The blank space for an illustrator is meant for a place of creative brainstorming. It is nerve racking and sometimes foreboding. The illustrators job is to convey ideas, messages and use visual language to accomplish these things. Pictures and words are intertwined so closely, and it is the job of the illustrator to find that union.
No matter what medium that is used, there is always a concept that must be made clear to the audience. The media has always produced images and text together on packaging, tv, etc. Now we have more sensory overload with our phones being ever present.
The picture and text support on another. Each have their own qualities that allow the finished product to communicate a concept. The picture, however, has the ability to communicate instantaneously.
What defines fine art from applied art is their intended purpose and the intended audience. There are other questions listed in the chapter how we can differentiate between these two.
An illustrator is faced with visual problem solving constantly. There is the concept of "6 thinking hats" that help explain the solving process of the illustrator.
-gather info
-explore ideas
-asses the ideas (strengths and weaknesses) deciding on a subject
-focusing on the entire process
-express views emotionally and intuitively
The conclusion of the chapter wraps up with the blank space conversation. That the artist/illustrator must use constructive thinking processes in order to fill that blank space. My take away from the chapter is that we don't need to feel overwhelmed by the foreboding blank space. Rather, there are tools in which we may conquer the space and create something with great concept and meaning.
