Making Meaning of Illustration By Michele Bogart, Ph.D. American illustration is an exciting and popular field with tremendous cultural significance, yet paradoxically, one with an image problem. “Illustration,” defined broadly, lacks the centrality and heuristic coherence that the related field of fine art painting has. Partly because of this fact, the endeavor has had difficulty acquiring legitimacy. This situation exists partly because people mistakenly conflate illustration with “Art,” and expect the same aspirations, techniques, practices, and outcomes to apply. But illustration can’t measure up when interpreted that way. Nor does it even always measure up when examined on its own