About Amateur Illustrator (ai)

What is Amateur Illustrator?

Amateur Illustrator provides a platform for artists and illustrators to showcase their work and recieve critique. The forums are the real heart of the community where most of the discussion goes on and the articles section aims to provide useful and informative reading on all things art and illustration.

Our mission:

To serve and grow the Amateur Illustrator community by respecting our members, nurturing their talent and creating new opportunities for them.

The word "amateur":

We named our site 'amateur illustrator' because the original and true meaning of the word is to do something because you love doing it. Someone who does something out of love often does it better and with more passion than someone who is being paid. The name also has no pretensions...we want illustrators who are beginners as well as seasoned pros to visit and use our site.

History:

Amateur Illustrator was started in August 2006 by Nick Franklin, an illustration student at the University of Lincoln (in the UK). Nikolai Schmid, fellow illustration student and Ingmar Zahorsky (animation graduate from the Art Institute of California) have been part time contributers and moderators of amateur illustrator since its conception.

For a visual history of Amateur Illustrator click here.