Picturebook Illustration: Explore Color and Composition
A course by Melissa Castrillón , Illustrator and Designer
Develop eye-catching illustrations for picturebooks by using harmonious structures and a consistent color palette while experimenting with textures and media
Develop eye-catching illustrations for picturebooks by using harmonious structures and a consistent color palette while experimenting with textures and media
Children’s book illustration offers the freedom to create visual worlds that have never been seen before. Melissa Castrillón, an award-winning illustrator specializing in picturebooks, uses a unique blend of vivid colors and playful compositions that invite readers on an adventure from the first page. She’s illustrated over 25 book covers and more than ten picturebooks, including three of her own, which have been translated into more than 20 languages.
In this online course, learn color and composition techniques to draw eye-catching picturebook illustrations. Melissa teaches how to design an imaginary character and setting based on a story idea, as well as how to captivate the reader’s attention and guide them on a visual journey using harmonious structures and vibrant layers of color. Create bold compositions that stand out on the bookshelves.
What will you learn in this online course?
16 lessons & 33 downloads
- 100% positive reviews (133)
- 5,230 students
- 16 lessons (3h 35m)
- 33 additional resources (7 files)
- Online and at your own pace
- Available on the app
- Audio: English
- English · Spanish · Portuguese · German · French · Italian · Polish · Dutch
- Level: Beginner
- Unlimited access forever
Recommended software for this course
Adobe PhotoshopWhat is this course's project?
Create a double-page illustration for a picturebook with a balanced composition and harmonious color palette.
Projects by course students
Who is this online course for?
Anyone who wants to learn how to create vivid illustrations for picturebooks.
Requirements and materials
No previous knowledge is required to take this course, but experience in illustration or Photoshop will be helpful.
As for materials, you need basic drawing tools, a scanner, and a computer with access to Photoshop.
Reviews
A course by Melissa Castrillón
Melissa Castrillón is a freelance illustrator and designer with a mix of English and Colombian roots. Growing up in a creative family, she knew from the age of five that she wanted to draw for a living. While studying an MA in children’s book illustration at the Anglia Ruskin University, she discovered screen printing, and with it, a new way to approach her artwork, focusing on color and composition.
Melissa has illustrated over 25 book covers and more than ten picturebooks, collaborating with publishers like Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Bloomsbury, and Scholastic. She has also written three of her own, Mighty Min, The Balcony and Can You Keep a Secret?, which have been translated into more than 20 languages. In 2019, she was awarded the Gold medal by the Society of Illustrators in New York for The Balcony. That same year, she was asked to redesign the covers for Philip Pullman’s popular trilogy His Dark Materials.
Content
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U1
Introduction
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About Me
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Influences
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U2
Taking a Closer Look
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An Introduction to Picture Books
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Visual Devices
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Creating a Composition
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Using Colour
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U3
Inspiration and Design
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How to Find a Story
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Creating the Setting
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Developing the Character
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U4
The Illustration
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Arranging the Final Composition and Colour
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The Artwork: First Layer
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The Artwork: Second and Third Layer
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Making It Digital
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Last Touches
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U5
A Gateway
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Developing It Further
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Promotion
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FP
Final project
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Picturebook Illustration: Explore Color and Composition
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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
wrenrose222
This is an amazing course. The teacher is excellent and has a great knowledge of color design and beautiful visual communication.
Her work as well as the samples provided are excellent and well thought out.
I love her sense of color, storytelling ability, and organizational skills.
Chef's kiss!
overtrees
As someone who loves to read fairy tales and read them to my godson and who is interested in illustration this course was very useful. From learning what makes a picture book to planning the pages and then learning the illustration techniques I found Melissa a lively and informative tutor.
pattuelli_m
Plusil corso è molto interessante e utile anche se nella parte relativa all'utilizzo del photoshop le immagini sono piccole
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orobanche
Explica muy bien, me encanta su estilo grafico
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mikiri
A very inspiring and helpful course for anyone who is interested in creating picture books! The course is very well structured with rich examples and detailed explanations. I could see how much effort and thoughts Melissa has made to prepare this course. Thank you so much!