Illustration covers a huge range of styles and approaches too many to cover within this site. If you are confident with your own drawing skills, great! Keep it up and practice that's the only way you will develop and improve your technique. If your drawing skills are little better than a four-year-old wearing a blindfold, don't panic there is plenty you can still do to create interesting and highly creative images.
Tools & Techniques
When it comes to producing illustrations there are numerous tools & techniques available, with possibilities limited only by your imagination. You don't have to spend a fortune on materials to get stuck in as the Sketchbook section of George Pratt's website shows, all you need is a sheet of paper and a crayon. The following tools go some way to provide a range of different approaches with examples of illustrators who have explored that particular medium.
Sketchbooks
It goes without question, you can't draw without something to draw on. Try to carry some sort of sketchbook with you at all times, you never know when inspiration will strike. The type of book you use is all down to personal preference but a good place to start is with the classic option, the Moleskin. Used by artists, designers, authors the world over, the Moleskin comes in a number of formats and paper finishes. Of course there are numerous others from Daler Rowney to Reeves and my personal favourite, the Alwych Notebook. The best thing to do is shop around to see what works best for you.
Pencil
Perhaps the one tool we all use when drawing is the humble pencil, with the mechanical pencil the most convenient. With no need to sharpen, you can be sure of a fine point at all times. Of course it's hard to beat the original and a good selection of graphite pencils will allow you to tackle almost any job.
Pencil drawn illustrations can carry a lot of detail such as this work from Richard Beacham or they can be used to capture a feeling or mood
Pen & Ink
Two of best known illustrators who use pen and ink have to be Ralph Steadman and Gerald Scarfe both artists have a very particular style almost attacking the paper with their pens and ink creating explosive images crammed with life and energy. Other approaches can bring realism to the page as in the work of Izzie Klingels.
Paint
Paint of some form has been used since we were intelligent enough to use simple tools, the cave paintings at the Chauvet Cave discovered in the Ardèche Valley (in southern France) are some of the earliest recorded examples. There are a range of different paint available with some of the most popular being watercolours, acrylics, gouache and of course oils.
There are many artists who specialise in either one of these media or work in a variety of different areas. some of the best known oil painters has to be Vincent van Gogh but there are obviously countless others who work in oils.
Watercolours have to be one of the most expressive media to work with and while you don't have to be like the six-year-old genius Kieron Williamson, practicing with different watercolour techniques will pay off in time. The beauty of watercolours are their portability. A small watercolour pocket set will allow you to capture a moment wherever you are.
Collage
Many of the illustrators shown above use different elements of collage in their work with Martin O'Neill as one of the finest examples. German artist, designer, poet, sculptor Kurt Schwitters applied all manner of found material to his pieces, but there are numerous others. While collage has traditionally involved fixing different elements to paper or board increasing numbers of artists and illustrators are turning to computers to bring their images together. Nick Higgins as shown above is one such artist who has moved from traditional methods to the computer and now refers to himself as a digital artist.
Digital
Digital illustration and digital art fall into a number of different camps. For the purposes of this site I will look at a few broad areas and provide links to a number of sites and artists that will provide more detailed information.
Many illustrators have simply find themselves becoming digital artists through an increasing dependance on the computer to bring their work together with Nick Higgins as a prime example.
Perhaps the most exciting aspect of digital art lies in allowing the computer or more usually, the software to create the work for us. Fractals probably spring to mind when most people think of computer generated art but this art form goes well beyond this. The genre covers everything from pixel art to video game design to generative art.
Ilustrators
The following artists use a variety of different techniques to create their illustrations. Some use photographs as their origin which are treated, overlaid with other images, colours and all manner of textures. Other create collages from a multitude of found objects, juxtaposing elements together to create a rich tapestry of imagery. While these illustrators are obviously highly talented, it would be possible to create your own images in a similar vein. All it takes is practice, practice and more practice. If your serious about developing your skills keep at it draw when ever you can, keep a small sketchbook with you at all times and draw whenever the impulse take you.
Russell Mills
Mills isn't strictly a pure illustrator, while much of his output has been seen illustrating book and album covers, CDs, posters, brochures, catalogues and so on, he is so much more. An artist, sculptor (of light, objects and spaces), musician, film maker, collaborator… Mills work covers the handmade, accidental, intended and computer generated in a multitude of rich textured forms.
Alex Williamson
Williamson is a London based Graphic Artist and Commercial Illustrator who also works in Moving Image and Graphic Design. Alex creates original artwork using cut-out, collage and print techniques, combining found ephemera, drawing and photography. Alex's work has been featured in several international publications and he exhibits regularly.
Williamson uses a number of different styles for his commissioned work from an info-graphic approach for clients such as Fortune Magazine to rich, textural images with their roots in photography as in this image for Penguin USA.
He has also produced a number of moving image pieces includes a Snow Patrol video for Spitting Games, Killing Joke's Loose Cannon and a number of stings for E4.
Alex Williamson. 2006. Alex Williamson. alexwilliamson.co.uk
Martin O'Neill
Martin O'Neill is a UK based graphic artist and illustrator who creates unique hand-made collages for a wide range of international clients encompassing advertising, design, editorial and book publishing, as well as regular contributions to the UK and US press.
He also regularly exhibits his personal collages, prints and collections and is an Associate Lecturer at the London College of Communication, University of the Arts London.
Martin O'Neill. 2009 Martin O'Neill. cutitout.co.uk
O'Neill works mainly in collage bringing together disparate elements to create wonderfully rich illustrations. He often mixes found type with vintage photographs and a multitude of textures built up in layers which are painted on and drawn over. As he says in his own words.
I make a hunderd collages in two weeks. A tombola of histories and memories, fighting for heirarchy and prominence... Working o five images at once. Like being a one-man band with lots of instruments, but no sheet music.
Adrian Shaughnessy. Varoom 2008 Martin O'Neill. varoom.mag
Nick Higgins
I graduated in Illustration from Central St. Martins in 1988. I have worked as an illustrator since then, going through various styles and media. I have collaged, painted drawn, and now work almost always digitally, with a bit of a hand-drawn input, found images and my own photos. I am just coming to accept that I am a digital artist, without having to apologise and say I will start painting again one day.
Most of my work is in editorial, though some is for commercial design projects, very little advertising.
Nick Higgins. 2010 Nick Higgins. nickhiggins.co.uk
Nick also runs a couple of blogs one dedicated to drawing and the other exploring his an interest in sewing with some excellent cross-stitch drawings.Kate Gibb
Kate Gibb originally studied textiles at Middlesex University, but after graduation she decided to focus on the development of the silkscreen process on paper, rather than fabric.
Kate Gibb. 2010 Kate Gibb. kategibb.blogspot.com
Gibb's work covers a range of different styles from a photographic, almost Andy Warhol screenprint approach such as her work for the Chemical Brothers to highly graphic prints.
Marion Deuchers
Marion Deuchars studied illustration and printmaking at Duncan of Jordanstone (Dundee) and the Royal College of Art, London. Since graduating [1989], Deuchars has covered a varied range of commissions including corporate literature, publishing, editorial, packaging, design for web and beand development.
Marion Deuchars. 2010 Marion Deuchars. mariondeuchars.com
Deuchar's site presents a range of work showing a range of editorial, design and advertising commissions. There is a great sketchbook section which shows a range of personal work from photographs of a trip to Cuba to images from some of her sketchbooks.
Miles Donovan
Miles Donovan is an illustrator living and working in London. He is a member of Peepshow Collective and is represented by Art Department in New York and Serlin Associates in Paris and London.
Miles Donovan. 2010 Miles Donovan. milesdonovan.co.uk
Kevin Cornell
bearskinrug is the website of Illustrator and designer Kevin Cornell. He has created illustrations for numerous clients throughout the world from the illustration on Andy Clarke's site Stuff & Nonsense, to regular illustrations for A List Apart.
Cornell works in a number of different styles from monochromatic illustrations for the likes of coudal.com to full colour works such as a graphic novel of the story of Benjamin Button.
Randall Munroe
The inability to draw little more than stick figures can be turned into an asset. Take XKCD by physics graduate, Randall Munroe. He got his break when he placed some sketches from some of his old graph-paper notebooks onto a server and BoingBoing linked to him bringing an audience to his simplistic illustrations. Now with a global audience he draws his comic full-time selling as well as selling t-shirts and posters of his work.
I'm just this guy, you know? I'm a CNU graduate with a degree in physics. Before starting xkcd, I worked on robots at NASA's Langley Research Center in Virginia. As of June 2007 I live in Massachusetts. In my spare time I climb things, open strange doors, and go to goth clubs dressed as a frat guy so I can stand around and look terribly uncomfortable. At frat parties I do the same thing, but the other way around.
Resources
Illustration Friday is a weekly illustration challenge with a useful Tip & Techniques section
conceptart.org a community site where artists teach artists.
Recommended Reading
Illustration Play:
Craving for the Extraordinary
Illusive: Contemporary Illustration and Its Context: 1
The Picture Book: Contemporary Illustration
Useful Websites
The Art Department an online training site managed by professional illustrators.
Deviant Art a popular community site where artists of all abilities show their work.