Introduction to Children’s Illustration

Start by getting to know Adolfo Serra's work in-depth, his professional career, his projects and some books he has published. He shows you what a day in the life of an illustrator is like and the importance of drawing as a tool for fostering creativity.

To create three different illustrations, which will serve as a sample of your potential for being a children's illustrator, Adolfo Serra explains different tips and methods for being creative when interpreting and illustrating a story.

Next, he takes on illustrated books and albums as the foundations for children's illustration. He explores the relationship between the words and images, the sequence and narration, and the book's rhythm. Adolfo shows you some examples of albums he finds especially interesting.

He looks at classic piece of literature and show you how to take advantage of it, emphasizing the strengths of traditional stories and their validity today compared to other story types.

Then he explains how to analyze and conceptualize a text, extracting the main ideas and showing you how to transform words and ideas into sketches that will be your future illustrations.

He explains several illustration techniques for using in your projects: ink, monotype, and collage. See his method for creating three different types of illustrations.

Find inspiration by experimenting with different pictorial techniques and ideas. Once finished with this course, create a series of three finished illustrations from the same project or story that will serve as the starting point for a book, or form a part of your portfolio as a children's illustrator.