< ECU Directory

Amory Abbott

Associate Professor, Illustration

Availability:

Education:

MFA, Visual Studies, Pacific Northwest College of Art
BFA, Illustration, Herron School of Art and Design

Bio

Amory Abbott is an American visual artist, illustrator, author, and publisher, with a creative practice that spans gallery exhibitions, illustrated media, writing, publishing, and community outreach. He approaches course curriculum with professional insight, curiosity, joy, and rigor. Beyond his work at ECU, Amory publishes an art book series on wildfire called Fire Season, showcases local comic makers through his publishing company Cauldron Books & Comics, and is the Executive VP for Vancouver Comic Artists Association that hosts VanCAF.

Websites:

Research Interests

In contemporary visual art, Amory's research revolves around landscape and its relation to ecological crisis, climate change, resource extraction, western culture, nature-based folklore, ancient history, and the supernatural. He explores this through his studio practice with charcoal landscape drawing, and through editing and publishing a biennial art book series called Fire Season. In illustration, his research is focused on visual storytelling through comics and graphic novels, exploring themes of isolation, fantasy, humour, and the paranormal.

Courses

Course Name Department Course Code Term
Illustration ILUS 401 27/SP

Description

This advanced course for Illustration Majors will allow students to transition from theory into practice. Students will interface with pre-arranged illustrators, art directors and editors who will assist and encourage the development of professional quality work and creative vision. Assigned and/or self-generated projects will be supervised by these top industry professionals. Students will explore the relationship between the professional production of images and wider questions of participation in the public sphere.

Pre-requisites

No prerequisites.

Illustration ILUS 206 27/SP

Description

This course is designed to introduce students to the ways that ideas can be generated for the purpose of illustration, and how they can be expressed through sequencing processes. Using conceptual and logistic prompts, students will reference historical image making strategies and contemporary formats as they relate to both single and sequential works, underscoring the importance of iteration, critical thinking, and visual problem-solving as integral parts of the ideation process. Through workshops, lectures, and demonstrations, students will explore sequential narrative techniques using series, catalogue, and paneled pages at the individual and communal classroom level.

Pre-requisites

No prerequisites.

Illustration ILUS 201 26/FA

Description

This course is designed to introduce students to concepts, processes, and techniques of illustration as a means of both creative expression and critical inquiry. Students will learn illustrative methods and approaches through demos, examples, workshops, and lectures. These will be applied to projects within a studio environment. Through undertaking these projects, students will develop a better understanding of the physical and technical aspects of image-making and its specific application to illustration.

Pre-requisites

No prerequisites.

Illustration ILUS 306 26/FA

Description

This course varies in topic from section to section, and is repeatable for 6 credits so long as the topic has changed. Students respond to the specific cultural context and the unique practical concerns of a specific area of exploration within illustration. This course will integrate a specialized understanding of professional context with an investigation of the social and cultural connotations of form and content. A priority of the class will be to cultivate discourse and criticality in relation to the material that is presented. Studio exploration will be examined in relation to visual culture and cultural criticism. Topics and themes might include: Graphic Novel, Children's Book, Surface Pattern, Sci-Fi, Humour.

Each section of this course runs with a different topic. See here .

Pre-requisites

No prerequisites.