Artists & Illustrators — June 2017

MASTERCLASS

Artists & Illustrators 27

T

he history of illustration – as

defined as the decoration,

interpretation or visual

explanation of a text, concept or

process – is old as the history of

art itself, beginning in pre-history as our early

ancestors told stories about themselves with

symbols, ideograms and images. And, today,

in the age of advertising with the digital

revolution continuing apace, there is

seemingly endless space, opportunity and

need to tell stories with images.

TECHNOLOGY V TRADITION

The rise of digital technology has been a

defining characteristic of the genre, with

ever-improving software and hardware

offering clear advantages to those working at

speed on a brief. But whereas a few years

ago traditional media artists feared the

INSIGHT

Association of Illustrators portfolio consultant Fig Taylor talks to Sally Hales

about the issues surrounding the artform and offers advice on getting noticed

digital platforms, spawning new genres as it

goes. The rise of motion images is an avenue

that looks set to grow. For example, Helen

Green’s Time May Change Me GIF – a digital

image file that supports animation – of David

Bowie, which she created for the musician’s

68th birthday, went viral on the internet.

There’s also the continued rise of

self-publishing and the use of illustration in

predominance of digital image-making, the

story is starting to change. Illustrators with

traditional skills are again finding themselves

in high esteem. Fig Taylor, portfolio

consultant at the Association of Illustrators

(AOI), says: “Some digital artists are

reporting interest is falling in the work that

looks obviously digital. And some clients

specify they want traditional media, or the

appearance of it, even if work is digital.”

Hand-drawn or painted images remain an

important part of the process. For many, it’s

still impossible to think of not starting with a

pen or pencil, and the sketchbook remains

the place where ideas are born. Digital and

traditional media are learning to co-exist.

OFF THE PAGE

But technology isn’t going anywhere. Rather,

it’s moving illustration off the page onto

FOR MANY

ILLUSTRATORS, IT

IS STILL IMPOSSIBLE

TO THINK OF NOT

STARTING WITH A

PEN AND PENCIL

© PHOEBE SWAN

HELEN GREEN/WWW.HELENGREENILLUSTRATION.COM

ABOVE Helen Green,

Time May Change Me,

animation LEFT Phoebe

Swan, Borough Market,

lino print and Photoshop

>

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