Children Picture Book Illustration Process

Finally, this computer needs be "hospitalized" at a computer shop. Yet I have an urgent need... sigh...hopefully, I can leave it at the shop this week. (* If my respond is slow, please keep patience.)

OK, this week topic is a picture book illustration. In order to illustrate a text, interpretation skills of a manuscript is vital. Visualizing an author and an illustrator's images or bridging between imagination and reality is not an easy task.

A basic process is below.
1) given text, image creation
2) character & situation settings
3) story board and dummy book--called, "Rough" in Black and White.
4) colouring -- this stage is called, "Colour."

A picture book illustrator gives a manuscript life. To achieve it, an illustrator maximizes all what she has such as memories, emotions, experiences etc, etc. Above all, in my view, an illustrator needs to fall in love with a given story.

Besides, memories, emotions and experiences, I use my linguistics and sociology background fully. Linguistic text analyses organize a well-considered page structure. Sociological research collects data and evidence to create accurate settings that convince readers a theme well. Particularly, text analysis skills make a good information flow throughout a story.

Illustrators illustrate everything--even something invisible such as emotions and illusions. My admiring illustrators and fine artists all have wonderful drawing skills. For me, a drawing skill is alpha and omega, which responds to any media. So, life drawings and daily sketches are my great assets and devices to produce images.

Sometimes, people seek me advice to be an illustrator. Technically, "Drawing skills are fundamental and critical," is my answer. And regarding other areas mentioned above are all up to an individual efforts.

So, I'm a life long learner.
Friends, happy painting and drawing!

Children Picture Book Illustration Process