Professional Children's Book Illustration with Procreate
A course by Meike SchneiderCharacter Designer and Illustrator
A course by Meike Schneider, Character Designer and Illustrator
Learn the fundamentals of illustrating children's books and create a coherent concept for layout, drawing style, and character design
Want to know the secret to illustrating children's books? According to illustrator and designer Meike Schneider, who specializes in 3D and character design, the key is to use a compelling concept. Thanks to her experience working with children's literature, she's learned how to give each piece a rich and unique visual style and tell stories that connect with their intended audience, like Finni & Fredo, a collection of books for young readers that explores human anatomy.
In this course, she teaches you how to conceptualize and create illustrations for a children's book. Under her expert guidance, illustrate a two-page spread for a fairy tale aimed at a young audience, designing the story's mood and its characters. By the end, you'll know how to illustrate an entire children's book following a coherent concept for layout, drawing style, storytelling, and character design.
What will you learn in this online course?
20 lessons & 24 downloads
Character Design
19 minutes, 6 seconds
Color Design: Color Theory
19 minutes, 25 seconds
Continuity
8 minutes, 49 seconds
Book Planning 1
11 minutes, 29 seconds
Narrative and Visual Language
5 minutes, 8 seconds
Draft and Final Drawing of Double Page 1
12 minutes, 9 seconds
What's included in this course?
Begin the course by getting to know your teacher Meike Schneider, who tells you about her career as an illustrator, her artistic influences, and the surprising places where inspiration can be found. She also discusses how to come up with new creative ideas and shares some drawing exercises to help you hone your skills.
Before going any further, Meike shows how to plan out your illustration project, taking into account your target audience, the context, and educational themes. Then learn how to determine the mood of a story and convey it through aspects like color, perspective, and proportion.
Move on to the next step in the process and make some important creative and visual decisions. Develop a unique drawing style for your project and enrich your characters with personality by playing with proportions, silhouettes, shapes, poses, and space. Go over some key concepts of color theory and see how to apply them to your book, as well as how to maintain a coherent style throughout your illustrations.
Now it's time to illustrate! Your teacher gives you some tips on storytelling, imagery, design, and page layout before walking you through how to illustrate a two-page spread using everything you've learned so far.
To bring your experience full circle, find out how to get feedback on your book proposal or illustrations. Meike explains how to continue learning on your own to grow as an artist, develop and market your portfolio, and the difference between self-publishing and working with a publisher.
Recommended software & tools for this course
What is this course's project?
Illustrate a two-page spread for a fairy tale of your choice.
Projects by course students
Who is this online course for?
Beginners with a solid grasp of the basics of digital illustration and anyone who loves children's stories and stylized drawing.
Requirements and materials
Basic notions of digital illustration are required of this course, including how to work with layers, alpha lock, brushes and other tools, as well as how to import and export.
As for materials, you need a graphics tablet with a digital illustration program (like Procreate, Photoshop, or Krita) or paper and pencils.
Reviews
- 3 months ago
A great course for children's books...
- 3 months ago
O curso é incrível
- 3 months ago
Ottimo corso! L'ho trovato davvero molto utile.
- 4 months ago
Fantastico, ottimi consigli!
- 6 months ago
Amazing course! It gave me so much inspiration and practical tools for my art. Highly recommended!
Her portfolio is a showcase for a wide range of projects, from editorial illustrations, character design, and visual development to product design and packaging, 3D scenery and character modeling, and look-development. Her client list includes big names like Adobe, Lidl, Dell, My Best Book, and 3dtotal. In addition to her freelance career, she has experience in education, working as the head of the 3D modeling and character design department and teaching classes at PIXL VISN and SCHOOL OF GAMES in Cologne.
Content
- U1
Introduction
- About me
- Influences
- U2
Planning
- How to Start
- Age Groups
- Contextualization and Pedagogical Aspects
- The Mood
- U3
Visual Choices
- Drawing Style
- Character Design
- Color Design: Color Theory
- Continuity
- U4
Realization of the Project
- Narrative and Visual Language
- Book Planning 1
- Book Planning 2
- Draft and Final Drawing of Double Page 1
- Draft and Final Drawing of Double Page 2
- Defining the Colors and Basic Shapes of the Illustration 1
- Defining the Colors and Basic Shapes of the Illustration 2
- Adding Effects, Textures, and Details
- U5
Final Tips
- Improving and Collecting Feedback
- Self-Promotion and Book Publishing Options
- FP
Final project
- Professional Children's Book Illustration with Procreate
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
This course is designed for aspiring and advanced illustrators who want to specialize in children's book illustration, character design, and visual storytelling. Some drawing experience is helpful but not mandatory.
You should have basic drawing skills, an interest in illustration, and access to digital drawing software like Adobe or Procreate. A graphics tablet or iPad makes working easier but isn’t required.
You’ll learn how to design characters and environments, develop color palettes, analyze target audiences, create story arcs, and produce professional illustrations for children’s books using digital or traditional methods.
The course covers character design, color theory, proportions, perspective, storyboard creation, children’s book concept development, target audience analysis, illustration styles, material and technique selection, portfolio building, and self-promotion.
The course is especially suitable for advanced beginners and those interested in illustration who already have basic drawing skills and want to develop their abilities specifically in children’s book illustration.
Recommended programs include Adobe Photoshop, Procreate, or similar 3D and illustration software. For traditional techniques, watercolor, fineliners, colored pencils, and various types of paper work well.
Yes, the course guides you step-by-step on how to build a compelling portfolio and a strong demo reel for competitions or illustrator job applications.