Contrasting painting fine-art with illustration

A fine artist’s primary goal is usually to create an aesthetic and emotional experience, while an illustrator’s is to communicate an idea, story, or message. Comparing the two styles at a more detailed level, I can come up with the following list:

Fine artistic concern	Illustration concern
Emotion and aesthetic experience are primary.	Communication and storytelling are primary.
The painting can be open to interpretation.	The meaning should usually be clear.
The painting exists for its own sake.	The painting serves another purpose (a book, article, game, advertisement, etc.).
Success is judged by artistic impact.	Success is judged by how well it communicates.

A fine-art painter

I follow many fine art painters for inspiration. Given the variety of styles in painting, from naturalistic realism to pure abstraction, I am mostly drawn to the theatrical dramatism of urban architecture in the watercolour paintings of Thomas W. Schaller. His paintings answer questions such as:

• How can light evoke awe?
• Which shapes should be simplified?
• What emotional response can architecture create?
• How can design communicate grandeur?

My primary source of information about his painting style comes from watching videos published on his youtube channel.

An Illustrator

I have been reading and following a master Illustrator, James Gurney, for many years. I am referring to his masterpiece Color and Light: A Guide for the Realist Painter, as a comprehensive source for explanations of universal visual principles:

• light and shadow
• color temperature
• atmospheric perspective
• visual storytelling
• working from imagination

To my mind, he is a primary example of a successful Illustrator. Gurney’s paintings in the massive six-book Dinatopia collection exist to support a written narrative. They answer questions like:

• How can viewers believe dinosaurs and humans coexist?
• What would this fictional civilization look like?
• How does light behave in this imaginary environment?