Salutations and welcome to the first installment of Dream Team, a treatise on the bromance of writing and art that we call illustration. As your resident illustrator and designer, what I want to do here is to point out all the ways art sneaks in and slips itself into the cracks you writers leave behind, even the ones you didn’t know were there. See, the word “narrative” is right there in the definition[1]–you and I have common ground. I can’t think of any other two fields of work that mesh together and complement each other so seamlessly while still remaining independent professions. Writing doesn’t need art, art doesn’t need writing. Let’s be honest: the world doesn’t really need either of us, but it’s better with us around.
We even use the same tools if you’re going to step back and look at the basics–pencils, ink, a big stack of blank paper, and probably an equally big stack of neuroses. It seems to me that most people have the impression that creative activity is mostly just waiting around for an idea to flutter by, then snatching it out of the air, pinning it down to the paper, and letting images bleed out of it like it’s all some serendipitous process based on the whims of “inspiration”. Inspiration is kind of bullshit. Illustration is a problem-solving process based on critical thinking, channelled through the tools of composition and line quality and color theory. I chose this profession because working through that process makes me feel more fulfilled than anything else I’ve experienced in my short life so far. Do you feel the same way about writing? I hope so.
Of course, there are also the unicorns who defy the laws of nature and the jealousy of their peers to handle both the art and writing varieties of creative outlets, but I’ll cover more about them later. First, we’ll head back to the classics so I can show you a few of my favorite writer-and-illustrator teams and explain why my job is so great.
Next week: The Adventure of the Deerstalker Hat, or How Sidney Paget Created a Detective
[1] “Illustration” definition lifted and adapted from Wikipedia, so feel free to take this with a grain of salt.
About Kit Mills
Kit Mills studied Illustration at Syracuse University and now works as a graphic designer (and illustrator) in New York City. Kat's interests are limited to typography, dirty martinis, David Bowie, and new paintbrushes.