Beyond Image: Situated Illustration, A Pedagogic Practice

Illustration practice becomes holistic and acquires gravitas because it develops broadly, with parameters that extend far beyond the remit of commercial instruction. Professor Emeritus Alan Male, Eye Magazine no. 92 vol. 23, 2016 Illustration is no longer driven by process, or defined by a single medium. In the advent of technological developments, the proliferation of images and economic factors illustration is increasingly viewed as non-process specific, Illustration as a verb rather than noun? Whilst there is a fashionable notion or security of authenticity in the traditional skills of illustration, the ‘craftsmen’, the real shift is conceptual and how illustration can communicate to varying audiences and communities, both on a local level and international. As the digital shifts the emphasis from the written word to the image, illustrators are in a key position to mediate information and narratives. Illustration has accessibility, and increasingly as it moves away from reproduction, has potential through performance and the potential of visual storytelling beyond the image. This paper will set out to explore the potential for illustration as it moves away from the singularity of the image to movement, interactivity, situated in alternative settings, and as an act a pedagogic tool and for social engagement, using as examples projects with CARIS Haringey Summer Playscheme London UK, Westdene Primary School Brighton UK, and the Illustration Festival in S. João da Madeira Portugal.