Editorial illustration can often convey what words can't. The inquiry will explore the genre of editorial illustration, look at analysing a writer's text, creating visual metaphors, engaging with complex content, material thinking and producing your own images for books, magazines, journals, newspapers, online news sites, blogs etc.
Engagement
The studio will research current and past editorial illustration, how it's changed over time in style and content.
Forms of knowledge encountered will be: an appreciation of some of the foremost exponents, how the form varies from culture to culture, an examination of the power and meaning of some classic images. Students will choose an existing image/s and evaluate the ideas, illustrative technique and assess the image's success.
Communication of knowledge
The focus of the studio is to produce compelling, original images which convey complex ideas, move the reader, influence and add value to the text.
Students will explore material thinking to interpret their own ideas.
They will examine clear and creative thinking, composition, color, technique, drawing, sourcing reference, and should be prepared to create multiple solutions to one story or article. Analysing their work as they go students need to refine and progress each iteration.
Activities
Researching the topic
Focus on one or two key artists
Explore various illustrative mediums
Think laterally about meaning both narratively and visually
Produce a set of varying thumbnail ideas, discuss/feedback
Produce working roughs for each assignment
Present final work in context, ie: in a newspaper page or as a magazine cover
Workshops: Observational sketching, still life and portrait, collage, ink/watercolor, gouache, monoprint etc.
Building up a body of drawing work which strengthens observation, explores various drawing techniques the student's own illustrative inclinations.
Working or experimental drawings which are of a finished enough standard can be considered part of your folio.
Assessments
Brief 01: Editorial Part 1
Brief 02: Editorial Part 2
Brief 03: SKO
Pre-Reading
'The Theory of Illustration' by Alan Male
'The Education Of An Illustrator' by Marshall Arisman and Steven Heller (Allworth Press)
'How To Be An Illustrator' by Daryl Rees (www.laurenceking)
'Illustration: A Visual History' by Steven Heller and Seymour Chwast (Abrams 2008)
'Editorial Illustration: Step by Step Techniques, a Unique Guide From the Masters' by Jill Bossert (Roto Vision / The Society of Illustrators; 1st Edition edition 1996)
'The Fundamentals of Illustration' by Laurence Zeegan 2nd and more recent edition Bloomsbury Visual Arts; 3 edition (August 20, 2020)
Communities of Practice
Designing Identity, Designing through Image, Designing Publications, Designing Disobedience
Other resources: Jacky Winter illustrator agency, The New Yorker, The Society of Newspaper Design, American Illustrators Annual.
If this is an area of illustration you are interested local magazines such as Frankie, Peppermint, The Smith Journal, Lindsey Magazine, Meanjin are useful.