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Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrator resume example

A resume for a Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrator needs to show the work itself: create original artwork using any of a wide variety of media and techniques. Day to day that means work like this: 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. Recruiters and applicant tracking systems both read for the tasks and tools this role actually involves, so the strongest resume names them in your own experience rather than describing the job in the abstract. Below are the tasks O*NET records for this occupation, the software and tools it uses, the titles it is advertised under, and the skills worth naming if they are genuinely yours.

Also advertised as

The same job is posted under many titles. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

  • Artist
  • Fine Artist
  • Painter
  • Sculptor
  • Automotive Artist
  • Blacksmith
  • Ice Carver
  • Illustrator
  • Muralist
  • Portrait Artist
  • 3D Artist
  • Three Dimensional Artist
  • Three-Dimensional Artist
  • Animated Cartoons Painter
  • Balloon Artist
  • Book Illustrator
  • Card Painter
  • Caricature Artist

O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation in total.

What this work actually involves

Tasks recorded for this occupation, in O*NET's words. If your experience covers one of these, it belongs on your resume in your own words.

  • 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.
  • 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.

28 tasks are recorded in total; these are the most central.

Example bullets for this role

Built from this occupation's own tasks. The brackets stay empty on purpose: we will not invent a number for you, and a fabricated metric is the fastest way to lose an interview you had already won.

  • Use materials such as pens and ink, watercolors, charcoal, oil, or computer software to create artwork, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
  • 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, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
  • Confer with clients, editors, writers, art directors, and other interested parties regarding the nature and content of artwork to be produced, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
  • Maintain portfolios of artistic work to demonstrate styles, interests, and abilities, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].

Software used in this role

Recorded for this occupation by O*NET. An applicant tracking system matches the exact product name, so write the tool the way the posting writes it.

  • Adobe Acrobat
  • Adobe ActionScript
  • Adobe After Effects
  • Adobe Creative Cloud software
  • Adobe Dreamweaver
  • Adobe FrameMaker
  • Adobe FreeHand MX
  • Adobe Illustrator
  • Adobe ImageReady
  • Adobe InDesign
  • Adobe Photoshop
  • ArtScope.net eArtist
  • Autodesk 3D Studio Design
  • Autodesk AutoCAD

53 software entries are recorded in total.

Tools and equipment

The physical equipment this occupation is recorded as using. Worth naming when a posting asks for it by name.

  • 23
  • Acrylic paintbrushes
  • Alcohol lamps
  • Angle grinders
  • Artists' fountain pens
  • Artists' palette knives
  • Artists' palettes
  • Ball mills
  • Bevel tools
  • Brazing tools
  • Bush hammers
  • Bust armatures

Skills an ATS reads for

Worth naming only if they are genuinely yours. Keyword overlap is one input to a resume's score, not a verdict.

  • Adobe Illustrator
  • Adobe Photoshop
  • Autodesk Maya

What this job rates as most important

O*NET rates every skill for importance to this occupation. These are the highest rated, in order.

  1. 01Active Learning
  2. 02Critical Thinking
  3. 03Active Listening
  4. 04Judgment and Decision Making
  5. 05Reading Comprehension
  6. 06Speaking

Knowledge areas

The subject knowledge this occupation draws on, rated by importance.

  • Design
  • Computers and Electronics
  • English Language
  • Production and Processing
  • Fine Arts
  • Education and Training
  • Communications and Media
  • Customer and Personal Service

What qualifications people in this job have

From O*NET's survey of people doing this work. This is what postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

  • 37%Some College Courses
  • 35%Bachelor's Degree
  • 27%High School Diploma, or the equivalent

What level this role is pitched at

O*NET places this occupation in “Medium Preparation Needed”. Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.

Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.

Common questions

What does a Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrator do?
Create original artwork using any of a wide variety of media and techniques. Day to day that includes work like use materials such as pens and ink, watercolors, charcoal, oil, or computer software to create artwork and 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.
What skills should a Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrator put on a resume?
O*NET rates Active Learning, Critical Thinking, Active Listening, Judgment and Decision Making, and Reading Comprehension among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.
What software should a Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrator list?
Software recorded for this occupation includes Adobe Acrobat, Adobe ActionScript, Adobe After Effects, Adobe Creative Cloud software, and Adobe Dreamweaver. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.
What other job titles cover Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrator work?
O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation, including Artist, Fine Artist, Painter, and Sculptor. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.
What qualifications does a Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrator need?
In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 37% reported their level of education as "Some College Courses". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.
Will this resume pass an ATS for a Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrator role?
No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Related roles

Occupations O*NET records as closest to this one, and worth looking at if this search is not moving.

What this page cannot tell you

  • No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer’s ATS is configured, including ours.
  • This page makes no claim about pay, demand or how many people hold this job. O*NET does not publish that here and we will not estimate it.
  • Keyword overlap is one input to a resume’s score, not a verdict on you. A resume that names skills you do not have is worse than one that names fewer.

If this is the job you are aiming at, the guide to tailoring a resume covers how to aim one posting properly, and building and exporting a resume here is free.

Occupation data from the O*NET 29.1 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under CC BY 4.0. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. SpartanResume is not endorsed by USDOL/ETA.