Illustrator facts for kids

A watercolor, by John Simmons, showing Hermia and Lysander

An illustrator is a special kind of artist who creates pictures to go along with written text. These pictures, called illustrations, help people understand the words better. They can make complicated ideas easier to see, or they can just be for fun! You see illustrations everywhere, like on greeting cards, book covers, inside magazines, and on posters for ads.

If you Give a Pig a Party illustrated by Felicia Bond

Most illustrators today make art for advertising, newspapers, and magazines. For a long time, artists often used pen and ink or airbrush tools to create their work.

Tools of the Trade

Computers have changed how illustrators work a lot! Today, many commercial illustrations are made using computers. Some popular computer programs for illustrators are Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator. Corel Painter is also popular for artists who want their digital art to look like traditional paintings. Even 3D computer graphics programs are becoming more common for illustrators.

However, traditional ways of illustrating are still very popular, especially for books. Artists still use watercolor, oil painting, pastels, wood-engraving, linoleum cuts, and pen and ink. These methods are used by many successful artists.

Different Kinds of Illustrators

Scientific Illustrators

Scientific illustrators help us imagine things we can't easily see. They create amazing art from things like bones and fossils found by scientists. They also draw animals that are hard to photograph. These illustrations are often used in museums to get kids interested in science.

Medical Illustrators

Medical illustrators use their artistic skills to create educational pictures about the human body. Their work helps people learn about human anatomy. Becoming a medical illustrator takes many years of training in both art and medicine.

Images for kids

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  An Illustrator

See also

In Spanish: Ilustrador para niños