One of the most rewarding jobs you can have is drawing the images that shape childhood. If you want to work as a children’s book illustrator, you’ll need to put in a lot of time studying and practicing. You’ll need to learn to draw for your target audience and create a portfolio of your work. There are a variety of ways to begin this work once you have a large sample of drawings that demonstrate your abilities.
If you want to work as a children’s book illustrator, you’ll need to have excellent drawing, coloring, and painting skills. Although there are no formal education requirements for this position, many illustrators gain the necessary training and experience majoring in illustration in college. In drawing class, you’ll learn how to use color, scale, scope, and style to become a versatile artist who can match pictures to any story.
One important step you can take to improve your skills as a children’s book illustrator is to study the illustrations in children’s books. The majority of books have their own distinct style, which can range from smooth, lifelike characters to jagged, childlike work, and everything in between. You can study these books and try to imitate their illustrations, just as many painters do to learn new techniques imitating the work of the masters.
All of this practice will be beneficial not only to your artistic development but also to the development of your portfolio. Because there are few interviews involved in landing a job as a children’s book illustrator, your work must speak for itself. Instead, you’ll show prospective employers hard copies or digital scans of your best work to see if you’re a good fit for their project.
You will have many options for becoming a children’s book illustrator once you have a portfolio of sketches and illustrations. Freelancing is the most common method of finding work, and it entails making contact with publishers, illustrators, and agents who are looking for one-off illustration jobs. Working exclusively for a publisher is uncommon, but it does happen, and you will be given drawing assignments. Another option is to write and illustrate your own story, or to collaborate with a writer to create something together.