What type of art is illustration

Lithography, an old drawing-meets-printmaking technique that has since been modernized, has also recently been making a comeback. Illustrative paintings use watercolor, gouache and acrylic to tell their stories. Watercolor illustrations evoke a general feeling of softness and femininity.

Gouache paint is a bit more rich, and commercial artists often choose it for posters and comics because of its speedy drying process. Acrylic is easy to use, versatile and has the ability to be used on many surfaces. Collage, woodcut art and etchings are more physically intensive illustration techniques. Collage assembles found objects and materials to create a finished piece. Woodcut artists carve their illustrations into an actual piece of wood, a technique developed during the Middle Ages and still used by contemporary illustrators who prefer a textured look.

Etchings are done by artists who work with a time-intensive process of scratching illustrations onto metal surfaces. Illustrations are found anywhere, especially in published media like magazines, books, posters, educational materials and flyers.

Illustrations have the unique freedom to exist without words, but still have the power to communicate ideas through their vivid storytelling. Graphic design is the art and profession of using visual compositions to solve problems and communicate ideas through typography, imagery, color and form. While illustration focuses on creative interpretation, graphic design is all about communication with its target audience.

Marketing and branding strategies rather than text or stories typically fuel the direction of graphic designers. The types of graphic design are wide ranging in both the print and digital worlds. Posters, fliers, business cards, packaging, billboards, and logos are a few examples of predominantly physical print works, while email marketing and web design dominate the digital landscape.

Marketing has traditionally been focused on print materials, like flyers, magazine and newspaper ads. Publication designers produce layouts, hand-pick typography and arrange artwork for long-form projects, like books, newspapers, magazines and catalogs. Packaging designers communicate directly to consumers through the physical products. Environmental design unites design and architecture to create engaging spaces through signage, murals and exhibition displays. The internet has also opened up other ways for graphic designers to bring brand awareness through digital channels.

Motion graphics design for online media, TV and film crafts ads, trailers, GIFs, web banners and presentations. German poster design, meanwhile, was strongly influenced by Ludwig Hohlwein who eliminated all non-essential graphics.

His contemporary, the abstractionist Lucian Bernhard, invented the German Plakatstil , a style of poster art characterized by clean lines, minimal naturalism, flat colours and precise structure, as exemplified by his Sachplakat Poster for Preister matches. Another talented German illustrator was Max Slevogt , noted for his Jugendstill caricatures and other fairy-tale imagery.

Italian poster art - initially developed to promote the opera - was personnified by the German Art Nouveau artist, Adolfo Hohenstein and his top pupil Leopoldo Metlicovitz Metlicovitz's best pupil was Marcello Dudovich , who streamlined Art Nouveau known in Italy as Stile Liberty into a more modern style. After Art Nouveau, and early 20th century functionalism, the next international style of poster art, was Art Deco c.

Meanwhile, Switzerland was rapidly becoming an important centre of graphic art. Key figures in Swiss design included the earlier Art Nouveau masters Theophile Steinlen and Eugene Grasset , Emil Cardinaux famous for his Matterhorn travel poster , as well as a younger group of Swiss designers - influenced by the imagery of Constructivism , De Stijl and the Bauhaus Design School.

Since the s, the invention of offset lithography, along with more sophisticated photographic and printing techniques, has stimulated the emergence of a widely based market for "art posters", notably the replication of works by famous European painters, as well as modernists like Jack Vettriano b.

For more, see Poster Art History. History of 20th Century Illustration in America. The new century would be dominated by American commercial illustration, not least because of its powerful publishing and printing industry.

The introduction of four-colour letterpress printing technology made possible the faithful reproduction of a full color painting. Henceforth illustrators could have their drawings and paintings reproduced exactly as created. New publications appeared, including the Saturday Evening Post , Collier's Weekly , American Magazine , McCall's , Peterson's , Woman's Home Companion , Metropolitan , Outing , The Delineator , All-Story Magazine , Vogue and others, leading to a huge increase in opportunities for illustrative artists, although this did not prevent the use of labour-saving devices like cameras, Balopticans and pantographs.

Stillwell and Ellen Thompson. World War I led to increased demand for posters and billboards, as well as pictures of the fighting. Eight leading illustrators, including W. See also James Montgomery Flagg's famous army recruiting poster depicting Uncle Sam pointing directly at the viewer.

The s postwar boom in America led to even greater demand for commercial images, advertising graphics, and literary pictures to accompany magazine serializations of novels by the likes of F.

Scott Fitzgerald, and Ernest Hemingway. Meanwhile Norman Rockwell , whose niche was the cover of the Saturday Evening Post , was fast becoming a household name in American art, with his nostalgic, sentimental pictures of a bygone era. In the s new periodicals emerged, including The New Yorker , Vanity Fair , Smart Set and College Humor , all of which recruited new artists to illustrate their contents.

In contrast, the s was a bleak era of depression and recession. Many illustrators were laid off and publications closed two exceptions being Fortune magazine, launched in , and Esquire magazine, launched , while photography began to replace hand-drawn imagery.

The only bright spot was the increased demand for paintings and drawings to illustrate pulp novels, a genre which attracted newcomer illustrators like Walter Baumhofer, Emery Clarke, John Clymer, John Falter, Robert G.

The s offered new illustrative possibilities. During the war, these included advertising imagery for military products, and magazine illustrations aimed at home front wives and girlfriends of servicemen on active duty overseas. After the war, there was a surge in demand for advertising graphics, point of sale imagery, and magazine illustrations.

The postwar baby boom also led to increased demand for illustrated books for children. The s proved to be a pivotal decade for American illustrators.

It began well, with strong demand across the board, notably in advertising and marketing. Unfortunately, the advent of television led to a major decline in magazine advertising, and a consequent reduction in illustrated pages.

More photography was employed to introduce greater realism in publishing, and this too led to a drop in demand for illustrative works. Brighter colours and bolder themes failed to arrest the decline, as many magazines went bankrupt.

As it was, the s witnessed a mini-resurgence of the medium, with a new demand for music album covers, music posters, and comic book art.

The music poster movement expanded into marketing and merchandizing with free album-posters, as well as promotional concert posters. Demand for this type of fine art echoed the earlier demand for vintage posters during the late 19th century.

In addition, the growing popularity of paperback novels Penguin Books, Pocket Books, Bantam Books created a fierce market for attractive front-cover art. Practitioners of this precise form of poster-like literary illustration included James Avati, James Bama, and Stanley Meltzoff.

Artists use a pencil to sketch their ideas, applying varying shades, effects, and line weights. They may use color pencils or graphite lead to create unique and stunning illustration. Charcoal illustration may not appear as precise as pencil illustration, however, this type of illustration is used in stories, portraits, and in cases where rough construction lines need visibility. The best part of using charcoal is that it blends excellently, which is why you can use it with differing hardness for creating beautiful effects or shadows.

However, to prevent unnecessary smudging, you may want to clear the mess with your fingers or use blending tools and fixatives. Lithography and traditional illustration styles and techniques complement each other every well. Earlier, people used wax, fat, or oil to draw on the smooth surface of a limestone plate. However, at present, offset lithography is widely used to create illustration. The fineness associated with watercolor illustration allows it to be used as an effective tool for storytelling.

Watercolor artwork is noted for its detailing and depth. Using a delicate and creative combination of airy and lighter shades, artists can create extraordinary, thought-provoking watercolor illustration. This type of illustration is ideal for beginners. Artists use acrylic paint on various surfaces such as cloth or canvas to create an illustration. Acrylic paints are available in different finishes and they become water-resistant once they dry up. This illustration type is noted for its precision and detailing, and its ability to create contrasts between the elements.

Even though pen and ink illustration is monochromatic, it is still possible to create detailed work by applying a single color with varying tints on the plain surface. Notably, fine lines with varying characteristics and densities are used in conjunction with dots for creating technical drawings or diagrams. The methods used to create contemporary illustration are somewhat similar to the methods that are applied to create traditional illustration.

This style is very versatile and depends on the vision of the authour and the subject of the book. Illustrators try to create eye-catching covers in order to compete with the piles of books in bookshops. Illustration by Rlon Wang. Many companies choose illustration as the medium to send their message to the audience, because the style better translates the idea than photography, for example. The apothecary of Aureum — packaging illustration.

The rise of digital technologies in the latter half of the 20th century allowed businesses to scale rapidly and become global. With unprecedented competition, packaging came to be the way of differentiating the product on the shelf. It offers personalized touch, elegance and custom feel. Cartoon characters of employees of real estate, by GraphicMama. For example, a logo should be recognizable and readable at smaller sizes.

Therefore, the illustrator should carefully plan the details of the logo. Logos should be simple, yet grabbing attention and memorable. Sometimes, businesses need more than a logo illustration, but mascots, cartoonized version of their employees or products. With their help, the brands enhance their presence and impression on customers.

We hope you liked this article and that you were able to dive you into the magical world of illustration! Let us know how we did, what else you might want to know. We would be happy to add it to the article!

Like us on Facebook. Bilyana is an inspiring content writer and illustrator at GraphicMama with years of experience in art and design. Thanks, this was helpful. I was looking for something more in depth. It makes me wonder sometimes the articles that float to the top of a Google search. Sorry to hear, Angela. Probably it would be a good idea to make separate articles, focusing on each on of the types of illustration. Since it is already a lengthy article and an informative one, we decided to stick to the basics.

You can also notice in Google search, that there are many scattered information and articles on this broad topic. So we decided to gather the most important in one place. Pingback: P1 - What kind of creator are you? Pingback: What is vector art? Thanks for elaborating the types of illustrations. I am a beginner to graphic designing. Thanks a lot. Artwork Bazar. Hope this makes sense.

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Good read! Very helpful for first time designers. Keep it u[ bro. A source of high-quality vector graphics offering a huge variety of premade character designs, graphic design bundles, Adobe Character Animator puppets, and more. Types of Illustration — Styles and Techniques Learn what illustration is, how it evolved through time and what types of illustration, styles, and techniques there are.

Reading time: 10 min Viewed , times. A 16th-c. Illustration: The Hours of Catherine of Cleves. Sainte Catherine by Unknown Flemish artist.