The Fundamentals of Illustration - AVA Publishing / 2005
Book Extract - Introduction

Illustration is a dirty word, or at least was until recently. Neither truly accepted by the art establishment nor the design industry, illustration has battled on regardless. Derided as whimsical by artists and arty by designers, illustration had found itself existing in a no-manÕs-land between the two. In education the discipline has fared no better - rarely given more than just studio space, the student illustrator has learnt to bend the rules and break across borders to gain access to facilities and equipment to facilitate their work. So life as an illustrator is not for the faint-hearted, it takes massive determination to face the demands and rigours of a career choice that can feel vastly unsupported, but against these odds the discipline has mounted an impressive return to form. How and why?

According to The National Museum of Illustration in Rhode Island, USA, 'Illustrators combine personal expression with pictorial representation in order to convey ideasÕ - a useful description certainly, but one that falls short of fully capturing the essence of what the subject is or has been about. Describing the 'golden eraÕ, when magazines such as the Saturday Evening Post scoured the studios for great illustrators, Steven Heller the design writer and art director stated that 'Illustration was the peopleÕs artÕ. A sentiment echoed by the National Museum of Illustration - 'illustration serves as a reservoir of our social and cultural historyÕ, even going onto state - 'Illustration is therefore, a significant and enduring art formÕ.

It is illustrated images that capture the imagination, that remain with the viewer and inextricably tie moments in oneÕs personal history with the present. From the moment that small children are introduced to illustrated books through to the record and CD sleeves of their teens and early twenties, illustrations play a part in defining important moments and periods in time. On a grander scale, it is fair to say that illustration has recorded manÕs achievements, interpreting them in way not possible before the birth of photography. 'Look at the paintings of PompeiiÕ, stresses Milton Glaser - cofounder of Pushpin Studios in New York, in The Education of the Illustrator, 'the aboriginal wall paintings of Australia, the great frescos of Italy, and you understand a moment of time, and the belief systems of the populationÕ. Contemporary illustration may work in less majestic surroundings but its roots within the magazine racks, bookshelves and record collections of our homes stand as testament to the importance we place on the art and craft of the discipline.

Finding an exact point in time that contemporary illustration actually kicked off is not an easy task. The very term 'contemporaryÕ implies modern, current, up to date, fashionable and present-day, so peering too far back into a dim and distance past may draw into the frame images that todayÕs audience would struggle to recognise or remember. If a line is drawn in the sand marking the half way point in the last century for example, classic illustrated posters for the World War II campaign by Tom Eckersley, or his amazing posters for Guinness, have to be ignored, having been created in the 1940s. The same treatment must then be applied to much of the work of Abram Games, although his iconic posters for the London Underground would slip into the list, having been produced in the early 1950s. Norman RockwellÕs work for the Saturday Evening Post in the US would have to be refused entry, as would Ben ShahnÕs World War II posters. Saul SteinbergÕs work for New Yorker magazine, having emigrated to New York in 1951 from Bucharest via Milan, would make the grade as would Edward BawdenÕs London Underground posters and Ronald SearleÕs illustrations for Punch magazine in the UK. But for many that grew up in the 1960s and 1970s the first truly contemporary illustrators came from a new generation of image-makers.

The 1960s witnessed an unprecedented rise in consumerism as the post-war 'baby boomersÕ approached life with an optimism and enthusiasm not seen before. Teenagers came of age: youth movements sprang up and with them the need for a graphic visual language to identify with. Psychedelia, Op Art and Pop Art all put the visual arts firmly on the map. Here was the start of fresh forward-thinking new era and illustrated images helped in defining the look of the decade.

It was probably the Beatles that gave popular culture during the sixties some of its most memorable illustrative images; from the Klaus Voorman sleeve for Revolver in 1965, to the animated classic of Yellow Submarine created from Heinz EdelmannÕs original drawings and onto the must-have book - The Beatles Illustrated Lyrics by Alan Aldridge published in 1969. It was, however the use of, artist and illustrator, Peter Blake in 1967, who combined a photographic and illustrative approach for the creation of the sleeve for 'St. PepperÕs Lonely Hearts Club BandÕ that ensured the Beatles status of forward-thinking creative directors as well as musicians.

Iconic illustrated images that mark the sixties out as being a truly inspirational decade include Martin SharpÕs covers for Oz, a satirical underground magazine with its roots in Sydney before being moving to London in 1966, and his poster for Bob Dylan the following year. Another Dylan poster, created the other side of the Atlantic by Milton Glaser in 1996, captures his hair as a pattern of psychedelic swirls. Robert CrumbÕs Fritz the Cat, Michael EnglishÕs poster for Jimi Hendrix, Victor MoscosoÕs covers for Zap Comix and Rick GriffinÕs sleeves for The Grateful Dead all lent a graphic edge to the decade and are remembered by those that grew up reinforcing the gap between the pre-war and post-war generations.

As the sixties faded away and the 1970s emerged as the decade that taste forgot, a new graphic sensibility began to take shape. Influenced by the drugs that had engulfed the hippy years of the late sixties, work took on a fantasy and science fiction visual aesthetic in the illustrations by Roger Dean and Peter Jones. With the Hipgnosis sleeve for Pink FloydÕs Dark Side of The Moon, the surreal photo-montage of Tadanori YokooÕs sleeve for the Miles Davis album Agharta and Ian BeckÕs cover for Elton JohnÕs Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, the early to mid-seventies was a minefield of graphic languages.

It was with the hard-edged sound of the street, through punk later in the decade that brought some swift changes to the visual landscape. With a new urban, gritty, energetic sound came a raw, tougher approach to design with the 'cut-and-pasteÕ graphic work for bands such as the Sex Pistols and The Clash. As punk and new wave adopted harder illustrative styles, designers like Barney Bubbles with his work for Elvis Costello, Ian Dury and The Damned and Russell Mills with projects for Penetration and Roger Eno demonstrated a disregard for all that come before.

Throughout the eighties and nineties illustrationÕs popularity rose and fell in equal measures. Memorable images by Ian Pollock for the National Theatre production of King Lear vie alongside Pierre Le TanÕs masterly crafted covers for The New Yorker, whilst Brad HollandÕs atmospheric painted illustrations for numerous magazines compete with work by Glynn Boyd Harte, Chloe Cheese, Dan Fern, Seymour Chwast, Paul Hogarth, Peter Till, George Hardie, Bush Holyhead, Graham Rawle and Brian Grimwood. Perhaps best known for their work spanning these decades are Gerald Scarfe for Pink FloydÕs The Wall and Ralph SteadmanÕs images for Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S Thompson. The eighties were a prolific time and despite cooling down in the nineties as the last days of an analogue discipline gave way to a rebirth, rejuvenated by the possibilities of the digital, illustration continued to capture the moment.

So what of life as an illustrator in the twenty first century? Why the huge interest in following a career that can take years to break into, only to fizzle out in an instant? Why endure the possible rejection of a negative portfolio review or the aggravation of chasing an accounts department hell-bent on ignoring requests for payment months after an invoice was first overdue?

It has more to do with the desire to communicate, to create images and see that work in print. The rush of opening a magazine to see your own work, witnessing people reading a book on the tube or subway that you created the cover illustration for or passing a billboard ad campaign with your drawings on is undeniable.

Getting ahead in illustration takes commitment, personality and talent. It is unlikely that an illustrator lacking in any one of these areas will pick up commissions and, toughest of all, still be working in five years time. Developing a personal visual language, getting to grips with materials and understanding the ins and outs of the industry is only part of the story, to succeed, youÕll need some insider info - and youÕre holding it in your hands.