a selection of detailed points to use when illustrating a book. you might like to see the follow-up video "18 things you might find useful after you illustrate your book", which gives some details about contracts etc.
Wow...there are so many youtube channels where folks would ask you to 'buy my course', or sign up, to get the real info. So refreshing to have you freely give out such excellent advise. Very much appreciated; thanks for the post.
best help I've found! clear simple and not just self promotion. I only found the link via another one why didn't you tube suggest this gem straight away?!
bernice - thanks for your very positive response to my video - and it's great that it's made you more confident to start - so do, it ends up really good fun bringing your book to life - all best wishes with it - martin
Several publishers were interested, but they were hybrid publishers (pay for some of the cost up front). I wasn’t interested in going that route, because $4,000 and who knows if it’ll get you anywhere. Actually, I ended up going to art school. I have half a semester left before I graduate! Last year I landed a job in the art dept of a great company. It’s not my ideal job, to be honest, but it pays fairly well and is a great step toward where I’d like to be. My wife and I have an almost five year old daughter and we recently found out we’re expecting twin girls, so we’re currently house-shopping. It has been a very exciting and interesting four years! :)
Very clear and instructive, Martin. It's always best to get information from a practicing professional, and you are exactly that: an accomplished, published pro. Thank you for realizing how clueless most beginning writers are and breaking this down into to the essential elements for all of us. Brilliant concept for a video. I do wish you'd produced it in HD, however.
hi H. Max - thanks for your comment on my video (and sorry about the non-HD format) - it's not so much people being clueless, it's more that a beginner really can't know this stuff (i've even found that it's kept back!) and i was just the same, i knew nothing, but picked everything up over the years - so now i'm glad to help anyone who needs it, and glad it helped you - cheers, martin.
@@andypandywright You are so kind to give so freely. This information is so useful for anyone wanting to write. And the way you explain things, even for young children starting out and interested in putting their own stories to paper, this is a useful resource. Your invaluable advice and knowledge is much needed, and appreciated. Thank You.
I watched this video about 9 or 10 years ago when my oldest child was just a baby, and I had more dreams than time or confidence (that’s still true today). That baby is turning 11 this summer and he has three younger siblings now. Still more dreams than time! But I have built up my knowledge over the past decade and have written more books over the years. I want to begin to illustrate them, with whatever skill I can muster. Thank you for the advice both then and now. :)
Oh Martin, your video is excellent! I taught kindergarten for many years and l would read "Frankie's First Day" to the class. You have so much knowledge and could make many informative videos. For example: How to develop a character, how to keep the illustrations exciting, etc as well as tutorials on drawing. Please consider making more videos. Thank you so much for this one!!!
really glad that you like my video, linda, and even more that you read "frankie" to your class - that's great! your ideas for future videos sound really interesting too - character development (that can have a double level to include the writer's development), keeping the illustrations exciting (that needs some thinking about) - and i'd have to see my brother again (he does the filming) - to get things started - thanks very much for your reply, linda - martin.
Thank you so much for so many great points! I learned many things from your video. I'm also so appreciative of your encouragement at the end and the fact that you had no special training when you started. Thank you for sharing all this and doing exactly what you are meant to do in this world. ~Elizabeth~
hi Elizabeth - thanks very much for your appreciative comment and i'm very glad you found it so useful - especially the fact of no special training, which I've found to have no great bearing on being able to illustrate. and I've been very fortunate in being paid for what i'm meant to do - Martin.
That was great! There were many tips in there that I had never heard before. Ans I've been following children's book illustrating for years. It was also very, very encouraging to hear that you had no formal training when you got started but that you've illustrated seventy books. Also, I would love to see a video done by you on contracts and finding a publisher. Thank you so much for a great video. Oh yeah, I subscribed and liked.
hi inkdraft - thanks for your complimentary comment and you can find information on contracts etc. on my other video - "18 things you might find useful after you've illustrated your children's book" - i should say that my brother got some contract stuff out of focus and the actual time for the video is only about 10 minutes or so - but otherwise it's quite informative! - cheers, martin.
Thank you Martin, for your insightful and generous suggestions. So many helpful ideas to consider before diving into the work. Thanks for explaining the glued down pages, mixing enough color for common elements (so that I don't have to remix over and over), starting in the middle, the importance of the comic strip and sketch. Wow, I am glad you shared your experience with us. Thank you! I will share this with my author.
terri - thanks for your very positive comment, and i'm glad that you could take so much from my video - i hope it will prove useful when you collaborate with your author - also i really liked your still life demo with the fruit - martin.
Thank you for this, its like a breath of fresh air to some of the previous "bumble" which I have been reading. With the should and shouldn't does in this area of expertise, requirements and qualifications.. When all I am is a person who loves to illustrate with a line of story ideas Id like to share.. I've been reading stories to my own children for long enough to know what interesting to an audience. Is that so difficult to comprehend in this day and age.
thanks for that very interesting reply, graham, and it's true, there's so much rigmarole clinging on to illustration which is totally unnecessary - i had no training and like yourself just wanted to see stories 'come alive', if they could, with my pictures, and i met two guys doing teacher training in english who had written stories for their classes to read, and they wanted me to do pictures for them - which i did - then later we submitted the stories with illustrations by me and waited for replies - happily successful replies came! - do move on with your story ideas and your illustrations - good luck - cheers, martin.
Thanks for these 18 helpful insights. With a complicated scene; compositionally speaking, or forced perspective: does one pencil in the general idea, pen in the "right" lines, erase the extra pencil then apply color?
thanks for your comment, adrian, and to your question - your sequence is exactly right if your pen lines are drawn with indian ink (which doesn't smudge when wet), but if you want to use other inks you have to make your pencil drawing, rub out a lot of the lines but leave enough to indicate the whole picture, add colour to this and finally draw your ink lines over the painted picture - a little trickier but gives a great result - cheers, martin.
Who would have thought that 4 years later after this video was publisbed i would be illustrating my first book and this video would be so helpful. Thank you so much for the advice.
cherry - thanks for your very positive comment, i was also surprised how much my video has been used and it's great that it has helped you with your first book - best of luck with it - martin.
Wow! That was one of the most helpful list I've heard or read yet. I've been an artist my whole life. The easiest work I thought I'd ever do, turned out to be the hardest thing I ever attempted. Just keeping the character features and coloring consistent in every pose is maddening. Agonizing over going too far... On my canvases, if I want to add lots more detail, I'd go for it. On a children's book, starting out with the quality of a Steamboat Willy and ending up with something as elaborate as Snow White can extend the work indefinitely. Creating on the page is not a good idea. On 27 pages a few extra details per page can add up to days or weeks, or in making the scene too busy. It's all about planning and discipline, I've found. This short video helped my reign in my creative randomness a bit and get things laid out in a more manageable format.
hi zoetic - it's great that you found my posting helpful and i can sympathise as the things you mention happened to me too - as you say, planning is a major factor but you don't need to rein in too much of your creativity now that you've seen the (not too intrusive) boundaries you'll be working under - best of wishes with your story - martin.
suzi - thanks for your very positive comment. you can get publishers aware of your work by offering to meet with them at their office to show some of your work. this should be a medium amount of your work to show the scope of it so that they might keep it on file to show authors who don't have an illustrator. you might like to watch my second video on youtube "18 things you might find useful after illustrating your children's book" which deals a bit with this, and especially look into the 'authors and artists yearbook' for details of publishers etc. - martin.
Hi Martin, firstly thank you for your great, insightful video. It's great to come across someone who is so selfless in giving others advice! Do you write some of the stories you illustrate or are you purely an illustrator? I ask because since graduating from University I've had several children's book ideas I've wanted to complete and get published, and one that I'm currently working on has a rhyming narrative. I've heard that it's generally best to stay away from rhyme because it's difficult to translate. Do you agree or do you think a story can get published despite this? Many thanks!
hi j carpenter, and thanks for your reply - i have written a few of the books myself, which i really liked, and they did bring in some nice royalties (all mine) though i mostly illustrate for others. the advantages when you both write and illustrate are firstly that all the payment is yours, and secondly, equally important, that you have the total say on everything. i don't see any great reason to avoid rhymes as not that many books go into co-editions with foreign publishers, and children like rhyme - and often rhyme forms an indispensable part of the work. hope this helps - cheers, martin.
Thank you for sharing. I am attempting to illustrate my own book. Your tips taught me new thoughts and reassured me on other thoughts I thought to do...plastic sleeves..cut an paste for real with the text. Etc.. Thank you!
hi pamela - thanks for your complimentary reply and i'm nearly ready to put on another video about the business side of illustration, contracts etc. - I have to wait a while for my brother to set up his recording thing as before, but it might take a few weeks - martin.
Hi Andy, any tips how to get an agent? Just self published my own book which I've illustrated and written. Book is selling well. I had 200 printed and have almost sold out which is encouraging, been useful market research. I think I need to get an agent, then hopefully a publisher.
well done so far, john - agents are listed in the 'writers and artists yearbook' -, though your own sales are good and you could continue this - martin.
marc - that's great, and in fact that's what the video is for, giving people the info they need to make the best possible job of their illustrated stories - all best wishes with yours - martin.
hi dramatic dolls - i'm glad you found my video helpful and you're right, it's the culmination of all the stuff I've learnt since my first (tentative) illustration - martin.
hi confidencebuilders - glad you liked my video and noted the time it took to work it all out - it came from listing everything i'd ever learnt about illustration from anybody or anywhere, and it came to 18 points (a few minor extra pointers have since been prompted by viewers questions!) - keep safe during these bonkers times - martin.
Hi Martin, I just wanted to thank you to take the time to film and publish this video and share your knowledge with us. It is really helpful and interesting to watch.
As I watch this video it is 3yrs old but it is still sharing fantastic words of wisdom taught be experience, I will apply these lessons to the books I am writing & illustrating for my grandsons and then see where it goes. Thank you for sharing your life with us.
hi mark - hard to believe that video is 3 years old! and glad it's still being useful - hope all goes well with your books for your grandsons - all the best, martin.
hi kelcy - i have to admit that when i started i also didn't realize any of the things in my video - i thought you just drew pictures and that was that, which explains how my first attempt was rejected! - but in time i got the hang of it by scrutinising a children's story, reading all available books etc - cheers, martin.
hi t & n maxim - thanks for your comment and glad you like my video - sounds like you're like me, want things explained simply with no waffling and unneccesary padding - and i'm more than happy to pass on everything i've learnt from all the books i've illustrated - cheers, martin.
Very informative indeed. Thank you Martin for being so straight forward with things I had not even thought about, i.e: illustrating the middle pages, production line and setting colour out first. Really helpful! :)
hi yingyangmeditation - i'm really glad that you found my video so useful and that now you're ready to start your book - my best wishes for your success martin.
@@yingyangmeditation9965 yingyangmeditation - good to hear from you again, if your story is normal length i'd say 32 pages, if a bit shorter go for 24 - cheers again, martin.
Very helpful ....thanks....the best part is your closing statement, 'I had no training at all" ...encourages people like me....really grateful......xox
kanwaljeet - thanks for your very positive reply and i'm glad that like me you have progressed on your own steam without formal training - i hope you suceed as i did - martin x.
Thank you So much for this video! I am a new illustrator and just finished (my first) a 15 page children’s book illustration. I didn’t know until somebody asked, (oh that’s your rough?) great now you’re going to actually do the book I had no idea I had to redo it! that I should do a rough. Or the page number limits. You are AWESOME Mr. Wright !!! This was so informative !
muriel - that's very nice of you to say and i wish you the very best with your first book, i also had to make finished pictures out of my rough and i liked the rough so much that i copied it very slowly, making it just a bit smarter as i went - the hard bit was to make the new one look as easy and fluent as the rough. for your 15 page book you only need to include your title and perhaps a blank end page which makes it virtually 16 pages already (i'm guessing that it's to be a paperback) - let me know if you need to know any thing more that might crop up - martin.
Thank you this was excellent , succinct, chock full of the most important stuff and loved your calm delivery- very helpful to someone who is feeling overwhelmed. I am off to carry on my story and drawing right now. Thank you.
very glad you were pleased with my video, andrea, and definitely no need to feel overwhelmed - it's just drawing not the sistine chapel! - hope your story goes well - carry on! - martin.
I want to like this video ten times! It really is the most valuable information for newbies in children's book illustration! I can not thank you enough! I hope I'll be able to put all this great advice in practice the upcoming year. Really love this!
Thank you so very, very much for this video! You gave us more info for FREE, than I’ve gotten from writing/illustration courses. You are so incredibly generous to do this.
hi kitten - i'm glad that you liked my video, the fact is that I had help for free from some people when I was starting out and so it seems only fair to also give what advice I can for free to you now! hope it helps you with all you do in the future - martin - ps. keep safe during this crazy time!
This was the best tutorial I have ever watched on RU-vid. Simple language. Useful info - no flourishes thankyouverymuch. I want info not entertainment. Great stuff. Thank you. I've always been an anglophile and you just proved me right.
angela - well, thanks very much for your very positive response, the best info i got when i started was from straightforward people and it made me laugh about entertainment - when i started i found 7 books on illustration in the library and booked them all out - one was a dull looking hardback with 600 pages, no pictures, just a photo of the author (old geezer with glasses) and the other 6 were bright, colourful, flashy and short - well these 6 taught me nothing at all so i reluctantly opened the 600 pager and that book taught me everything i needed! - martin.
eric - that's great and good to know that my video helped you to do your two books - hope all goes well with your future work - keep safe during this awful virus - cheers, martin.
hi pedcaju atelie - thanks for your comment and i really tried to condense all the info needed into this short video, - some can be really rambling! - cheers, martin.
Thankyou Martin.this video is really informative and inspiring. I am a struggling 'traditional' illustrator in a world of digital artists trying to get myself off the ground and this video has given me the strength to keep trying. many thanks :)
moonbeam - that's great that you found my video inspiring and i'm just like you, old school pen, paper and paints etc, so i can easily see what it's like for you in the somewhat impersonal digital world - so i'll say keep true to your natural style and i'm glad you gained some strength from my video - and keep going forward! - martin.
hi linda - thanks for your comment, and it reminded me of my lady friend who said she first liked hearing my voice before we met - I told her when she gets her contact lenses it's all over! i'm sure you'll be fine without needing any luck - martin.
This was SOOOO HELPFUL!!! Thank YOU! I appreciate you were very clear and on point. I will definitely return to this video as a resource. Thanks again!!😊❤❤
hi hazel - that's great that you found my video so helpful, i'm always glad that someone can use it and i wish you wonderful times with your own artwork - martin xx
hi smillie - glad you found my video useful, and if anything crops up when you illustrate your first book let me know - and all best wishes with it - cheers, martin.
I'm not an illustrator and I don't want to become one BUT as a writer it helps to know all this stuff so thank you very much for doing this video. You did a fabulous job!
anna - that's a great reply and i know it'll help you do your stories, one of my authors found this info very handy in planning his books - yours, martin.
Thank you so much for this video! I have watched it multiple times during the last year and I found it so very helpful. I also love the slow and concise language of yours! I would love to see a video about what goes into the design of a main character - how do you decide on style, facial features, colouring and what else needs to be considered.
hi farbwirbel - thanks very much for your comment and i'm glad you gained so much from my video - as regards main (and other) characters I first of all scrutinize the text looking for any clues (which can be quite obscure and implied) to consider when sketching the person, if the age is unclear I go for the likely age of the reader and the locations often give some valuable ideas (for example for costume when there is a farm setting) - the kind of activities of the characters are also useful guides for how they may look - regarding the style that will largely be determined by the likely preferences of the reader, the publisher and the general tenor of the story (for example colouring more subdued for darker, more dramatic stories etc), but in the end it will be my preferred style that wins out - and yours - you have to like what you're doing! I hope that, in the absence of a specific video, this will be helpful for you, farbwirbel - martin.
hi nel - so glad you found my video useful, it is just the synthesis of all i learnt illustrating books over the years - i hope it helps you with your first book and please don't hesitate to write again if anything crops up that you don't know about when you do it - cheers, martin.
I'm glad I came across your video, Martin! It's full of very helpful information! I'm working on illustrating my sister's children's stories, and your advice is so encouraging. Thank you! :-)
helena - thanks for your nice reply and i'm very glad that it looks like helping you illustrate your sister's stories - it is in fact a real advantage to work with somebody you know well (most of my books have been like this) best of luck with your combined project - martin
Thank you for this video. I've been illustrating for years, my own and others, I find I can still learn with your video. It would have made things easier if I had seen this a lot of years ago.
hi - thanks for your reply and its great that you found my video so helpful and gave you things to try out - i had a look at your website and really like the top illustration which is very suitable for children's story style - cheers, martin.
I am now finally embarking on a dream of being a children's book author and illustrator so what you've shared is so precious to me. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and being an inspiration to aspiring ones like me. Love from the Alps
hi tatapepingCH - i'm very glad that you found my video useful especially as you're embarking on your first stage of your dream. i wish you all the very best with your writing and illustration which i hope becomes as inspiring as the wonderful alps - martin.
I found your instruction very helpful. I'm not crazy about your illustrative style (that's not to say I don't think it's good, just not my style); however, I am crazy about the fact that you still create illustrations by hand without the aid of a computer program. Furthermore, I believe you mention somewhere that you are self-taught. Way to go Martin! I'm a police officer nearing the end of my career, and can't wait to start my new endeavor in children's book illustration. You're an inspiration.
hi don - thanks for your honest and appreciative comment - and it's a good point that we don't have to admire a style to learn what we want from it - i learnt just about everything from a collection of random books at the time, and i have to also admit to being totally unable to illustrate with a computer program, with me it's all pencil, pen, brush - in fact whatever comes to hand - i've often wanted to illustrate with coloured pencils but nobody asked for it. i think your experience as a police officer will give you great insight into people's lives and relationships which will find it's way into your work - best of luck with your new project - cheers, martin.
Thank you sir. This is a top shelf and informative video that leads me to where I need to be. Thank you for your passion for the arts and sharing the results of your hard work.
A very constructive video - I enjoyed watching. I am in the process of writing my first children's book. Your information was very helpful. Thank you. Great narrative voice.
rachel - i'm very glad you found my video useful - and i hope it helps you with your first book. i must say that i thought my voice on the video sounded a bit daft but if you were okay with it, then that's fine - martin.
Thank you for this helpful information. My husband writes stories for our grandchildren and I print and bind them. For this Christmas I am also doing the illustrations. I wish I had seen your video before I started. I’ve had to do some illustrations more than once because of inconsistencies in color or style. I won’t make that mistake again because you have taught me how to plan ahead and “batch” color elements. Thanks again!
hi janis - i'm glad you found my video useful, even though some details were a shade too late for you to batch the colours! - the best of luck with your and your husband's stories and i'm sure your grandchildren will be enrapt - best wishes, martin.
Thanks Martin, after listening and looking at many illustrator's comments, you got right to it, were very easy to understand and your points very helpful. Surprisingly, I've seen your work and have enjoyed your illustrations.
