Making magic Julia Sagar dives into the burgeoning world of children’s book illustration to find out what it takes to make it as an artist.
Magical lands, swashbuckling adventures, tall tales conjured with wonderful breaches of logic… the lure of children’s book illustration is clear. Who wouldn’t want to spend their days crafting stories of courage, loyalty and bravery?
Children’s book publishing is booming. In the UK, the market grew more than seven per cent in the first quarter of 2016, according to Nielsen Books, following a 5.1 per cent growth in 2015. Unsurprisingly, it’s competitive, and for many artists a tough field to crack. Even Dr. Seuss creator Theodor Seuss Geisel was rejected by over 30 publishers before releasing his first book. So what does it take to make it in the wild world of children’s book illustration?
For author and illustrator Jonny Duddle, the first key attribute is an active imagination. “Whether you’re writing and illustrating your own books or illustrating another author’s text, you need to create original, inspired artwork to capture a child’s imagination,” he explains. “You need to be passionate about your vision, and make sure you have the style and technique to pull it off.”
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der January 2017-Ausgabe von ImagineFX.
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Diese Geschichte stammt aus der January 2017-Ausgabe von ImagineFX.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
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Jan Wessbecher
Dominic Carter talks to the visual artist about creating his own comic and why sketchbooks are great for creative experiments
Kyounghwan Kim
The Korean character concept artist speaks to Dominic Carter about staying open to ideas and the value of drawing regularly
Slawek Fedorczuk
Dominic Carter talks to the concept artist about what keeps him motivated and the advantages of using physical sketchbooks.
Raquel M. Varela
Raquel is inspired by magic, fantasy and fairy tales. She loves designing female characters from distant worlds. \"My greatest reference is Loish's art, thanks to her I learned to draw the movement and fluidity I like to convey.\"
Estrela Lourenço
Estrela is a children's book author and illustrator. Her work is influenced by her background in character animation and storyboards for clients such as Cartoon Network, and she channels comic strips like Calvin and Hobbes.
Daria Widermanska
Daria, also known as Anako, has been drawing for as long as she can remember. Inspired by Disney and classic anime, she loves creating new characters and often finds that a single sketch can spark a unique story.
Allen Douglas
Allen has been painting professionally since 1994 for the publishing and gaming industries. Inspired by folklore, he distorts the size, relationships and environments of animals, and calls his paintings 'unusual wildlife'.
Thaddeus Robeck
Thaddeus has been drawing from the moment he could hold a pencil, but it was the 2020 lockdowns that gave him the time to focus on honing his skills.
DRAW FASCINATING SYMBOLIC ARTWORK
Learn how JULIÁN DE LA MOTA creates a composition from his imagination with a focus on crafting figures, volumetric modelling, and light and shadow
First Impressions
The artist talks about his journey into the mythological world