Illustration

When words aren’t enough, you complete the picture.

You have creative talent—and you’ll take it to the next level in our top-ranked Illustration program. Here, you’ll develop the skills you need to communicate ideas and emotions through pictures. You’ll master drawing and rendering techniques and learn how to use new tools, guided by faculty members who have active creative practices in illustration.

As a CCAD student, you’ll learn how to breathe life into character designs, craft attention-grabbing motion graphics, create out-of-this-world 3D objects, and much more. You’ll graduate prepared for what you want to do next, whether that’s writing and illustrating your own books, creating eye-catching prints and posters, or contributing to the cutting-edge concepts, characters, and worlds that top entertainment companies are looking for.

Illustration Student Work

Steampunk

Darcy Cunningham

Color Animal

Brianna Garman

Character Development

Jacqueline Rhiannon

Anatomical Character Dissection

Layla Updyke

Children's Picture Book

Clynn Yeoh

Character Study

Bailey Schmee

Cat Cycle Days

Abbie Ridpath

Walrus Character 3D Digital Model

Joseph Neff

Untitled

Bill Wang

Perspective Drawing

Haejung Lee

Orville Peck Poster

Heidi Lamerson

Exterior Architecture Perspective Drawing

Emily Wick

Adventure Together

Hillarie Mattox

Spaces to Make

Our campus has the tools and the spaces to help you make your vision real.

CCAD Illustration Lab — You can create work in our 2D illustration lab, which features scanners, black and white and color printers, drawing tables, open lounge space, Cintiq monitors, a light table, drawing projectors, drawing tables, a cutting table, a mat cutter, cameras, and a cleaning sink.

Illustration Lab 2024 16 — From high-tech apps and equipment to analog tools like light tables, you’ll have access to the items you need to realize your vision, from initial drafts to your final work.

Faculty

Meet the people who will help you along your creative and professional journey.

John Cairns

Chair of Illustration, Assistant Professor of Illustration

David Butler

Assistant Professor of Illustration

Maria Carluccio

Assistant Professor of Illustration

Joe Kovach

Associate Professor of Illustration

Robin Zomchek

Associate Dean of Entertainment Design, Professor of Illustration

Adjunct Faculty

Eric Buescher
[email protected]
Thomas Glick
[email protected]
David Hovey
[email protected]
Jason Johnston
[email protected]
Julian Lee
[email protected]
Isabella Raines
[email protected]
Mark Riedy
[email protected]
Mandy Root-Thompson
[email protected]
Victoria Sellers
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Nikki Smetters
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Benjamin Towle
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Brian Williams
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Course Spotlight

Character and Environment Design

You’ll strengthen your illustrative drawing skills—and your storytelling ability—in this course, which includes character development and storyboards. You’ll do that in part thanks to class assignments that will help you better observe and depict the human figure through drawing (clothed) models.

Illustration First Year Experience

Academic Year

Fall 2023 - Spring 2024

Course of Study

Freshman Year - Fall

Course Title
2D Creative Practice
Systems of Drawing
Collaboration
Mod Contemporary or Historical Art History
Writing and the Arts

Freshman Year - Spring

Course Title
Intro to Illustration
Drawing for Entertainment Design
3D Making with Care
History of Comics and Illustration
Liberal Arts Self and Society Course

Illustration careers

After earning their BFA in Illustration, our graduates leave ready to take on such roles as:

Advertising designer
Apparel graphics designer
Book illustrator
Character and asset designer
Editorial illustrator
Fine artist

Recent Employers

American Greetings
Bath & Body Works
Boeing
Cartoon Network
CBS News
DC Comics
Disney Consumer Products
DreamWorks Animation
Forever 21
Hallmark
Hasbro
LEGO
Lucasfilm
Marvel Comics
New York Times
Ogilvy & Mather
Orange Barrel Media
Pixar
Wall Street Journal

CCAD Stories

Alumni Stories

A CCAD education is a building block in these LEGO designers’ careers

The ink had barely dried on their diplomas when Wes Talbott (Illustration, 2013) and Lillie Talbott (Advertising & Graphic Design, 2013) upped and moved to Billund, Denmark, where Wes had been offered a position with childhood toy favorite LEGO Group.

Super20 Hero20 Art20 Contest CCAD20reception 51

Student Success

CCAD artists play superheroes, partner with COSI to transform children’s art

They may not be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound (let’s leave the Superman antics to the Man of Steel himself), but a group of CCAD students recently played superhero for some young artists in the making.

Explore more CCAD stories