Anyway, I get much of my inspiration (I"m a writer) from illustration, have more books of book illustrations (SF,fantasy generally) than many artists I know. I asked my friend why illustration is looked down by "artists".
Over the years we have revisited the question, but he frequently comes back to the same answer. "Norman Rockwell was an illustrator, and his subject matter appealed to the average person, who is precisely what many artists DON'T want to be. They want to distinguish themselves, make a scandal."
95% of the contemporary art I own and love is illustration. So you ARE an artist.
I think that illustrators are looked down on by modern artists simply because illustrators actually know how to draw and paint, something that modern artists usually are not too good at.
Modern artists somehow think that is more noble to prostitute oneself to the art world with incomprehensible mediocrity than it is to learn true skills and make something that you can sell to the public.
My 2 cents, anyway.