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More than half of all artists are self-employed, which is about seven times the proportion of all professional and related occupations. Artists usually develop their skills through a bachelor's degree program or other postsecondary training in art or design schools. Keen competition exists for both salaried jobs and freelance work, because gifted and talented individuals are often attracted to the visual arts.
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. It is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon known as persistence of vision; and animation can be created and demonstrated in a number of ways. The most common method of presenting animation is as a motion picture or video program, although several other forms of presenting animation also exist.
Early examples of attempts to capture the phenomenon of motion drawing can be found in Paleolithic cave paintings, where animals are depicted with multiple legs in superimposed positions, clearly attempting to convey the perception of motion. A 5,200 year old earthen bowl found in Iran in Shahr-i Sokhta has five images of a goat painted along the sides. This has been claimed to be an example of early animation. However, there would have been no way of watching the figures in motion; and the claim has been debunked.
There is no single person who can be classified as the "creator" of the art form of film animation, especially since there were several people working on animation-type projects at the same time in different locations around the world.
