Illustration

New skills, projects, ideas and fun facts about the world of illustration

  • How to Illustrate a Great Children’s Book Character
    Illustration

    How to Illustrate a Great Children’s Book Character

    A few concepts that will help you create fascinating characters for children’s books Children are one of the most demanding audiences that exist. Dedicating your life to children’s illustration requires a mix of absolute passion and drawing know-how that will allow you to illustrate the stories that thousands of children will grow up with the way they deserve. But what are the most important concepts to consider when designing a character for a children's book? Teresa Martínez (@teresa_mtz), an illustrator specializing in children's and youth publications, shares her professional advice which will help you build attractive and charismatic characters aimed at children's audiences.

    • 1
    • 0
  • 10 Incredible Illustrated Children’s Books for Kids and Adults
    Illustration

    10 Incredible Illustrated Children’s Books for Kids and Adults

    Among the classics of children’s literature, there are those titles that stand out for their illustrations Inspiration can be found anywhere but books are no doubt one of our greatest creative resources. That’s why we recently asked our Instagram followers to tell us their favorite children’s books. The response, as expected, was varied. Here is what we concluded were the top ten must-read books for any lover of illustration and stories. Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince), a book by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Antoine de Saint-Exupéry was a pilot, creator, author and illustrator of one of the books that has captivated the most readers the length and breadth of the world. A story considered by many a children’s book but the background of which is a critique of adulthood through the meaning of life, loneliness, friendship, love and loss. In 1968, the Morgan Library in New York acquired the original manuscripts and drawings, over 30,000 words, original watercolors and coffee-stained sketches with cigarette burns through them.

    • 2
    • 0
  • 15 Essential Shortcuts for Mastering Illustrator
    Illustration

    15 Essential Shortcuts for Mastering Illustrator

    Learn the best shortcuts for speeding up and improving your workflow with Adobe Illustrator Most illustrators, designers, and artists will already be familiar with Adobe Illustrator. However, to really master the program, it’s important to learn these shortcuts. They will help you to move around the keyboard and interface quicker and increase your productivity. Adobe Illustrator also allows you to add and personalize shortcuts to fit your needs. Anyone who works with Illustrator should know these 15 shortcuts inside out. How many do you? Essential tools All of the following commands are activated at the touch of just one letter key, allowing you to execute them quickly. Resize: Free Transform tool (E) and Scale tool (S) These tools are for changing the size of selected objects. The first, the free transform tool, allows you to alter the proportions of the object in a way that distorts the original shape. The scale tool enlarges or reduces the size of the object horizontally (along the x axis), vertically (along the y axis), or both. Select: Direct Selection tool (A) and Selection tool (V) The first lets you select individual anchor points or path segments by clicking on them individually, or select an entire path or group by selecting any other point on the item. You can also select one or various objects from a group. The second shortcut lets you select objects and groups by clicking or dragging over them. You can also select groups within groups and objects within groups. Magic Wand tool (Y) This is a magic wand that can automatically select objects of the same color, stroke weight, stroke color, opacity, or blending mode with one click. Rotate tool (R) This tool is for rotating an object around a fixed point. The default reference point is the center point of the object. To change the rotation point, you just have to click where you want to move it to. Live Paint Bucket tool (K) This is an intuitive way to create illustrations with color. It allows you to use the full range of Illustrator’s vector drawing tools, but treats all the paths you draw as though they are on the same flat surface. Pen tool (P) The Pen tool is the most useful and versatile vector drawing tool. You can use it to choose how many anchor points your path will have and their positions. You also can decide whether they have jagged or rounded corners. Hand tool (H) The hand tool is useful for moving around the area you are zoomed in on. It makes working much easier. Paintbrush tool (B) The paintbrush tool allows you to click and drag to create a pathway to which predefined vector artwork is applied.

    • 0
    • 0
  • Dos and Don’ts for Writing Children’s Books
    Illustration

    Dos and Don’ts for Writing Children’s Books

    Tips from an expert in children’s literature to help you improve your stories for little ones They say that to write children’s books you need to revert to being a child, free your imagination, let yourself be surprised, and above all, play with the story. For more than 17 years, Natalia Méndez (@natumendez) has been transforming her ideas into books for children. She’s an expert at understanding how to create and edit wonderful stories through play; how to extract a story from an initial idea and develop it into a book. She has edited books since 2002. She is also an author, a professor specializing in children’s literature, and works for the children’s and young adult fiction department of the publishing house, Edelvives Argentina. Drawing on her vast experience and extensive knowledge, here Natalia Méndez shares some tips to help us think about why we want to write for children, how to better understand children’s literature, and some ideas for how to make your stories appeal to little ones.

    • 0
    • 0
  • Illustration Tutorial: How to Draw from Your Imagination
    Illustration

    Illustration Tutorial: How to Draw from Your Imagination

    Learn to draw flora and fauna using the imaginary as a reference to find your own style with Violeta Hernández. The best way to learn to draw is to familiarize yourself with the technique through exercises that help us to experiment with different materials and visual references. Once you master the first phase, Violeta Hernández proposes that you go even further to find your own stamp: draw from your imagination. What does that mean? To create from what you remember and the sensations an animal or a bunch of flowers have made you feel, for example. In this process, memory, creativity and a desire to let yourself go, will be key. Below, designer and illustrator Violeta Hernández (@soyvioleta), will show you some key tips on how to draw from your memories and the results of her own adventures.

    • 1
    • 0