Illustrating a Picture Book: Creating an Illustration in Pastels 

Thanks so much for sharing this! I have always loved how pastels look on a page, so textured makes me want to feel the printed artwork! I am currently doing a childrens book illustration course and trying to practise this medium, your video is very inspirational, i love how detailed your work is! love it! :)

Thanks Z. Any old rubber will do for that job. Chalk is of course very easy to erase. A putty rubber is too soft. I use just an ordinary, fairly soft rubber which I often cut with a knife, so I have a hard edge for getting into corners.

I had one of the worst days you could ever have... my yt was on autoplay and your vid was playing whilst I was not paying attn. And 31 seconds in.. I smile and awh while hearing you describe the story. People you don't even know can lift your spirits for a moment.... This is a peculiar place... [Earth]. Thank you for the gift of a smile and momentarily taking me away from my sufferings. Thank you

Just by looking at this, I didn't even think it was pastels. Great Work Lynne! 👍

Wonderful post, your work is enchanting.

I love your animation style...very bright, whimsical, and fun! Thank you for taking the time to show us how you do it!

Thank you. Yes, all the artwork has to be sent to the publisher, who then sends it on to be professonally scanned, often as far as China or Singapore. Home-scans would not be good enough quality for a picture book and my artwork is way too big. It is indeed rather scary, but so far nothing of mine has got lost. My greated worry id that it will get damaged in transit, so I package it VERY carefully with lots of thick cardboard.

Thank you Jeanne - that's lovely. So pleased you enjoyed it. If you are interested in the process of creating the 'Swap!' book artwork, there are lots of illustrated articles on my blog (link from my website). Thanks for the lovely feedback :-)

Thanks Mariam! The paper I use in called Canson Teintes and the colour is Rose Fonce (it comes in a wide range of colours, but I find the soft pink adds warmth to my illustrations). I use different brands of pastel, but my favourite is Unison. I don't like the really soft ones like Sennelier - they clog the paper. My best advice is to work as large as you can and only fix things when you absolutely have to, as it changes the colours each time you spray. Good luck!

Thank you for doing this! I am currently illustrating my own first children's book and I have so many questions lol. I also chose pastels because, other than sculpting clay, this is all I know, and it's been a long time and I'm rusty 😁. I will gather my thoughts and post my questions here if that's Ok? Love your work, congrats!! So glad I found this video, thank you. Hope all is well❤

Yes, it is a bit tricky with pastels, but the fine detail is possible with pastel pencils. I protect my work with a paper overlay. I just use regular paper, although there is special paper you can get (like the stuff they use in chocolate boxes) which doesn't pick up the chalk from the surface as much. Good luck with your course!

oh my!absolutely amazing illustrations xx

Really ENJOYED watching this SO much, Lynne! Thank you for sharing your process. Looking forward to more!

LOVE love love this. Thanks so much Lynne.

Thank you so much for being so inspiring

Thanks Sheri - you're welcome. I use Canson Teintes paper, a colour called Rose Fonce, which is the perfect shade of dusty pink. It has a course texture which I like, as it adds a tactile quality to the finished work.

Love your use of colour and pastels.

Love your Work Lynne!

Thank you for sharing your work is adorable.

lovely illustration, you're so relaxing to watch :)

Great illustraton lynne... thank you so much for the inspiration

Lovely works!!!

Thank you! I love watching process and you and your work are delightful.

Your work is brilliant! very clean and precise!

I love your personality and your artwork, thank you for this video.

Beautiful work, Lynne! Love your art, your expressions in your characters and your work with colors! Pascal:)

I have just found this video, and loved it.

I love this video. It inspires me to move forward on the ideas for books that i have stored in my head. Very beautiful artwork.

This presentation was just amazing. I am so glad that I found you on youtube.

Lovely illustration! I have never found my way with pastels. But watching as you use them makes me want to try again. Thank you for sharing.

It’s absolutely adorable thank you Sandy

thank you so much for sharing!! Great work and great video

Really good!

Fantastic illustrations. I'm a big fan of the effect pastels have very vibrant and versatile.

wow beautiful work!

Hi Lynne! I find your videos quite inspiring and educative. Thanks for your sharing. I really appreciate your good work. Greetings!

Thank you Nelson. I'm really pleased it was helpful. I will definitely do another pastel film, but will probably wait until I am doing some more artwork for a book, as it's nice for it to be a 'live' project.

Amazing!!! Thank you!!! ❤️❤️❤️

Lynne, great video! I'm so inspired to try pastels now! I used to work as a nanny and was so interested in illustrating for children's books after that :) Now after watching your video it gives me more of a drive to pursue it (of course, after practice).

Your work is truly lovely. I am always more than a little fascinated with pastel and charcoal work. It has always been a taxing medium for me. Lovely to see how you utilize it, in your illustrations.

That video for education thanks Lynne, I love how you give life to these characters with pastel chalks. Could you upload more videos about the use and techniques with chalk. I think there are many people who see your videos we want to learn more about your experience.

Your process is incredible. I've never worked with pastels before but inspired to try it after watching this video. The attention to detail, especially when adding the patterns on the couch is amazing. Thank you for sharing this.

Pastels...I haven't tamed this dragon yet. Practice makes perfect obviously! TFS! New subbie! 😆👏🎨👍

I am a new subscriber. Thank you for sharing invaluable information. I have watched other videos with the same info that was more discouraging then anything else and a little arrogant. Thank you for showing the practical, applicable side. :)

You are so cute! Love your work! Thank you for making these videos!!! 👼🏼💗

Thank you so much Lynne for your prompt and helpful reply.

What a lovely life and beautiful work. Thank you for sharing it with us. :)

you are very talented, I love using pastels too.

Beautiful!

you inspire me!! i love your works :D

I usually draw with watercolor, but because of your illustrations I have try to work with pastels... and I can tell you, it is really difficult! you have my respect :-)

Wow! Your work is amazing and watching you explain how it’s done is just as awesome! Thank you so much for sharing! ❤️❤️❤️

Lynne, you are amazing! I loves to see this video. I am the daughter of a childrens book illustrator and I see some similarities. my mum also has this spark of naughty childishness in her eyes, just like you. I guess one needs this spark to be an childrensbook illustrator! :-)

thank you so much for replying... so very appreciated x

Incredibly talented. Great work!!!

Wonderful ! I really enjoyed watching your video, you're a great artist !

What wonderful feedback - thank you so much Amy, I am so pleased you found my little film so inspiring and helpful! Good luck with your own work. There is a lot of other analysis of how I work on my blog (link from my website) which you might also find useful if you are doing a children's illustration course. If you click the 'Swap' label, you can follow the progress of this latest book from first sketches right through to finished artwork and beyond. :-)

That is so cool , thanks for sharing : )

Thank you so much for sharing!

Thanks Kate - glad you like them :-)

You're welcome Jhody - glad you enjoyed it :-)

you are amazing!!!..I enjoy all your videos ,I have written and illustrated my own children's stories,for my children mostly,,but now as they are getting older ,they have told me I should work on getting them published,,,Its a big dream I know but after seeing your videos,,I have gotten inspired,and I think I may just give it a shot lol,,,,I truly love your work,,keep the videos coming,,,, :)

You are great!

Ha ha - yes, a spark of naughtiness is always a plus! Glad you like the film Marieke :-)

Hi Elias Really pleased you liked the film. Good point about the direction of the filming I will thrash my filmmaker so he gets that right next time!!

Hye John birks....I love to see the process more closed up to the paper. I hope u can shoot for other video.

Your illustrations are great! you capture the perfect amount of playfulness and emotion in your illustrations! I am currently going to school for childrens book illustration and you are an inspiration! How do you get them ready to send to clients? Meaning do you scan them and do make minor edits in a digital program? and if so what scanner do you use?

Oh my goodness! You are amazing! Your book looks adorable too, and I would love to buy it. I've done a search though, and can't seem to find it. Do you know where I can buy a copy? Oh and also thank you so much for posting this video. I really enjoyed watching it.

Lynn Chapman, I noticed you have the line art done on white paper. Once you moved onto the pink pastel paper, did you draw the same line art onto the pink paper with pencil before you started colouring in or did you go into colouring with pastels free-hand? Thanks for sharing your process with us. Your work is very expressive, fun and beautiful.

You are very talented. Im going to make a childrens book for my last report for college anyway

you are great, this is very usefull for me, i still have to properly learn how to make colour match :) keep on drawing please!

Thank you!!!

Thank you Diana :-)

I loved watching this... thank you very much for creating it. Can I please ask what is the rubber/eraser you use to pull off the color around the edges of the chair and inside? I didn't know you could rub off/back pastels. thank you very much for all your inspiration.

Is prismacolor pencil a poor medium to use for illustrations? I've just begun interested in the process of writing and illustrating my own picture book and am curious as to what mediums are best for the art end of it.

Thanks for this wonderful tutorial, Lynne! Are you starting this video with a blank piece of pastel paper, or is there a faint outline that we can't see? If there is an outline, how did you transfer it from your line drawing on the right onto the pastel paper?

very beautiful :)

the detail you put in your pastel work us amazing! I never think you could out detail in because I think it's going to smudge. I read that you do not fix your work. What do you use as an overlay to make sure nothing gets ruined? I am in my final year at

Thank you so much! I'm going back to school after 35 years, I love art and I want to get my Art Degree. Pastels I would like to learn more about. Do you have any tips on what courses I should concentrate on , If I want to be an Illustrator for children's books?

Thank you Maylen :-)

adorable I missed my chalk pastels I'm going to get them and do some cute works as you do I have a question, on blurry places like shaddos of the kid standing there how do you work your way around deleting the pinkish background ?

This is hard. Good job.

I am pretty amazed of your work! I am currently learning in the art university a book illustration. I wanted to ask you what paper are you using (the pink one) and which pastels would you recommend? some are really soft and chalky and some really oily... I am currently working on a project at the university and wanted to try with a pastel. any help appreciated! thank you

Very nice Lynne! Thanks a lot for sharing! Just a little bit of friendly critisism if I may, not for you but for the person filming: Perhaps next time you'll consider filming from the left side so we can see more clearly what this magic hand is doing!

Such a cute and adorable story and I love the illustrations. DId you write this or is it a project that someone wrote and commissioned you to do the art? I also wondered if you would work with pan pastels and do you like them if you have?

awesome!! thanks for sharing your ART!! I have a questions if you may? regarding the kind of papers and pastels you use ? thank you

Ah thanks so much, will do..! :)

Thank you)

fantastic skills and very much appreciate your channel. so you didn't draw this on in pencil first as a guide? also what make of pastel paper do you use in find it difficult to get my pastels to grib to the paper maybe I'm using cheap pastels. thanks

Hi Lynne. Your work is so amazing! I was just wondering what technique you use for outlining? I am doing pictures of birds and feel they don't really stand out from the background. Is it about shading or could an ink pen be used? They are cartoonish characters but I want it to look professional. Any tips would be much appreciated! :)

Great!...Thank you :)

Tell me please, what paper specifically are you using. It looks delicious. You are an amazing illustrator, and I'm inspired by your videos. How kind of you to share your techniques. Thank you very much.

I love pastels! I'm a blender!

Yes, they take a bit of getting used to and I found them tricky to begin with too. Part of the trick is accepting that they aren't made for accurate 'filling in' so much as blending and layering..

Thank you for all your videos Lynne . these are very helpful. I would like to know how to transfer those colored illustration in to book . By scanning does this original color remain ?

That's great to hear Spark! Even if you don't end up working as an illustrator for your living, it's still something you should get back into. It's always good for your soul to make room for creativity :-)

Lynne, I love your accent, course, if you heard mine, you'd probably say I had one too. After your work is done, do you spray it with a fixative first before you send it off? And how did you get started. Do you do your own books meaning self-publish?

Awesome! I love pastels! What paper is that? Thank you so much for sharing your work in progress.

Thanks Nicolas. I used to fix work, but then would spend hours re-touching, because of the dulling of the colours (then the re-touched bits weren't fixed!), so now I don't fix and just use an overlay and BEWARE: WILL SMUDGE!!! signs. Often I fix halfway through, to seal the layer so I can work on top. I've never self-published - the distribution/sales is a massive task and it's impossible to even begin to compete in the picture book market. On my website are films about how I got started :-)

so you don't have an outline, but did you draw the picture lightly in pencil on the pink paper first, so you could see where to put the colour? im doing an illustration course and love your illustration