Illustration Techniques for Children’s Books
A course by Estelí Meza , Illustrator
Learn the process of telling a story through a sequence of illustrations
Learn the process of telling a story through a sequence of illustrations
The process of developing a character is essential to creating a good story. In this course, Estelí Meza—author of illustrated books like Lino Felino, Angustia, and El Príncipe Valiente Tiene Miedo—shows you how to create a character and then develop a story around them. The Mexican illustrator has established a successful career illustrating children’s books, working with magazines and creating book covers for editorials in Mexico, Spain, the United States, and the United Arab Emirates.
Estelí teaches a series of analog and digital techniques (with Adobe Photoshop), as well as how to work directly on your printed creations, to create a series of 3 narrative illustrations.
What will you learn in this online course?
16 lessons & 20 downloads
- 100% positive reviews (177)
- 2,583 students
- 16 lessons (1h 57m)
- 20 additional resources (9 files)
- Online and at your own pace
- Available on the app
- Audio: Spanish
- Spanish · English · Portuguese · German · Italian · French · Polish · Dutch
- Level: Beginner
- Unlimited access forever
Recommended software for this course
Adobe PhotoshopWhat is this course's project?
Create a narrative project composed of three final illustrations.
Projects by course students
Who is this online course for?
Those interested in telling a story through images, as well as students of design, the arts, or illustration, who want to work on a visual narrative project and are interested in delving into the world of character creation.
Requirements and materials
To take this course, you will need basic drawing and composition skills.
You also need a sketchbook, white paper, a pencil, eraser, 200g drawing paper or a medium-sized illustration sketchpad, acrylic markers, colored pencils, water-soluble oil pastels, colored paper and cardboard, paintbrushes, a sharpener, scissors, a craft knife, white glue, a jar, a cloth, tracing paper, acetate paper, a cutting mat, scanner, and computer with Adobe Photoshop with access to a digital printer.
Reviews
A course by Estelí Meza
Estelí Meza is a Mexican illustrator specialized in children’s books, who also works with magazines and creates book covers for imprints in Mexico, Spain, the United States, and the United Arab Emirates.
Since 2007 she has dedicated 100% of her professional life to illustration. She is the author of three illustrated books: Lino Felino, Angustia, and El Príncipe Valiente tiene miedo. Her main clients include editorials such as Scholastic, Anaya, Fondo de Cultura Económica, Kalimat, Penguin Random House, among others, and she has worked with other clients such as Google.
Content
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U1
Introduction
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Presentation
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Influences
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What will we do in the course?
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U2
Illustrating is playing
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Drawing materials and sketchbooks
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Draw and play
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Playing with the character
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Traits of my character
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Building a puppet
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U3
Your character in action
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Who?
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First steps to tell a story
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Organizing the graphic narration
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Sketches
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U4
To work!
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Favorite techniques
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Color in your story
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Let's go digital
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Final Image
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FP
Final project
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Narrative Illustration with Mixed Media
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What to expect from a Domestika course
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Learn at your own pace
Enjoy learning from home without a set schedule and with an easy-to-follow method. You set your own pace.
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Learn from the best professionals
Learn valuable methods and techniques explained by top experts in the creative sector.
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Meet expert teachers
Each expert teaches what they do best, with clear guidelines, true passion, and professional insight in every lesson.
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Certificates
PlusIf you're a Plus member, get a custom certificate signed by your teacher for every course. Share it on your portfolio, social media, or wherever you like.
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Get front-row seats
Videos of the highest quality, so you don't miss a single detail. With unlimited access, you can watch them as many times as you need to perfect your technique.
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Share knowledge and ideas
Ask questions, request feedback, or offer solutions. Share your learning experience with other students in the community who are as passionate about creativity as you are.
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Connect with a global creative community
The community is home to millions of people from around the world who are curious and passionate about exploring and expressing their creativity.
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Watch professionally produced courses
Domestika curates its teacher roster and produces every course in-house to ensure a high-quality online learning experience.
FAQs
Domestika's courses are online classes that provide you with the tools and skills you need to complete a specific project. Every step of the project combines video lessons with complementary instructional material, so you can learn by doing. Domestika's courses also allow you to share your own projects with the teacher and with other students, creating a dynamic course community.
All courses are 100% online, so once they're published, courses start and finish whenever you want. You set the pace of the class. You can go back to review what interests you most and skip what you already know, ask questions, answer questions, share your projects, and more.
The courses are divided into different units. Each one includes lessons, informational text, tasks, and practice exercises to help you carry out your project step by step, with additional complementary resources and downloads. You'll also have access to an exclusive forum where you can interact with the teacher and with other students, as well as share your work and your course project, creating a community around the course.
You can redeem the course you received by accessing the redeeming page and entering your gift code.
Adobe Photoshop
eltoncaetano
Curso maravilhoso. Adorei! Recomendo
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natasa.knezevic
Such a sweet and good explained course. I learned so much. Some of the aproaches will work excellent for my future work.
antronauta
Buen curso para aprender a diseñar personajes y crear una narrativa sobre ellos. Recomendado!
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tamaratagon
Buenos tips para poder incorporar un buen relato. Interesante
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loveyscott929
Very creative and enlightening character creation and story building.