Talk to anyone doing the amazing 3D animation that is revolutionizing movies, and television and media graphics, and you'll learn something that's counter-intuitive. What's really needed in operating computer art tools isn't knowledge of how to work the computer. It's knowing how to draw.
Drawing forces your eye to truly see, they'll explain. It forces your brain to truly understand, interpret, recreate, and most importantly to know how to simplify something you want to depict. Without these core illustration skills, the most sophisticated computer tools in the world will soon leave you unproductive and frustrated.
Luckily for you, illustration school is one of the best ways to get a large quantity of illustration practice, and create the kind of portfolio you need to win an illustration job. Meanwhile you'll be learning insider's tips from other students and skilled mentors.
The Pencil is More Important than the Computer
Talent and a pad and a pencil and some good teaching are your keys to making a 3D illustration experience as rich as the Pixar movie The Incredibles (did we mention the talent part?) These are also the ingredients that are your entr?e to creating knockout cartoon illustrations, or winning an illustration job with a book publisher, or shaping a portfolio of fashion illustration that will rock the industry.Mentors in a good illustration school can also be your guides if you'd like to prepare for two interesting and high paying specialties: medical and scientific illustration. If you have a passion for detail and a love of the sciences, you can create a portfolio of sample illustrations that will help you break in these fields. Stars in these specialties can win lucrative assignments they can often work on from anywhere. Will it be a cabin in the country or an apartment in Paris? It's your life to illustrate.
