Creating digital artwork is an ever-expanding field that allows you to express yourself through graphics. There are many ways to get into this market, one of which is creating your own illustrations or artistic designs.
The term illustration comes from the ancient greeks and romans who would draw pictures to describe stories and events. These drawings were often designed in a fluid way so they could be reinterpreted and adapted depending on the context.
Illustration as we know it was made popular in the renaissance when artists such as Leonardo da Vinci incorporated illustrated literature into their work. Since then, art has flourished due to the influence of illustrators!
Digital technology now makes it possible to create your own illustrations. A growing number of colleges offer degrees focused entirely on graphic design, including some that call themselves “illustrative” or even “digital”art degree programs.
What programs offer digital illustration degrees?
There are many schools that have jumped onto the digital art bandwagon in recent years. Most of them promote their degree as an illustrative or creative design degree. Some may even use the term graphic artist to describe what they teach.
Regardless of how these universities label themselves, all require at least a bachelor’s degree for admission. Almost every school offers some sort of certificate or diploma program as well. These usually focus more on web design or coding.
Some courses mix both graphics and code together, making it difficult to tell which one is dominant. A lot of times, students will learn a new tool or software package along with basic concepts like color theory.
Overall, most people find their education fun and helpful in other areas of life. This inspiration can be transferred into other fields such as writing or marketing, just because you learned something about drawing.
What software is used in digital illustration?
A popular drawing tool that has seen many variations over the years is Adobe Photoshop. With the launch of Photoshop CC, however, some people have criticized it for its price tag and lack of features.
Many artists have left the platform to look for more affordable alternatives or even use another app entirely. This article will talk about the different types of apps that can be used as an illustrative program.
There are several free tools available that contain all of the basic functions needed to create beautiful illustrations. Some of these apps include Procreate, Sketch, Inkscape, and Figma.
These applications each offer their own set of features that appeal to individual users. For example, some allow you to add textures and shapes whereas others do not.
What about a website?
A web design degree or certificate is an easy way to get into the field, but you should be careful what kind of certification you go after. There are many companies that will pay to have you prove your artistic ability by having you create a theme for their site, or creating its cover art or logos!
These types of certifications can be expensive and may not be worth it unless you are being paid well to do so. Make sure you research potential schools before investing in a course load.
The best websites use creative illustrations and/or graphics to convey their message. Creating engaging content is a great way to showcase your talent if you want to pursue digital illustration as a career.
Many universities offer courses such as Photoshop, InDesign, and other similar software programs to enhance your skills set. The number of students enrolled in these classes determines how much attention they receive.
If possible, try taking some lower level classes first to see if this style of artwork is something you would enjoy doing.
What about clients?
While educating yourself about digital illustration is an incredible way to learn, it’s important to remember that this field is all about communication. If you want to be able to call yourself an artist, then you will need to know how to communicate your ideas through drawing, painting or other forms of media.
As mentioned before, anyone can create illustrations at a very basic level by creating pictures using software such as Photoshop or Paint. But in order to take your skills one step further, you will have to develop your creative talent.
Design schools are great ways to hone your artistic talents, but they are not free.
How to start
Finding your passion for digital illustration is easy when you know what types of illustrations appeal to you. There are many ways to get into drawing, the most popular being taking art classes or learning how to draw from scratch.
However, there’s another way to learn about creating artistic drawings that use pictures-digital illustration! This article will talk more in depth about the importance of developing your drawing skills, and how to begin with digital illustration.
What is digital illustration?
Digital illustration is defined as “the practice of making images using computer software instead of traditional media such as pencils, pens, and/or markers.” As we already mentioned, these tools are used to create 2D artwork, which can be printed and displayed anywhere.
Some examples of digital illustration include:
Drawing with Photoshop or similar graphics editing programs
Using free online toolkits like Canva or Google Draw (which have millions of users) to produce creative designs
Creating vector shapes in a program like Adobe Illustrator or Inkscape and then exporting them as PNG or PDF files
Producing cartoon style illustrations
The main difference between normal painting and working with digital illustration is that you don’t need any kind of medium to work with. You can edit and enhance your designs at every stage until they are complete.
How to market your work
A very popular way to promote yourself as an artist is through creating and marketing your own artwork or creative products. Creating cover art for books, films, or apps is a great way to get started.
Creating logos and branding designs is another way to gain exposure. Starting off with something simple like a logo can be done in any software such as Adobe Photoshop, Microsoft PowerPoint, or other graphics programs.
Running your own website or sharing your design work online is another way to expose your talent.
Tips for digital illustration
Being able to design in the field of visual art is one thing, but being able to turn those designs into interactive media quite another! When you think about it, most pieces of artwork are designed using tools that have been around a while like Photoshop or illustrator.
However, these apps were mostly focused on creating static images at best. With technology moving faster than ever before, designing for applications that require dynamic graphics has become more popular.
These applications don’t hold up a brush or use photoshop’s toolbox as their basis, instead they’re built from the ground-up with drawing and painting features in mind!
Here are some of the top resources for learning digital illustration.
Learning more about your audience
A lot of people consider digital illustration to be a form of painting, but that is not quite right! While there are some similarities in how you describe your style and what materials you use, digital illustrators have different strategies for translating their ideas into pictures.
As artists, we often use drawing as our main tool. We draw inspiration from many sources and mix and match styles to develop new illustrations.
Some artists begin with pencil sketches before moving onto Inks and Colours, which are usually traced or painted over. Others choose computerized tools such as Photoshop or Manga Studio to create their designs.
We can also find it helpful to compare ourselves to other artists. Looking at the work of others is a great way to get inspired and learn something new.
There are many ways to take education beyond the classroom too. You do not need to attend college to expand your knowledge. There are plenty of free resources available online and through social media.
