Digital illustration.

A new breed of illustrators has emerged with the growth of computer graphics. They call themselves "digital illustrators." They illustrate book and magazine covers, magazine articles, brochures, posters, etc. Although they have used a wide range of tools in their traditional illustration, such as airbrush, paint, photography and drawing, they now often bring together these tools and more in the final computer image.

The computer has become a great collage or composing tool for artists. Some digital illustrators have abandoned their former tools and use the computer exclusively. Glen Mitsue and his company, Studio M/D of Seattle, advertise themselves as digital illustrators and have been very successful in the illustration and design work they have done for Apple, Microsoft, Aldus and Letraset, as well as for international clients. They have expanded their work from the printed page into design work for the floor tiles in the Seattle-Tacoma Airport as well as developed digital designs for snow skis.

Mike Holcomb teaches digital illustration at the University of Oregon and has had his images published in Computer Graphics World. Holcomb uses the computer as a drawing tool and has done a series of portraits with object drawing programs. Some of these portraits are based on friends, and others are imaginative combinations.

The field of illustration was dramatically changed by the introduction of the air brush. Now, the computer has developed a tool that can combine the characteristics of traditional media as well as expand the possibilities of an electronic palette on an electronic canvas. Digital illustrators are here to stay.

Resources

Gerken, J. Ellen. Click 1: The brightest in computer-generated design and illustration. North Light Books, 1990.