Once upon a time, children’s books were illustrated by hand, with pencil and paper. Nowadays, digital technology has taken over, and illustrators use a wide range of programs to create the finished product. When time is short, artists can use vector-based programs to create their art digitally. This is a huge time-saver for them and the rest of us, too—since digital images are much smaller than their analog predecessors. Here’s how to illustrate a children’s book.
- Focus on the character growth
Most children’s authors are not trained as illustrators, yet they are expected to draw everything in their books. The result is often a lack of attention to character development, which can cause strained relationships between characters and even less than believable scenarios. If you want your characters to come alive, you need to draw them.
- Look for a stylistic inspiration
It’s where illustrators draw pictures to fit a story instead of the other way around. It’s an interesting style of illustration that lends itself to a lot of versatility, but it did take me a while to wrap my head around. Some people may think that children’s books are bland, but honestly, there’s nothing bland about them. They’re full of characters, colors, and exciting events. They’re full of lots of different backgrounds, and there are lots of pictures in them. And, to make things even better, children’s books are full of illustrations, and you can always improve them by adding some of your own characters and pictures to them.
- Start with a storyboard
This is a fairly advanced concept for illustrators, but it is worth exploring since it can be fun to get creative. To illustrate a children’s book, you draw a storyboard. This is a series of drawings that tells the story of a story, such as a short picture book. There are various methods to illustrate a storyboard, but with a children’s book, the storyboard can be as simple as a single picture of the hero.
- Fix the final work and its text
This is the final art for my latest children’s book. It’s a full-sized book of poetry. Illustrating children’s books is a lot of fun. The possibilities are endless, and each book is unique. What would you like to create? I think about how I will describe the story and the picture in my head, think about the colors and how I will use them, form a loose sketch, and finalize the artwork. The whole process takes a lot of time.
It is a known fact that children beg their parents to read to them from the time they are babies. Parents, especially those who are busy working, are usually unable to read to their babies and toddlers. But there is a way around this. Illustrators, who are trained in illustrating children’s books, can read children’s books for them. Starting from the story line, the illustrators can make illustrations of the scenes in the book. These illustrations can also help parents to understand what the children are supposed to learn from the book.
Children’s books are some of my favorite things. I love reading about children and their adventures, and getting to draw them for a living is great fun. But as fun, as it is to draw children, it can be very difficult to illustrate them. I have to make sure that my drawing skills are up to the task. To help figure this out, I’ve tried some of the most common techniques, from traditional pencil and paper to digitally coloring, and I have to say, both ways are good. I have also tried a few different mediums, such as gouache, colored pencils, and colored inks. I have tried using paint, ink, marker, and paint markers, to name a few.
Ever wanted to illustrate children’s books? It’s not as hard as you might think, and you don’t have to be good at all the involved things. The main things you need to know are: First, your book needs to be fun, which is why most kid’s books have characters with funny names, funny clothes, funny things that happen to them, and funny things that they do. Second, you need a good title. A title can make or break your book. In fact, it’s a good bet that it will make it. Third, if you want your illustrations to be good, you have to use the right kind of illustrations. You might, for instance, use photographs of children to illustrate a book about children.
