How to Become an Illustrator in Tacoma, Washington

The city of Tacoma, Washington represents a treasure trove of opportunities in the field of commercial graphics.  Visually talented Tacoma artists frequently find work among the city's  nearly 30,000 flourishing local businesses.  Potential employers of local artists are especially interested in those who possess advanced illustration technique.

Tacoma Schools and Training Programs for Illustrators

Tacoma is accessible to several colleges and numerous independent fine art studios that offer training for aspiring commercial illustrators.  Tacoma colleges with renowned graphic arts departments include Central Washington University, Tacoma Community College, Bates Technical College and Lesley College Graduate School.

At the same time, visual artists in Tacoma today tend to obtain technical skills and professional degrees online.  Successful accredited virtual colleges of commercial graphic design include The Art Institutes, Full Sail University, Stratford Career Institute, National University, DeVry, ITT Tech and University of Phoenix.  Quite a fair number of accredited online schools provide convenient supplemental local campuses and training facilities.  University of Phoenix has a campus in Tacoma. 

Working as an Illustrator in Tacoma, Washington

Illustrators residing in Tacoma, Washington are often employed by local graphic design firms like Donahue Graphic Design, Corey Macourek, Vista Graphics, Syndrome Graphics and Felipe Graphic Design Solutions, for instance.  Other local illustrators team up with Tacoma tattoo facilities like Tsunami Tattoo, Voodoo Tattoo, All Star Tattoos or Flaming Dragon. 

Many local artists draw technical illustrations for top Tacoma engineering associations like Petra Engineering, Dennis Martin, Parsons Transportation Group Hurley Engineering and Terracon, among others.  Precision artists sometimes work for local medical illustration services such as Mark Forrer, Random Services or Farrell Illustration.

According to national employment data recently collected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, full time professional illustrators employed by companies in Tacoma, Washington claim an average annual income of about $49,200, with a reported mean hourly wage of around $23.65.  These figures, however, do not reflect the employment situation of part time professionals or local freelance illustrators. 

Skills of a Professional Illustrator

Professional illustrators are versatile visual artists who are able to draw and color just about anything.  Illustrators create logos, promotional products, banner ads, signs, flags, flyers, brochures, posters and all kinds of other commercial visual designs.  Illustrators are fully familiar with traditional drawing methods and techniques, as well as with various digital design software packages like Corel Draw, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Premier, Simply-3D and Flash Animation.