Living standard of an artist

[Artemis360]

Hi all

I currently work a normal 9 to 5 job and I want to be a game artist but I don't want to be starving obviously, so what I want to ask you all is, how easy is it to live on the salary of a game artist? Is freelance workable or do you really need a permanent contract with a studio to be able to live reasonably comfortably?

If anyone wants to say what they find to be an average salary for an artist with 5 years experience or so that'd be great.

Thank you!

[Elliott]

Hey Artemis, just thought I'd pop this link in seeing as it could help you find an answer,

CategoryGameIndustry - Polycount Wiki

[JBaird]

Depends on your skill level. Just because you have 5 years of experience doesn't mean you are a good artist.

[Artemis360]

Assume you're fairly skilled. You've used the time well and you have a fairly steady flow of clients or a solid full time job.

Thanks for the link Elliott. Made for some interesting reading.

[mmcleo11]

I think this is a "how long is a piece of string?" type question.

There are alot of factors at play here :where you are geographically, what skill level you are, which studio you are employed at, contract or permanant based work, etc

[Talon]

It's probably slightly under what other folk of the same age/education are getting in other fields. That said, game development is often a bit more flexible and laid back (until crunch hits you like a brick) than those other fields. Depends on the company, as ever.

As for freelance... I've never done it to the extent that it was a full-time job - just money on the side working for indie projects, mostly - but it's pretty horrible to start with Lots of flakey payments and silly demands. Expect to get screwed over a good couple of times before you figure out good ways to handle contracts and ensure payment.

[IchII3D]

Here are some pay averages for full-time artists employed in games studios, although this will obviously be different from studio to studio.

£16-18k Junior Artist (less than 1year experience)
£18-28k Artist (1-5year experience)
£28-35k Senior Artist (2-10 year experience)
£35-45k Lead Artist (3-10 year experience)
£35-45k Principle Artist (3-10 year experience)