with clients to ideate variations. Many experienced artists assist patrons in identifying the valuation of artwork based on its materials and labour time. Some work for advertising companies and publishing houses to develop artistic designs for businesses, while others work on a contractual basis.

11. Curator

National average salary: ₹5,14,479 per year

Primary duties: Curators are typically in charge of exhibit collections in an art gallery or museum. They examine pieces to determine if they are legitimate and fit specific criteria. Curators supervise exhibits, preserve valuable artwork and raise funds for several public presentations. Furthermore, curators find multiple ways to interpret and publish historical objects, manuscripts and archives. They might interact with several multimedia project managers such as audio presenters and documentary experts to spread awareness of their work.