Info on Working as an Illustrator in New York

The state of New York is home to about one-and-three-quarter million commercial businesses and many thousand talented visual artists pursuing careers.  Fortunately, New York corporations support an ongoing demand for commercial graphic artists, especially in the highly technical field of illustration.

New York Schools and Training Programs for Illustrators

Many colleges, Universities and independent art academies throughout the state of New York offer classes and professional training in commercial illustration.  Aspiring illustrators at New York colleges typically major in fine arts and/or communication design.  Local colleges with fine arts divisions include Albany's College of Saint Rose, Bryant and Stratton in Amherst, Sanford-Brown Institute in Melville, Everest Institute in Rochester and Syracuse University in Syracuse.  Popular New York City schools of graphic arts include Marymount Manhattan College, Fashion Institute of Technology, Pace University and several dozen more.

Nevertheless, untold numbers of New York artists are acquiring skills and degrees online.  Popular accredited virtual graphic design colleges include National University, Academy of Art University, Post University, DeVry, Full Sail University, Stratford Career Institute, University of Phoenix, The Art Institutes and ITT Tech.  Many accredited online schools also feature local campuses.  ITT Tech maintains facilities in Albany, Getzville and Liverpool.  The Art Institute has a New York City campus.  DeVry offers three New York City locations, two in Manhattan and one in Queens.

Working as an Illustrator in New York

Many creative illustrators residing in New York State do commercial artwork for local graphic design firms such as Pixel Graphics in Manhattan, Electrifying Graphics in Brooklyn, ACV Graphics in Huntington, EZ Graphics in Buffalo and Gelina Graphics in Germantown, for instance.  Other local artists create technical illustrations for New York state engineering firms like  Goodkind & O'Dea in New York City, Eberlin & Eberlin in New Rochelle, Abate Engineering in Buffalo, Dewkett Engineering in Rhinebeck and Encotech in Schenectady, among others.  Some New York illustrators work for local medical illustration companies like Illustr8-Medical-Illustrations in Gloversville, Medical Marketing and Illustration in Westbury, Murphy Keelin Medical Illustration in Stony Brook, Illustrations and Illusions in Farmingdale or Medical and Scientific Illustration on Staten Island.  Other corporations in the state of New York that hire illustrators include videographers, educational media providers, greeting card companies, event coordinators and interior decorators, to name only a few. 

The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that full time professional illustrators employed at businesses in the state of New York claim to earn about $55,770 per year on average, with a reported mean hourly wage of around $26.80.  New York companies employ roughly 1,120 full time illustration professionals, not including local freelancers. 

Skills of a Professional Illustrator

Professional illustrators are versatile artists who specialize in drawing and coloring intricate, detailed images.  Illustrators are often experienced with animation, nature studies, scientific illustrations and numerous other commercial visual displays.  Professional illustration artists are usually fully familiar with more than one digital illustration software program.  Popular varieties include Diagram Designer, Adobe InDesign, Quark Xpress, Ulead-Photo-Impact and Auto-CAD.