Illustration by Noah,
age 7, Junior Student
at MAI.

Illustration by Jo, age
9, Junior Student at
MAI.

Be a Book Illustrator

Give your students a day in the life of a children's book illustrator with this simple project that takes them through the steps taken by professional artists. We will create a page from an alphabet book! This project can be used with the following Masterpiece Art Instruction Kits: Multimedia Kit Multimedia Junior Kit Watercolor Pencil and Ink Kit Pastel Kit

Print off the following sheets (one per student):

Font Samples
Thumbnail Sketch Worksheet

Directions:

1. Choose a letter of the alphabet that you would like to illustrate. (Our sample above was for the letter "B").

2. Look over the "Font Samples" page and choose a font for your letter that appeals to you. (You may also create your own, if you desire.)

3. Look through the magazines, newspapers and catalogs for photos of items that start with this letter. Tear them out and keep them handy. (You may also search the Internet for a specific image you want.)

3. Fill in the boxes on the "Thumbnail Sketch Worksheet" with simple ideas of how you want your alphabet page to look. Start with the placement of the letter, then sketch in the items that start with that letter around it. (Look at the samples on this page from other students to get some ideas for page layouts.)

4. Choose the one design you like best and draw it large on another sheet of paper. This is not the finished page, just a rough sketch. Make all of your mistakes on this page!

5. Blacken the back of this page with the side of your pencil and tape it on top of a clean piece of paper. Redraw the lines, pressing hard, to transfer your design to the new page.

6. Color in your design with colored pencils or pastels. Be sure to look at your photos often as you draw!

Illustration
by
Rachel
Johnson,
Advanced
Student
at MAI.