Timothy Sexton is an award-winning writer who has published more than 6,000 articles on such topics as film, television, politics, fitness, health, travel, sports and recreation. He has a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of West Florida and is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists.
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Art CareersThere exists today more potential career paths for those with a drawing talent than ever before. The unique gifts possessed by those who can use a piece of paper and pen or pencil to bring their imagination to life are sought every day across a wide spectrum of job types. While not every career listed may be an artist's dream job, they should all be considered positive ways to use your talent and make a living while you continue to pursue those dreams.
Medical Illustrator
Anatomy textbooks are always being updated, especially as the latest in imaging technology reveals more secrets about the inner workings of the human body. In addition to drawing parts of the human body for use in standard paper-based textbooks, artists who are able to draw using software can find jobs creating medical illustrations for state of the art software programs.
Animators
Computers may have changed the method by which animated films are made, but the foundation remains the same. Each frame of a cartoon must still be drawn separately and each frame includes many different elements including foreground, background and characters. The ability to draw will never go out of style in the world of animation.
Technical Illustration
A technical illustrator's job is to draw those line figures you see in textbooks, how-to manuals and instructions. Imagine a world of instruction manuals without accompanying illustrations that show where "Slot A" is and how "Section B" fits into it. Without proper illustrations, most instructional material would be even more frustrating that it already is.
Cartographer
Although it may seem as if a map has already been made of every part of the world, the truth is that map drawing is still very much a viable career path. Maps are needed for industries such as mining and drilling, political interests, and regional and municipal planning. Illustrators can be called upon to create simple 2-D line maps as well as far more sophisticated 3-D computer modeling.
Fashion Designer
Before those beautiful outfits ever make it onto skinny models on the catwalk, they begin as simple color drawings. The fashion industry runs the gamut from haute couture to off the rack and every single item must first be conceived in the imagination and then transformed into a drawing before the money is spent to create it from material and fabric.
