Anillustration is a decoration, interpretation, or visual explanation of a text, concept, or process,[1] designed for integration in print and digitally published media, such asposters,flyers, magazines, books, teaching materials,animations,video games andfilms. An illustration is typically created by anillustrator. Digital illustrations are often used to make websites and apps more user-friendly, such as the use ofemojis to accompany digital type.[2] Illustration also means providing an example; either in writing or in picture form.
The origin of the word "illustration" is late Middle English (in the sense ‘illumination; spiritual or intellectual enlightenment’): viaOld French fromLatinillustratio(n-), from the verbillustrare.[3]
Technical and scientific illustration communicates information of a technical or scientific nature. This may includeexploded views,cutaways, fly-throughs, reconstructions, instructional images, component designs,diagrams. The aim is "to generate expressive images that effectively convey certain information via the visual channel to the human observer".[5]
Technical and scientific illustration is generally designed to describe or explain subjects to a nontechnical audience, so it must provide "an overall impression of what an object is or does, to enhance the viewer's interest and understanding."[6]
In contemporary illustration practice, 2D and 3D software is often used to create accurate representations that can be updated easily and reused in a variety of contexts.
There is a Guild of Natural Science Illustrators[7] and Association of Medical Illustrators.[8] The Association of Medical Illustrators states that the median salary is $70,650, while for science illustrators it is $72,277.[9] Types of jobs range from research institutes to museums to animation.[10]
Today, however, due in part to the growth of thegraphic novel andvideo game industries, as well as increased use of illustration in magazines and other publications, illustration is now becoming a valued art form, capable of engaging a global market.[citation needed]
Original illustration art has been known to attract high prices at auction. The US artistNorman Rockwell's painting "Breaking Home Ties" sold in a 2006Sotheby's auction for US$15.4 million.[11] Many other illustration genres are equally valued, with pinup artists such asGil Elvgren andAlberto Vargas, for example, also attracting high prices.
The illustrations of medievalcodices were known asilluminations, and were individually hand-drawn and painted. With the invention of theprinting press during the 15th century,books became more widely distributed, and often illustrated withwoodcuts.[12][13]
1600s Japan saw the origination ofUkiyo-e, an influential illustration style characterised by expressive line, vivid colour and subtle tones, resulting from the ink-brushedwood block printing technique. Subjects included traditional folk tales, popular figures and everyday life.Hokusai'sThe Great Wave off Kanagawa is a famous image of the time.
During the 16th and 17th centuries in Europe, the main reproduction processes for illustration wereengraving andetching. In 18th Century England, a notable illustrator wasWilliam Blake (1757–1827), who usedrelief etching. By the early 19th century, the introduction oflithography substantially improved reproduction quality.
In Europe, notable figures of the early 19th Century wereJohn Leech,George Cruikshank,Dickens illustratorHablot Knight Browne, and, in France,Honoré Daumier. All contributed to both satirical and "serious" publications. At this time, there was a great demand forcaricature drawings encapsulating social mores, types and classes.
The British humorous magazinePunch (1841–2002) built on the success of Cruikshank'sComic Almanac (1827–1840) and employed many well-regarded illustrators, including SirJohn Tenniel, theDalziel Brothers, andGeorges du Maurier. Although all fine art trained, their reputations were gained primarily as illustrators.
Historically, Punch was most influential in the 1840s and 1850s. The magazine was the first to use the term "cartoon" to describe a humorous illustration and its widespread use led toJohn Leech being known as the world's first "cartoonist".[14] In common with similar magazines such as the ParisianLe Voleur, Punch realised good illustration sold as well as good text. With publication continuing into the 21st Century, Punch chronicles a gradual shift in popular illustration, from reliance on caricature to sophisticated topical observation.
From the early 1800snewspapers, mass-marketmagazines, and illustrated books had become the dominant consumer media in Europe and the New World. By the 19th century, developments inprinting technology freed illustrators to experiment with color and rendering techniques. These developments in printing affected all areas of literature from cookbooks, photography and travel guides, as well as children's books. Also, due to advances in printing, it became more affordable to produce color photographs within books and other materials.[15] By 1900, almost 100 percent of paper was machine-made, and while a person working by hand could produce 60-100lbs of paper per day, mechanization yielded around 1,000lbs per day.[16] Additionally, in the 50-year period between 1846 and 1916, book production increased 400% and the price of books was cut in half.[16]
InFrance, on 1905, the Contemporary Book Society commissionedPaul Jouve to illustrateRudyard Kipling's Jungle Book. Paul Jouve would devote ten years to the 130 illustrations of this book which remains as one of the masterpieces of bibliophilia.[18]
^Lyons, Martyn (2011).Books: A Living History. London: Thames & Hudson. pp. 193–196.ISBN9780500291153.
^abLeighton, Mary Elizabeth; Surridge, Lisa (2012). "Victorian Print Media and the Reading Public".The Broadview Anthology of Victorian Prose: 1832- 1901. Peterborough, ON: Broadview Press. p. 14.
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