Children’s Book Illustration
Why I illustrate children’s’ books by David Zamudio
illustrating childrens books is fun to do and the drawings gives a child a fun framework to navigate a story. Children give honest and direct feedback when asked to grade a picture or illustration. It has the potential to resonate with their emotions and captivate them.
Childrens book illustrators such as Dr Suess, who created the Cat in the Hat and E.H. Shepard: The artist behind the original Winnie-the-Pooh and The Wind in the Willows give us specific memories of characters in a book. So when we practice, we can create a drawing that tells a story clearly and attracts their attention.
Writers have a great opportunity to reach children with inventive stories that children can relate to coupled with innovative emotionally suitable illustrations that promote the storyline. Ruth Foster's Santa & Son is a good example of children's themes with illustrations that support the story.
I use art to interpret and react to the writer's words and sentences. To begin, one must consider the author's direction or intent. In the second step, I will create or develop an illustration sketch based on the concept. Brooke Leigh Howard created a series of Big Brother, Big Sister books that are filled with illustrations that detail the highs and lows of sibling-hood.
For me, this is the most enjoyable aspect of my job - learning the author's language and creating visual commentary. Working as a team, we uncover and shape the writer's intention in the story, bringing it to life visually.
Each page represents a new world, a new event in a child's or family's life. A single episode is seen from two different perspectives by the author and artist. We build the relationships between the art and how the pictures make people - small and large - feel through the dual collaboration process of writer and illustrator.
