What You Need to Know to Be an Illustrator in Tulsa, Oklahoma

The city of Tulsa, Oklahoma features about fifty thousand corporations and independent businesses.  What's more, Tulsa is teeming with talented visual artists in search of local employment as graphic designers.  As luck would have it, Tulsa companies cultivate an ongoing economic demand for commercial illustrators.

Tulsa Schools and Training Programs for Illustrators

Tulsa, Oklahoma is home to a few colleges and more than a few independent design studios offering workshops, classes and degree programs in illustrative art.  Aspiring local illustrators often study communications design in addition to visual arts.  Tulsa colleges with graphic arts programs include Yarnell School of Fine Arts, Tulsa Community College, Oral Roberts University and Vatterott College.

Meanwhile, many commercial illustrators residing in Tulsa acquire professional skills and degrees online.  Accredited virtual colleges of fine arts include Stratford Career Institute, Post University, Full Sail University, University of Phoenix, National University, DeVry, The Art Institutes and ITT Tech.  Some internet colleges also provide local facilities.  University of Phoenix and ITT Tech both have campuses in Tulsa. 
 
Working as an Illustrator in Tulsa, Oklahoma

Many illustration artists in Tulsa, Oklahoma design commercial artwork for leading local graphic design firms like Coxmedia Graphic Design, Graphic Concepts, AP Graphics, Walkup Graphics and Tsunami Graphics, to name a few.  Illustrators into Gothic fantasy art sometimes work for local tattoo parlors like Jay's Tattoo, Eyewitness Tattoo, Spaded-&-Jaded or Electric-Eye-Tattoo-Mysterium. 

Some Tulsa artists draw technical illustrations for local engineering firms such as Earth Tech, FBS Engineers, Guy Engineering Services, Crafton-Tull and PSA-Dewberry, for instance.  Other visual precision specialists are employed by Tulsa-based medical illustration companies.  Prominent local examples include Jo Lynch, Gil Adams and Apex Medical. 

According to recent reports from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average salary for a professional commercial illustrator employed full time in the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma is about $41,910 per year, with a reported mean hourly rate of roughly $20.15.  However, this data does not reflect the unreported incomes of part time illustrators and local freelance professionals.

Skills of a Professional Illustrator

Professional illustrators are masters of drawing and coloring technique.  Aside from creating detailed, innovative drawings, illustrators are also known to do image editing, including photo restoration, manipulation and enhancement.  Other skills include photography, lighting and graphic design.  Professional illustrators are typically familiar with traditional drawing methods as well as with related digital illustration design software packages like Mayura Draw, Arts-Letters, e-Picture-Pro, Silhouette and eDraw Max.