If you think back to your favorite childhood books, you’ll likely think first of beloved characters. What made them special?<\/em> Cover of I Don’t Want Curly Hair<\/em>, by Laura Ellen Anderson<\/p> Olivia,<\/em> by Ian Falconer<\/p> Practice illustrating your character in a variety of poses and actions, as you’ll need to show them throughout the story doing a variety of things! Diverse characters, illustrated by Shelly Laslo for Usborne’s Questions and Answers about Growing Up<\/em><\/p> Right, so you’ve designed an awesome character, and now you have to place them in their world. What does that mean? Well, the environment in which you draw your character should fit the story, both in style and tone. So, if you’ve drawn a simple character with minimal features, you probably won’t draw them in a highly-rendered forest with tons of cross-hatching and shading. Also, if your character is wild and unruly, drawn in bright colors, it’s unlikely that they’ll live in a muted world drawn in greys and blacks. I say unlikely and not impossible, because that juxtaposition may serve the story, in which case, contradict to your heart’s content. Otherwise, be sure to stay cohesive. An important step when planning out your illustrations across the story is the storyboard<\/a> stage. Captain Rosalie<\/em>, written by Timothee De Fombelle and illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault.<\/p> Notice the landscape cropping, showing our main character at the foreground and the faraway character drawn blurry and small heading into the distance. What feelings do you think the illustrator, Isabelle Arsenault, was trying to capture from within the story and evoke in the readers? Thumbnails sketches for Roller Coaster<\/em>, by Marla Frazee<\/a><\/p> A good illustrator guides their viewer to look at what needs to be looked at. A great illustrator carefully inserts some witty surprises across the page. Consider this when drawing your thumbnails.<\/p> These days, more and more children’s books are created digitally. That, however, doesn’t mean that they need to look like they were created digitally. When I created my Procreate Brushes “The ShellyBrush Kit<\/a>â€, I spent hours and hours making marks with watercolor, crayon, and pencil in order to create the source file for each brush. The end result is an analog-looking brush, with the ease and practicality of a digital brush.<\/p> Creating the brush marks that would later become The ShellyBrush Kit Vol. 1 and Vol. 2<\/p> Especially when dealing with big publishers and tight deadlines, a digital workflow<\/a> can be an illustrator’s best friend. Working digitally makes editing a breeze, and eliminates the need for high-resolution scanning, and paint-drying time. What’s not to love? Character study done with The ShellyBrush Kit digital brushes.<\/p> Character study by Shelly Laslo. Layering digital brushes and adding brushstrokes create a hand-drawn feel. <\/em><\/p> When creating your eye-catching children’s book cover, consider how you’ll make it pop<\/a>, as well as convey the mood of your story. Hand lettering is very popular for lettering the title of picture book covers, as it ties together beautifully the hand of the illustrator and the design of the book. Hand-lettered title for Here We Are<\/em>, by Oliver Jeffers.<\/p> To get started, you can find some awesome lettering brushes and guides<\/a>. <\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Isn’t there something magical about children’s books? Written for a pure and innocent audience who will believe in nearly anything, children’s literature can whisk us away to far-off lands, introduce us to lovable talking animals, or take us on inconceivable adventures. Children’s literature features several categories of books for little ones: board books, picture books, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":58,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[74],"tags":[41,61,81,95,101,129],"topics":[25],"class_list":["post-55531","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tutorials","tag-inspiration","tag-design","tag-illustration","tag-how-to-2","tag-tutorial","tag-lettering","topics-learn-illustration"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\nA good character, first and foremost, must evoke a reaction from the viewer. It’s the illustrator’s job to capture that spark, that energy, that grabs our attention. Note that the protagonist in children’s books is almost always a child or child-like character, as real-life kids like to see people their own age solving their own problems.
\nI love people-watching for inspiration in creating unique characters, and watching my own children has added plenty of ideas to my own reservoir of character ideas.
\nPerhaps your character always wears mismatched socks, has cute bulgy eyes, or carries a ratty old teddy bear wherever they go. Are they prim and proper? Do they have wild red hair and crooked glasses? Is your character a child, a chihuahua, or a chair? (That’s right, characters don’t have to be human, and that in and of itself, can make for an intriguing character!)
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/d3ui957tjb5bqd.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/2020\/08\/19053251\/I-dont-want-curly-hair-cover.png.webp\")
<\/p>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/d3ui957tjb5bqd.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/2020\/08\/19053307\/Olivia-cover.png.webp\")
<\/p>
\nAlso, it’s 2020, so be sure to represent a diverse and inclusive range of characters! That not only means a variety of skin tones but also varying levels of abled-ness as well as diverse families.
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/d3ui957tjb5bqd.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/2020\/08\/19053325\/growingupcover.png.webp\")
<\/p><\/span>Setting the Scene<\/span><\/h2>
\nAlso, be mindful of the time period and geographical location of your story. You may need to do some research, but the clothes in which you choose to dress your character, as well as the type of buildings that will line the streets, will vary according to the time and place in which the story is set.<\/p><\/span>Storyboards<\/span><\/h2>
\nIn this stage, we draw thumbnails to plan what each spread will look like. It helps to imagine the story like a movie at this point, and you as illustrator get to direct each scene! This is your chance to get creative with angles, cropping, and cinematic views. Does it serve your story to illustrate a sprawling field as viewed from above, or to create drama by framing your illustration as a close crop of your characters startled face?
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/d3ui957tjb5bqd.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/2020\/08\/19053342\/Captain-Rosalie.png.webp\")
<\/p>
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/d3ui957tjb5bqd.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/2020\/08\/19053359\/Roller-coaster.png.webp\")
<\/p><\/span>Technique<\/span><\/h2>
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/d3ui957tjb5bqd.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/2020\/08\/19053414\/Shelly-brush-sketches.png.webp\")
<\/p>
\nThanks to some amazing digital brushes<\/a> and textures, your illustrations can have that amazing, tactile feel of drawings created with gouache, watercolor or pencil.
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/d3ui957tjb5bqd.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/2020\/08\/19053428\/character-study.png.webp\")
<\/p>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/d3ui957tjb5bqd.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/2020\/08\/19053443\/character-study-2.png.webp\")
<\/p><\/span>The Cover<\/span><\/h2>
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/d3ui957tjb5bqd.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/2020\/08\/19053500\/here-we-are-cover.png.webp\")
<\/p>
\nIf hand-lettering isn’t your strength, you can always rely on beautiful and quirky typefaces for a handwritten look and feel.
\nI hope I’ve inspired you to give picture book illustration a go! There’s room for every aspiring illustrator’s style and voice. Get creating, and let your art find its way into the hearts and bookshelves of children everywhere.
\nShelly Laslo is a children’s book illustrator living in Israel. She is represented by Plum Pudding Illustration Agency. She has worked with some wonderful clients including Penguin Random House, Usborne Publishing UK, and Bravery Magazine. You can find more of her work on her Instagram<\/a> and website<\/a>. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>