Also called: Environment Artist (VFX)
Paints huge digital landscapes and cityscapes that replace or extend real backgrounds.
A matte painter combines photos, 3D models, and digital painting to turn a parking lot into an alien city skyline, making sure it holds up on a movie-theater screen.
BLS special effects artists and animators (May 2024): median ~$99.8k, 10th pct ~$57k, 90th ~$175k. Role-specific figures are estimates.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 4 years after high school. Fine art or digital art degree; strong portfolio.
Ways in: 4-year college, Self-taught. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Fine Arts, Digital Art, Visual Effects.
Growing slowly. AI image generation is disrupting this specialty.
High risk for 10 years. AI image generators now make digital landscapes and set extensions fast, cutting matte painting jobs sharply.
Classes: Art (painting), Photography, Art history, Digital art.
Official data: O*NET occupation 27-1014.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.