Illustration and Character Design for Children’s Stories

In illustrated literature, especially children's literature, a memorable character is so much more than a beautiful drawing. Within a narrative, creating solid and convincing characters is essential, and it is these protagonists who will truly have an impact on the story. In order to achieve this, you need two things: enough curiosity to immerse yourself in the lives of these characters and the skill to translate that curiosity into imagery.

In this course, Teresa Martínez, who also teaches Digital Illustration for Children's Stories, walks you through the creative process step by step, so that you can create relatable children's characters. She also helps you develop your creativity and illustration skills to put together a guide to children's literary characters.

Start by getting to know a little bit about Teresa and some of her work. She tells you about the artists that have most influenced her personal style and those she admires for their character-creation methods.

Get straight into your first sketches with a few exercises to improve your drawing skills, with a focus on observation as the primary illustration tool. Teresa also goes through extensive theory on character design.

Now get to work on your own character! Teresa shows you her step-by-step process for sketching her characters, with special emphasis on proportions, facial expressions, and body language.

Next, build your character sheet with front-view drawings in various poses and with a variety of facial expressions. Then add color to one of your drawings to help define a color palette.

Finish up the course with a few tips from Teresa on teamwork and how to improve communication while working on a piece for publication.

Create a character designed for a young audience including a character sheet complete with a color portrait.

Beginner- and intermediate-level artists looking to get into the world of children's illustration.

Basic drawing experience is necessary for this course as well as the digital illustration software of your choice. Teresa uses Adobe Photoshop.

In terms of materials, you need a notebook, a pencil, photo or video reference materials, and a computer or tablet installed with your choice of software.