Narrative Illustration: Create a Children's Picturebook

Narrative Illustration: Create a Children's Picturebook

“We have reached the end of this course. Thank you for choosing it and for trusting me as your teacher. I hope it works for you and you enjoyed it! Now, it's your turn to work on your own project. To guide you, I am going to review the key phases of the project so that you can share it with the Domestika community. I would like you to briefly explain what you have done in each one and accompany the explanation with one or more images. The text Choose a text with which you would like to make your project. It can be from any author, the important thing is that it is not illustrated yet. I chose "Reciprocal", from my book Lies and bruises , but it can be any other. Then, engage in guided reading, just like we did in the "Learn to Read Like an Illustrator" unit. Also, with simple notes in your notebook, represent concepts, whatever seems essential to you. What could be the possible visual metaphors that expand the meaning of the story?

Layout and conceptual match It is time for you to decide how you are going to approach the text; which is the axis on which the illustrations will be generated. Once raised, describe it in a layout of 24 or 32 pages. Characters and scenes Now, you have to work on the characters, they are the vehicles through which the metaphor will pass. Remember to rehearse different ways of illustrating them by having them “act out” within your story. Rehearse views, plans, reactions; more dramatic? More funny? More subtle? More neutral? Once you have them ready, place them within the narrative scene design, as if it were the storyboard of a movie. Aesthetics and materials Now, you must decide what is the technique that you can master and that will enrich the reader's experience, according to what the text needs. For each story there is an ideal language. Find out what it is and then focus on collecting materials. Illustration of scenes and backgrounds It's time to put everything into practice and, finally, illustrate! Remember to mix concepts, objects, universes. Illustrate from the crossing. Once you have the figures ready, test the backgrounds that you are going to use later. Digital retouching and page setting You are going to digitize your analog illustrations and perfect the details using Photoshop: lights, shadows, volume and interaction with the different backgrounds. Always remember to have the scene map you sketched in your sketchbook handy. It is time to verify your entire project. Then, with all the images ready, plant them on the page with InDesign. Finally, incorporate the texts that correspond to each page, also choosing the font family that you would like to accompany the book; dry stick, roman, classical, modern; uppercase or lowercase. Please, share your project by clicking on "Create your project", remember to share both the final result and the steps that have led you to it. I will comment and answer your questions in the forum as soon as possible. I ask you to be patient, meanwhile, I invite you to look at the community projects and nourish yourself with their results and doubts. I kept curious. I have patience. The perfect solution is always hidden there, among our notebooks, our tools or books, but, above all, in our eyes. It is a matter of time, tuning and dedication to discover it. Try to perceive the playful part of each process, the spontaneity, the latent voice. Do not worry if something does not go as planned, chance, perception, is vital to tune in to what is happening. There is no coincidence, but attention and findings. Good luck! ”

Partial transcription of the video

“Final project Thank you very much for joining me in this course. I hope you liked it and it helps you to add tools and knowledge that they be useful to you. I believe that the technique is reinvented with each work, with each book and with each project. Stay curious, be patient. The perfect solution is always out there hidden between our notebooks, our tools, our books, but above all in our gaze. It is a matter of time, tuning and dedication to discover it. From experience I understand that the most difficult it is learning to know our own tastes. Basing our own choices It is vitally import...”

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

Course summary for: Narrative Illustration: Create a Children's Picturebook

• Level: Beginner
• 99% positive reviews (101)
• 4124 students
• 4 units
• 16 lessons (2h 50m)
• 1 download

• Category

  Illustration

• Areas

  Children's Illustration, Digital Illustration, Drawing, Picturebook, Traditional illustration