|
The Education of an Illustrator
 |
Author: Steven Heller, Marshall Arisman
List Price: $19.95
Our Price: Click to see the latest and low price
ISBN: 158115075X
Publisher: Allworth Press (01 November, 2000)
Edition: Paperback
Sales Rank: 93,367
Average Customer Rating: 4.25 out of 5
|
Customer ReviewsRating: 2 out of 5
Mixed feelings
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.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Essential for any illustration major
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.
Rating: 5 out of 5
very informative
This book is great. It provides several different perspectives on the teaching of illustration today. Since alot of Illustration is taught by working illustrators it provides their first hand experience with illustration and the industry today. It ranges from lists of supplies one might need for a particular course taught, which i found trivial, but other pages are full of inspirational discussions on illustration by leaders in the field. I am a working illustrator, and love the art of illustration and reading this book has proven very worthwhile.
|
