Illustrating and Writing a Children's Book
A course by Valentina Toro , Illustrator and Writer
Discover the world of picturebooks and learn how to tell stories with text and images
If books are also your good luck charm, writer and illustrator Valentina Toro is the perfect teacher for you. As a fantasy lover, she likes to dream up worlds for others to live in. Take a trip with her to discover the secret universe of children’s picturebooks and dare to bring your own stories to life.
In this Domestika course, learn to write and illustrate children’s books; start with an idea and follow it through to the mock-up stage for submission to a publisher. Experiment with watercolors, colored pencils, and different digital techniques for narrating adventures. When you finish this course, you’ll know how to turn your ideas into stories on paper with text and images.
What will you learn in this online course?
15 lessons & 28 downloads
- 98% positive reviews (1K)
- 40,739 students
- 15 lessons (2h 13m)
- 28 additional resources (9 files)
- Online and at your own pace
- Available on the app
- Audio: Spanish, English
- Spanish · English · Portuguese · German · French · Italian · Polish · Dutch
- Level: Beginner
- Unlimited access forever
What is this course's project?
Create a storyboard for a children’s book and a mock-up with a finalized illustration that defines the personality and style of your book.
Projects by course students
Who is this online course for?
Anyone interested in illustration and who wants to learn how to tell stories for children using text and images.
Requirements and materials
For this course, you need some basic drawing skills using analog techniques and an interest in storytelling.
The materials you need for this course include a drawing notebook, graphite pencils, colored pencils, A4-size Durex paper, a scanner, and a computer with digital editing programs like Photoshop.
Reviews
Valentina Toro
A course by Valentina Toro
Valentina Toro is an illustrator and writer with a master’s degree in Creative Writing from the EAFIT University in Medellín, Colombia. Her work revolves around her fascination with the unknown and the secret worlds that can only be discovered in books.
Over the course of her career, she has published seven books, five of which are children’s books. Her style can be described as a blend of textual narration with images that create universes inhabited by both forms of expression. She has also written three novels and done illustrations for other authors. She was a runner up in the Little Hakka Picture Book Competition in China and is currently represented internationally by Advocate-Art Inc.
Content
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U1
Introduction
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About Me
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Influences
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What Will We Do in the Course?
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U2
First Steps
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A Bit of History
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Before Starting
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How to Get to a Story?
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The Script
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U3
Getting to Work
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The Materials
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Characters
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Picture Book Morphology
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The Mood of the Story
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U4
The Final Illustration
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Let's Start Illustrating
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Making it Digital
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The Complete Mockup
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Last Tips
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FP
Final project
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Illustrating and Writing a Children's Book
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What to expect from a Domestika course
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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.
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Learn from the best professionals
Learn valuable methods and techniques explained by top experts in the creative sector.
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Meet expert teachers
Each expert teaches what they do best, with clear guidelines, true passion, and professional insight in every lesson.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Watch professionally produced courses
Domestika curates its teacher roster and produces every course in-house to ensure a high-quality online learning experience.
FAQs
Domestika's courses are online classes that provide you with the tools and skills you need to complete a specific project. Every step of the project combines video lessons with complementary instructional material, so you can learn by doing. Domestika's courses also allow you to share your own projects with the teacher and with other students, creating a dynamic course community.
All courses are 100% online, so once they're published, courses start and finish whenever you want. You set the pace of the class. You can go back to review what interests you most and skip what you already know, ask questions, answer questions, share your projects, and more.
The courses are divided into different units. Each one includes lessons, informational text, tasks, and practice exercises to help you carry out your project step by step, with additional complementary resources and downloads. You'll also have access to an exclusive forum where you can interact with the teacher and with other students, as well as share your work and your course project, creating a community around the course.
You can redeem the course you received by accessing the redeeming page and entering your gift code.
tiziano790
un curso muy ameno e instructivo, induce a la creatividad y estimula la imaginación artística, brinda las técnicas para desarrollar las aptitudes y potencialidades de cada persona que incursiona en la ilustración y escritura de narraciones, hasta diría que es terapéutico para relajarse en una actividad atrapante, muy recomendable.
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gmichaela_061
growing up drawing I never looked for inspiration from other artists. I was always inspired by tv shows and movies, but I never did the work to study those artists or be a follower. I thought it was best to stay in my lane and not get distracted by others, but it was nice to dive into influences in this class. It plays a big part in your illustration journey.
tuila7
O curso é excelente. A única sugestão é para os alunos: estudem desenho. Porque é necessário.
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lanksheardale
This was my first Domestika course and I enjoyed it very much. Although it took me way out of my comfort zone I learnt many new things. Valentina's course is both inspiring and practical.
nibmo
well explained and instructed, highly recommended!