“Traditional” illustration, defined as work done by hand, has been honed through the ages by a variety of manual means - charcoal, paint, ink, lead, and naturally available surfaces like stone and wood helped define early styles of illustration. Illustration has been around for centuries, or - depending on how you’d classify cave paintings and ancient hieroglyphics– millennia. But the definitive line between illustration and art is admittedly blurred– and since different types of illustrations can convey powerful emotions through a wide range of media, from oil painting to vector graphics, you may see the terms used interchangeably. A work of art, on the other hand (such as a painting or sketching), can be a standalone piece– and one that doesn’t require the contextualization of an idea, story, or other bit of written communication. For example, a graphic design could be an event poster that communicates critical information about the date and details of a concert, while interspersing the text with creative visual elements. While there are certainly areas of overlap, graphic design is more commonly understood to be both the medium and the message itself, rather than merely accompanying a message. So how does one distinguish illustration from graphic design or fine art? Much of the contemporary illustration you likely stumble across is abstract or conceptual– it helps readers visualize an idea or abstract concept in a more figurative way, as in an editorial illustration for a cultural think piece. Throughout history, however, different types of illustration have evolved and been adapted for myriad purposes. In the classical sense, illustration has been most commonly used as a visual accompaniment to a text (be it a picture in a children’s book, or a drawing within a religious scripture) meant to depict a scene or to decoratively adorn a page. Illustration is a means of visually depicting an idea, story, or message. Different illustration styles can be achieved through a variety of manual or digital media, each with the ability to evoke emotion, convey information, and transform our culture. Like much of art, illustration can be an objective reflection of the world around us or a creative interpretation of abstract ideas.
Illustration has been a cornerstone of our visual culture for centuries, as a way for artists to visually depict stories and concepts.