Illustration for Children's Book Covers

Illustration of covers for children's books

“We have reached the end of the course, thank you very much for joining me and I hope you had as much fun as I did. Take your time and enjoy each step of the process, my goal is to motivate you to create your own stories, characters and projects and continue your journey now that you have new tools. Now, I'll go over the steps to create your final project. Creative process The first will be the idea so if you are still not very clear about what or how your character will be, you can use the creative method of combining words. What I like about this method is that it opens up possibilities for you by randomly associating words and ideas. Make a synopsis of the story, it includes: beginning, middle and a possible end. The story is key for the next steps, here you will define what is the context of your character and what surrounds him, who he is, what he is like (physically and psychologically), what problems he has and how they will be solved. In this step you should also think about what the title will be. Reference and sketches I like to start by doing an observation exercise, drawing the animal I chose with a pencil and as similar to the reference as possible. This helps me to see details that perhaps were not in my imagination: the position and color of the eyes, the shape of the nose and ears, the type of hair, the shape of its legs and its tail, among others. .

Having already understood its anatomy, the process of abstraction of shapes begins: for example, the ears can become triangles and the nose can be shaped like a circle or diamond. Have fun, play with your character and draw him in any way you can think of. What could I be wearing? Do you have any physical features that stand out? How is it psychologically? Cover and composition sketches I recommend you make several miniature sketches or thumbnails. The thumbnails allow to have a better vision of the composition and distribution of the elements since we will not be able to stop at the details. Keep in mind that there should be a space for the title and that there should be no elements or details that affect readability. Choose the sketch that works best. It is not necessary for all the elements of the story to appear on the cover, but it must have information that invites us to open the book and want to know more about the story. Think about the format: portrait, landscape or square, it can reinforce what you want to tell. Color tests In my process I worked in a 9cm x 14cm format. Working at scale allows us to save time and materials. Redraw the sketch you chose, it doesn't have to be perfect, because we won't dwell on details yet In this phase we just want to have a general idea of the color of the cover, test how the tones work together, the techniques and above all decide where we want to divert attention. Sketch and transfer Now, to work the sketch in real size, the ideal is to work 100%, in my case, I chose that the book measure 17.5cm x 24cm so the drawing that I make must have these measurements plus 1 cm on each side (bleed ). Adapt the measurements to the format you have decided. I made the sketch in pencil adding details and taking care of the composition, I advise you to use a paper where you feel comfortable but that is not very expensive because here we will allow ourselves to make mistakes, erase and correct until it is perfect. Once the sketch is ready, trace it and go over it with a soft pencil on the back to finally transfer it to the paper on which you will paint. As an optional step, you can go over it with waterproof ink before starting to paint. Final work In this phase I chose to paint with acrylic gouache, this technique allows me to work in layers and paint with light on dark tones but you can use the technique with which you feel most comfortable. If you are still not very familiar with your paints and materials or you are mixing, I advise you to try the color aside and not take it directly to the composition, wait for it to dry to know exactly what tone it turns out. After layering with paint, I move on to detailing with crayons and waxes to add texture and strength to my cover. Digitization, corrections and typography Scan and make sure that the file you are going to work on has good quality (about 300 dpi) and that it is in the indicated color profile: RGB for screens: social networks or online portfolio and CMYK if you want to print. Finally put the title on the cover. Find a font that matches the idea you want to convey, remember that legibility is the most important thing and that everything must have an intention. It is ready for you to share it on your social networks and portfolio, now that you have the cover, go ahead and build the rest of the story! See you in the forum for any questions that I can support you, don't forget to share your work and comment on that of your colleagues, the conversation enriches the creative process. I can't wait to see your final project, see you soon! ”

Partial transcription of the video

“Final Project In this video, we’ll go over the final project. Even though I did my project with a dog in the mountains, you should try other ideas. It could be a tiger in the city or an aviator armadillo. The idea is to keep exploring and, with the techniques I taught you, to create your own worlds. Remember that the first thing you should do is your brief. The idea is first. The rest of your processes will flow from that. Take all the time you need, do your brainstorming, and let your creativity run free because this is the basis for the story. Then we’ll design our character. Remember to ...”

This transcript is automatically generated, so it may contain mistakes.

Course summary for: Illustration for Children's Book Covers

• Level: Beginner
• 98% positive reviews (127)
• 2875 students
• 4 units
• 16 lessons (3h 14m)
• 6 downloads

• Category

  Illustration

• Software

  Adobe Photoshop, Procreate

• Areas

  Children's Illustration, Drawing, Editorial Illustration, Painting, Picturebook, Sketching, Traditional illustration, Watercolor Painting