Children's Narrative Illustration with Mixed Techniques
A course by Cecilia VarelaIllustrator Specializing in Children's Illustrations
A course by Cecilia Varela, Illustrator Specializing in Children's Illustrations
Create an illustrated story full of life with a unique style that combines multiple techniques
Even the smallest details in your life, something you saw, heard, or felt, can be a source of inspiration for a story. Cecilia Varela, illustrator and author of several children's books, teaches you how to look deeper into your world to create new ones.
In this course, learn how to craft a narrative illustration full of life and meaning. Create an illustrated story with a unique style by experimenting with a variety of techniques including gouache, acrylic paints, collage, colored pencils, and watercolors.
What will you learn in this online course?
14 lessons & 25 downloads
Materials
5 minutes, 14 seconds
What Is a Narrative Illustration?
6 minutes, 44 seconds
Observation
5 minutes, 42 seconds
Characters
9 minutes, 44 seconds
Action and Movement
7 minutes, 20 seconds
The Environment
8 minutes, 46 seconds
What's included in this course?
Start the course by getting to know Cecilia Varela. She explains how she got started in the world of illustration and tells you a bit about her professional background. She also shows you some of the artists she admires and talks about the places, situations, and experiences that have inspired her work.
In the next unit, cover the basics of narrative illustration including what it is and the most commonly used materials and techniques. Analyze the work of several professional illustrators to see how they developed their distinct styles and then practice the art of observation in search of inspiration and your own visual storytelling style.
Next, gather some objects that inspire you and use them to draw your characters in different poses and postures and create their surroundings. Experiment with collage and create multiple compositions to see how the different elements interact until you find the perfect combination for your final illustration. Then, create a color palette that expresses your protagonists' personality and emotions. Explore different techniques with acrylics, gouache, and colored pencils and add visual textures to your illustration.
Finally, learn how to use basic Photoshop tools to retouch your illustration and get it ready to print or share on your social media. To wrap things up, Cecilia gives you some tips on how to protect and preserve your original illustration.
What is this course's project?
Create a narrative illustration using a variety of techniques including gouache, acrylic paints, collage, colored pencils, ink, and watercolors.
Projects by course students
Who is this online course for?
Amateur or professional illustrators interested in exploring narrative illustration.
Requirements and materials
Basic notions of drawing and painting will be helpful, but not necessary.
The materials for this course include paper, charcoal, oil pastels, India ink, colored pencils, black or graphite pencils of different degrees of hardness, brushes with synthetic bristles, acrylic paints, gouache, and other items the teacher will show you in the course. You also need a computer with Adobe Photoshop if you plan on digitizing your work.
Reviews
- 2 months ago
I have learned so much through this class. It has been very interesting. Cecilia Varela is a very good teacher.
- 5 months ago
Un curso maravilloso. Bien explicado y estructurado. Muchas gracias Cecilia.
- 6 months ago
Der Kurs mit Cecilia Varela deckt alle wichtigen Schritte von der Ideenfindung über die Figurenentwicklung bis hin zur visuellen Umsetzung ab. Dadurch entsteht ein umfassendes Verständnis für die gestalterische Arbeit an einem Kinderbuch... Vielen Dank!
- 7 months ago
Muy bonito, ordenado e inspirador
- 8 months ago
He tomado muchos cursos de ilustración y narrativa y este me ha encantado por las ideas para poder resignificar a partir de otros objetos y crear nuevos personajes. Estimulo muchísimo mi creatividad e imaginación, gracias!!!!!
She won first prize at the Mexican Illustrators Contest in 2007 and has since then collaborated with different publishers in Mexico and Spain, like Edelvives and Alfaguara. Cecilia creates her artwork by hand and then digitizes it for publishing. She uses a wide variety of techniques in her work, but most often creates with acrylics, gouache, collage, and colored pencils.
Content
- U1
Introduction
- About Me
- Influences
- U2
What Is a Narrative Illustration?
- Materials
- What Is a Narrative Illustration?
- Observation
- U3
Starting to Narrate
- Characters
- Action and Movement
- The Environment
- Composition
- Color 1
- Color 2
- Visual Textures
- U4
Final Touches and Post-Production
- Digital Retouch
- Saving and Publishing
- FP
Final project
- Children's Narrative Illustration with Mixed Techniques
What to expect from a Domestika course
Learn at your own pace
Enjoy learning from home without a set schedule and with an easy-to-follow method. You set your own pace.
Learn from the best professionals
Learn valuable methods and techniques explained by top experts in the creative sector.
Meet expert teachers
Each expert teaches what they do best, with clear guidelines, true passion, and professional insight in every lesson.
Certificates
PLUSIf you're a Plus member, get a custom certificate signed by your teacher for every course. Share it on your portfolio, social media, or wherever you like.
Get front-row seats
Videos of the highest quality, so you don't miss a single detail. With unlimited access, you can watch them as many times as you need to perfect your technique.
Share knowledge and ideas
Ask questions, request feedback, or offer solutions. Share your learning experience with other students in the community who are as passionate about creativity as you are.
Connect with a global creative community
The community is home to millions of people from around the world who are curious and passionate about exploring and expressing their creativity.
Watch professionally produced courses
Domestika curates its teacher roster and produces every course in-house to ensure a high-quality online learning experience.
FAQs
You’ll learn to blend techniques like gouache, India ink, collage, and digital painting to craft expressive illustrations and original characters, developing visual stories for picture books, comics, and silent books.
This is an intermediate-level course, perfect for those with basic drawing or illustration skills who want to deepen their knowledge of mixed media and visual storytelling.
You’ll need materials such as gouache, affordable acrylics, India ink, mechanical pencils, brushes, watercolor paper, gray cardboard, scissors, and access to Photoshop for the digital portion.
Yes, the course covers how to scan, retouch, and prepare illustrations in Photoshop, including color correction, alignment, and detail adjustments for print or digital publishing.
A picture book seamlessly combines text and images to tell a story, unlike other illustrated books where images usually just complement the text.
Yes, you’ll learn to design characters using geometric shapes, collage, and observation, focusing on expressiveness and visual storytelling.
The course covers gouache, India ink, acrylic, collage, digital painting, texture creation, brush liner drawing, and techniques inspired by magical realism and Mexican surrealism.