The books we read as children remain in our memories forever. Not only because fairy tales sink into our souls. A huge role is played by bright pictures depicting favorite characters. How do artists manage to create such memorable illustrations? What is special about their drawings? And what types of illustrations for children’s books are there?
Illustrations should be considered as a kind of visual way of knowing the work. The editor needs to understand the nature of illustrative materials, their connection with the text. Scientists and educators note that the efficiency of text perception by preschoolers without illustrations is almost halved. The picture and the word in the children’s book are organically interconnected. The illustration is the most important element in the artistic design of a children’s book, as it performs important functions: it stimulates the development of imagination in children, shapes their emotions, and instills a culture of reading.
Why Does the Book Need Pictures?
To understand what kind of illustration can be considered ideal, you need to understand what the main task of an illustrator is in general. First, he must create a work that will complement the text of a book or magazine. An illustration gives color to a story or article, makes the material tangible. A bright spot on the page pleases the eye and entertains, the reader does not get tired of perceiving what is written. Therefore, secondly, the illustrator must force the viewer to look at the picture for as long as possible. The more time a viewer spends with an illustration, the better they remember it and the more likely they are to return to it in the future.
What Are the Illustrations?
There is no single classification of illustrations, everything is individual and depends on the author. How many artists, so many approaches. It’s worth starting with the fact that there are different materials: someone draws with paints, someone with pencils, someone combines techniques or uses collages, someone cuts out of paper. Some illustrators draw straight from the head, and someone draws a lot of sketches and selects references. The main thing is to find a unifying principle for a series of pictures. Most often it will be a plot, it is divided into key scenes, for each of which illustrations are created, the characters of the story are depicted in the drawings. This approach is typical for children’s book illustration.
Also, a series of pictures can be combined according to the principle of the scene: for example, illustrations of scenes from village life. According to this principle, many developing books for viewing, training attention and memory. These are large-format editions, in which each spread is a detailed picture that children can look at endlessly.
You can combine pictures and stylistic principle. The illustrator draws already familiar images, adapting them to his unique style. For example, the author redraws the characters of one book, one series of books, a series of films or cartoons so that they remain recognizable heroes for most children, but reflect the vision of the artist.
The peculiarity of technology can also become a unifying principle. For example, if the author uses only geometric shapes. There are many such unifying principles. There are no restrictions, everything depends only on the artist himself and the possibilities of his imagination. Now live techniques and materials are very popular – watercolor, gouache, colored pencils. Vector illustrations are also popular, but when working with them, it can be difficult to show the author’s recognizable style.
Rules for Creating an Illustration
There is no universal recipe for the perfect illustration. But we will share three rules that help artists create attractive drawings for children’s books:
The first rule is that children’s illustration should be contrasting. Otherwise, it is difficult for the child to focus on something. In children, the ability to concentrate is not well-developed – they perceive colors and shapes, so this is especially important for children’s illustration. Secondly, the composition should be clear, well-thought-out. The view should not go beyond the illustration. All attention must be concentrated within the picture. Third, readers should recognize themselves in the characters. It’s good, for example, if the characters correspond to the age of the children, the body proportions of the target audience.”
As a result, a successful children’s illustration, unlike other drawings that complement the text, goes a long way. She has to please everyone. The work must be approved by the publishing house, it must please the mother, interest the child and at the same time not disappoint the artist himself, not lose the author’s individuality.
We hope this article was helpful to you.