The development of illustration art has a long history. From the world's oldest illustration cave mural to the Japanese folk print Ukiyo-e painting in the Edo era, all of them demonstrate the development of illustration.

illustration first developed with the changes of newspapers and books in the early 19th century. Its real golden age began in the United States in the 1951s and 1961s. At that time, the illustrations just separated from art works were obviously painted, and most of the authors engaged in illustrations were professional painters. Later, influenced by the abstract expressionist school, they changed from concrete to abstract. It was not until the 1971s that illustrations returned to the realistic style.

The earliest illustrations in China appeared in the form of printmaking. With the introduction of Buddhist culture, the scriptures were illustrated in disguised form in order to publicize the teachings. At present, the earliest print work in China is recorded in historical materials, namely "The Mantra of Darani" published in Tang Suzong. The title page painting in King Kong Prajna Sutra published by Tang Yizong Xian Tong in the 9th year (868) is the exact date.

By the Song, Jin and Yuan Dynasties, book illustrations had made great progress. The application scope has expanded to medical books, historical geography books, archaeological catalogue books, daily encyclopedia books and other books, and color overprint illustrations have appeared. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, it can be said that during the great development of ancient illustration art, there were book engraving industries all over the country. Different regions have formed different styles. The forms of illustration are as follows: the attached drawings at the beginning of the volume, the illustrations in the text, the pictures above or below, the paintings on the inner cover or the title page, and the cards.

expanding information

the current situation of illustration: the United States is a country with a very developed illustration market, and appreciating illustrations has become a habit in society. On the one hand, a large number of independent illustration products are sold in the terminal market, such as illustration books, magazines, illustration greeting cards and so on. On the other hand, illustration, as a part of graphic design, illustration and commercial photography of visual communication system, is widely used in graphic advertisements, posters, covers and other design contents.

Illustrations are in Japan, Korea, Hongkong and Taiwan Province: As we all know, commercial animation in Japan has a huge market and operation team. Animation is an important branch of illustration industry. Before CG technology, Computer Graphics, used computer technology for visual design and production entered the field of illustration, hand-drawn animation had become a sunrise industry in Japan. Today's younger generation is increasingly inclined to use computer digital technology.

In South Korea, with the game industry climbing to the second pillar industry of the national economy in recent years, illustrations, especially digital illustrations, have sprung up, and the game characters designed with digital illustrations have won more market space with the popularity of Korean games in China. At the same time, Hong Kong and Taiwan Province illustrators are still looking for their own industrial road, although their works have obvious traces of learning from Japan.

illustration education: Beijing Institute of Printing, Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology, Beijing Broadcasting Institute, Tsinghua University Academy of Fine Arts, Central Academy of Fine Arts and other institutions have all set up illustration or illustration-related majors in recent two years, but the teaching content often only includes publication illustrations rather than commercial illustrations in a complete sense.

But in foreign countries, illustration education is closely integrated with the market. Many well-known illustrators are visiting teachers in various universities, who bring the most fashionable and cutting-edge business awareness to the school. Commercial illustrations popular in foreign markets today include publication illustrations, cartoon mascots, video and game art design and advertising illustrations.

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