1) This first image I believe is an illustration due to its context as a series of panels in a comic book (Transformers:More Than Meets The Eye Vol.4, IDW Publishing), thereby serving a purpose of both communicating a story and showcasing characters and character interaction. It is also a piece of collaborative illustration as the text doesn't make sense without the image, and the image is incomprehensible without the text. It also has a specific audience it caters to with this image, as it is merely part of a larger book and series. (The specific audience is mostly nerds like me that love alien robots making clever jokes about existentialism)
2) The next piece I would now define as an image rather than an illustration. Although it presents a character design, the image doesn't really have a message or story to tell as it is merely some early concept art for a film. I still enjoy the rendering and aesthetic of this image but I would no longer think of it as an illustration as it doesn't really provoke a response in the viewer beyond "that looks cool". (The original character that this image represents, Black Panther, is a big influence in my passion for comics though, so he still gets points.)
3) This next piece I would define as an illustration also, as it alludes to a story and represents the nature/characterisation of the figure shown in the image. This also, in my case anyway, provokes an emotional response to the viewer, as it is both funny and a little disturbing in a cartoonish intriguing way. This also appears in the context of a comic book (Skottie Young's "I Hate Fairyland" issue #1, Image Comics), centred around a middle aged woman tired of reading bedtime fairytales to her children and becoming hateful of such stories, being transported into a fairytale world full of all the cutesie adorable things she hates, whereupon she begins murdering everything and trying to escape. With that added context I feel the image becomes clearer and more comedic, and I believe this factor in particular allows me to classify it as an illustration.
4) With this next piece I had some difficulty deciding on whether it was an illustration or a drawing. The image is character driven and communicates characterisation more so than a story or message, but initially I would have thought of this as an illustration as it represents a character based thought. Whilst the composition of the image is telling of each characters personality, I don't feel that it really generates a response when I look at it. Although I love the aesthetic and craft behind the image I don't think that it has a specific problem to solve or tale to tell, so I would see it as a drawing rather than an illustration. (A damn good drawing of a damn good cartoon band though mind you.)
5) The final image I chose to take to the last PPP session I would confidently class as an illustration rather than simply an image or a drawing. This piece communicates a story, a character and a style all with minimalist shapes and lines. The main reason I see this as an illustration more than a drawing is the fact that it is highly representational; meaning that this isn't how a person really looks and that isn't how human joints really work, but the artist has warped reality to create an image that reflects what he personally sees in this character and what this character makes him feel like. The character this is based on is Prince Oberyn Martell from a Game of Thrones, a hotheaded overconfident warrior based on real world Spanish historical fighters. His nickname in the series is The Red Viper, in reference to his deadly nature with a spear in battle, but also his tendency to lace his weapons with poison. I feel that this all subtly comes through in this illustration; the pose of the figure suggests fluidity and flexibility, but the sharp edges connote danger and precision. Maybe it is only because I'm familiar with the character that I see these links but I feel that the image is snakelike in nature on purpose to give a personal reflection of this artists take on the character.
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