This lecture is particularly relevant to me as I applied for Illustration prior to being accepted on the Animation course and got rejected as apparently my style leaned more towards an animation-style approach. However, my interests are still deeper into Illustration than Animation.
What is Illustration?
In my honest opinion, Illustration is a mixed bag of modern and traditional styles mixed together to create a whole new kettle of ideas. Illustration is a means of communication and is "strategic image making", "a shining, a spiritual illumination, vivid representation, an enlightenment" and so forth. It is a mix of image, context and concept. All three of these things can collide and create illustrations. It can't be considered illustration is there is a lacking of one of these three things. There most definitely has to be concept, con text AND image.
Tone of voice refers to the notion of style. It is the strategic aesthetic that you decide to incorporate into your work. It could be argued that using computers and software removes the tone of voice of from a piece as there are no real decisions made. Mouk by Mark Boutavant to me would be considered as having a great tone of voice in his work as it looks appealing and has character. Drew Millward's work is full of character, and is extremely "hardcore" in the sense of what it's trying to achieve.
Illustration primarily resided in publishing and newspapers. As the recession goes on, work is harder to find as people simply want content with no budget for extras. However, there is always work out there for illustrators be it in advertising, video games etc.
In my humble opinion, Brian Kesinger has always been my favourite illustrator as albeit an Disney character designer, his work is beautiful, has purpose and gives off a real "atmosphere" of Victorian and Steampunk artwork.
Brian Kesinger's - "Walkies for Otto"
The above image is most definitely one of my favourite illustrations. I like the use of colour, linework and media. He uses coffee and inks to create this watery effect. Also, the abstract idea of taking an octopus for a walk brings a few smiles.
Again, a very traditional style by John Tenniel, the illustrator of the original Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is appealing as although there's an obvious lack of colour, we still don't lose any of the story and it leaves more to the imagination. Again, my favourite media was used (inks and fineliners) to create his work. Here is an example by John Tenniel:
George Butler is a recognised illustrator who recorded his experiences in Syria for The Times. He recorded through drawings to give the people a new perspective on the war in Syria and the real gritty truth of what was going on.The New Yorker is also a popular newspaper that features work from genuinely great illustrators such as Saul Steinberg.
Another of my favourites, Gloomy Bear by Mori Chack is also considered a phenomenon in popular culture as this Japanese style cartoon (right up my alley!) has taken the merchandise world by storm by selling fancy dress, toys, clothing and plushies.
