The 3 Types of Artists

There are three different kinds of artists.  There is the traditional artist, independent artist, and entrepreneurial artist.  Read the descriptions below and decide which kind best fits your desired career path.

Traditional Artist

The traditional artist is like any other employee of any other company.  They are usually hired on a full-time basis and do assignments that are given to them by their employer.  All of the art that you create is owned by the company and you cannot take it with you when you leave.  Your salary is completely limited to what you and your employer agree upon.  Examples of this kind of artist include working as a game developer for Ubisoft, content creator for Buzzfeed, writer/illustrator for Aza Comics or DC Comics.

Warning:  When working as a traditional artist, be careful of non-compete agreements in your contract.  A non-compete agreement basically says you cannot do anything that directly competes with the company while you’re employed there.  If you work for Ubisoft and someone outside of the company asks you to help them develop a game, you would NOT be able to because of your non-compete agreement.  If caught, your employer could fire you or you could even be sued by the company.

Make sure you read your contracts carefully and you are in complete agreement with the terms of your employment.

Independent Artist

This is the most common type of artist.  Independent artists work for themselves and are hired on a contractual basis.  Basically, their employment ends when the project is finished.  If you’re an actor and you’re hired to do a film, you’re job is finished when you’ve completed all your obligations for that film.  As an independent artist, you set your own salary and you work as much or as little as you want.  Typically, independent artists don’t have to worry about non-compete agreements and they can even work on their own projects.

Entrepreneurial Artists

These kinds of artists include Walt Disney, Steven Spielberg, and Jazmin Truesdale.  Entrepreneurial artists typically have a vision and will create companies to bring that vision to life.  For example, Walt Disney started off working for a film studio, developing animated shorts that would play before feature-length films in movie theaters.  He really wanted to create feature-length animated films and he did that when he started the company we know today as Disney.  His first film, Snow White, was so successful he was able to create more films, merchandising, tv shows, amusement parks and more.  To this day, Disney is known for being able to create an entire experience for its consumers.

Remember, you can be whatever you want.  Everyone has to start somewhere.  If you start off as one kind of artist that doesn’t mean you have to be that kind of artist for the rest of your life.  Walt Disney started as a traditional artist and then became an entrepreneurial artist.  The sky is the limit!