An illustrator is an artist who creates pictures to go with texts, such as in books, magazines, advertisements, or digital media. Their images help explain, decorate, or bring stories to life.
From "illustrate" plus the agent suffix "-or," meaning "one who does." The role became more defined as printing and publishing grew and needed specialists in visual storytelling.
Illustrators translate words into images, often deciding what a story "looks like" in people’s minds for generations. Think of how many characters—like children’s book heroes—you can picture instantly because one illustrator drew them a certain way.
Historically, illustration and commercial art included many women, but their contributions were often minimized or categorized as ‘decorative’ compared to male ‘fine artists.’ Credit lines and art histories tended to highlight male illustrators, obscuring the breadth of women’s work in publishing and advertising.
Use gender‑neutral terms like “illustrator” for all genders, and avoid assuming an illustrator’s gender from their name or style. When teaching or citing history, deliberately include illustrators of underrepresented genders.
["visual artist","graphic artist","comic artist"]
Women such as Beatrix Potter, Jessie Willcox Smith, and Tove Jansson were foundational illustrators whose influence shaped children’s literature and visual storytelling but was long treated as secondary to male contemporaries.
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