Illustrations are the oldest form of art in magazines. The newest is computer-generated art.
Although photographics are the bulk of graphics in today's magazines, illustrations continue to play an important role. Photographs vary as much as the photographers who take them, but they have only one technique. illustrations have a broad range of techniques that reflect the individual styles of the artists who create them. in magazines, illustrations not only offer a change of pace from photography, but can provide a change from one illustration to another.
The normal role of photography is to document reality. Drawings, on the other hand, are naturals to give expression to elusive things, such as concepts and ideas.
Early computer hackers played with electronic designs, but it is only in the last few years, with the exponential growth of desktop publishing, that computer graphics have come into their own.
Keeping it simple, there are two principal forms of electronically drawn graphics.
One is a draw program that interprets images on a screen as mathematical constructions or objects. An obvious use is for technical line drawings where fine detail is required. Draw programs permit designers to work at a high level of precision and to print output on devices at any resolution.
The other form is a paint program in which a mouse activates a brush" that can be moved across the screen, leaving a wake of screen bits in its path. The artist can select the "brush" size and style of his or her preference.
Both forms of imaging can be rendered in black and white or color with the appropriate program.
As with other computer-generated material, one advantage is the speed and ease of correction or revision. For example, the line weight of a complex drawing can be changed simply and quickly. illustrator Diane Margolin says, "The great advantage of computer illustration is the ability to improve your original illustration before producing the final product."
But the computer is only a tool. It is no substitute for talent. It should come as no surprise that some of the more talented and imaginative illustrators using these computer tools are located on the West Coast, not far from Silicon Valley. These examples of their work, plus the work of one New Yorker, testify to how illustration is taking its place alongside typography, photo image processing and page make-up in today's rapidly developing, electronically produced magazine.
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