How to level up your illustrations

Illoguild question #24

Jun 10, 2024

Hey there,

Here are our top tips to level up your illustrations:

Characters should be cute and easy to draw 20+ times - Katie Stack
Don’t just add a background, but rather draw a believable environment for your characters to live in- Carla Hoffenberg
When you loosely draw “without worrying about the final result, that’s when the most spontaneous results happen.” - Damjana Loddelina
“It’s even better if you can do research in person. Go to a museum, library, or garden. Take photos or sketch.” - Brenda Harris

We have an Illoguild Live on 17 June ‘ILLOGUILD talks process’. You can sign up for free here. (And you can catch the replays of all of our live discussions here).

We also had a Illoguild Live last month where we discussed ‘Networking: aka Making Art Friends’. You can catch the replay here. We talked about our own experience with rejection and how to stay positive and motivated.

This month we shine a spotlight on the talented author and illustrator Carla Hoffenberg. She draws inspiration from from the ocean and everyday situations that little kids experience.

And lastly, the illoguild has a lot to celebrate this month! It’s book birthday time - Brenda Harris and Jen Jamieson both have new books out 🎊

Don’t forget to read all the way to the ‘Announcements’ to find out more.

So here’s the inside scoop on how to level up your illustrations:

Katie shares how to design a character - make it cute and easy to reproduce… walk through the steps with her.

Katie’s Newsletter

Designing a Character

Hi everyone! I’m currently taking a class about illustrating children’s books, and our first assignment was to design a character. I’m curious how our processes are the same and different, so I’ll be sharing my process for the character design process. How can we learning from each other? Let me know in the comments how you think about drawing characters for kids books…

7 months ago · 10 likes · 1 comment · Katie Stack

Carla goes through an example of a recent illustration - the importance of a believable environment and specificity.

Carla’s Crowd

How do you do it?

Hey there, I love seeing other people’s processes because I learn so much and enjoy trying new techniques. For me, the process almost always starts with sketches, followed by line drawing, and then color. However, I’m constantly experimenting to grow and develop my skills…

7 months ago · 4 likes · Carla Hoffenberg

Damjana shares her process of developing a digital style of illustration that more closely resembles her sketches and drawings using traditional media.

The Lemon Tart Bandit

The process

I’ve always loved drawing, sketching, doodling, in any medium available - and since I bought my first iPad I’ve been fascinated with digital drawing and the endless possibilities it offers to an illustration artist. So far I’ve learned a lot of tricks and shortcuts in Procreate that make the illustrating process easier and faster, which for me was the m…

7 months ago · 4 likes · 4 comments · Damjana Loddelina

Brenda discusses her creative process from start to finish… and it all starts with a recipe.

On The Creative Road

Cooking Up An Illustration

Creating an illustration can feel a lot like cooking up a meal. There’s prepping, creating, and serving. I have boiled it down to the 10 following steps: 1. Start with a Recipe When you’re making an illustration, it’s very important to start with a contract. Even if it’s a personal project, your mental commitment to the project can count as a binding cont…

2 years ago · 11 likes · Brenda Harris

Announcements

Join the our Illoguild Live on 17 June: the illoguild goes Live to talk about how we make illustrations ILLOGUILD talks process. Join the live event for free.
Sign up here
You can catch the replays here.
Congratulations to Brenda who’s new book ‘Toad the Tanker’ (written by Teri Weber and illustrated by Brenda Harris) is out this month!! Happy Book Birthday 🎊
And triple congrats to Jen Jamieson who has two new books out this month - ‘Double Life of Ted Amos’ (Written by Simon James Green and illustrated by Jen Jamieson) and ‘Franks Secret Yeti’ (written by Angela and illustrated by Jen Jamieson). And ‘Fin Jones was Here’ is long listed for ‘World Illustration Awards in the book cover category! WELL DONE JEN!!!
Katie Stack’s birthday card won an editors pick price for a design competition on minted.

Illoguild Illustrator Spotlight

Q and A with Carla Hoffenberg

What inspires you?

I'm inspired by the ocean - I love diving and want to bring the underwater world to the surface and into kids hands. I’m also inspired by the everyday experiences of children and love capturing the magic and challenges in their worlds.

What are you working on?

I am illustrating a book written by Deborah Frenkel, published by EK Books, which will be out in 2025. (I'm so impatient – waiting is my least favourite hobby!) I'm also working on a picture book dummy called "Sebastian's Spots" and have a few private commissions that, unfortunately, are still under wraps and can’t be shared.

What’s your dream project?

Illustrating picture books that are funny and heartwarming with a compelling main character. My goal is to create books that are relatable and remain timeless.

I also love illustrating ocean creatures and underwater worlds so a combination of these two things is the perfect mix for me.

What is a career highlight for you?

My favorite moments have been my first book launch in 2022 and school visits- entering children’s book illustration was an unexpected and delightful career change for me. It began in the first covid lockdown in 2020 and now it’s what I do full-time.

Carla’s books are:

‘Little Shark Lulu is Sleeping’, ‘Mia’s Glamma’ and her work is published in ‘Our Australian HeART’ with proceeds going to the Indigenous Literacy Foundation.

You can see more of her work on Instagram and her Website.

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