Storyboard Artist

Storyboard Artists translate verbal stories into drawings. This is useful in industries where artistic visions are made into reality by a large team of people, such as film, advertising, or television. As a Storyboard Artist, your work ensures that everyone is holding the same expectations about the product. Your drawings can also be used to pitch the product to investors. In other words, you are the paid version of “a picture is worth a thousand words.”

The work requested of a Storyboard Artist ranges from basic outlines to detailed marker layouts. Computer illustration is becoming very popular as well, so even if you are an ink-and-paper type you might want to brush up on photoshop. And this is no 9-5 job: Most storyboarders are freelancers and hours are determined by project deadlines rather than days. This makes for hours that are long and atypical, frequently running over nights and weekends.

To succeed in this industry you need solid drawing skills and the ability to visualize stories quickly. You must also be good with people, as your clients will not always be clear communicators. Transcribing an artistic vision is tricky, and many times your client will mix words about what they want. Be prepared to change and tweak your drawings without taking any personal offense—this is less about art than it is translation.