Children’s book Illustrations are as versatile in medium as you can think of. Different illustrators use different mediums and techniques to make illustrations. From traditional manual coloring, pen/ink or digital coloring or even mixed media (of using wool, jute) all are equally popular amongst children and publishers. So, use anything you can think of. When you illustrate a children’s book, it is more important what you illustrate than what medium you are using to illustrate. Illustrating is like a travel trip where a traveler equally enjoys all the places he plans in his itinerary, be it a beach or a wildlife safari, or an amusement park. It is only about choosing the right medium at the right place.
How to decide on which medium to choose?
You can find some classic best children’s book illustrations done in watercolor like the Jack and Jill series or some other best children’s book illustrations done by Dr. Seuss in ink and minimal colors. And everyone has a long memory of bright digital illustrations by Disney. All the illustrations styles are equally loved and they sell equally, it is just about making the right choice for your story. The first important factor here is the story. Depending on the story theme, the style of the illustration would be defined, it could be realistic, semi-realistic, whimsical, cartoon, or simplistic. The next thing to consider is your target reader’s age. For example, a cartoon mixed media illustration may not be that suitable for young adults than for a toddler or a juvenile book. Now the third and another very important factor is your vision. As an author or illustrator, how do you visualize your characters or story. You may be imagining very bright vivid illustrations for your children’s book or soft pastel colors or some kind of edgy heavy textured illustrations etc. Once you have decided on the overall appearance, one needs to finalize on the medium, like for bright illustrations, digital medium is the most suitable one. To get the soft pastel look in illustrations, classic watercolor illustration will do the magic. And to create heavy textures and edgy works mixed media may be the perfect choice for you.
Some tips for illustrators
It is very uncommon that one illustrator only works in one style of illustration. Generally a children’s book illustrator portfolio has a mix of various styles to cater to various genres of writing and authors. More versatile an illustrator’s portfolio is, the more books he will be associated with. So, it is better to learn new skills and develop at least 2-3 styles for your portfolio to make it rich, interesting and befitting for more books and work. A good illustrator is also a good learner of new art forms. So, one should invest some time and money (if needed) to learn new platforms. For example, you may be a good children’s book illustrator working with digital medium of photoshop, it will not be very difficult for you to learn other vector graphic tools and enhance your portfolio for other vector illustration works as well.
