There are 3 related terms for artists who draw "Popular" rather
than "Fine" art. Illustrator: an artist who draws mainly
"realistic" images that are subordinated to a story, or article.
Sometimes the subject matter is fantastic-like Frazetta's.
Sometimes it's mundane, like Norman Rockwell. Of course, they
are designy illustrators too, but my definition mainly means-
non-cartoony. Animator: An artist that moves drawings. During
the Golden Age of Cartoons, most animators were cartoonists who
learned to move their cartoons. Disney introduced the idea of
hiring illustrator types, like Milt Kahl and Marc Davis and
taught them to move their less "cartoony" drawings. Cartoonist:
An artist who draws funny and lively and not realistic or
designy. This concept started around the turn of the 20th
century in newspaper comics and continued in animated cartoons
until the 1960s, then died. Now "cartoonist" means someone who
can't draw. Witness the current comic strips in the newspaper.
Sometimes people call modern animators