15 Art Career Options (Animation, Illustration, Design)

hello welcome back to my channel so for today's video I wanted to discuss just many different ways that you can be an artist and have a career as an artist a lot of people usually get the misconception usually the older Generations that art is not really a valid career path but just because I feel like a lot of art careers out there are not as well known they usually get misunderstood but today I just want to present different options and career paths that you can take as an artist and maybe which one would be more appropriate or suitable for you depending on its responsibilities so specifically in today's video I will be discussing careers in the art field that are more in the visual art Department like drawing illustration things that you can visually see there are so many ways to be an artist but I specifically specialize in animation cartoons illustration in that sort of world and if you are an artist that actually is in one of the career paths that are not related to animation or illustration and maybe something that's a little bit more different feel free to share your experience in the comments below so that other people can also gain more awareness of what opportunities are out there and as a reminder Oni Thunder God's tale is now out on Netflix this is the first animated project that I have ever worked on as an assistant director so I would really appreciate it if you checked it out it is a super wholesome cute story but don't be fooled by all the cute characters and stuff because there's still some level of depth and darkness to it which you'll have to just figure out what it is when you watch it so please give it a watch if you are interested in animation Japanese culture and just in general supporting artists working in animation so I'm gonna start off with the first type of job that I myself am currently doing myself which is storyboarding as a story artist you're pretty much bringing a script to what you will eventually be seeing on the screen a lot of storyboards are often just left in black and white and kept as sketches so there's low commitment to like the final art of it if you are someone who often just likes to sketch and you just like to make quick drawings but you don't like to always spend hours and hours and hours on like one specific drawing storyboarding might definitely be up your alley so another common department and animation is character design so when you're a character designer you usually focus more on the look and design and the appeal of the characters who will pretty much be the stars of the show as a character designer you might focus more on like shapes proportions volumes how details of this character's look might contribute to their personality you're really focusing on the characters only and not so much on like ooh the background and as a character designer you might have to work on facial expressions character rotations and making sure that no matter what angle this character is facing or what pose they are in in the story they still represent that character and they kind of look the same and stay consistent throughout the next is visual development which is similar to character design which instead of just focusing on the character you might be focusing more on the overall look of this show and how you're going to make everything look cohesive in one world one environment to stay consistent with this one story basically you're kind of defining the look or the style of this show so a lot of the different looks you'll be developing for certain moments might have to align with how a character is feeling in that moment or how Intense or soft is this moment of the story going to be those are just some things to consider but at the end of the day everything kind of will fall back to story now bringing it into to the CG space CG modeling is another option for anybody who likes to sculpt or create 3D models of characters or props or worlds environments and instead of sculpting it in real life with Clay you're kind of doing it through a program like Maya or blender because when you're creating an animated project you're going to have to create all of the assets that are needed for it such as the characters the props the world Vehicles plants anything really so as a CG modeler you will be developing those assets that will then be passed on to animators to use to bring them to life and that brings me on to animation which there is still a lot of 2D opportunities that exist today but I don't think that there are as many 2D animation opportunities as available as there were in the past like you can probably still find some at titmouse Animation Studios or or at smaller Indie Animation Studios or even overseas in Europe or in Asia but as an animator whether if you're working in 2D or CG you're always focusing more on the character's performance the acting and how they're going to be moving throughout the scene but usually most animated projects will almost always have a need for strong acting and character performance as an animator you're usually going to be looking at a storyboard artist's work to use their work as reference and inspiration but you're going to be the one who's going to be bringing that acting to a whole different level and just pushing it beyond what the boards provided you with so that really is only the tip of the iceberg for the types of opportunities that are in the world of Animation but I just wanted to provide you guys like the basic top things that I could think of and you know as you gain more interest in a certain field and then maybe you can look more into them and then see more specific types of rules like a prop designer storyboard revisionist things like that so moving on to another industry just so we can cover more stuff will be books illustration and the world of publishing so of course this is the other job that I am most familiar with at the moment but it is being a comic book artist graphic novelist where you're pretty much writing a story and illustrating the whole thing to life it is extremely similar to storyboarding like I would say they are cousins because although they are kind of for different Industries they are still requiring very similar skills where you're going to be laying out different scenes with characters doing certain actions or acting that's another job very similar to graphic novels and comic books is just being an author or an illustrator of a book so let's just first say you're just gonna make a whole picture book you can write it and illustrate it simultaneously and it just won't be a graphic novel it will just be like written text with illustrations alongside it to support it and this is often used for picture books but in a way I would say that being an author of a picture book or a graphic novel is kind of like an in-between of a freelance and full-time job because you can in a way be paid a full-time salary but the way that you receive those payments will be broken down into Milestone payments so it's not like you get paid weekly like a regular employee you might just get a huge chunk of a payment for every time you complete a milestone of that project but I would say that being a picture book author slash artist and graphic novel artist is a little bit less stable than being somebody working in the animation industry because this is a little bit more project driven than animation is and you're kind of a little bit more on your own with this one but I would suggest getting an agent because they are the ones that can kind of keep the lookout for you for future opportunities and help extend your longevity as an artist choosing this career path but if you do not want to be the writer or the author behind the book another job opportunity that still lies in the world of books and Publishing is just being an illustrator for books so I know plenty of people in animation who kind of choose this as a side hustle as well where you're not writing or responsible for the story behind the book but you're just providing the drawings and the illustrations for a story that is already written if you want to be an illustrator for a book you might just be more responsible for receiving a copy of the text or what will be written or a general layout of what the book is going to look like and you'll see where the text is laid out but you will be responsible for just where the illustration is placed how this illustration is going to work with the text on these page ages then the other option if you don't want to draw it but it's still a pretty good side hustle option or a good entry level position is being a colorist where instead of just drawing the thing maybe you're already working with an author illustrator who is already providing the story and the illustrations but they just need somebody to help color it so you can just provide coloring for these illustrations that are already existing I think being a colorist is a little bit more unstable and does not have as much longevity it is just a good side hustle especially if maybe you're a student and you just want to dabble in something and being a colorist is more of a short-term commitment that you can take a part of or if you're just a newly graduated person I feel like that's a great opportunity to have or if you're someone who's already working a full-time job and you just want an additional income without having a heavy responsibility being a colorist is a good option but for now those are the roles that I can think of in the books and Publishing world I would say that again this is kind of more in between full-time and freelance because it's not like freelance because you are still binding yourself to this project that is a bigger commitment than a short-term freelance project but at the same time it's not like as stable as a full-time animation job that could take years for you to be a part of and in terms of a book that timeline might be shorter than being in animation so that's why I would say it is kind of like in between a full-time job and a freelance job so speaking of freelance I'm going to move on to that one next where you can be a freelance artist you can provide different services from animations illustrations paintings designs for different clients that reach out to you and I would say the greatest benefit of being a freelancer is that you definitely have the most say in your schedule and you're more in control of it and you're just being provided a task responsibility that you will deliver it whenever the deadline is set but otherwise in between that time and the delivery date you can kind of choose to work on this project whenever you want to the only caveat I will say about being a freelancer is that maybe sometimes it might be a little bit more uncertain and unstable because you have to look out for projects for yourself to line up back to back which yeah in a sense it is similar to animation because you have to line up projects back to back but I feel like from what I've learned from my friends and freelance is that those opportunities tend to be shorter because you're not really working on this project for years some people I know have agents working with them as well being a freelancer so they can again help you with the longevity of your career and find Opportunities to line up for you back to back so they help you create that stability so in a sense I feel like being a freelancer is a little bit more uncertain at times but you do have that ability to just create this name and brand for yourself that could eventually evolve to your own business if you do choose to take it to that path so then another freelance opportunity that is out there and I think is up and coming even more and more these days is being a tattoo artist because as a tattoo artist it's kind of like a freelance job but it's also a full-time job especially if you're hired at a very good shop or if you even started your own business as a tattoo shop owner then great but I feel like as a tattoo artist you have the ability to still create these designs that are fully your own and then provide them to the different clients that you're working with or have them select among the few illustrations that you've already created or there are even times where your client already has an idea of what they want and you can help enhance it so that it translates better when it goes onto their skin I would say that being a tattoo artist is actually a great option for anybody who is comfortable with working with someone and directly on their skin but also if you're thinking about developing your own business or brand a lot of tattoo artists these days are having their own social media platforms where they showcase their work and what type of style they have as a tattoo artist and you know you can eventually develop your own brand or business if that is a path you choose to go for so then next is the world of design now I will just fully admit that this is the world that I am the least familiar with like this is stuff that's a little bit out of my realm but it is a path that was a consideration when I was a high schooler and I didn't know what I wanted to do usually when you're working in a design job you are working with a larger company or brand and sometimes it might be in the tech field fashion field so the first example I will mention is print design because I actually myself interned as a print designer when I didn't really fully know what I wanted to do so for some time in my life as a high schooler I just worked as a print designer in a fashion company where I just pretty much had to collect inspiration for different patterns that suited different timelines like 70s fashion or 80s fashion and you check out different patterns of clothing that might exist that could serve as inspiration for this certain style that the project is currently going for so if you're somebody who really loves creating patterns and working in illustrator that will eventually be seen on apparel or clothing that might be something up your alley but I would say that the act of creating this art is more so focused on the Aesthetics and the design and the appeal more so than like creating a story like animation then next is graphic design I feel like graphic design is usually the most commonly offered art career for anyone who is just you know graduating from an art school and doesn't know what they want to do yet but there are also a lot of great graphic designers out there who really honestly create these logos and designs that make companies look so much more appealing than they actually are so I would say that similar to print design graphic design focuses more on logos or elements that represent a certain company brand you focus more on the visual composition typography you might have to focus more on colors and how all of these elements are going to eventually work together to communicate this idea that represents your client your brand because at the end of the day a lot of consume tumors like to associate themselves with certain brands that align with them so you kind of also have to know what people out there are currently into from my perspective the world of design is a more financially stable career because you're already working with corporate companies or companies that have been existing and have proven to be successful for a very long time I would say that this is a more financially stable career path if you are an artist and you don't really know what you want to do but you just want to create art but I feel like there's always artists who want to create something that has more of an emotional say behind it so I will say that when it comes to graphic design it's not as emotional of a career path to choose so then lastly the last category that I'll discuss in today's video is being self-employed and being a business owner which is kind of almost the dream for any artist I would say but it's not always the dream simultaneously because there will be responsibilities that certain people just don't want so first I will start off with social media pretty much being a valid career path because there are artists out there who have proven for this to be true where you are pretty much representing yourself and your own brand through your art and behind this you will need a strong following of course because usually to be successful on social media you do need to have good engagement and a good number of followers in order for you to be sustainable because you will either be crowdfunding your work like through patreon or through classes that you are providing for your audience or you might be providing merch print or selling your physical artwork to people directly can probably also get paid through sponsorships and working with different brands who are pretty much using your platform as their space for creating ads or you can create a space for ads on your platform or through through your videos like on YouTube where you'll get paid out through AdSense which is the most common one though I would say that being a social media artist is going to start off unstable but it has the ability to grow into a stable career path if you do have the ability to grow a very strong solid following but that is the one caveat I will say is that even though in a way you think you're going to be working for yourself you're still going to need to work for your audience because your platform is mostly going to stay alive due to your following so in a way you're going to need to constantly appeal to them it's kind of going to need to be a happy medium between what you want to do and what your audience wants to see from you and then lastly is being a business owner so I feel like there are a lot of small business shop owners nowadays who directly sell their artwork to their customers and constantly update their shops or you might be somebody who runs a studio who provides services to different companies so that's going to be of course a more tricky career path because you're going to have more financial instability in the beginning but again it can grow into stability very similar to being a social media artist I will say that when it comes to being a business owner your focus is more on providing the product or the service to your customer but you will also need social media on the side to help promote your business or promote your merchandise or promote your products because you will need to find that customer somehow or some way shape or form you're going to have to create that promotion and that advertising for yourself because sometimes honestly some businesses or Brands fail just because they are not good at promoting themselves even though your art and your work is a amazing and great so in conclusion I would say that when it comes to picking the right art career for you you have to ask yourself certain questions and see what it is you want to do at the end of the day because we could all be drawing we could all be painting we could all be designing things but for what purpose that is something that you will probably want to ask yourself so if I were you I would ask myself these questions what type of timeline or schedule would I want to work with because if you're someone who just really cannot stand working under a structured time with a company like working a nine to five maybe that might not be for you and something among the world of freelancing might be more up your alley and then next I would ask do I want my Arch to have a narrative because I feel like what I notice is a lot of Art Fields is that there's either storytelling involved or there's no storytelling involved like you're either designing or drawing something for the sake sake of something look aesthetically pleasing or providing it for a product or there is going to be artwork where you're fully drawing like a whole scene with characters people with emotions who undergo an arc of some sort so if you want to do something that's in storytelling you might want to do something in the world of Animation or publishing but if not and you just want to draw and just call it a day and live your life maybe you might want to do something more in the world of design where you have that Financial stability and then three is how financially risky are you willing to be because if you really cannot afford that Financial Risk of just not having a job then maybe you might want to focus more on a job that starts off more in a corporate world like designing and then gain that Financial stability to then go into animation freelancing or whatever it is you want to do if you feel like hey I still want to do something that might not be as financially stable but I need to develop my finances first it is not a bad idea to just switch later on in life and I feel like there should be no shame in that there are a lot of artists I know who have came from a different career path and it's very normal to do so and I think that it should be more normalized to want to find Financial stability before just jumping the gun and choosing a job that might not be as financially stable so I hope that that ultimately helped you in thinking about what art career might be more suitable for you because it might have to depend on your lifestyle the type of art you want to create and how much time you're willing to invest on certain projects so keep those in mind it's not just about drawing at the end of the day it's not just about painting it's about how you want to live your life I personally knew that the art I created I wanted it to have a story I want to be working with characters and working with some sort of narrative I personally did not find much fulfillment in working in the world of design but that could be different for somebody else out there who enjoys working with design and at the end of the day art doesn't always need to be that deep you know you don't always need to be telling some beautiful emotional story sometimes just want to draw something good design something good and that's it and I don't I don't blame people for that so here are just the options that exist for anybody who is just getting started in their careers and maybe just starting in one of these career paths might help you get a better understanding of what you might want to do in the future so thanks for watching this video I will see you in the next one so peace out and stay hosts on dishes [Music] thank you [Music]

Channel: mewTripled

Views: 75,591

Keywords: animation, art, artists, money, finances, business, book, publishing, graphic novel, anime, manga, cartoon, artist, illustrator, freelance, income, how much i make, full time artist, art career, career, animation industry, storyboard artist, storyboard, los angeles, california, directing, director, schedule, time management, balance, manage time, a week in my life

Id: jLTqW353Z6E

Length: 23min 49sec (1429 seconds)

Published: Fri Oct 28 2022