Illustration (ILLU)

Professional illustrators strategically solve visual problems to engage clients and markets. While discovering strategies for effective visual communication, students explore the illustration process through creative application of distinct materials and techniques. Students conceptualize the framework of their portfolios within the context of professional expectations.

Scientific illustrators use observational, technical and aesthetic skills to portray a subject accurately. Accuracy and communication are essential. In this course, students learn to render forms both known and imagined, observed and unobservable, from the micro to the macro using a range of rendering techniques and learn of the scientific illustration masters through history to the present.

Expanding upon foundational principles, students delve into advanced techniques essential for illustrators, focusing on various forms of perspective. Students explore 1-point, 2-point, 3-point, and isometric perspective, gaining proficiency in each. Through hands-on projects, students craft dynamic background, interior, and exterior environments, while emphasizing the significance of camera angles and eye lines in visual storytelling.

Building on foundational figure drawing skills, students explore constructive drawing methods for depicting the human form, gesture, anatomical knowledge, and the fundamentals of the costumed figure. Students illustrate the connections and movement of muscular anatomy through a process of primitive form-based drawing, using the skeleton as a foundation. Students explore techniques for illustrating soft tissue, costuming, and altered canon proportions to create dynamic characters, with a focus on capturing emotion and expression through detailed head studies.

Illustrators inform and communicate the shifting social, political, artistic and technological landscapes that shape history and culture. In this course, students examine the influence of historical and contemporary illustrators as well as the stylistic evolution of the discipline within this enriched context.

Students discover unique illustration methods through experimentation with a variety of traditional and digital materials, tools and techniques. Building on these foundational elements, students explore conceptualization, composition and color as they create immersive visual narratives and develop individualized approaches to visual problem-solving.

Through an introduction to advanced and emerging digital tools and techniques, students enrich the versatility of their illustration skills. Students create compelling illustrations that integrate motion, image editing, vector graphics and digital painting. The fusion of traditional and digital methods enhances work appropriate for diverse professional venues.

Color contrast, value keys and quality of lighting create compelling and powerful emotional statements in illustration. Students explore color as a communication tool through the study of historical and contemporary color theory systems and through the development of their own work. Value, color schemes and methods of mixing color are examined in a variety of illustration projects.

Through an iterative approach to visual problem-solving, students become dynamic storytellers, adapting narratives into strong visual representations. Students investigate the narrative experience and develop strategies to visually interpret essential story elements. Involving both narrative and conceptual thinking, they create illustrations that capture mood and emotion through striking symbolism and visual metaphors. Students apply technical and narrative skills to a wide range of illustration markets.

From the whimsical to the botanical, illustrative styles are translated into repeat patterns and used to transform products, from wallpaper to furniture. By analyzing color trends and conceptual themes, students take their illustrations into the realm of consumer product markets by learning how to create illustration designs applicable to repeat patterns both manually and digitally. Students are introduced to the concept of art licensing and copyright usage as it applies to entrepreneurial practices in illustration.

This course addresses the portrait as a means of visual problem-solving that goes beyond creating a likeness. Students are presented a variety of illustration assignments that incorporate the use of portraiture in documentary, editorial and commissioned contexts. Working with live models, students learn the principles of creating a portrait using different media and techniques. The course includes an overview of portraiture throughout art history and an exploration of the portrait in today’s illustration market.

Providing a uniquely tactile problem-solving process for the illustrator, this course gives students exposure to a wide variety of media and techniques. Various materials and practices are addressed including adhesive aesthetics and image manipulation (both manual and digital). Emphasis is placed on connecting content and concept within the collaged form to create a successful illustration.

This course covers the specific and highly specialized requirements of accurately depicting 3D form onto a 2D surface through hands-on, step-by-step instruction in the process of applied perspective theory.

Within the context of typographic principles, students experiment with the dynamic visual relationship between text and image. Students engage strategic typographic techniques and styles to heighten their illustrative work and expand professional opportunities.

Illustrators create vivid worlds through depictions of immersive environments. Within the context of specific narratives, students deploy illustrative tools, such as color, composition and lighting, to develop landscapes, architecture and interior scenes and capture mood and tone to support a theme.

Illustrators implement movement to elevate visual narratives and enrapture audiences. Through the exploration of time-based illustration techniques, students amplify their knowledge of digital tools and refine their technical skills. Students analyze the illustrator’s role in a design-based production environment and employ professional best practices to develop animated illustrations for diverse venues.

Editorial illustrators produce expressive, humorous or thought-provoking imagery that enlivens publications through visual commentary and aesthetic engagement. From caricature to realistic renderings, students enhance their visual problem-solving skills, refine their individual style and develop a strong conceptual approach as they create expressive imagery suitable for a variety of editorial illustration markets.

Perspective and constructive drawing techniques are essential when creating compelling narrative illustrations. Through research and practices, students illustrate building interiors, exterior environments, vehicles and other objects from different perspectives and in a variety of locations.

The dynamic collaboration between illustrators and art directors fuels the ever-evolving markets of the creative industry. Students navigate key illustration markets and analyze industry trends to promote their work effectively. Exploring the world of art direction, students gain hands-on experience in collaborating with other illustrators, providing constructive feedback, managing creative projects, and maintaining the balance between artistic vision and client needs. Emphasis is placed on communicating with clients, discerning assignment briefs, and developing the tools to succeed as both independent illustrators and creative leaders in the industry.

From small, quirky toys to large-scale, playful sculptures, students explore the cross section and fusion of illustration, fine art, and industrial design through the lens of collectable toys. Students combine state-of-the-art software and digital manufacturing processes with traditional media to communicate ideas and stories through dimensional works. Students ideate, draw, digitally sculpt, print, and prototype a variety of toys and models for diverse audiences.

This course focuses on watercolor as a medium for the illustrator. Students are challenged to develop traditional and nontraditional techniques and to explore weights of paper, textures and block-out materials. Assignments are relevant for the working illustrator. Current and historical information is presented to demonstrate the impact of watercolor on the field of illustration.

This course emphasizes the student’s need to analyze, interpret and distill the complexities observed in natural forms and focuses on honing rendering abilities. Students produce illustrations of both the known and imagined, the observed and unobservable.

From publication to entertainment, illustrators envision and invigorate characters that inspire audiences and have a lasting impact. Students learn to capture expression and essence of characters through experimentation with performance, shape, motion and gesture. These defined characters become a unique expression of the student's personal aesthetic that can be marketed to a range of industries.

Advertisers employ illustration to spark lasting impressions of products, events or services across print and digital collateral. Students in this course actualize captivating visual imagery to seize the attention of each audience and consumer. With professional best practices and conventions as context, students also refine their approach to visual narratives and creative problem-solving.

Botanical art and illustration hold a significant place in both historical and contemporary art and design. This course focuses on the intensive study of botanical subject matter exclusively painted in watercolors. Topics emphasized include: sketchbook process studies, paint properties and application, field studies, best practices and elements of successful botanical watercolor illustrations, and the history of botanical art.

This course bridges traditional oil painting techniques with modern ideation tools to create dynamic and innovative illustrations. Students explore AI-driven tools to generate concepts, compositions, and mood studies, which serve as the foundation for their oil paintings. Assignments emphasize the translation of digital ideas into tactile, story-driven works, highlighting the interplay between technology and traditional artistry. Through the study of classical and contemporary oil painting methods, students learn to refine AI-generated imagery into polished, professional illustrations. Students analyze and interpret live subject work and art history perspectives to contextualize the evolving role of technology in illustration.

Book illustrators bring stories to life with vivid images that draw the reader into the lives of characters and the world of the narrative. Students in this course refine their approach to visual storytelling and consider professional avenues for book illustrators. All aspects of book production are explored, from conceptualization of cohesive illustrations and cover art to binding methods and publication.

Understanding the anatomical form elevates the illustrators' ability to solve problems visually. Students work from skeletal to muscular systems and progress from primitive forms to detailed ecorche drawings. Building these aptitudes provides illustrators with the power to invent and illustrate creatures and characters that immerse audiences in the narrative experience.

Illustrators bring visual elegance to literary and cultural representations of the macabre and divine through a complex symbolic language. In this course, students read and interpret a variety of narratives and texts in the development of fantasy characters and environments. Students create illustrations that capture timeless themes and dualities, such as light and dark, good and evil, creation and destruction.

In this course, advanced students become actual working illustrators. The professor arranges jobs for publication in major magazines. Other possibilities for published work in this course include book covers and work for advertising agencies.

Audiences engage with images in new and exciting ways on a variety of screens. Illustrators embrace the opportunities that emerge from these expanding forms of audience engagement to create captivating digital images, especially by incorporating stylized movement into their designs. Students explore the use of moving imagery to enhance their appeal in a variety of illustration markets including advertising, publishing, digital media and editorial art. Strategies, techniques and tools for transforming still art imagery into dynamic, animated illustrations are explored in the context of market applications.

Concept illustrators design immersive environments populated with vivid and engaging characters. Students fuse their creative innovations with a full range of illustration skills to develop professional concept designs for expanding markets in animation and video games.

The world of entertainment is populated with vivid characters and immersive environments realized through a variety of digital assets. In this course, students imaginatively engage with a concept to finalize polished artwork that captures the mood and tone of the creator. Using industry standard practices, students develop digital assets from concept to finalized illustrations and digital files for design-driven production pipelines.

From home décor to mobile accessories and everything in between, illustrators create collections unified by theme, color, pattern and illustrative style that can be applied to a variety of products and surfaces. Students study color and design trends in art licensing and illustration for consumer markets to gain an understanding of the characteristics embodied in strong collections and the professional markets appropriate for their work.

Students in this course explore the intricate intersection of surface design, packaging, and product design within the dynamic realm of illustration. Students explore professional principles and practices to create compelling solutions for printed products and packaging that harmonize with illustration and surface design to enhance product presentation and consumer appeal. From conceptualization to production, emphasis is placed on integrating surface patterns and placement prints to effectively convey brand identity, communicate product attributes, and captivate specific consumer demographics.

Whether working for an organization or as an entrepreneur, understanding the business of illustration is the key to professional success. Through an introduction to best practices in professional networking, marketing and financial strategies, students enhance their understanding of the business of illustration and further their preparation for this competitive market. Students engage in research and planning to identify specific professional trends in line with their individual career goals.

In this course, students immerse themselves in the business of illustration, exploring best practices in professional networking, marketing, and financial strategies that are crucial for success, whether working for an organization or as an entrepreneur. Through research and planning, students identify specific professional trends aligned with their individual career goals, refining and advancing their body of work in response to opportunities in the field. Engaging with illustration luminaries and colleagues, students invigorate their professional identity, presence, and networks, enhancing their understanding of the competitive illustration market and further preparing them for success within the context of clearly defined career goals and discipline standards.

Internships offer students valuable opportunities to work in a professional environment and gain firsthand experience to help them prepare for careers. In an approved internship setting, a student typically spends one quarter working with an on-site professional supervisor and a faculty internship supervisor to achieve specific goals and objectives related to the program of study.

An innovative and engaging portfolio is paramount to establishing a prosperous illustration career. Students express their individualized style and brand in a fully realized, professional portfolio, while implementing creative marketing and networking strategies to launch their illustration careers.

This course is designed to reinforce the creative processes that underpin the profession of illustration. These include idea generation, drawing, composition, value and color. Students apply these processes as they create a wide range of images for illustration. A personal visual viewpoint is encouraged, and students are also shown the range of markets in which contemporary illustrators operate.

By broadening and strengthening fundamental drawing skills through in-class drawing sessions, outside assignments and research, students deepen their understanding of drawing as the basis of illustration. The course begins with intensive exercises designed to strengthen observational skills and to enhance competence in a wide range of materials and techniques. It emphasizes figure drawing and also explores expressive mark making, value, composition, proportion and perspective.

This course highlights the distinct historical trends in illustration and also explores the sources of contemporary styles. Students work on a series of studio assignments, making reference to past trends and to new movements in illustration. The course includes written papers, tests, critiques, presentations and illustration assignments.

This course explores and adds to students’ repertoires of media and techniques. Through class assignments, students practice and increase their skills with media and techniques common to the field of illustration. Students also may investigate and work with nontraditional media. The content of the course is oriented toward the commercial field of illustration.

This course investigates historical and contemporary book illustration to create professional book packages for submission to targeted publishers. Through lectures and demonstrations, students develop a solid understanding of historical and contemporary trends in the book industry to confidently target and market their illustrated book projects. Students demonstrate a mastery of standard print formats and explore physical or digital nontraditional forms.

This course explores drawing as the key mode of expression for the illustrator. The course begins with refreshing and strengthening observation skills, mark-making technique and interpretation abilities. Other areas addressed include creative expression, gesture, attitude, movement embellishment and exaggeration. Students are encouraged to develop individual and personal approaches to drawing within the context of illustration. The course reviews fundamental issues of value, mood, composition, proportion and perspective.

This course provides exploration of and practice with mixed media on a variety of surfaces. Assignments are based on typical areas of concentration found in the field of illustration, including conceptual, decorative, surreal, editorial, design, narrative, portrait and realistic.

This course revisits the fundamentals of illustration and seeks to join concept and composition as one element. Assignments are dedicated to generating creative ideas and exploring the best possible methods for expressing these ideas with compelling imagery.

This course explores the possibilities of the computer as a medium to create images and illustration through the use of popular software. Concepts and sketches are developed technically and the computer is applied as a tool to produce finished pieces. Personal approach and style are emphasized and consistency is encouraged.

While exploring the fundamentals of typography and hand lettering trends, students gain a solid working knowledge of the relationship between illustration and typographic design. They apply those design principles to the successful integration of type and image, creating a powerful form of communication.

This course incorporates the insights gained in Illustration Concepts and Composition into topic-oriented assignments designed to address students’ portfolio needs. Students are introduced to the criteria professionals use to evaluate portfolios, as well as general marketing tips.

Students are challenged to develop individual approaches to watercolor by experimenting with various materials and techniques, traditional and nontraditional. Assignments are real-world projects that students tailor to support their thesis projects. Students analyze the work of cutting-edge illustrators, investigate historical watercolorists, then synthesize their findings in a coherent body of personal work. Students also compile a list of prospective clients for work created in this course.

Working one-on-one with the professor, students pursue an illustration specialty of particular interest and significance. The course involves group instruction and critiques, as well as individual projects.

This course focuses on each student’s personal artistic vision as it relates to illustration and on the many ways students can present their work, both through a traditional portfolio and in other relevant formats. Students are expected to learn to develop a professional portfolio that incorporates a personal style as evidenced in a substantial body of work. Students also develop résumés, promotional mailers and mailing lists. All M.A. students in illustration are required to complete this final project in printed or digital form.

The poster has long been an exciting medium for expressing the creative personality of the illustrator. While this course emphasizes the visual product, students also examine the graphic vocabulary of poster communication for various venues like theater, movies, media and public announcement. In this course, students conduct research on a topic and present their findings in a visual and written format.

In this course, students gain professional experience. The professor arranges jobs for publication in major magazines and acts as a liaison between students and art directors. Other possibilities for publication in this course include book covers and work generated for advertising agencies and design firms.

This course addresses the business side of illustration, from purchase orders and pricing to packaging and presentation. Students are expected to become familiar with numerous marketing strategies and professional practices in the field. Assignments include compiling an art director’s list, assembling various portfolios and creating a self-promotional mailer.

Students in this course undertake a field assignment under the supervision of a faculty member.

Students in this course undertake a teaching assignment under the supervision of a faculty member.

All M.F.A. students in illustration are required to develop and prepare an original exhibition, accompanied by a written component.