What is the usual day an artist like. (One that is an artist as a profession)

There are so many different artistic professions. You can be a painter who is commissioned by companies to paint portraits, youc n be a photography who is hired by advertising companies and work long days until the job is done. You can be a performer who is on tour 6 months of the year. You can be a sculpture that works for months on 1 project and then display it n a gallery for sale. You could be a creative director who works a 8-5 job in a corporate environment, helping employees get great design for their marketing messages. There are so many different ways to be a professional  artist that there truly isn't a 'usual day' as an artist!

Best wishes!

Vanessa

I have been a creative industry professional since 1985 and have worked on three continents in a variety of different commercial arts businesses from design to production to advertising and even post-production.

Essentially, having a creative talent is a lot like having a strong aptitude for engineering or technology. On one hand you bring substantial passion and vulnerability to any task you tackle, but on the other, you have to remain inspired to bring your rare ability, your unique eye, your sense of style to the surface on every project you work on.

The trick is being able to hone your talent to become ready "on demand", so that you transition from merely being "motivated" or "inspired" to being a consistent force for creative output. That said, everyone has their own unique way of summoning up their creative juices. And when (for whatever reason) those don't flow, you have to create some distraction to force your subconscious mind to pick up the slack.

Some folks meditate, others spend at least an hour a day rummaging through creative websites, periodicals or other materials to jolt them into a creative output state, others prefer to bounce a ball against a wall. There are those who have to go for a walk or play ping-pong or whatever it might take to create some "separation" between you and the thing you are trying to do.

Therefore, there is no specific "day in the life" because different folks respond to different stimuli at different times of the day. But one thing you'll notice when you find yourself in a professional creative environment, is that you will be surrounded by like-minded individuals who enjoy breathing life into projects that all start out in exactly the same way: staring at a blank screen!

That's a great question and you can obtain a different answer from every artist who would be willing to answer.

For me I do graphic design, multimedia design, fine arts so my day is filled with one form of creativity or another.

The day starts off with the check of emails: As a partner in a multimedia design firm, I need to check in for new clients, old clients, team member inquires. And a cup of coffee.

I spend most of the day in concept and customer mode if I'm not teaching, that means I am speaking with potential or existing clients and planning new projects both writing proposals and sketching ideas.

By the end of a normal 9 to 5 work day (and after any goofing off I might have done, including distractions) I am in art mode.

I have loads of notes, sketches, research, studies, plans and ideas compiled from the day and now I can be creative with little or no interruption.

Depending on what project I have both old and new I may be painting or I may be illustrating, I may be creating designs in the software or creating mood boards, mock ups or even out with one of my photographers directing a shoot.

Some days I am doing editing of one of the team members designs or art.

During the semester I am spending part of my day teaching, editing, tutoring, demonstrating.

See every artists has something different they do. Some are not in an overseeing position and may specialize strictly in illustration - a Comic Book Inker may spend the day inking pencils and doing finishes. He/she may crank out 1 page a day or 5 pages a day depending on complexity.

A portrait artists may spend 8 hours on one portrait or 2 hours per portrait on 4 portraits.

A video game concept artist might spend half a day in creative meetings and the other half in conceptualizing and development.

It really depends on what type of artists you are, and who you work for. Are you a freelance painter, do you work 9 to 5 for an agency, do you telecommute on a Just-Get-It-Done time schedule.

There are multiple factors in what a day in the life of an artists might look like. Most artists I work with have more than one concentration and are always in creative mode.

I hope this helps.

Thanks

That’s a great question, Joseph. As the others have covered most of the generalities I will endeavor to answer more personally.

I’m a concept artist in the video games industry. I’ve worked in the industry for more than a decade and my daily process hasn’t changed too drastically over the years.

I work in an office full-time for a company and not as a freelancer or contractor. I check in with my art director to see if they have any comments or directions on the pieces that need to be done. We will usually have kick-off meetings with designers to determine what characters, objects, buildings, etc. need to be created. There my be informal brainstorming or we might schedule additional meetings to come up with ideas as a group. I’ll then spend some time gathering reference material and sketching out some ideas to present to my director by the end of the day.

With a break for lunch and a trip to he gym my day will consist of a similar pattern. Taking ideas to various levels of polish after meeting with team members and getting feedback and direction. Often, feedback won’t be too formal with comments and approvals taking place at impromptu meetings at my desk. Sometimes art directors will take a more formal, hands-on approach and sketch over my illustrations to indicated specific direction and changes.

At at the end of the day I’ll have some pieces taken to different levels of completion and then start the whole thing over the next day. And I do listen to music and/or watch Netflix or other videos while working. It’s often just background noise but it helps to drown out all of the distractions around me since I work in an open office with coworkers doing their own thing.

So that’s a specific and personal look into a day in my life as a concept artist in the video games industry. I hope that this helps. It may sound a little dry but I love this job. The researching and collaborating are great ways of getting the creative juices flowing and then I get to just paint and draw the rest of the day.

Hi Joseph

As the others who responded noted, there are lots of different kinds of artists out there, and it depends. However, you could break it down into two categories: "freelance" and "commercial" artists.

Freelancers are artists who work for themselves. They could be fine artists, photographers, graphic designers, illustrators, and so on. The either have (1.) their own workplace/studio and and are hired by individuals and companies to create artwork, or (2.) they have their own workplace/studio and create artwork of their own ideas and sell it in galleries. They are responsible for getting jobs, for balancing the books, paying the rent, utilities, and whatever is needed for their studio. They are not guaranteed a steady income, and they have to pay for their own health care and retirement savings. As you might guess, this situation can be very successful or very unsuccessful, it depends on many factors. Many fine artists who create artwork from their own ideas have to have other jobs to support themselves. Usually graphic designers go freelance after they have worked for someone else for a few years, and have gotten a good enough reputation for their artwork to succeed on their own. It all depends on the artist's effort, talent, work ethic, contacts, and discipline to succeed.

So the day to day for a freelancer is whatever the artist needs or wants. They make their own schedule; if they want to work all night and sleep all day, or stay home with their kids during the day, it could be possible, for at least some of the time. If they have to have a second job to support themselves, then they have to work that into their daily schedule. I was a freelance graphic designer for a time when I first got out of art school, and I was not successful at it; I didn't have the artistic experience nor the contacts to make it work.

Commercial artists and photographers work for someone else, a design firm, a business, a company and so on as artists, graphic designers, illustrators, photographers and so on. They have a set work schedule (35-40 hours a week) and a set salary, and they can take advantage of whatever benefits their employer offers. This is a less stressful route, but it could also mean less freedom in the artistic sense. These jobs are becoming less common, but some still do exist. Back in the 1980's most department stores had their own fashion illustrators and photographers, now they mostly use freelancers.

So the day to day for commercial artists depends on the company they work for. Usually 35-40 hours a week and some version of Mon-Fri 9-5. My sister in law just retired from working as a graphic designer for a major utility company. She had a great career and made good money, received good benefits, and now has the money to retire in comfort.

So it all depends which route you want to follow. One allows you a lot of freedom but less stability, while the other route gives you more stability, but usually less artistic freedom. Think about what you would like.

I hope this helps.