Summer School: Illustrate a Children's Book

Spend a playfully productive week this summer creating your answer to an inspiring children’s book brief to impress publishers and agents. On this online daytime course, you will be guided through the process of illustrating a text aimed at pre-schoolers and 3-6-year-olds in preparation for professional literary projects.

During the course you will:

· Explore target age-appropriate, commercially viable ideas

· Carry out character research and develop characters in colour

· Discover the unique relationship between text and image in picture books

· Learn how to create clear, consistent sequential imagery

· Draft compelling layouts and storytelling compositions

· Hear how to control the visual pace of the narrative

· Gain advice on how to prepare your work for submission to publishers and agents

Limited places mean this course allows time for group discussion, with peer and individual feedback, and plenty of expert guidance, as well as that all-important accountability! 

By the end of the week, you will have a full black and white storyboard which doubles as a dummy book, colour character studies in a medium of your choice, a greater understanding of the UK and global children’s book market and how to approach publishers and agents – plus you’ll have a new group of like-minded creatives for optional feedback and support in the future!

Who is the course for?

· Those who are new to children’s book illustration and can already draw

· Illustrators or graphic designers who want to delve into the field of children’s book illustration

· Professionals already working in the industry who would like to develop a new project for their portfolio.


Times and dates:  10am – 4pm from Monday 7^th – Friday 11^th August 2023 

How the course works:

Teaching, demos, discussions and feedback will take place live on Zoom, with spaces of time spent away from the screen during the day for creative tasks. There will be a lunch hour from 12.30 pm and short breaks during Zoom sessions. You will gain access to an online pin-board where you can share photographs of your work for peer and tutor review. There will be no homework set during the course, but you are free to devote as much free time as you wish during the week to further your development. 

Materials needed: 

A computer or such like for Zoom meetings, an A3 sketch pad you can tear paper out of, a ruler, scissors, Blu Tac, small post-it notes, a range of graded pencils, coloured pencils, fine liner or ink pen, watercolours, hot pressed (smooth) watercolour paper, gouache paints or your own preference of colour media. 

Please note: 

1. This course does not cover story writing. For writing and illustrating I recommend my 10-week online evening course: An Introduction to Creating Picture Books at the Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration which begins in January 2024. 

2. Digital image creation will not be taught, although you are free to create your colour work in a digital medium if you wish. 

3. The sessions will not be recorded. 

Fees: £450, non-refundable. In the case of whole course cancellation, a full refund will be given. 

If you are booking from outside the UK, please email picturebookcourse@gmail.com to book.