So You Want to Illustrate Children's Books. Let's Get Started!

I'm thrilled to be the newest "blogette" at the Children's Book Academy! For my first post, I'm going to dive right into talking about illustrating children's books.

But... before you take the plunge with me, ask yourself what I ask myself every day: Why do you want to illustrate books for kids? Is it just because you like to draw or create art? Or are you anxious to portray a story through pictures? Are you dying to see your name in print? Or do you have a passion to help kids learn to read? Would you love to see kids turning the pages filled with pictures you created? Or do you want to watch the joy that comes across a child's face when he holds a book that YOU helped to create?

Maybe you said "yes" to one, two, or all of those questions. Whatever your reasons for wanting to illustrate children's books, there's no doubt that it is one of the most rewarding, enjoyable, life-changing career paths you could ever choose.

So are you certain that illustrating books is for you? If you are, do you know what it takes to become an illustrator? Well, here's a list of five suggestions based on my experience:

1) Get yourself blacklisted from the public schools' employment system.
That was written in jest, of course. But in my case, that's what I had to do to make my dream come true. It wasn't like I set out to make anyone angry or make myself out to be a bad employee. I had been working as a full-time teacher for many years in New Jersey before moving to Florida in 2002. When I started teaching in Florida, I found the school systems to be not at all what I had expected. But I had to keep teaching full-time until 2007 when I became pregnant and was fortunate enough to be able to teach part-time instead. I used the other workdays to start focusing on learning how to write and illustrate children's books. Do what you have to do to follow your dreams.

In 2011, after graduating with an MFA in Illustration from Academy of Art University's online Illustration program, I started sending out postcards and tear sheets to promote my illustrations. While I was waiting for responses, I had to go back to teaching full-time to help pay the bills (and the student loans!) But in 2012, after accepting a full-time teaching job, I was finally offered some educational illustration projects. Yay! I was afraid to quit my teaching job because the illustration project was only short term. Well, trying to teach full-time and illustrate caused me to be late to work AND late on the illustration projects. I didn't get contacted for more educational work after that, and thus had to continue teaching full-time. Don't take on more work than you can handle, and submit your work on time.

Then, in 2013 - two years after sending out promo material - I got not one but TWO offers to illustrate books. Yay again! BUT... I had just accepted another teaching position. Crazy, right? Though I had to choose - do I try to teach AND illustrate two books? Do I just take one book deal? Or do I quit teaching and take a chance on getting published twice in one year? I chose door number 3. Needless to say, it was a bit nuts trying to illustrate two books at the same time. I wound up being a little late on one of them. In the end, I was happy with my decision to focus solely on illustrating and leave teaching full-time.

Right now I teach Art part-time at a charter school and one day a week at the Art Institute in Fort Lauderdale. This schedule allows me a few days each week to focus on my writing and illustrating while still helping to pay the bills. The ultimate goal is to be able to write and illustrate full-time, but I'll take what I can get for now. 

2) Develop a style that you are comfortable using and passionate about but one that is consistent and unique. I'm one to talk about this because I thought I had a style developed back in 2011 but am now going through a transition to change it a bit, going from solely digital back to more hand drawn/painted work and mixed media. I just felt like it was time to change it up, to come up with a style that I'm more passionate about, one that's more personal and comfortable for me to work in and one that would stand out in the crowd. If you're struggling like I am, here's a great link to a blog post by illustrator Peter Brown about developing a style from styles that you like.

3) Be persistent and patient. As you can read from #1 above, I sent out promo material in 2011 and got work two years later. So it can take some time - you have to be patient but persistent. When your portfolio is ready, research different publishers, editors and agents to whom you can send your portfolio link and contact info. A great resource is the Children's Writers and Illustrators Market that comes out each year. However, many people in the industry move around a lot, so you really have to use that book as a starting point, then go to the companies' websites and read their most current submission information. And while you wait for responses, continue to work on your style and your portfolio. Send out quarterly postcards to show new work and keep those contacts interested in you. And just be patient - if you work hard at your craft as well as the business side of it, the contracts will come.

4) Join a critique group and the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI).
SCBWI is THE organization to belong to if you want to write and illustrate children's books. It's a national organization that everyone and anyone in the children's publishing world is a member of. SCBWI is a vast resource of information on writing and illustrating. There are regional chapters all over the world so you can attend conferences and find critique groups where you can share information and learn from other illustrators. If you want to make it in this industry, you have to be confident but have a thick skin and take constructive criticism well.

5) Study, study, study!! Commit to being a life-long learner of illustrating for kids. This could mean attending annual conferences, or taking a course, such as our wonderful Dr. Mira Reisberg's "The Craft and Business of Illustrating Children's Picture Books" (well, next time because this one is sold out!) Or buy some books on the topic, such as these wonderful resources:

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It's also important to study other illustrators to see their styles, techniques, layouts, compositions, ideas, etc. Make a weekly trip to your local library AND book stores, as many libraries may not carry the most current releases. You can learn so much from what's already been done to be able to do something that hasn't been done yet.

You'll also see just HOW many different illustration styles and talent levels there are. As an Art teacher, I let all my students know - from preschool through college - anyone can learn how to draw. You just have to know how to look at things like an artist does - in shapes and lines. And remember that art is subjective - what one person likes another may not. So there is plenty of room in the art world - and illustration world - for lots of different styles. You just have to find the one that suits you best.

That's all for now - I'm looking forward to sharing more ideas and topics with you in future posts to come. Until next time, go out there and get started being a children's book illustrator. You won't regret it.

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Angela Padron is a published illustrator of two books, including "The Hero in You" by Ellis Paul, as well as a Star Wars geek and chocolate chip cookie connoisseur. She also writes and illustrates her own picture books, board books, and chapter books. When she's not teaching, Angela works as a freelance writer and editor for educational publishers and spends weekends enjoying walks along the beach with her family. View her online portfolio at www.angelapadron.com. You can also "like" her facebook page, follow her on Twitter @angela_padron, and follow her own blog called "Show and Tell" with weekly posts about teaching, writing and illustrating books for children.  

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