The ability to draw, illustrate and render in various styles is an attribute which has been coveted by artists of all periods. The mastery, or even basic facility with these skills, is considered virtually indispensible during the conceptual stages of creating high-level artworks, giving relatively accurate form to working visual ideas.

From Rennaisance masters to the studios of today’s painters, sculptors, architects and designers, the use of illustration has evolved from merely a planning and construction tool to an artform rightfully functioning in the realm of collectible fine art.

Though I do not consider myself an illustrator per se (the work of my friend and fellow Parsons student Amane Kaneko is a good example of professional illustration), this gallery displays a few examples of various illustration techniques I have used in the past for a variety of applications: Portraits from live sittings using pastels on watercolor paper; collages constructed of cuttings from antique drawings combined with ink drawing and colored dyes; pencil illustration, calligraphy and hand lettering; pointillism illustration using pens and guache; photographic images digitally manipulated and reproduced with gicle' inkjet printing; mechanical, architectural and design illustration for engineering and marketing projects.

Today, through the use of digital photography and the ability to digitally manipulate images with computer tools such as PhotoShop, artists have exponentially increased their capacity to push the limits of two-dimensional composition. But regardless of the medium used, any of these types of illustration devices can contribute greatly in conceiving, experimenting, planning or creating a finished piece of art.