While in school, you will also have the opportunity to intern or become an apprentice under a professional in the field you wish to pursue. Coursework at all levels may include life drawing, painting, human anatomy, art history, and visual organization. If you plan to teach at the post-secondary level, you will want to enroll in a master’s program, which also helps further refine and develop your skills and techniques. If you plan to teach at the elementary, middle, or high school level, you may also be required to also earn a teaching certificate. But, some clients and companies that contract your work will prefer you hold a degree as a sign of determination and mental stamina.Īt the bachelor’s degree level, students can narrow their focus with a concentration in drawing or sketching. Of course, if you choose to freelance and branch out on your own, your talent may be the only requirement to obtain clients or show your work. Some employers require a degree, while others require a degree and experience. You may also work independently, sketching in public, capturing life as it happens the way you may need to do in a courtroom setting.Īlthough a degree is usually not a requirement for employment as a sketch artist, aspiring sketch artists should consider obtaining an associate or bachelor’s degree in Art & Design from a college, university or private art school. It’s difficult to judge your own work with clarity.įor the sketch artist, there are often courses devoted entirely to life drawing, and there may be specific programs for forensic or courtroom sketch artist. In this way, there’s a second set of eyes helping you recognize where you need to improve, your strengths and weaknesses, and your progress over time, which are all essential to developing your talent. Art students will have the advantage of working with their instructors to better understand the various techniques and concepts. It also includes technical skills involved with using an array of sketching and shading techniques.īefore you consider going into any field as a sketch artist, you must have a firm mastery of the tools sketch artists use.

This includes learning techniques to better capture proportions and replicate facial features. It’s important to master the skills involved in sketching. Sketch artists can work with a number of mediums, but most often they will sketch with graphite or colored pencils. In order to succeed as a sketch artist, no matter the career field, individuals must have a thorough knowledge and understanding of a number of skills, which include: Fortunately, there are a lot of opportunities to continually extend your education through online courses, seminars, and local events. So, it’s important for artists to continually practice their craft, take seminars and classes that will help them develop new techniques, etc. Art, unlike other careers, is something that evolves over time. Many sketch artists complete two or four-year degrees before they begin their career. In other words, it’s not so much about the degree as it is about the knowledge and ability you’ll gain through coursework, internships, apprenticeships, and mentoring opportunities. Aspiring artists should view education as a learning experience and an opportunity to learn the specific techniques and skills they’ll need to both compete professionally and improve as an artist.

That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t attend classes, pursue a degree, or hone your craft. The arts are unlike many other career fields in that there is usually no educational requirement. Some sketch artists teach while others enjoy working in the field with scientists or cartographers. They construct drawings of people’s features from victims or witnesses’ descriptions. Sketch artists may be employed within an architecture firm creating sketches of buildings and homes, or employed by a police department or correctional facility drawings pictures of victims and the surroundings of a crime scene. Of course, many artists also use sketching to “rough draft” their ideas before using their chosen medium. Some artists display their sketches on the walls of art galleries or museums. Sketch artists had used their talents long before the camera was invented to record history, the proceedings in a courtroom, capturing an author’s vision within the pages of a book, caricatures of adults and children at fairs, and in the advertising and newsrooms of newspapers and magazines. They must have great hand-eye coordination, artistic talent, steady hands and the ability to make realistic drawings come to life. Sketch artists can look at a subject and draw it as close as possible to the original on paper or another similar surface. Realistically, however, a sketch artist is anyone who creates images using sketching techniques. In most cases, the term, “sketch artist” refers to someone who creates sketches for law enforcement.

Courtroom sketch artist