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Illustrating a Children's book is hard? Wrong!
✨ Have you always believed that creativity flows effortlessly through certain individuals?
✨ Do you think artistic talent is something you’re either born with or without?
✨ That true artists effortlessly fill every blank page with masterpieces?
Let me tell you something: these are myths!
There is no magical, innate art gene. The creative works you admire so much in others are the result of consistent effort, dedication, and practice. That’s the truth!
The Recipe for Artistic Growth:
💡 Patience to refine your skills.
💡 Dedication to show up, even on tough days.
💡 Passion to keep your imagination alive.
Yes, some people may have a head start, but here’s the secret: anyone who’s willing to learn and practice can develop the skills to become a true artist. And you? You’re already on the right path by taking the first step!
My role in this course is to guide you, sharing the tools, techniques, and knowledge to create characters that leap off the page and into the hearts of children. Together, we’ll transform your vision into vibrant, unforgettable characters.
Illustration is a Skill That Can Be Mastered!
Are you passionate about art and excited to create lovable characters? Do you love drawing and illustrating but feel like you’re not yet capturing the magic you envision? Are you a self-taught artist looking to elevate your work to create characters that truly connect with children?
Illustration is a skill that anyone can learn and refine!
I’ve created this course for artists of all levels, from absolute beginners to those who have already started working on their character designs. Throughout the course, you’ll learn how to observe and develop characters that feel alive, relatable, and memorable—perfect for children’s books. You’ll also explore how to use various artistic techniques to bring your characters to life, ensuring they stand out in any story.
Let’s transform your passion into powerful, engaging designs for children’s literature!
Hey, I am Josh Cleland
Since 2009 I’ve been creating high-quality, fun illustrations for clients all over the world including Highlights for Children magazine, Storytime magazine, Pinterest, and Wieden & Kennedy.
My whimsical illustrations can be found in picture books, billboards, iOS apps, album covers, websites, my parents’ fridge, posters, newsletters, animations and more.
I'VE WORKED WITH
IMAGINE DESIGNING THE PERFECT CHARACTER FOR A CHILDREN'S BOOK...
🎨 Imagine, you've just completed my Illustrating a Children’s Books course.
🎨 Imagine you’ve practiced your skills and finally created a character .
🎨 Imagine you can now show your work with pride.
For so long, you've admired other illustrators and compared your work to theirs. You may have felt like you weren’t good enough, but now, you finally recognize the commitment and beauty in your designs.
How does that make you feel?
Today, you can choose to invest in your future, your passion, and your creative dreams. Investing in yourself is one of the most beautiful things you can do.
Character design nurtures not only your artistic skills but also your creativity, bringing you a sense of happiness and satisfaction. And today, you can take that important step forward.
In this course, we will explore various techniques, learn key design principles, and review the tools needed to bring your characters to life. I will be right there with you, supporting you every step of the way on this exciting creative journey. 💪🏼
AT THE END OF THE COURSE YOU WILL BE ABLE TO
Create Expressive, Engaging Characters
Learn to design characters with strong shapes, facial expressions, and consistent body language that connect with young readers.
Plan and Visualize
Your Picture Book
Break down your manuscript into pages, thumbnails, and storyboards to shape the visual flow of your story with confidence.
Illustrate and Finalize with Cohesive Style
Use color theory and digital tools like Procreate and Photoshop to craft polished, unified illustrations ready for print or digital publishing.
COURSE CONTENT
The course has 8 modules for 8+ hours of learning and practicing. You can pause and replay the videos as much as you want. The course is suitable for everyone, teens, adults and children because there is no explicit content. It would be best to take the course in order, because it will start from the basics to lessons at a more advanced level.
Practice makes perfect!
IN MY COURSE YOU WILL LEARN
MODULE 1
Introduction to Children’s Book Illustration
🧩 Introduction and Overview of the course
🧩 Who am I? Why I created the course?
🧩 Understanding the role of an illustrator in a children's book
🧩 Different types of children’s books
🧩 Types of publishing (self vs traditional)
🧩 ASSIGNMENT: Gather manuscript
MODULE 2
Understanding the Manuscript
🧩 Introduction into anatomy of a picture book
🧩 How to analyze and break down a manuscript
🧩 Breaking down manuscript into pages
🧩 ASSIGNMENT: Decide on page count and break manuscript into pages. Start doodling on manuscript
MODULE 3
Character Design, Development and world-building
🧩 Introduction: Creating memorable and expressive characters
🧩 Gather character references and start sketching
🧩 File Management
🧩 Exploring shapes and silhouettes
🧩 Character consistency: facial expressions, body language, and poses
🧩 Creating a cast of characters
🧩 World-building
🧩 ASSIGNMENT: Create a character and cast of characters
MODULE 4
Thumbnails, Storyboards and Sketches
🧩 Introduction: The importance of thumbnails, storyboards and rough sketches
🧩 Creating small thumbnails for pacing
🧩 Developing thumbnails into storyboards
🧩 Laying out your book in InDesign
🧩 Storyboards to tightened sketches
🧩 Exploring the cover thumbnails
🧩 Cover sketches
🧩 Creating engaging title page and end pages that continue the story
🧩 Title and End Page examples
🧩 ASSIGNMENT: Create thumbnails, storyboards, rough interior sketches, 10 cover thumbs and 1-2 tightend cover sketches
MODULE 5
Color and Creating Final Illustrations
🧩 Introduction
🧩 Understanding technical specs: DPI, CMYK vs. RGB, bleeds & trim
🧩 Creating rough color scripts for your book
🧩 Coloring a spread Part 1
🧩 Coloring a spread Part 2
🧩 Keeping a cohesive visual style throughout the book
🧩 Creating a sense of depth using color part 1
🧩 Creating a sense of depth using color part 2
🧩 Coloring cover Procreate
🧩 ASSIGNMENT: Create a color script for book. Color one or two spreads to help explore the "look".
MODULE 6
Creating a Book Dummy
🧩 What is a book dummy and why is it important?
🧩 How to create a rough dummy for early feedback
🧩 Creating a mockup of your book cover
🧩 Formatting a digital book dummy
🧩 ASSIGNMENT: Create a digital and/or physical book dummy. Share with someone for feedback.
MODULE 7
Preparing Files for Publishing
🧩 File organization and layer management
🧩 Delivering print-ready artwork
🧩 Common pitfalls and how to avoid them
🧩 ASSIGNMENT: Review your one or two color spreads and prepare for publishing
MODULE 8
Finalizing Your Children’s Book
🧩 Reviewing illustrations for consistency and flow
🧩 ASSIGNMENT: If you wish, finish your book and have fun!
INCLUDED IN MY COURSE
Fundamentals & Materials
We will look together at the materials, basic techniques, and knowledge needed to begin this journey. Approaching a new technique means first learning how best to use the tools at your disposal.
Practical exercises
Theory is important, but what makes you a true artist is practice... Lots of practice! You'll find lots of exercises to get started with and from which to get inspiration. I will show you some tricks that will make your drawings truly unique and masterpieces.
Lifetime Access
Once you register for the course, you will have lifetime access and you can watch it whenever you want! This will enable you to better learn even the most difficult notions. You don't have a deadline, you can take the course even for 5 minutes a day! This possibility, doesn't it seem incredible?
Flexibility
This is one of the course's strengths: being able to watch the videos wherever you want, whenever you want, and as many times as you want. The course is available from any device so you can watch the course from the comfort of your home or take a single lesson on the train!
Community of artists
As soon as you sign up for the course, you will join a group of people who, like you, share this passion and are following the same course as you. This means you'll be able to exchange ideas, tips or ask questions because you'll be surrounded by people who love art the same way you do!
My daily support
On this journey, you will never be alone! You can write to me and you will receive my feedback as soon as possible, so you will always feel supported. Sometimes, approaching drawing is not easy. You may feel that you are not enough, but don't worry: I will be there to help you, step by step!
... and much more!
SIGN UP NOWCOURSE STRUCTURE
This course will elevate your artistic skills! What's better than improving yourself while having fun? Plus, you will achieve beautiful results in no time.
Let me tell you more about my methodology and the platform structure.
All videos are in FULL HD and you can adjust the speed, audio, quality and have English Closed Captions.
In all my videos, I try to use as many visual elements as possible, such as pictures and references, so you can take some inspiration and you can practice. You can follow each step as I show it to you, and you can comment and compare with other students under each video or in the group so you can resolve any doubts you have and learn new tricks!
The course is designed to be as practical as possible, even teaching you the basics of color and how to use the tools. You can review the lessons as many times as you want, where you want, and when you want!
Doesn't that sound amazing?
WHAT MY STUDENTS SAID ABOUT THE FIRST COURSE
BONUS
Extra content that you will get for free with the course
Conversation with writers Donna Gephart and Lori Haskins Houran
Donna and Lori co-wrote the Woofmore series (which I illustrated). We discuss their backgrounds, the journey to get Woofmore published, and what it’s like on the writer’s side of children’s book publishing. They also share tips for aspiring book authors.
($47) FREE
Conversation with art director/agent, Chad Beckerman
Chad is an award-winning art director and designer who’s worked on some truly iconic books—like Diary of a Wimpy Kid, The Questioneers, Origami Yoda, and Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales. He also works as an art agent with the Cat Agency, helping illustrators grow their careers. We discuss his approach to working with artists and illustrators, and what he likes to see in an artist’s portfolio (hint: it’s not the standard advice).
($47) FREE
Conversation with author/illustrator Josh Lewis
Josh illustrated the four LEGO Little Golden Books series and recently wrote/illustrated his own book, Ray’s Big Day. We discuss his journey to becoming a professional illustrator and his transition into being an author/illustrator. We also discuss how he secured the book deal for Ray’s Big Day.
($47) FREE
REGISTRATIONS ARE CLOSING SOON!
Learn how to illustrate a children's book once and for all!✨
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GET IMMEDIATE ACCESS TO
Illustrating a Children's Books Course
✨ Two options to achieve your goals! ✨
Here, you can find two options that differ only in how you want to pay. The first option is a one-time fee, and the second is a flexible four-month payment plan, to make learning more accessible.
💰 Prices are displayed in dollars, but you can pay in ANY currency.
Start illustrating a children's book—let’s begin! 🎨🚀
My Guarantee to Every Student
If you are not satisfied with the course for any reason, you have the right to obtain a full refund within the first 30 days. This is my guarantee to you. I want all my students to be satisfied. Also, this means there is no risk at all! Give it a try and experience the program first-hand!
