The world we are living in 2020 can literally be called the year of technology and the era of absolute digitization. Nothing is out of reach today. Whether you are a mechanic looking for help on your next project or a children’s book illustrator, trying to hone your creative skills, you will definitely find something to help you online. And both free and premium paid courses with the certificate and even degrees are there to set you up. If I say that creating illustrations for kids is indeed not a kid’s job, I know you all will agree with me. It’s a creative job that requires hard work for several hours and also the techniques. Do you know there are different techniques for kids book illustrations?
The different styles of illustrations
- Woodcutting and wood engraving: This comes under the relief printing. In this, the artist carves the image on wood and the ink is spread on the raised area of wood, and then this inked wood prints the illustrations. Wood engraving is the oldest engraving technique known and was first seen in China around the 1st century. The tools used to carve image on wood include gouges, knives, and chisels. One of the prominent artists who used this technique was Albrecht Dürer.
- Intaglio printing: The picture gets incised into a metal plate with acid and various tools. While illustrating with acid, the metal plate is first covered with an acid-resistant material, and the etching needles are used to create the image. Then the whole sheet is given an acid bath. Consequently, the exposed area of metal creates depressed lines. These lines then inked and used for printing. Intaglio printing was developed by Daniel Hopfer (1493-1536). This technique remains the versatile printing technique even today and often used for kids book illustrations.
Other than wood cutting and metal etching, the different styles used for kids book illustrations are pencil, acrylics, and watercolour.
Let’s see how you can make the most of 2020 as a designer:
- Learn Creativity at Creative Overflow
Have you ever heard about stack overflow? I bet you have. But even if you haven’t, you shouldn’t miss the creative overflow for sure especially if you want to hone your creative skills. If you are an eccentric illustrator and looking to mingle with a community of like-minded professionals, Creative Overflow is your go.
- Smashing Magazine
Nope, no one is going to get smashed here. But the designing knowledge you get here, the networking opportunity you will experience here, and the number of coolest conferences and workshops you will find here will definitely smash the way you have been thinking. The website is usually in the form of a blog where you can find the time required to finish one article.
- Don’t Miss the ‘She’ Community
WOGD or say Women of Graphic Design is a community you must join if you are a woman. Here, you would be able to gather as much support from the female designers as you want. Apart from a lot of gossips, which is definitely common when more than one women gather, you will find a really significant learning experience here.
- Get Inspired with Inspiration Grid
Every industry always has its fair share of leaders whether its a kids books illustration house or a printing one. And the other players in the same industry always desperately look forward to following them. At the Inspiration Grid, you would be able to see what the leaders in your industry and the pioneers have been doing from the past several months. As easy as pie, isn’t it?
- Stay Updated with Site Point
If you have a knack to stay ahead of the designing world by always constantly keeping an eye on what is currently going on then Site Point is your point. It helps you stay updated with the latest happenings and trends. Even if you are just a graphic designer but have an interest in learning one of those dreadful programming languages, you can learn them here. This website will even help you in embellishing your portfolio.
Before going for technical training, give serious thought to which type of book illustrations you want to do. For instance, if you wish to do dark and adventurous Gris Grimly-ish ink wash scribbles or watercolors type like Edmund Dulac?If you are interested in becoming a picture book illustrator with the traditional media and wants to do natural illustrations, then it will be helpful to do some courses in watercolor, acrylics, pastels, and oils. Anyone who hires you would like to check your illustrations through your online portfolio. Hence, it is essential to have an impressive online portfolio of your illustrations. Even if you don’t have extensive experience, an impressive portfolio can help you get a good start.
How can you get the project with your portfolio?
The publisher matches the author and the illustrator for a book, and they usually don’t meet each other. The picture book illustrator hired once the story is complete.Though the job of a picture book illustrator looks all fun, it is indeed a demanding job as the market is growing yet it’s competitive. It is absolutely true that the world is running with speed of light. It has become so competitive that you can not even dream to survive in a certain direction until your speed is at least triple than everybody else. Apart from that, ignoring the latest trends and choosing to not learn them can be one of the biggest mistakes you can ever make. Knowledge and knowing how to apply that are now the greatest assets a designer can have today.