Illustration is that discipline that is often hard to describe, depending on your speciality (painting, drawing, cartoons, engraving, etc.). neither fine art nor graphic design, but with frequent overlaps.

This is a very useful book for art students (so long as they can decipher the text). The problem is, although the author states that his aim is to help students uncover what is actually required of them in a challenging market place, he writes in a deliberately jargon filled way:

"... This would be a scholarly research-based thesis that manifests as a visual essay and contains substantial critical analysis, a review of the subject's historical and contemporary placement, and a conclusion expended by both written and visual work."

The above, being a typical line of text from early on in the book, hence why this book is targeted at the later stage undergraduate and post-graduate. The only issue I take with this is that if the language were made a little more accessible to everyone, then it would broaden who could make use of the information. I think first year student could and should read this book. It's important stuff and may determine how they choose to plan their learning path.

As more and more people receive recognition as accomplished illustrators, made visible via on-line communities such as Deviant Art, it is clear that a new bar had to be set within the creative industry. One which excludes what the author calls 'colouring in technicians' and defines 'illustrators' anew. An illustrator in the modern world is no longer the person who 'does the pictures', they often commission themselves (in the case of book authors being one obvious example). Being an illustrator is often seen as a secondary skill or at least a skill which complements another discipline. An archeologist/illustrator, or anatomy/illustrator, which require the artist to own a second set of technical skills.
With off-the-peg art now avaliable digitally and instantaniously, the demand for commisioned artists, once the bread and butter work for illustrators has dwindled to nothing, and a career in this sector now requires other skill sets not affiliated directly to the creation of images for sale.

This is the new horizon that will be out of reach of many young artists today. Art is a visual communications media, but one which on its own is vertually meaningless. A fact that this book highlights all to clearly.

The book is divided into three chapters (four if you include the very thorough appendix which is classed as a chapter in itself!)

Education

The Nature of Imagery

The Role of Illustration

Appendix
-Project Brief Development Checklist
-Research and Reference Gathering Checklist
-Project Assessment and Review Checklist
-Project Appraisal, Critique and Reflection
-Project Proposal Proforma

There is also information on where to get representation and put together a portfolio. Full of tips and advice, I feel this book will provide the student and budding free-lance artist a much needed helping hand through those all important early years, and help prevent them falling into, at least a few of the, biggest pit-falls and traps lurking in the path of the junior artist trying to make a go of it on their own.
The book is cram-packed with full colour illustrations, in a variety of styles, on every single page of the first three chapters. ( )