Tips on Becoming an Illustrator in Baltimore, Maryland

The city of Baltimore, Maryland is a busy little metropolis featuring more than 85,000 local companies.  Talented visual artists in Baltimore, especially artists who can illustrate, consistently find work among the city's many commercial businesses.  Illustrators draw everything from company logos to fictional characters to realistic portraits to background scenery to man made inventions and so much more. 

Baltimore, Schools and Training Programs for Illustrators

Baltimore features several graphic design colleges and more than enough independent art schools that offer classes and professional degree programs for aspiring illustrators.  Baltimore artists-in-training often study computer science, photography and digital design in addition to traditional visual arts.  Baltimore schools of illustration and graphic arts include Johns Hopkins University, American Career Institute, Maryland Institute College of Art and University of Maryland.  Local illustration artists seeking casual or private instruction often attend Access-Art, Baltimore-School-of-the-Arts or the Painting-Workshop-of-Mount-Washington.

Viable educational alternatives for Baltimore artists include acquiring technical skills and earning degrees online.  Among the more successful accredited online schools of fine arts are the Academy of Art University, Post University, Full Sail University, Stratford Career Institute, University of Phoenix, The Art Institutes, DeVry and ITT Tech.  Internet-based colleges often provide supplemental physical locations.  University of Phoenix, DeVry and ITT Tech all maintain campuses near Baltimore. 
 
Working as an Illustrator in Baltimore, Maryland

Baltimore businesses that hire professional illustrators include motion picture producers, sign makers, educational video designers, greeting card companies and event coordinators.  Some Baltimore illustrators create promotional artwork for leading local graphic design companies like Clark-Design, Elev8-Web-Design, Captain-Jerry's-Custom-Tee-Shirt, Creative-Intelligence-Agency and Pamarco, for instance.   

Some local artists create technical drawings for Baltimore engineering firms like Frederic-R-Harris, Buchart-Horn, Edwards-Kelcey, DMJM and Whitney-Bailey-Cox-Magnani, among others.  Exceptionally talented Baltimore illustrators sometimes work for medical illustration companies like Pletsch-Medical-Animation or Illustrations Unlimited. 

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average reported annual income for an illustrator employed full time in the city of Baltimore, Maryland is about $31,300, with a reported mean hourly estimate of roughly $12.35.  Baltimore corporations employ approximately 120 full time illustration artists.  These figures do not reflect the employment statistics of local freelancers.

Skills of a Professional Illustrator

Professional illustrators demonstrate exceptional drawing and coloring skills, rendering innovative, detailed images in a variety of styles.  Illustrators are versatile artists who have the capacity to design across many platforms and visual media.  They also possess graphic design skills such as layout, packaging design, textile print design and apparel graphics, as well as proficiency with related software.  Popular illustration design software programs include Diagram Designer, InDesign, eDraw Max, Compact Draw and Adobe Dimensions.