What do you do for a living?

I am a freelance artist, specializing in 3d weapons.

How would you describe what you do?

I create weapons through 3d programs for video games, magazines, etc.

What does your work entail as a graphic artist?

I create models. It entails coming up with a basic idea, adding my own twist to it, and being generally artistic with it. Most of the time, I only do weapons, so that means if someone wants something historically correct, I have to research every bit of this item they want, from the size, the shape, even the details on the handle. But I also have to go out and advertise myself on a daily basis, to make sure I don’t go without a job. I have to regularly go to various websites and areas around where I live, show people what I can do, and offer my services wherever needed.

How did you get started?

Like most other freelance artists, I just went for it. I studied in various art styles until I found the one I wanted, studied on that one for quite a bit longer, studied some more, then went out and looked for people that were in need of my services. I looked at a couple sites, set up multiple profiles on various art websites, and got  my name out there.

What do you like about being a freelance artist?

I like that I get to work on my own terms, most of the time anyways. And I also like that I actually get to create something new everyday, and be able to see my finished artwork on something that people will see on a regular basis.

What do you dislike?

Winter. Not many people are looking for 3d artists around that time of the year.

How do you make money/or how are you compensated?

I make my money through a deal me and the person hiring me works out. They want something, I offer a price, we barter for a bit until we both come to a price we both agree on. Also, I get half of my money when I’m halfway done with my art, then the rest when completed.

How much money do you make?

I average around 1000 a month. Not much, but I’m still new.

What education or skills are needed to be a freelance artist?

Alot. You need to have an artistic ability in general to do this. Some people think because they can pick up a pencil and draw a cartoon they saw on TV, they should be able to get money for it. This is not true. Though I am specialized in 3d art, I have also studied figure studies, landscapes, color theories, drawing, pastels, paints, as well as many other things. So to be able to do this, you will need a lot of skill, patience, and a willing to learn and to take critiques on a regular basis.

What is most challenging about what you do?

Being able to work in general. Sometimes, I just want to sit and wander around the internet, or watch a movie, but you just have to pick yourself up and get to work. You don’t have a boss, so you have to be your own motivator, as well as your own supervisor.

What is most rewarding?

The most rewarding thing about being a freelance artist, is that you get to see your finished art be used for something that people will use or play with, or even just to look at. Its also nice hearing the ooh’s and ahh’s for your artwork.

What advice would you offer someone considering this career?

Study. Don’t slack off and do a doodle or two a week, you will need to work on your chosen art skill almost every day. Look at reference pictures, study on your favorite artists, learn new techniques every day. In this field, you never stop learning. Also, don’t give up when you see that you don’t have anyone liking your work. Listen to them, or ask them what’s wrong with it, and improve yourself with those critiques. Take some classes as well. They help.

How much time off do you get/take?

Surprisingly, not much. Though I may not be doing jobs 24-7, I am also learning, advertising, practicing, and just studying in general.

What is a common misconception people have about what you do?

That its an easy job that you do whenever you feel like it. Some people may be able to do this and live off of it, but most artists starting off wont be able to. Most artists starting out wont be able to live off of their art in general for a while, that is until they get their name out there.

What are your goals/dreams for the future?

To get better at what I do. As I said before, you never stop learning, so I want to be able to learn as much as I can and become as experienced as possible. Oh, and to get more jobs on big name video games.

What else would you like people to know about what you do?

Its fun, though it can be tiresome. This is by far the best job I have ever had, I get to do my dream job: I sit at home and create 3d weapons on my computer. Though its non stop studying and advertising, when you get the hang of it, its pretty awesome, so if you want to do this, just go for it, and don’t hold back.

What do you do for a living?

I practice general architecture.

How would you describe what you do?

Architects are responsible for anything to do with designing a building or structure.

What does your work entail as an architect?

What I do normally do is I start the design and the project from the very beginning to where I hand it off to one of the other architects in the office where they actually do the working drawings and specifications. I do a lot of preliminary design where I’ll meet with the client, determine what their program is, analyze the site, determine what can be built on site, how big of a building it is, and the preliminary budget.

The greatest thing that I like about it is simply walking into a building after you’ve designed it…and realize that this was a figment of your imagination…Then when you’re done, you’ve got a building standing there. The old saying is, “Doctors bury their mistakes, architects get to drive by them every day.”

I then I do some preliminary building arrangements, or floor plans and elevations and sections so that you can actually see what the building will look like, how big it will be and how it’s arranged and how well it suits their program. It’s mostly done in the office, but of course we’ll meet with clients and go out to sites and I’ll also sit in front of the computer a lot and draw. But, as you get higher up in the hierarchy of an office, you do more client contact and marketing for things outside the office, where a young architect will probably sit there most of the day and draw.

How did you get started?

I actually got started in high school. My parents built a house and I got interested in construction and then I took architectural drawing in high school. And then, right after high school, I started working for an architect. I worked for an architect for six summers before I actually graduated from college. Then when I graduated I started practicing full time.

What do you like about what you do?

The greatest thing that I like about it is simply walking into a building after you’ve designed it. Turn the key over to the owner and realize that this was a figment of your imagination, it was just putting lines on paper when you started. Then when you’re done, you’ve got a building standing there. The old saying is, “Doctors bury their mistakes, architects get to drive by them every day.”

What do you dislike?

If you’re owning a firm, every two weeks, you’ve got to come up with a lot of money to pay your people and there’s a lot of peaks and valleys.

It’s a challenge to solve problems and to create something where there was nothing. I have been licensed 34 years yet every project is a new, exciting project, because you’re problem solving, and creating something from nothing, that’s the exciting part.

Sometimes you’re covered up in work and there’s sometimes when you’re scrounging for work. Just getting work, that’s the hard part. Once you get the work, it’s all fun from there on.

How do you make money/or how are you compensated?

Well, the owners are paying you to design their buildings and they can pay you a number of ways. They can do either a fixed fee, they can pay you hourly, or they can pay you a percentage of the construction costs. But, you get paid at the end of each phase of the work, you would bill them for whatever the percentage of the work that you’ve done to that point. If the project doesn’t ever turn into a building, then you estimate how much of the fee you would have gotten.

How much money do you make?

My salary right now is $150,000. That’s not what your employees would be making. Starting salary right now is probably $32,000 to $33,000. Then, licensed architects, usually licensed architects are making around $50,000. It varies between all of their capabilities .

Would you say there are any perks to this career?

I would say that being an architect or an accountant, or a doctor, or a lawyer, it’s just the respect you get when people think an architect. Most of the time, you’re treated like professionals.

What education or skills are needed to be an architect?

To practice as a licensed architect, you have to have 5 years of college to get a professional degree. After that, you’ve got 3 years of the IDP, which is the Intern Development Program, you’ve got to work under a licensed architect for 700 units and each unit is equivalent to one day. There’s 14 different categories of work that you have to get before you can take your exam. Once you complete IDP, then you can take the licensing exam.

What is most challenging about what you do?

I’d say that our challenge is to get good work. I mean there’s a lot of work, but a lot of it is not real rewarding as far as being good architecture. I think it’s real challenging to find good clients who want to do good architecture, that want to spend the money to do good architecture, that’s a challenge. Everybody architect wants to do good architecture and but you have to take less challenging work along the way so that you’re in business when the good projects come along.

What is most rewarding?

I think it’s just the creative process. It’s a challenge to solve problems and to create something where there was nothing. I have been licensed 34 years yet every project is a new, exciting project, because you’re problem solving, and creating something from nothing, that’s the exciting part.

What advice would you offer someone considering this career?

Be willing to work hard, it takes a long time to get to the point where you can own your own firm. Never be satisfied with any solution. You have to be inquisitive, you have to be tenacious, you have to be pugnacious. You have to be willing to go through 5 years of an intense architecture school. It’s a hard profession, but it’s a rewarding profession.

How much time off do you get/take?

I only take off about three weeks. Now, anytime I need to go somewhere I can. I’m my own boss so I can take off anytime I want to. But, I don’t. I’ve got 10 weeks of vacation that I haven’t used in 5 years or so. The employees get off 2 weeks a year. Once they’ve been here 10 years, they can take off 3.

What is a common misconception people have about what you do?

Mostly the misconception I get is that architects are rich. They’re not, they work hard. We don’t live in ivory towers. We’re concerned about making money for our clients. It’s a business and it’s an art. We have to be good businessmen or businesswomen, because if you’re not, you’re not going to be in business. It’s also a very scientific process, adapting changing technologies to the building, to make them better. Then, the art of it, we have to be artistic, because of the product that we produce. I guess people maybe don’t understand that: the science, the art and the business.

What are your goals/dreams for the future?

Of course, I’m at the end of my profession, so I guess I’m looking more towards retirement than I am anything else. But, if I was not looking for retirement, I think my goals would be to continue to do good architecture, have a positive impact on the built environment, keep some people employed, and make this a good place to work.

What else would you like people to know about what you do?

I’d say that it is a very rewarding profession, if you’re willing to put out the effort, if you’re willing to stick with it. Just the joy of being able to see your work, it’s a real joy to walk by a good building or to drive by a good building and know that you did that.

What do you do for a living?

How would you describe what you do?

I guess the application of artwork to the human body would be the best way to put it. Making people happier with themselves.

What does your work entail?

Well, it’s considered a medical procedure, the basics. It’s regulated by the Health Department. We’ve got to be wary of cross-contamination, things like that. So, you’ve got to have at least some minor medical background. An artistic eye and talent helps. That’s the difference between a tattoo artist and a tattooist, which are two totally different things.

I’ve done tattoos on teachers, principals, police officers, politicians, as well as punk rockers, you name it. Just because you have a tattoo, doesn’t make you a bad person.

A tattooist can do anything they can see off the wall. A tattoo artist can take anything they can see on the wall and make it better. As far as an average week, there is no average honestly. As you can see our hours are different for example Monday and Tuesday 1-9, Fridays 1-11, sometimes we have a chance to get out of here early, sometimes we’re here until 2 or 3 in the morning.

How did you get started?

I’ve always been interested in stuff like this. Ever since I was a kid. But I’m from California too.

What do you like about what you do?

Diversity, meeting new people and doing new things, trying new techniques. Just not being held back.

What do you dislike?

Not everybody’s polite; some people are just plain jackasses.

How do you make money/or how are you compensated as a tatoo artist?

Commission. Some of them give a 50/50 split, some of them do a 60/40 split, it all depends on how the shop is set up. Sometimes you buy your own supplies, sometimes they buy your supplies.

How much money do you make as a tatoo artist?

I probably average somewhere around $30,000.

What education or skills are needed to do this?

You’ve got to go through a minimum of 6 months apprenticeship, Health Department requirement. Any art classes of course would be of benefit. And you’ve got to be willing to stick your neck out there and stand on your own two feet, literally.

What is most challenging about what you do?

Skin. You’ve got to be prepared to switch how you’re tattooing from point to point. The skin on your body can vary greatly, an 1/8th of an inch over is totally different than it was at the spot before. And if you don’t know what you’re doing, you can screw up a tattoo pretty quick.

What is most rewarding?

Having something to show for your work.

What advice would you offer someone considering this career?

Prepare yourself. Usually you are either rolling fast or not at all, so make sure you set things to the side and you plan for the future.

How much time off do you get/take? It depends on what I need. I pay for my own vacations. We’re considered independent contractors.

What is a common misconception people have about what you do?

Only the bad boys and bad girls get tattoos, honestly. I’ve done tattoos on teachers, principals, police officers, politicians, as well as punk rockers, you name it. Just because you have a tattoo, doesn’t make you a bad person.

What are your goals/dreams for the future?

To own my own place.