Character Creation for Illustrated Books with Watercolor

To start, meet children’s book illustrator Lorenzo Sangió. He tells you about his professional career and talks about the artists and directors that have inspired his style and approach to drawing.

Then dive straight in and lay the groundwork for your project. Lorenzo gives you an overview of the materials you need and explains his creative process to give you ideas and help you discover what works best for you. Study the concept of a character and analyze a brief to extract key information you can use for your first sketch.

Next, start developing your character's personality by learning how to draw different expressions and continue by adding movement and increasing layers of detail. Once you've finished your drawing in pencil, it's time to add color.

Transfer your work to watercolor paper, do a color test, and then prepare your paints. Lorenzo shows you his color palette and the hues he prefers to work with. Now roll up your sleeves, grab your brushes, and paint the final version of your illustration.

To add more depth to your story, drop your protagonist into a more complex scene where they can interact with other characters from the brief. Finally, digitize your illustration, add the finishing touches in Photoshop, and get it ready for printing.