The city of Greensboro, North Carolina is home to an eclectic variety of visual artists successfully pursuing careers in the field of graphic arts among the city's 35,000 (or so) commercial businesses. Corporations and privately funded entities all over Greensboro face an ongoing need for graphic artists, especially those with illustration skills.
Greensboro Schools and Training Programs for Illustrators
Greensboro, North Carolina suffers no shortage of colleges and private art studios that offer classes, workshops and degree programs related to commercial illustration. Aspiring illustrators earning degrees study communication design among other things. Colleges in Greensboro with graphic arts divisions include University of North Carolina at Greensboro, ECPI University and North Carolina Agriculture and Technical State University. Additional non-degree training options are available at the Irene Cullis Art Gallery.
In any case, an ever-growing subset of Greensboro artists are earning technical degrees online. Flourishing accredited virtual design schools include the Academy of Art University, DeVry, Post University, Full Sail University, Stratford Career Institute, University of Phoenix, National University, The Art Institutes and ITT Tech. Additionally, internet-based colleges often feature local campuses and resource facilities. University of Phoenix has a campus in Greensboro.
Working as an Illustrator in Greensboro, North Carolina
Professional illustrators in Greensboro with a creative flair often work for local graphic design firms like Amoroso-Design-Group, Pixelweave-3D, Gloss-Design, Michael-B-Hirsch and Don-Stewart-Illustration, for instance. Technical illustration artists sometimes draw intricate diagrams for Greensboro engineering firms like AFE-Engineering, Carthel-Engineering, Engineered-Concepts, Pippin-Engineering and Law-Engineering, among others. Talented illustrators favoring realism sometimes create anatomical art for local medical illustration companies such as Complex-Medical, Southeast-Medical or Advanced-Medical-Corporation. Other local businesses that hire illustrators include news syndicates, programmers, info tech corporations, photo labs and toy manufacturers.
According to recent data collected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average annual income for a professional illustrator employed full time in the city of Greensboro, North Carolina is about $33,730, with a reported mean hourly wage of around $16.20. Companies in Greensboro employ approximately forty full time illustrators. These figures do not reflect the incomes of local freelance professionals.
Skills of a Professional Illustrator
Professional illustrators are able to draw and color a panoramic assortment of detailed visual designs with stylistic versatility spanning a broad range of topics. Illustrators are skilled with most traditional drawing and coloring methods, as well as with relevant digital design software applications. Popular varieties of illustration design software include Compact Draw, Visio, Real Draw Pro, Micorsoft Expression Design and Zoner Draw. Among other qualifications for paid illustration work are conceptualization, page layout, photography, image retouching and 3D modeling. Also, professional illustrators are typically familiar with various non-visual tasks such as direct mailing, catalog development, online networking and intellectual property rights protection.