Over the past two decades, as a graphic designer and a fine artist, I have had various people ask me, "What is the difference between commercial art and fine art?" With a very fine line between them, we need to look at what art is to start with.

The Oxford Dictionary describes art as,"The expression of creative skill through a visual medium such as painting or sculpture. The product of such a process; paintings, drawings, and sculpture collectively."

Basically, any artist pursues their own conceptual goals and ambitions through expressing their creative skill in their own artwork. However a Commercial Artist is under commission to produce a creative piece for a commercial project. The Commercial Artist can still use their creative skills but to the clients needs and ambitions for the project. Some tend to see this as a hindrance to the artists creativity. This is not always the case as it only shifts the meaning of the artwork. The Artist still needs to employ their creativity, conceptual and compositional skills to create the artwork.

Sometimes a Commercial Artist’s creativity can be stifled by the client, in the instance of a client taking on certain aspects of the project. The client may be involved in or in complete control of the conceptualisation and direction of the project by supplying to the artist their own creativity and conceptual problem solving abilities. This can a lot of the time hinder the artist as the client may not actually be able to communicate their ideas easily or feel their own view is the correct view rather than that of the audience the project is aimed at. This can produce artwork, that when presented to the audience in the form of advertising, product packaging, etc, misses it’s target and seems to fail for the client. However, on some occasions, the client has done the research and has a correct feel for their audience. The conceptual ideas they then discuss and present to the artist to follow work perfectly and gives the artist a firm foundation to apply their creative ability to the project at hand and hence producing a very successful piece of artwork.

Some argue that the line between Fine Art and Commercial Art is very definite, but really, it is only the intentions that seem to separate the two. In one example, that a lot of you will know of is by the now legendary artist, Michelangelo. Between 1508 and 1512, Michelangelo was commissioned by at that time one of, if not the most powerful, global organisations in the world, the Roman Catholic Church. Pope Julius II sort out Michelangelo to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the official residence of the Pope in the Vatican City. In essence, the church, or the client, gave Michelangelo a brief outlining the direction of the artwork and the subject matter, which was limited to the Old and New Testament of the Bible and the history of the Apostolic Church. Michelangelo still had the creative freedom to conceptualise, interpret, and create using his own imagination and creative skills. Taking over four years to complete, this artwork was a commissioned job and therefore is actually Commercial Art, although it is considered one of the artists finest pieces of artwork and one of the world’s greatest and most famous fine art achievements!

Wether we agree or disagree that the line between Commercial Art and Fine Art is very defined or not, when it comes down to it, any artwork produced is for a reason and has part of the artists emotions, creativity and feelings amongst the colours and visuals. It is really the intent and meaning of the actual artwork that differentiates it from other pieces of work. And because we all have to live and make a living, I see Commercial Art as like any other art an expression of ones creativity and producing any art is fine by me.

Kevin Hall is the Studio Manager for Artisan Creative and can be contacted on kevin@getartisan.com.au