Building a Portfolio for a Career in Children’s Illustration

Children’s illustration gives you the opportunity to connect directly with young minds who are just developing a taste and love for literature. Illustrator Jimena S. Sarquiz has illustrated numerous children’s books for publishing houses including Edebé, Pearson, and Capstone Publishing. She also shares her work online under the name Monitos Bonitos.

In this course, she teaches you how to develop a powerful portfolio of children’s book illustrations. Create a chapter book project from scratch and discover how to grab the attention of agents and publishers with Jimena as your guide. Draw your way to a job as a children's book illustrator.

This is Jimena’s third course with Domestika. Her first two, Creating Characters for Children's Stories with Procreate and Children’s Publications: Editorial Design and Illustration, are ideal for anyone with an interest in diving deeper into the world of children’s book illustration.

Begin the course by getting to know illustrator Jimena. She talks through the creative career that has led her to illustrate for publishers in Mexico and beyond, along with the influences that inspire the work she creates.

Get an introduction to the world of children’s literature and the different audiences and ages you can illustrate for. Jimena then shares her advice on how to choose a book for your project, as well as the advantages of writing your own.

Read your chosen book in preparation for your illustration and take notes on the story and descriptions. Then use your descriptions to create a list of illustrations before sketching the characters for your book. Move onto the plot and create a storyboard to ensure your illustrations complement each other.

Transfer your sketches onto your digital device and continue developing them using the tools of Procreate. Jimena shares her tips for working with multiple images and keeping a consistent aesthetic across your work. Then experiment with hue, contrast, saturation, and more to add color to your drawings and bring your illustrations to life.

Learn how to edit and export your work in different formats using Affinity Design. To finish the course, Jimena offers her advice on where to share your projects and grow your portfolio, from contests to social media.

Create a chapter book filled with digital drawings, which you can use to enter in illustration contests, search for an agent, or get published.

This course is for anyone interested in elevating their illustration portfolio with the aim of pursuing a career in kid’s lit.

Previous drawing experience is recommended.

In terms of materials, you will need a sketchbook and drawing materials, as well as a device with digital drawing software installed. Jimena uses an iPad with Procreate and Affinity Design.