The Education of an Illustrator [Paperback]

Marshall Arisman (Editor), Steven Heller (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2000

This volume's cutting-edge essays, interviews, and course syllabi provide the first-ever blueprint for teaching and practicing the dynamic art and craft of illustration.

This revolutionary book fills a practical and an intellectual void for educators, students, and professionals in the field of illustration. Based on interviews with top illustrators and teachers, the book discusses how professionals acquired their illustration know-how and went on to apply it in their careers. Also explored are model illustration education curricula—for both undergraduate and graduate levels—created by leading illustration educators and practitioners. Offering a diverse range of attitudes, philosophies, and visions, this book is the first to address pressing issues confronting education in the illustration arts, including such concerns as authorship, new media, and the marriage of illustration and design. 60 B&W Illustrations

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Heller (Graphic Design Time Line) is the art director of the New York Times Book Review and cochair of the master's of fine arts design program at the School of Visual Arts; Arisman is the chair of the master's of fine arts illustration program at the School of Visual Arts. Here they have assembled top designers and educators from the illustration and graphics design fields to examine the dynamics of the art and craft of illustration through essays, interviews, and course syllabi. Varying in length and offering a range of attitudes, philosophies, and visions, the entries discuss each illustration's connection to the fine arts, the influence of computers and the Internet on illustration, and the future of illustration. Models of illustration education curricula are offered for undergraduate and graduate levels. This intellectual guide to teaching and practicing illustration is recommended for academic libraries. Judith Yankielun Lind, Roseland Free P.L., NJ
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Inside Flap

The Education of an Illustrator

“The process of drawing can unlock the entire creative process for an artist. As children, we all used drawing to relate to the world around us. We were not trying to make art. We were trying to make sense out of the world we were experiencing. We told stories in pictures. . . . The vocabulary of the illustrator has to be expanded into authorship.”

—Marshall Arisman, from the introduction

Editors Steven Heller and Marshall Arisman have assembled thirty leading practitioners and thinkers of the illustration and graphic design fields in this first-ever blueprint for teaching and practicing the dynamic art and craft of illustration. This compelling collection of essays, interviews, and course syllabi provides readers with first-hand accounts from various professionals and educators who discuss how they acquired their knowledge of illustration and have successfully translated it into their careers. Part manifesto, part instruction manual, this revolutionary blend of knowledge and practice provides students, teachers, and practitioners alike with an indispensable resource on the teaching and usage of illustration today. Included are twenty-five cutting-edge essays; interviews with Milton Glaser and Thomas Woodruff addressing both the concept of holism and the interconnection between fine arts and illustration; and a diverse and stimulating selection of course syllab! i and curricula designed for both undergraduate and graduate students.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Allworth Press; 1 edition (November 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 158115075X
• ISBN-13: 978-1581150759
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 6.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #174,728 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Artist - Dogs of War, Scholastic Books (In Production)
Artist - FLUORESCENT BLACK, Heavy Metal Magazine
Artist - Dark Reign: ZODIAC, Marvel
Artist - Pigeons from Hell, Dark Horse
Artist - DMZ Friendly Fire/Rapid Fire, Ghost Protector Vertigo

BIOGRAPHY:
Nathan Fox was born in 1975 in Washington D.C.. Raised from the age of five on the suburban outskirts of Houston, an early addiction to Cartoons, Commercials and Video Games led to a lifelong exploration of Narrative Art and the over-stimulation associated with his generation. In the hopes of making such an addiction his full time job, Nathan left Texas for Missouri where he attended the Kansas City Art Institute.

What followed over the next four years can only be described as an eye opening experience compared to the somewhat quiet Southern upbringing. The discovery of Anime, Yoshitoshi's Yukiyo-e Prints, Sideshows and Comics would lead him down the happily twisted path he still follows today.

After graduating from the Kansas City Art Institute in 1997, Nathan pursued Illustration from Milwaukee, Wisconsin for the next two years with little result. Frustrated with pursuing editorial illustration and working as an offset pressman, he and his wife moved to New York City in 2000 where Nathan attended The School of Visual Arts Illustration As Visual Essay Graduate Program. Those two years of graduate study would prove to be the most fruitful as Nathan has been freelancing full time as an illustrator and storyteller ever since. His work has appeared in The New York Times Newspaper and Magazine, Interview, The New Yorker, Rolling Stone, Wired, ESPN Magazine, Print, Entertainment Weekly, Mother Jones, Spin, Mad Magazine, MTV Store Windows and Tshirts, Burton US Open 2009, Instant Winner and REAL Skateboards, DC Comics, Vertigo, Dark Horse Comics, Marvel and many other publications and mediums.

Future projects include pursuing Comics, Narrative Illustration and Gallery Work. For further information, updates and samples of Nathan's illustration work, Comics, Murals, Skate Decks and more, visit www.foxnathan.com on the World Wide Web.

----------------------------
Website: http://www.foxnathan.com
Blog: http://foxnathan.blogspot.com
Prints: http://foxnathan.bigcartel.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=593371252

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Mixed feelings, November 10, 2002

By 

Ben Weeks "MA, www.benweeks.ca" (Toronto, Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Education of an Illustrator (Paperback)

Heller and Arisman are two School of Visual Arts (NY) professors who have achieved much in their careers. The conversation/interview between them is the strongest, most educational and most inspiring part of the book.

Brad Holland writes a detailed (but dry) description of the history of stock houses, the direction they are moving in now and how that relates to working artists.
Educational.

A very large portion of the book is a collection of art excercises useful to teachers creating curriculum or artists without the ability to direct themselves in the production of work. I found this area to be mildly interesting, but quite useless to me as an illustrator.

Teachers often tend to create excercises they would do very well themselves, but don't necessarily draw out the uniqueness of the individuals they are teaching. Success as an artist is following your own values of what a successful peice of art or illustration is.

I would have liked to read the perspectives of a more varied cross section of artists in addition to the New York city old guard. There is so much innovation happening in this field. To bemoan the fact that things aren't what they were, shows a lack of awareness of what the younger generation of artists do. Jump fences.

"I design my students to destroy me."
John Maeda of MIT Media Lab

"You are the next Picassos."
Sheridan College Faculty addressing the class in my foundation year 5 years ago.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting and thought provoking, July 23, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Education of an Illustrator (Paperback)

The entire book is made up of articles written by various established illustrators. I found the sections on art direction and education extremely interesting. Included are sample course syllabii which is helpful if you are teaching illustration courses.

The part that I had a problem (maybe that's too strong a word) with was the section on the state of the illustration market today. To me, it came off as old time illustrators whining and pining for the good old days, you know before the computer when one could make a decent living as an illustrator. It wasn't terribly encouraging to new comers which I think is too bad. I rather felt like they were telling me not to waste my time, that there was no room in the industry for me. In the end, it just made me more determined to succeed despite (or in spite) of their views. All in all, it is a thought provoking book, whether you agree with their view point or not, and it's guaranteed to start some interesting dialog with your illustrator friends.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential for any illustration major, June 22, 2002

By 

Paige Hancock (Savannah, Ga United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Education of an Illustrator (Paperback)

My first thought when I really got into this book was "finally. An outlook on the career of an illustrator neither negative nor overly optimistic, but realistic and helpful." Being an illustration major I have several misconceptions about the field of illustration that were cleared up pretty quickly. I found the interview with Thomas Woodruff particularly insightful in the case of the illustration as low art issue, and I laughed my head off at Brad Holland's satirical lesson on art terminology. My advice is to buy this book not to decide whether or not illustration is the path for you, but to make sure you have a grasp on what you're getting into.