Beyond High School

Here's a list of programs that you should consider if you're interested in this career:

• Visual and Performing Arts, General
• Art/Art Studies, General
• Fine/Studio Arts, General
• Drawing
• Intermedia/Multimedia
• Painting
• Sculpture
• Printmaking
• Ceramic Arts and Ceramics
• Fine Arts and Art Studies, Other
• Medical Illustration/Medical Illustrator

Education Level

Education training and experience are required at different levels for success in different occupations.

Post-secondary training, plus work experience

Most fine artists pursue postsecondary education to improve their skills and job prospects. A formal educational credential is typically not needed to be a craft artist. However, it is difficult to gain adequate artistic skills without some formal education. For example, a certificate in an art-related specialty or an associate’s, bachelor’s, or master’s degree in fine arts.

Insider Info

Additional Information

While most artists are born with a certain amount of talent, it takes practice and training to succeed. Many experts recommend university or college programs in fine arts.

If commercial art is what you're interested in, post-secondary training is a must. Again, a university degree is preferable. There are numerous schools that offer this type of training across the United States.

Make sure your program offers some computer and graphic arts training as well.

Get started, if you haven't already, on a portfolio of your work. The sooner you can put one together, the better. "Your work is your resume. It does all the selling for you," says artist Don McMillan.

And most schools will require a portfolio as a prerequisite for admission.

Experts strongly recommend you include more than school projects in your portfolio. "Do some original work," says McMillan. "I was an art director in an advertising agency and I saw a lot of the same old school projects in people's portfolios."