When it comes to illustration, many people visualize an illustration as a nice painting or a pencil sketch in a book or a magazine. These traditional types of illustration pop in our mind immediately after hearing the word: Illustration. But the truth is that nowadays we are surrounded by many types and styles of illustration, just as music has it’s own genres. And surprisingly painted illustration is not the most common one.

 

As I mentioned earlier, there are many types of illustration. But can we actually name some? Let’s have a look at a few of them:

Digital:

3D

8bit

Comic

Low-poly

Vector

Isometric

Traditional Media:

Painting

Watercolour

Sculpture

Streetart

Papercraft

Sewing/Knitting

 

As you can see an artist has a whole pallet of options to choose from. As well as a client does. With presenting these types of illustration, we want to show our clients, what they can choose from beside of the brief. An artist chooses the type of an illustration due what medium he/she works with. Different mediums differ from what actual art discipline we have. For instance, architecture uses mediums like: concrete, glass, metal etc. Drawing: pencil, oil paint, finger etc.

 

Digital art is the most popular type of illustration these days. It’s flexible, you don’t waste any material. You don’t need to have an extra room for all the art supplies. All you need is a nice desk and a computer. However digital art is often combined with fine art, such as painting or sketching, which is then transferred into a digital form. We have asked Paul Virlan our illustrator based in Romania to present us his view on digital art.

 

Why is creating art digitally the best form for you?

I am a big fan of expressionism and cubism paintings, however 90% of my work is digital because I think that an Artist should communicate in the time and space of his existence, which ultimately has a big impact on his art. For me the digital medium is solid and reliable, because I face technology 10 hours per day. I also carry a sketchbook with me in which I draw and then I shift my work into a digital medium. It is easier for me to experiment this way because I have a good understanding of my tools, be it a digital brush or a set or oil paint.

 

 

Do you have any favorite mediums?

I am continuously experimenting. I do a lot of digital work by combining illustration with design. Working as an Art Director I am learning a lot about combining mediums and tools, because in the end what matter is your knowledge and how you use it, mediums come second. I prefer working with Illustrator and then paint over in Photoshop with my tablet to achieve desired result.

 

How do you think young people/beginner illustrators can find their own style?

I think it’s more about how you want to see the world around you. You combine forms with your feelings until you obtain the perfect world, the world where you want to stay forever. Every time you will cut and paste, you will improve, simplify, and rotate. Your style will be your world but in a continuous evolution. Don’t be afraid to express and fell in your own way. And the most important thing, don’t be afraid to have fun and let your gut and personality take over. In the end It’s all about you.

 

 

 

 

Do you have a specific dream project, that you would like to work on, or what is your favorite project so far and why?

I think of it in terms of paths rather than dreams. When I do a logo should I say I dream to create a perfect logo or I think, make iterations, search for the perfect shapes and have fun by letting my gut to take over? Dreaming is subjective, but if this approach works better because people will have a tangible answer to digest, than I can say I want to work more in an apparel industry and to design packaging for Perfumes and Alcohol.

When do you know, that your artwork is finally finished?

If I see it and I smile, then it’s finished. I think it’s about emotions. Of course you can be changing it forever but sometimes you need to stop and feel. If you feel something then you stop.