Once upon a time, people made illustrations only manually or traditionally. It also required quite a long time and had expensive operation costs. Digital illustration, then, comes into existence as technology progresses rapidly.
It has become a popular phenomenon in recent years. In the art and design world, digital illustration is a software used for graphic design, referring to creating interesting visual art works.
Not only as a hobby or creative activity, illustration has also become a rapidly progressing industry. There were many new professions and arts because of advanced technology, and one of them is digital illustration.
Table of Contents
In the graphic design world, illustration means a visual interpretation of a concept, a piece of writing, or a certain idea. Illustration is done by drawing technique, photography, painting, and other visual art techniques.
The essence of an illustration is a state of mind, idea, and concept that become the basis of what you want to communicate through the said illustration.
The objectives of using illustrations are as follows:
The functions of illustrations are as follows:
It replaces all long descriptions, be they verbal or narrative. We use illustration to make a portrait and a summary of all of them to make it more understandable and quicker to comprehend.
Illustration can shed light on and clarify a meaning, feeling, idea, abstract concept, or situation, making it readily understandable and clear.
Illustrations show one-by-one details in an organized way, thus making them easier to understand.
We use this function in formats such as tables, lists, cartoons, graphs, sketches,symbols, and diagrams.
Digital illustration is a drawing and designing production process that uses electronic tools such as tablets or laptops equipped with specialized design software. Therefore, it’s different from the manual method of drawing that uses brushes and papers as the tool and media.
Vector technique is often used. This technique uses a number of lines and curves to make illustrations, resulting in cartoon-like drawings that, under scrutiny, look similar to the original sources.
It refers to the transfer of sketches or drawings manually from computer, starting from sketching, drawing, to editing. Digital painting price in the market is also very competitive, with a result that is just as good as other techniques.
Generally, we call Pixel Art as pixel-based illustration. To make this type of illustration, we can use design software like Piksel, Aseprite, Pixilart, and many others.
3D arts have height, length, and width. In general, most of websites use 3D illustration style. Also, we can use it for many other purposes, such as social media sources and other stuff.
In this modern era, tools to make digital illustrations become even more varied, depending on how to use them and what they are for. Below are some of our recommended tools often used by illustrators.
Tablet is the most used digital illustration tool nowadays. It is all because of its small and compact size, making it portable. Therefore, it quickly becomes a favorite among illustrators.
Compared to other brands, the iPad becomes the number one device brand. Apple products have always served as electronic compasses, even in the field of illustration.
Pen display is the type of computer input device for digital drawing, consisting of a screen tablet and an electronic pen. What distinguishes it from a tablet is the fact that a pen display still needs a computer or laptop in order to be functional, as it is only an external device, while a tablet doesn’t.
However, with a pen display, we can draw directly on the screen of the computer, making the experience similar to manual drawing on paper.
These are brands we often see on the market that can be used: Wacom Cintiq 22, Huion Kamvas 16, XP-Pen Artist Pro 16, and Wacom One.
Pen tablet is a hardware or drawing tool consisting of a screen tablet and an electronic pen. What differentiates it from a pen display is that we use a pen display to ease our drawing experience, while pen tablets only use a screen tablet. We can draw on the tablet, but the drawing looks invisible there. You can only see what you draw on a computer screen connected to it.
Illustrators usually use these brands: Wacom Intuos Pro, Huion H420, Huion H460P, XP-PEN Star G430, etc.
Computers are a main tool for digital illustration and drawing, especially if we are using pen displays or pen tablets. There are many applications for digital illustration you can find on a computer. Utilizing a scanner, we can even transfer our manual drawings to a computer and transform them into digital drawings.
To make digital illustrations, not only do we need hardware or tools, but we also need software or applications. There are many applications to make digital illustrations, depending on the hardware and the comfort of the illustrators themselves.
Listed below are some application often used to make digital illustration:
It is the most popular application on iPad. This becomes a favorite because of its relatively simple display.
Procreate is a very responsive app that gives you the experience of making an illustration on a canvas. It also offers many superior features such as custom brush, blend mode, and basic gesture to make drawing easier.
This app is also famous for its recording feature, which enables you to record your drawing process in a full High Definition (HD) format. This feature is frequently used by illustrators to make behind-the-scenes contents or show off their illustration process through social media.
It is a drawing application typically used by beginners who start to learn many things, such as illustrations, comics, and animations. This app features can be considered complete too, as it provides a variety of brush features, many free asset materials, 3D features, and many others.
The advantage of Clip Studio Paint is its big community, we can even get many new and free assets from the community.
There is no way you have never heard of this illustration software, Adobe Illustrator, from the Adobe family. This is the most popular vector-based application in which all the drawings won’t break even if enlarged multiple times.
It is considered to be an easy app even for beginners. You can use this software if you want to make a more interesting and attractive design illustration. This app can be used on computers or iPads.
Introduce you to the sibling of Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop. This app is pixel-based software commonly used as a starter for illustrators to make digital design look more real. Photoshop provides an abundance of brush choices, supplied with all realistic features and effects to make your illustration design look lifelike.
Digital illustration surely makes art easier for artists and illustrators to create. The significant benefits from it are as follows:
The main benefit of digital illustration is its convenience in correcting mistakes or making needed changes. By using digital methods, illustrators can change colors, shapes, or other elements without having to restart from the very beginning.
Digital method makes it possible for illustrators to work quicker. Because digital canvas provides access to many types of tools and effects that not only beautify but also speed up the process.
Making art with traditional or manual methods is costly and requires constant purchases. However, digital illustration allows us to invest only in the beginning, because all the things we have bought can be used for an unlimited period of time.
By using laptops or tablets, illustrators can work everywhere without having to carry a large and heavy amount of art tools. This increases illustrators’ productivity as they can work anytime and anywhere.
In this contemporary era, digital illustration development has brought out a marvelous convenience for artists and illustrators. Its simplicity, benefit, and efficacy gain fame among both seasoned and beginner illustrators because it helps their journey expand more.
Let’s conclude that digital illustration is the process of making drawings electronically using software and digital tools. This technology serves as a freedom to express something bigger and makes unlimited exploration of many styles and concepts possible.
Its capability to readily edit, save, and share many works of art opens many opportunities for worldwide collaborations for artists. This not only boosts creativity but also expands the target markets for their artwork.
Through digital illustration, the limit between imagination and reality becomes more vague, and the creative world has become unrestricted for those wanting to explore, learn, and create something new.
Unlock freebies for your creative projects. Explore a curated selection of fonts, graphics, and more - all absolutely free. Don't miss out, claim yours now!
Claim Free Freebies
