 |
|
Ask a Pro
Ask a Pro is a collection of illustration related questions answered by top art directors, designers, editors, artist representatives and other professionals in the commercial illustration industry.
If you have a suggestion for a question or know someone who might be a good candidate to answer a couple questions
Contributors
How do you justify getting paid for what you do?
(more questions)
Being an illustrator is about much more than making beautiful images, it's
also about communication. Artists portray their own feelings and visions in
their work, as it's a very personal labour. But illustrators in most cases
are intermediaries in a communication process. Party A wants to tell Party B
something using pictures; that's where the illustrator comes in.
Illustration has its own set of syntagms and paradigms which make it an
unique communication tool, and just like any other kind of language its
structure is constantly evolving. It takes years to master this kind of
visual communication and that's why we're needed. We interpret current
cultural values into a set of 'visual words' which is what we get to know as
one illustrator's 'personal style'.
Alex Amelines (more answers by this person)
Senior Animator
Now Wash Your Hands
http://www.amelines.com
In your opinion which medium do you consider is the easiest and which is the toughest to work in and why?
(more questions)
In my own experience I find digital illustration to be the easiest, I love both
bitmap illustration and vectors, they have their individual pros and cons as well
as specific challenges, but the amazing advantage of digital illustration is its
time travel feature. You can easily go back as many steps as you want and go in
a different direction, try out colours and compositions and change your mind as
many times as you like. I must confess that I always find myself starting a digital
illustration on paper and then take over with the computer, it just makes the
pre-planning so much easier.
For some odd reason to name the toughest medium feels harder than naming the easiest.
I don’t tend to think in terms of toughness because as an illustrator I
know what the different mediums can offer and sometimes what you are looking for
can only be achieved with one of them, so you just do it.
However if I was to measure toughness by how time consuming a technique is, it
would have to be something between traditional and mixed media. Unless you have
years of experience and already master a personal style you will have to spend
some time sketching layouts and compositions, and once you have worked out what
you are going to illustrate, the experimentation follows mixing colours and paints,
trying out textures and effects, sometimes this tests are just as elaborate as
the final one and only when you find the right combination you can start with
the final piece.
Having said that I’d like to clarify that it feels wrong to accuse traditional
techniques of tough, basically because for me they are so much fun. Each technique
has it’s on visual realm and you are allowed to visit when you need.
Alex Amelines (more answers by this person)
Senior Animator
Now Wash Your Hands
http://www.amelines.com