Introduction to the Field of Illustration

INTRODUCTION TO THE FIELD OF ILLUSTRATION

Below is an overview of the skills, techniques and abilities needed as an illustrator.
I. RESEARCH. Illustration is in a large part about analysis and research. Countless hours of sketches from life, photographs, and research goes into a well constructed image. The Illustrator employs every method of research available to fully explore the subject’s possibilities. Information gathering, the extension of artistic curiosity, is vital to visual communication. Some obvious resources include:
1. Scrap File - An organized collection of visual information gathered from photographic reference or borrowed from printed sources. These can be organized according to whatever system makes sense to you (subject, alphabetical, broad categories, etc.) and stored in file boxes or cabinets or scanned into digital files. You will probably use a combination of these methods.
2. Camera - A good manual 35mm Single-Lens-Reflex-Camera (SLR) is an essential tool to record visual information for future reference. It has the advantage of providing a variety of choices from a single event or pose along with the ability to freeze action and time of day.
Digital cameras of 5 to 8 mega pixels are also useful in gathering information. Most low-end (5 mega pixel) digital cameras have problems with visual shake due to movement and low-light. They also have a lag-time between framing and shooting the image that makes capturing a moving subject difficult. An 8 mega pixel, or higher, SLR with interchangeable lenses eliminates these problems and provides picture clarity that approaches 35mm film quality.
3. Books and Magazines - Every artist relies on a personal library of interests that inform, influence, and inspire. These include Illustration and Design Annuals, Trade Magazines, and general interest publications.
4. Videos - Videos are another source of readily available information. Both informational and entertainment videos (VHS or DVD) provide excellent reference information.
5. Sketchbook - Probably the single most important method of recording and influencing the creative process. The sketchbook serves as the artist’s diary.
6. Library - A plethora of research material in many forms. A local library card is another essential  source. (The Public Library in downtown Syracuse has extensive visual information.)
7. The Web – Use the Internet as a partial source, not the only source.
8. Location - Off-Campus sources in the surrounding areas and those involved in your travels offer unlimited visual stimuli. Seek them out. This resource is often overlooked by students until their senior year when they usually regret not getting off campus sooner.

 II Medium and Technique
The visual problems illustrators are called upon to solve require a variety of tools and methods of implementing them in the process of obtaining final form. The mediums and techniques utilized must always serve the purpose and not be the purpose. The dedicated artist will become familiar with every method available to expand and aid their abilities to communicate.
1. Medium - The dictionary defines medium as some thing intermediate, not rare, not well-done. Remember that when you find yourself letting it dictate your approach to problem-solving. The range of Mediums is extensive; including Dry, Wet, and Electronic Materials. They all have unique properties that vary with surface, tools, and individual approaches.
a) Dry Mediums - As the word implies these do not require a liquid suspension for application, although some can be successfully integrated or applied with fluid extenders. Typical Dry Mediums include: pencil, color pencil, grease pencil, charcoal, and pastel.
b) Wet Mediums - These require a liquid to manipulate. Some are less intimidating than others. All should be explored. They include: Pen and Ink, Water color, Gouache, Dyes, Acrylics, Alkyds, and Oils.
c) Electronic Mediums - The computer has become the medium of choice for many Illustrators. It is an excellent tool for a wide range of purposes. As in any other medium, overreliance on form rather than substance results in mediocrity
2. Technique - The degree of expertise in following a method of procedure in the application of Mediums...thus, suffering the same problems of misuse. Once again, it should serve the purpose not be the purpose. While it relies on the Medium and /or combination of Mediums, Technique is foremost reliant on the individual’s approach to surface and tools. Most artists respond well to either transparent or opaque methods of application, some employ both in combination. Printing processes and sculpture, in their many forms, add another dimension or feel to the image.
a) Surface - There are basically two types of surface with two qualities: Rough and Smooth surfaces with Absorbent and Resistant qualities.
In papers the term Cold-Press usually denotes a more absorbent, rougher surface while Hot-Press means a smoother surface with less tooth to hold the paint. The descriptions and language of different manufacturers varies. Don’t just take their language at face value…Experiment. Several companies have laminated paper onto board to help prevent buckling from wet mediums
Canvas comes in a variety of surfaces suited to individual needs of texture which may be altered with Gesso, Modeling Paste and other materials. Masonite and heavy weight illustration boards may also be prepared with these materials.
b) Tools - Any hand-held implement, instrument, or utensil used for marking the Surface. Pencil, charcoal, pens, brushes, and palette knives are standard tools for the artist, but don’t limit yourself to the predictable... experiment.
c) Transparent - Watercolor, dyes, and inks are considered the primary mediums for achieving transparent effects; but oils, acrylics, and alkyds serve as well. Mediums thinned for a transparent quality accomplish a depth of saturation from light passing through and reflecting back from the underlying surface. Transparent glazes are sometimes employed over opaque mediums to achieve this quality.
d) Opaque - These pigments do not allow light to pass through, but reflect it directly from their surface. Gouache is opaque watercolor which may effect subtle variations and smooth flat areas of color. Pastels, oils, acrylics, and alkyds are standard mediums for techniques that involve covering layers of pigment.
e) Printmaking - This includes methods that require the direct transfer of an image from one surface (usually a metal, wood, linoleum, or glass plate) to another (usually paper). Etching, Stone Lithography, Block-Prints, and Monoprints are examples of this process.
f) 3-Dimensional - Describes any approach to visual communication that relies significantly on viewing from several angles. Sculpture is the obvious form; but others, such as Bais-Relief, may still relate to a flat surface. The materials employed are endless, from traditional clay and plaster to Assemblages involving found objects.
g) Multi-Medium - Combinations of dissimilar materials that form a unified image. Basically, all of the above in any manner that services the final visual communication. Several illustrators employ scanned images altered with traditional materials, often moving back and forth between methods.

III. GENRE. The field of Illustration encompasses a wide variety of subjects, themes, and styles. Each artist gravitates toward their own areas of interest. Some of these genre are: Sports, Science-Fiction, Children’s Books, Wildlife, Historical or Period, Romance, Portrait, Caricature, Political, Landscape, Humorous, Food, Western, Gaming,, Product, Movie-TV-Video-Theatre Posters, etc. These overlap and intermingle. A Portrait Painter may involve a historical subject, or a Sci-Fi specialist may do a movie poster.

IV. MARKETS. As stated earlier, the final form in illustration is the printed piece. So where do you get your artwork reproduced? Again, the possibilities are endless. These will serve as a format for discussing markets for illustration
1) Book - One use of artwork for books is cover art. Its main purpose is to entice the potential reader into purchasing the publication. Hardcover books have different considerations than Paperbacks, both in format and appeal. The latter tend to be more garish and sensationalized in order to compete for attention in their smaller scale.
Children’s Book Art and Graphic Novels provide some excellent examples of creative imagery. These genres have expanded in recent years to become some of the best and most respected sources for visual expression.
2) Editorial - Magazines and Newspapers are the bulk of this category which involves almost every form of illustration in a richly diversified market. There are  publications for just about anything from general to special- interest magazines . Many illustrators begin their careers in editorial illustration and choose to focus there because of the artistic freedom and interesting topics involved.
3) Advertising - Artwork prepared for a client with the intention to sell a product or in some way augment the image of a corporation to the public falls into this category. Although it pays well, some artists find it too restrictive. Those that gravitate in this direction enjoy quite lucrative careers. Some illustrators who consider themselves editorial  artists will also work in advertising when the client seeks a specific style or feel that fits into their method of working.
4) Institutional - This is a very unfocused category, kind of a blanket-cover for anything not addressed above. It initially meant in-house publications, such as brochures and posters, that were not intended for general distribution. It now includes artists’ self-promotions and personal pieces.
5) Time-based - Story boarding for film and videos as well as art in graphic novels falls under this category. This is where good draughtsmanship (drawing ability) is essential.
Each of these sections could be a book chapter by itself. I hope this generates enough curiosity to solicit extensive discussion. Obviously the field of illustration is an ever expanding, exciting forum for a wide diversity of visual problem solving. There’s room for anyone with the desire and tenacity to apply themselves toward a very rewarding career.
Concept Illustration- Artwork created to illustrate an idea or to explore a concept that will later be translated in part or in whole or as inspiration for a film, video games, toys or any transference into another media.
Product- Cover illustrations and interior illustrations for games, toys, cereal boxes; anything that requires an illustration to help sell the product from a visual standpoint.

V. PROCEDURE. While we all tend to feel our way through the creative process, there are times when the piece is not progressing well. Following a sequence of steps helps provide a framework the artist can apply to evaluate the piece’s progress and determine where problems exist. The procedure outlined here is just one system of logic designed as a checklist for reference to aid the artist. The steps are sequentially prioritized. Each step must be subservient to the preceding step(s). If the work is suffering, the priorities have most likely been jumbled... addressed out of sequence. The typical problem encountered is literally inverting the order by allowing the image to dominate and then working backwards.
1. INTENT - What is this piece suppose to communicate? This is the first and most important step. Every other consideration must follow its direction and overriding purpose.
2. COMPOSITION - The arrangement of the parts to construct a whole. The physical foundation of your artwork. Based on our relationship to gravity, there are basically three types of composition.
a) Vertical. Standing or falling in response to the force of gravity, this form conveys strength and solidity or menace. A portrait conveying the importance of a prestigious individual would utilize this theme.
b) Horizontal. Peaceful or calm, There is a quietness even in movement with arrangements emphasizing this approach. A reclining figure or bucolic landscape may be best represented in this manner.
c) Diagonal. Actively moving against gravity, this form suspends itself between the two preceding forms. Any piece intending rapid movement would employ this as a major theme.
All three exist in relationship with each other and may be combined to create complex communications, but a single form should dominate in order to anchor the direction of the piece.
Once the direction of the composition is determined, placement of the movement is critical. The Greeks, and later the Romans, utilized the Golden Section (.618 or 61.8% of a line) as a compositional tool. Based on the observation of nature and proportions of the human form, this method of placing the focus and supporting elements is in natural balance to our perception of our environment. The Spiral Nautilus is a perfect Golden Section Spiral.
Another way of perceiving this is commonly referred to as the Rule of Thirds. By delineating an area into horizontal and vertical thirds, the four intersections of these lines mark the areas towards which the eye naturally gravitates...each being a potential center of interest.
3. SHAPE - Curved or rectilinear passages create basic to complex shapes such as: squares, rectangles, circles, ovals, and triangles ...which can construct three - dimensional objects including: boxes, cylinders, cones, etc. Lines are indicators of shapes meeting or overlapping.
4. VALUE - The proportional effect of light striking an object determines its degree of contrast in relationship to its environment. In linear interpretation, a line’s weight is determined by the degree of contrast between neighboring forms. With Zero as absolute black and Ten as absolute white, a value scale of One to Nine can be divided into three groups: Low Key - dark values of One, Two, and Three, Middle Key - values of Four, Five and Six, and light High Key values of Seven, Eight, and Nine. A painting should be identified as mainly (60% - 80%) dark or light... taking most of its values from one end of the scale.

10   White
9
8 High Key
7
6
5 Middle Key
4
3
2 Low Key
1                  
0 Black

5. LIGHT AND SHADOW. When lit by a primary light source with the resulting shadow, the form will display two edges: hard edges (caste shadows and harsh form edges) that travel in the same direction as the light source...altered by the intervention of surface contour, and soft edges  (form shadows and gentle form edges) that tend to be at right angles to the light’s direction.
Using a One to Nine value scale, distinguish light and shadow shapes by assigning a dominant value range to one or the other leaving a single value space or jump between them. The rule of thumb is...The DARKEST VALUE affected by the PRIMARY LIGHT SOURCE cannot be the same as the LIGHTEST VALUE in the SHADOW of the subject. This includes any reflected or atmospheric light present in the shadows.
9     9
8 8     light
7     light 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3     shadow
2     shadow 2
1 1


6. TEXTURE - This step is the result of pacing shape and value, but it deserves a place of its own due to its importance as a constructive or destructive factor. When everything else seems to be working and the piece still suffers, abuse of texture is usually the culprit. Sometimes it’s a hot spot that needs to be calmed down... or perhaps, an aggressively active area caused by arbitrary surface texture or paint application.

6. COLOR - Webster’s New World Dictionary definition:1) The sensation resulting from stimulation of the retina of the eye by light waves of  certain lengths. 2) The property of reflecting light of a particular wavelength: the distinct colors of the spectrum are red, oranges, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet, each of these shading into the next; the primary colors of the spectrum are red green and blue, the light beams of which variously combined can produce any of the colors. 3) Any coloring matter; dye; pigment; paint: the primary colors of paints, pigments, etc. are red, yellow, and blue, which, when mixed in various ways, produce secondary colors (green, orange, purple, etc.); black, white, and gray are often called colors (achromatic colors), although black is caused by the complete absorption of light rays, white by the reflection of all these rays that produce color, and gray by an imperfect absorption of all these rays. 4) Any color other than black, white, and gray; chromatic color: color is distinguished by the qualities of hue (as red, brown, yellow, etc.), lightness (for pigmented surfaces) or brightness (for light itself), and saturation (the degree of intensity of a hue.
We’ll cover the Color Wheel, Color Compliments, Additive and Subtractive Color, Color Systems and Palettes, etc. in a few weeks. For the time being consider any color usage in terms of percentages (60%-80%)...mainly cool or warm. Just as a piece follows a compositional, shape, and value theme, it should also adhere to a color theme.
Since color is determined by our perception of light striking an object, observation shows four factors to be considered: the color of an object, the quality of the primary light source(s), atmospheric light, and light reflected from one object upon another.

7. IMAGE - If all of the preceding factors serve the Intent of the piece, the subject will emerge properly. If not, you have two choices: accept a flawed result, or learn from your efforts and start again.

Reedited from Bob Dacey’s original from Aug. 30, 2006