The area of study in Illustration provides a broad background in a variety of fine-arts and design techniques with required courses in traditional drawing, photography, painting, watercolor, and graphic design as well as computer-assisted drawing and painting. The curriculum concludes with the preparation of an exit portfolio.
The area of study is directed towards the perfection of illustration skills, conceptual thinking and the development of an individual artistic style. Specialized courses in illustration emphasize problem solving in the context of advertising art, newspaper, magazine, and book publication and focus on the development of publication illustration from the conceptualized pencil comps through the fully realized, camera-ready art.
Individual goals and diverse career objectives may lead to intensified work in fantasy, children's book, editorial (magazine illustration), cartooning, comic book, and corporate advertising. The primary illustration studio, located on the second floor of Arends Hall, is well-equipped for instruction in drawing, painting, and airbrush. Computer labs utilized for illustration classes are in Arends Hall and Lincoln Hall.