How to Draw Children's Books
Most books for very young readers either have a picture on every page or on every other page. These books are known as picture books and have been a part of our culture since the late 19th century, when artists such as Rose O'Neill and Charles Robinson made their livings illustrating books for children. Illustrating books for children can be a satisfying career, both on a creative and a financial level, once you understand how to make your artwork fit the medium. Learn what it takes to draw pictures for young readers.
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Instructions
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Read the manuscript for the book you'll be illustrating. Some writers illustrate their own books, while others rely on an artist to interpret what they have written. If you wrote the book you're going to illustrate, you probably already have an idea of what you want. If you're illustrating for a writer, you need to read the manuscript, note some ideas and discuss them with the writer before you proceed. A children's picture book is typically light on the text, so your illustrations will need to carry a lot of the storytelling weight.
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Start by breaking the text down as it will be laid out in the book. In a children's picture book, there are typically three to five lines of text per page, with an illustration above the text. The writer will probably already have this part of the process done. If not, you can break the text down according to the way you illustrate. Pay attention to parts of the text you feel a child will enjoy seeing. These are the elements you want to illustrate.
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Do a few pencil sketches based on discussions you have had with the writer. Keep the sketches simple. Your main goal is to show the overall composition and placement of your illustrations, just to give the writer a chance to review what you're doing before you invest a great deal of time.
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Finish the approved illustrations by adding detail and coloring them. Do your finished illustrations on high-quality, 8-by-10-inch sketch paper and scan them into the computer. Unless the author is purchasing your original artwork and all rights, you'll keep your originals and deliver the art for the book on a disc in several graphic formats the author can deliver to his or her publisher.
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