Design process for Illustrating Children’s Books: Part 2

Storyboards, those are important! I presume that most illustrators use these. However, I like them for a variety of reasons. A thumbnail size storyboard for a 32 page picture book fits all on one side of an 8.5”x11” sheet of paper. This gives an “eagle-eye view” of the entire book at a glance. The pages are laid out in “spreads,” which means the left and right page together as the book is laying open. I can see the action movement throughout the pages. If there is something not right and needs to be adjusted, I will know it here in this stage.


A comp sized storyboard is just as effective. Again, it allows you to see the movement and make any changes with ease. I like to post these around the room and feel like I am inside the story. Pixar works this way. Watch the trailers on the DVD’s of how they make the movies. They will talk about this whole creative process.

If you took the storyboard in the comp sizing and put it into book format, it would be a dummy. A DUMMY is an idea for a book that needs to be finished out into final illustrations. When submitting an author/illustrator book idea, you would submit a manuscript along with a dummy. Use pencils or ink to sketch all the pages to the 32 page book. Fully render the cover and 2-3 of the interior spreads. Don’t make it anything too finished. Leave the door open for the editors and art directors to make adjustments. Otherwise, they may reject it quicker, feeling like there is no room for changes or improvements. Make sure the art makes your eyes move across the page and begs your to turn the page. Don’t forget to plan for the text. Don’t send the only dummy. Make Xerox copies and reserve a few for yourself. You never know, you might not get it back or simple need another one.

After you have the final signatures from the editors or author (self-publishing) for the comps you provided, you start on the final illustrations. Take care to do your very best work because this is your image in the public eye. People will know the illustrator by the work in the books they have at home. You may even get to go out and help promote the book. With this comes autographing and meeting children and parents eye to eye.

Design process for Illustrating Children’s Books: Part 1

Everything has a developmental process and children’s books are no different! I want to talk about the design process that I go through as an illustrator to design my books.

If I happen to be the writer and illustrator for a book, I would write my manuscript first and arrive at a “final draft,” or I would receive a final draft from a writer. After reading it and digesting it for a bit, I would start by producing a thumbnail sketch.

Thumbnail sketches are a series of small drawings to visualize an idea quickly. They can range in size from ¾” to 2” or more. It should not be very fancy or detailed. This drawing should only take about 30 seconds or less to produce. This is where it would be beneficial to sketch several for each page. That way you have a few compositions to choose from. Once you have an idea of the page design, the next step is to produce a comp.

Comps are a bigger more detailed sketch (5”x7” to 8.5”x11”, or bigger) of the chosen thumbnail. Where thumbnails are usually drawn in graphite or ink, comps are usually sketched out and then finished in color if needed. This gives the best idea of the final page. If you happen to be illustrating for a publishing house, this is the stage that editors and art directors become interested in seeing sketches. Any problems can easily be caught here and changed without any issue. At any rate, it is much better than redoing a final drawing.