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Illustrating a Children's Picture Book
Illustrate a Chidren's Picture Book for 3-to-7 year-olds
Illustrate great stories for children in the formats that publishers require
Work at your own pace
Take things as quickly or slowly as you like, fitting your writing around your own busy work-life balance
Courses from only £99
With flexible upgrade options, Video tutorials, downloadable notes and other resources to keep.
Illustrators Course Overview
Do you want to illustrate stories for children?
Are you an amateur or professional artist or designer who has an interest in illustrating children’s picture books for the under 7s? Would you like a career in illustration? Have you always wanted to know the secrets behind creating engaging illustrated characters with the enduring appeal of Miffy, TinTin, Babar, The Snowman, The Tiger Who Came to Tea or many, many others? Do you want to know how to create the wonderful compositions in which your characters can live?
What happens in this online course?
Through a series of videos and downloadable notes, bestselling and award-winning children’s book author and illustrator Christyan Fox will teach you the inside secrets, tips and tricks of the trade that will enable you to capture that magic and put stories and characters on the page in ways that will captivate young minds and the attention of publishers and literary agents. Teaching you…
How to recognise and build on YOUR strengths and refine YOUR technique.
Encouraging you to experiment in different media... traditional and digital.
Showing you how to create memorable characters and how to bring them to life.
Learn to create engaging compositions in which to place your characters.
Learn how to place text within an illustration for maximum effect.
How to break down a picture book text to suit YOUR illustration strengths.
Advice on the current market and what publishers are looking for.
Revealing some great inside secrets, tips and tricks of the trade.
How to present your work professionally and develop a career in children’s publishing.
And much more…
Who is this course for?
This particular course is for those who would like to illustrate picture books for children but who have little or no interest in writing a story (see our other options). Christyan works with all kinds of students, from complete beginners who don’t know how to make a start, all the way up to MA students and professional illustrators, artists and designers in other areas who would like to understand how to translate their work into the world of children’s publishing. We even have students who’ve already had one or more children’s books published and who would now like to reappraise their work. The courses have been designed to work for all levels, presented in a straightforward conversational manner.
If you’re an illustrator with little or no interest in writing, take a look at our Illustrating a Children’s Picture Book Course.
*Please note that these courses are focussed on picture books for the 3-7-year-old market. If your interest is in writing Middle Ground (roughly 8-12 years) or teen fiction, these courses will not cover those areas.
Course Tutors
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Christyan Fox
Author-Illustrator
A freelance illustrator, author and lecturer living in Thames Ditton, UK, Christyan has been creating children's books, cartoons, packaging design, graphics, branding, magazines and advertising for over 35 years and has more than 50 books in print. He also teaches children's book writing, illustration and character design at UAL Chelsea, the London V&A Museum and other London Universities as well as one-to-one workshop and mentoring sessions - from complete beginners all the way up to M.A. level and beyond.
Diane Fox-Jones
Author-Designer
Diane was a senior graphic designer with London design consultants Minale Tattersfield for 12 years, working with clients such as Hertz, NatWest, Canary Wharf and Northern Foods. She now collaborates with Christyan in writing children's book texts, as well as designing the paper-engineering elements for their novelty books. Their first book written together was Goodnight PiggyWiggy in 1999, and they have now collaborated on 28 books. Diane does not appear in the videos but was involved with designing the content for this course.
Illustrators Course Schedule
The 6-part Illustrators Course consists of a series of video lectures, downloadable transcript notes and supplementary resources. Each step will take you through practical picture book writing examples and exercises, arranged in a clear structure that’s easy to follow. You need to complete the parts in the correct order for the course to make sense, as each subsequent part will refer back to lessons and techniques learned in previous stages.
1
Exploration & Inspiration
Learn to look at children’s books as an illustrator, taking inspiration from classic books, and those being published now.
4
Composition & Text Placement
Placing characters in a setting. Considering text placement. How much detail should you include? Dynamic composition.
2
Assessing your illustration skills
Identifying your abilities and strengths, and identifying the audience (and types of story) for whom your work would be most suited.
5
Planning & Structure
32-page layout explained, the importance of thumbnails for pacing, and how much finished artwork does a publisher require?
Creating Characters
Creating illustrated characters: consistency, emotions, and movement - and considering why & when to use non-human characters.
3
6
Presentation & Careers
Beyond the illustration: how to present your work, make book dummies, approach publishers & agents and develop a career.
WRITERS COURSE
115£Write a Children's Picture Book- Write a Children's Picture Book for 3-to-7 year olds
- Work at your own pace
- Advice on the market and what publishers are looking for
- Revealing great inside secrets, tips and tricks of the trade
ILLUSTRATORS COURSE
115£Illustrate a Children's Picture Book- Illustrate a Children's Picture Book for 3-to-7 year olds
- Work at your own pace
- Present your work professionally and develop a career
- Revealing great inside secrets, tips and tricks of the trade
BUY BOTH COURSES
195£Buy both courses with a 15% discount- Write and Illustrate a Children's Picture Book
- Access to all the content in the separate courses
- Advice on the current market
- Revealing great inside secrets, tips and tricks of the trade