I'm just finishing up the details on a couple of children's books I've written over the last few months and I'm excited to get working on the illustrations. I'm not sure on a style though. I'm taking a class right now at Utah Valley University that has given me the opportunity to experiment a little regarding my dilemma. I'm typically not a digital person. I would rather throw a watercolor wash down with pen and ink or paint in acrylic but this class has given me new options to look at.... digital options. I wish the class would have given me a whole semester to experiment just with different children's book styles, but the class covers not only children's books but fashion illustration, and caricatures, so my time was limited on my experimentation.
Below are two different children's books styles I worked with during the class. The first was created in Adobe Illustrator. I threw a texture over the top of it to give it some interest. I actually really like the texture. The second I drew with pen and ink then scanned it in and colored it in Adobe Photoshop. I think I like this style the best. I feel I have more control over the shapes of the children, scenery, props, etc. when I draw freehand. I don't have a Wacam tablet and I have never been trained on how to use one so the block shapes for shadows, highlights, etc. would probably be my chosen way of rendering digitally (at least for now).
As I mentioned previously, I'm typically not a digital person. Maybe I should just stick with the the ol' watercolor, pen and ink. What do you think?
