By the end of art school, illustration as a career had lost its appeal.
Illustration is the amplification of the written word and as such is subservient to it. Fine art doesn’t tell a story but engages the imagination, is open to interpretation and the artist is self employed. Because the illustrator is employed, the work must be shaped according to externally imposed requirements. During the “Golden Age” of illustration in this country some great art was produced by illustrators such as Howard Pyle and his student N.C. Wyeth, for example. Those days are long gone and the illustration of the past has largely been supplanted by photography and digital imagery.
After discovering my negative reaction to the loss of control over my illustrations, I understood that if I were to have a career in the art field it had to be in fine art. This explains why I don’t do portraits, another form of employment, which Sargent called, “The world’s second oldest profession.”