Meaning & use
illustrator
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Meanings
nouncountable
A person who draws or paints pictures that accompany a text or explain an idea, especially for books, magazines or advertisements.
Grammar: Countable: an illustrator, several illustrators. Often followed by of or for.
Patterns
- the illustrator of a book
- an illustrator for a magazine
The illustrator of the picture book spent a year painting the forest scenes.
She works as a freelance illustrator for several magazines.
The author thanked the illustrator for bringing her characters to life.
nouncountablespecialist
A person who makes diagrams, charts or technical drawings that help explain information.
Grammar: Often modified by a field: a medical illustrator, a technical illustrator.
Patterns
- a medical/scientific illustrator
A medical illustrator drew the diagram of the heart for the textbook.
The scientific illustrator carefully showed each part of the insect.
They hired a technical illustrator to draw the assembly steps.
Word forms
| plural | illustrators |
|---|
Common combinations
- freelance illustrator
- Her career as a freelance illustrator began with greeting cards.
- children's book illustrator
- He is a well-known children's book illustrator.
- medical illustrator
- A medical illustrator needs a solid knowledge of anatomy.
- hire an illustrator
- The publisher decided to hire an illustrator for the cover.
- talented illustrator
- The magazine praised the talented illustrator behind the cartoon strip.
Synonyms and how they differ
- artist
- Artist is much broader and does not imply that the pictures go with a text.
- cartoonist
- Cartoonist draws humorous or comic images, while illustrator covers any style that supports a text.
- draftsman
- Draftsman focuses on precise technical drawings rather than pictures for readers.
- graphic designer
- Graphic designer arranges text and images on a page, while an illustrator creates the images themselves.
Word family
- illustrate verb
- to add pictures, or to explain with examples
- illustration noun
- a picture in a book, or an example that clarifies a point
- illustrated adjective
- containing pictures
- illustrative adjective
- serving as an example
Commonly confused: illustrator or author?
illustrator vs author
The author writes the text of a book, while the illustrator creates its pictures; the same person may do both.
Practice
Who creates the pictures in a children's storybook?
Choose one answer.
An illustrator creates the images. An editor improves the text, a proofreader checks for errors and a publisher produces and sells the book.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “illustrator”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.