Children's Illustrations

piper2 · #1 09-01-2004, 01:12 PM

Hi everyone. I haven't made as much use of wetcanvas as I should of, so I'm still relatively new at this. My question is this. All of you guys seem to know what you're talking about, so tell me seriously if I could pursue children's book illustration, based on what my work looks like . . . tell me what I need to work on. I trust you guys!

larsnip · #2 09-01-2004, 01:51 PM

I don't know much about childrens illustration, but here's a link to a guy that does it and his style is similar to yours.
http://www.ronaldchironna.com/
I'm sure if you emailed him he would be happy to talk to you, he's heck of a nice guy.

Dave

piper2 · #3 09-01-2004, 01:59 PM

Thanks, larsnip . . . he's really good. I feel humbled! I sent him an e-mail, though, so perhaps he will have some gems of wisdom.

JayD · #4 09-01-2004, 02:15 PM

There is a neat book you should check into as well. It is part of the Barron's ALL ABOUT series called Techniques in Illustration. It covers a general overview of illustrative techniquess for artist including, Pastel, colored pencil, airbrush, pen and ink, collage and so on. There are projects for each style. Hope this helps.

piper2 · #5 09-01-2004, 02:24 PM

You guys are both very helpful, but so far everyone's artfully avoided telling me if I'm any good or not. I do have a bunch of works on illustration, but they all advise having an outside party consider your work before you submit it to publishers. My family and friends are definitely biased, so I can't rely on what they say!

Please, be brutally honest!

JayD · #6 09-01-2004, 02:43 PM

When you are talking about illustration you are not just talking about artistic technique but about artistic style and that is very dependent upon what the editor of the book is looking for. If you want to be an illustrator then you should really familiarize yourself with a variety of techniques. Here you are combining pen and CP(?). Its a good style but it adds stiffness to your characters--that being said--there is nothing wrong with that because it works. Generally, the illustrator and the editor will work together and sometime the editor will want the artist to provide several mock ups that it can be clear as to what direction the final product should take.

Your drawing is good--it is a bit stiff but we're talking about human figures here and I am the last one to criticize human form because I am not exceptional with it myself--so I will say to you--make an investigation of this area of art and you will surprised just how well your particular style fits in--but diversify and experiment. CP is one of the excellent choices for illustration.

Seian · #7 09-01-2004, 02:44 PM

I don't have any links on hand, but I have seen some children's book illustrations done with a somewhat similar style of mixing line with pencil or watercolor.

It seems you need to apply the colored pencil with more patience (and layers) and practice more using inks. I think you've got a style there, but the inking seems a bit stiff in spots. I know when I try to practice inking, it can look cramped very easily, if I'm not relaxed.

You might also try using quill or brush instead of marker, if you want to try and get some variety to your lines.

As a whole though, you've got something going there, and I'd make sure to hold on to your style while you learn more technique.

Hope this helps.

piper2 · #8 09-01-2004, 03:16 PM

CP is actually sort of new to me. I've painted and used graphite a lot more, but the idea of having a vaguely stained glass looking style for CP (heavy inking, as Seien pointed out) kind of appealed to me, though perhaps exaggerating it more might be more effective? It would be nice to get a medieval feel to my work, though I'm not certain how to go about it.

The reason why I've moved away from graphite and painting for possible children's illustration is because I have a hard time doing anything but realistic things in those mediums, as you can see below. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'd rather not look realistic with my CP illustrations. But I would like to look competent.

arlene · #9 09-01-2004, 03:25 PM

I think you'd get better answers in the illustration forum where there are professionals. I personally think you'd be great at it.

I'm going to move this to the illustration forum...but please share your drawings with us in cp too.

larsnip · #10 09-01-2004, 03:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by piper2

You guys are both very helpful, but so far everyone's artfully avoided telling me if I'm any good or not.
Please, be brutally honest!

Like I said, I am not qualified to comment. Illustration is a whole different standard that I'm not familiar with.
I will say, to my eyes your work isn't that far off from Ron's. Alittle less refined and acomplished. But in that direction. Thats why I was reminded of him

Dave

piper2 · #11 09-01-2004, 03:41 PM

Thanks much to everyone who commented. I am spurred to greater heights.

I checked out the posted work of everyone who responded and I can see that I am in very, very good company.

Thanks, all!

Seian · #12 09-01-2004, 03:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by piper2

CP is actually sort of new to me. I've painted and used graphite a lot more, but the idea of having a vaguely stained glass looking style for CP (heavy inking, as Seien pointed out) kind of appealed to me, though perhaps exaggerating it more might be more effective? It would be nice to get a medieval feel to my work, though I'm not certain how to go about it.

Have a look at the latest printings of the Brother Cadfael mysteries. I think it may be what you're looking for.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0446...58#reader-link

Axl · #13 09-01-2004, 03:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by piper2

so tell me seriously if I could pursue children's book illustration, based on what my work looks like . . .

I say... Why not?

You work is good. You seam to have a lot of confidence in your drawing abilities. So I don't think its a question of whether or not your good enough to do it.

I think its more of a question of how hard your willing to work for it, make yourself stand out from the competition, how much you want it, and how your going to go about making your dreams become a reality.

I think all the skill is there. Now you just gotta make it happen.

piper2 · #14 09-01-2004, 03:56 PM

Seien, I love that book cover. I think perhaps I may try making my lines heavier and my colors more luminescent.

AFM159 · #15 09-01-2004, 05:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by arlene

I think you'd get better answers in the illustration forum where there are professionals. I personally think you'd be great at it.

I'm going to move this to the illustration forum...but please share your drawings with us in cp too.

Thanks, we'll try and live up to it!

Seriously. Nice work! I like the style your working towards, though I think it needs some more development. Really try to play up the "stained glass" look that you mentioned. And refine your color application. It needs to look confident, and right now the two pieces that you have shown us look tentative to me. You can get away with a lot as long as it looks confident.

Style is an important part of any Illustrators repetoire, buyers do tend to pick illustrators based on style rather than content because each project may be different. The important thing for an individual illustrator is to maintain a consistent style across a body of work so that buyers can be sure about what they are getting.

So, if I were a buyer, looking at the 4 pieces you have posted to this thread I would be scratching my head right now wondering why I was looking at work from two different artists. The work is good and you have some skill but if you plan to approach any buyers you'll need to focus and present a consistent style.

Now having said all that, there are times where buyers want versatility and the ability to do many different styles in an artist. I just don't think thats usually the case for childrens book illustrators. Often times in the childrens book industry the Illustrator is as important as and sometimes more important than the writer, so many bookstores will shelve the book based on the illustrator and the writer.

As for taking it to the next level and actually approaching buyers the process is similar and different for each, so you'll have to do some research. Get these two books to start:

Artist's and Graphic Designer's Market: 2004
and
Graphic Artists Guild Handbook: Pricing and Ethical Guidelines 2004 edition

Both will help tremendously. And both, I believe, have chapters devoted to Childrens Books.

Next: stay and visit with us often.

We love seeing the work! And there are several people here who can help, and several interested in Childrens Book Illustration.

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