Artist Resume Example
Focus on distinct accomplishments, tech-savviness, and smoothly flowing design elements to successfully showcase your art career.
Putting your best brush forward on paper or canvas—or within the marvelous, pixelated realms you create—is as natural to you as singing is to songbirds. But are you hitting a wall when it comes to writing about your work experience and artistic feats? Well, don’t sweat it. We have some easy-to-follow guidance for you, and we’ve assembled an artist resume example that’ll convincingly display how you’ve put your aesthetic sense to productive use.
In terms of the writing itself, here are three straightforward rules to start you off:
- Always be specific.
- Avoid a passive voice—use action verbs and direct, active sentences.
- Don’t use abbreviations or slang—you can opt for some informal language in your cover letter, but that’ll depend on the nature of the position.
But first, whip up a vivid summary that encapsulates your career as an artist so far. Then, in addition to your job history, a section for exhibitions and gallery shows—along with a bibliography and shoutouts to any prominent collections your pieces may be included in—can round out your credentials.
If you feel blocked at all, check out our artist resume example below, but just take it as a jumping-off point for what kind of info and skills you should highlight. Design-wise, this template is rather basic, with some bones for you to flesh out and invigorate with your own personal style as a teaser for your portfolio. And even if you’re strictly a visual type, remember to make a special effort to remove typos, malaprops, and usage errors too.
Artist Resume Example
JANE LANE
ARTIST
website.com/portfolio | jane@email.com | 555-555-5555 | Austin, TX 00000 | linkedin.com/jane.lane
Resourceful and imaginative creative known for creating photorealistic art in traditional and digital mediums. Proven ability to translate concept sketches into expressive 3D characters with a full range of emotions and mechanics. Responsive communicator who accepts feedback openly and implements changes rapidly for high customer satisfaction and on-time completion of project objectives.
KEY SKILLS
Hand-Drawing & Sketching | Digital Illustration | Visual Storytelling
Acrylic, Watercolor, & Gouache Painting | 2D & 3D Animation | Sequential Drawing & Storyboards
Multimedia Design | Digital Composites | Concept Drawings & Renderings
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Artist | Company One | website.com | 20XX-20XX
- Created graphics and illustrations for short films, books, and advertisements, leveraging 2D and 3D animation skills to impart movement, realism, and depth to characters and scenes.
- Built rapport with clients, securing repeat business through clear communication, consistent follow-through, and high-quality finished products, which led to exceptional client satisfaction.
- Selected to lead a team of 5 illustrators, animators, and digital designers to create print and digital assets for a global media expo.
Illustrator | Company Two | website.com | 20XX-20XX
- Hand-drew and painted over 200 highly detailed, scaled-to-size illustrations for a major medical textbook.
- Transformed author’s concept into reality, creating watercolor illustrations for a best-selling children’s picture book.
Video Game Artist | Company Three | website.com | 20XX-20XX
- Collaborated with a team of designers, artists, developers, and writers to build and launch an action-adventure video game that garnered over 1M downloads within its first month of release.
- Developed backgrounds, characters, and assets for fantasy-themed video games, demonstrating strengths in humanoid and creature animation, texturing, and shading.
- Created original concept art, storyboards, and renderings for a game-based comic anthology.
TECHNICAL SKILLS
Adobe: Photoshop and Illustrator, Autodesk 3ds Max, Godot, Blender, Maya, ZBrush, and Unity.
EDUCATION
MFA in Graphic Design | University One | Austin, TX
BA in Illustration | College One | Austin, TX
Ready to get started? You can download this artist resume template in Word.
Guess what? The Bureau of Labor Statistics is foreseeing a rosy future for artists. They list faster-than-average job-growth rates for both craft/fine artists and art directors over the next decade. That’s 14% growth—about 5,900 job openings each year—and 11% growth—about 11,500 openings each year—respectively. All the more reason to glean some ideas from our artist resume example and ensure yours is up-to-date.
Meanwhile, want some data on the salaries for artists in your location? Then scan through Monster’s nifty Salary Tools. The site is very simple to use. You’ll see that the median salary for artists/illustrators is $21.71 per hour, and that can range between $16.52 and $37.74. Start searching for illustration jobs or consider these other artist-related roles:
If you need to expand further, browse around all the art jobs available on Monster.
Invoke Your Muse With Monster’s Artist Resume Example
Visual dynamics and aesthetic concepts—these are your inherent strengths. So there’s no need for you to waste time on anything else. Our certified resume experts can help you reach that master stroke by optimizing your content with a modernized approach, keywords relevant to your industry, and some professional-summary refurbishing to match your career goals. We’ll assist with any redecorating too if you want some design feedback. And if your resume hasn’t been updated in a while, we’ll apply a fresh coat of paint to swiftly get you back on your way.