What is technical illustration?

“Draw the subject matter correctly” is perhaps a bit of Kevin’s modesty showing through. Technical illustrators do not just draw their subjects correctly, they dissect and examine with amazingly precision every single detail of the subject. Cut-away illustrations show what is beneath the products exterior: circuitry in the case of a digital camera, the engine in the case of a car, the rooms of a house, etc.

Technical illustrators work with design or architectural blueprints, photographs, and other reference material to create the most accurate possible depiction of the subject which may be anything from an engine gear to a new shopping complex.

This cut-away illustration of the Royal Caribbean cruise ship, Radiance of the Seas, appears on one of Kevin’s Adobe Illustrator tutorials (To read this tutorial, click here: http://www.khulsey.com/demo_1howto.html). The original file is 36 inches at 350 dpi, with 35 layers in order to accommodate the incredible amount of detail. “If it is there, and the resolution of the final output will show it, you need to draw it,” he says humbly. On closer inspection of the website, it seems the file took 720 hours to create.

With 720 hours of work time, the reason Kevin uses Wacom tablets becomes clear. “The tablet is an essential piece of equipment. It speeds up the process to use both hands. With one hand you can draw ‘freehand’ and/or draw ‘paths’ using the tablet, while with the other hand, you can use a trackball to constrain line movements or use shortcut keyboard commands.” He not only saves time by working digitally, the “natural” feel of the battery-free pen helps to stave off the pain and fatigue that can come with the intense hours required in this profession.