How To Become A Portrait Artist: What It Is and Career Path

What is a portrait artist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

Quoted Expert

Michalis Andronikou PhD

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a portrait artist. For example, did you know that they make an average of $39.24 an hour? That's $81,628 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 6% and produce 2,900 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a Portrait Artist?

Michalis Andronikou PhD

Lecturer, Website

Be open-minded and creative. You may need to combine a few different skills to find your own professional path.

ScorePortrait ArtistUS Average

Salary

6.4

Avg. Salary $81,628

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

3.5

Growth Rate 6%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.9

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.63%

Asian 7.71%

Black or African American 4.35%

Hispanic or Latino 14.30%

Unknown 5.56%

White 67.45%

Gender

female 61.48%

male 38.52%

Age - 39

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 39

Stress Level

3.5

Stress level is moderate

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

6.1

Complexity Level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

7.7

Work Life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a portrait artist

Explore portrait artist education requirements

Most common portrait artist degrees

Bachelor's

62.8 %

Associate

17.2 %

High School Diploma

8.9 %

Start to develop specific portrait artist skills

Skills	Percentages
Customer Service	45.30%
Adobe Photoshop	15.89%
Graphite	14.28%
Sketch	13.88%
Graphic Design	10.66%

Research portrait artist duties and responsibilities

Paint and market fine art.-Produce original watercolor artwork-Coordinate with galleries-Work with publishers for reproduction contracts-Teach watercolor workshops-Wrote watercolor instruction book
Create, market and sell original artwork in oil, acrylic, charcoal and various media.

Prepare your portrait artist resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your portrait artist resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a portrait artist resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Portrait Artist Resume templates

Build a professional Portrait Artist resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Portrait Artist resume.

Apply for portrait artist jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a portrait artist job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do portrait artists rate their job?