By Subhamay Basu – Artist and Graphic Designer; Proprietor – Graphite Studio; Director – Janus Cultural Society, White Cube
Up to late 80s parents, especially from middle-class society do not think about taking Art as a career. To them Artist means vagabond. To them, Artist means no money. Things started changing from the late 80s and from mid-90s with the popularisation of the internet. The definition of Art was also started changing. The scopes and variety of medium are also multiplied. And now with the software imaginations can be transformed into the shape of an art piece. Now, what you can imagine you can get that with the software. So the basic skill of doing manually is not very important. Important is to develop the power of imagination and identifying what is good art and what is not.
So, the basic steps for taking applied art as a career are as follows:
Step I: To explore good Art
Step II: To improve the power of imagination
Step III : To improve the skills with different available apps.
If anyone wants to take the fine art as a career then the steps are as follows:
Step I: To explore good Art
Step II: To practice art on a regular basis manually and with apps.
Step III: To know the history of Art
Step IV: Exploring different medium in the initial stage
Whether you choose to specialize in fine art or the history of art, the skills you gain during your degree are likely to be highly valued and transferable to many sectors, including specialized art careers as well as many general graduate roles. Alongside a range of practical arts skills, art graduates should also have good observational, analytical and research skills, including the ability to solve problems creatively and work well both independently and in groups.
Some of the Art careers are :
- Fine artist
- Illustrator
- Photographer
- Animator
- Graphic Designer
- Arts administrator
- Printmaker
- Teacher/university lecturer
- Set Designer
- Production Artist
What is the scope of Bachelor of Fine Arts?
BFA is internationally accepted programme offering specialization in Painting, Applied Art, Photography and Sculpture. Intensive studio and outdoor study in manual and digital mode.
Career options
Students can attain job positions as Visual Artist, Freelancer and Creative Designers. Other career opportunities such as Product Designer, Set Designer, Exhibition Designer, Landscape Designer, Illustrator, Curator in art galleries and post production house/ broadcasting units.
Which stream in arts has a better scope? Fine arts or commercial art?
Commercial art has better scope. In Fine arts, you have a scope if you can create a business out of it. Socialize, built good contacts, exhibit at various galleries. Once you have created a name for yourself, it is not a big problem but till then, you have to grind in a smart way.
Courses and duration
There are a large number of certificate, diploma and degree level courses in fine arts courses that are offered by various Institutions. You can also pursue postgraduate & Ph.D courses in Fine Arts. The duration of the courses varies from 1 to 5 years.
Diploma Course:
Diploma in Fine Arts: It is one year course. This course can be pursued after class 12th.
Undergraduate Courses:
Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) or Bachelor of Visual Arts (BVA): The duration of this course is 4 to 5 years.
Postgraduate Course:
Master of Fine Art (MFA) or Master in Visual Arts (MVA): It is two years duration programme.
How much does an artist make a year?
Although the most successful mid-level visual artists made more than 8-7 lacs per year in India, and a senior artist can earn up to 25-30lacs. This income is standard for Commercial Artist, who are working for any good creative agency. For fine artists it cannot be quantified as it will depend on many more criteria.