Narrative Techniques for Illustrated Stories
A course by Paula Bossio , Designer, Illustrator, Author, and Teacher
Learn the basic resources to narrate and illustrate your own stories
Illustration can be a determining tool in the narration of a story since it can reinforce it and offer specific nuances. But in addition, there are other narrative resources that the author and illustrator of children's stories Paula Bossio explains in this course, which you can apply to your own stories and exercise your creative abilities when narrating them.
Learn to be more aware of the importance of each of the elements that make up an illustrated image. Through exercises, you will see how to be more proactive and creative in illustrating your stories and you will exercise your ability to narrate visually, going beyond the creation of purely decorative illustrations.
What will you learn in this online course?
20 lessons & 29 downloads
- 100% positive reviews (1.2K)
- 23,167 students
- 20 lessons (4h 11m)
- 29 additional resources (15 files)
- Online and at your own pace
- Available on the app
- Audio: Spanish, English, French, Italian, Portuguese, Turkish
- Spanish · English · Portuguese · German · French · Italian · Polish · Dutch · Turkish
- Level: Beginner
- Unlimited access forever
What is this course's project?
Create a short and illustrated 8-page narration, inspired by a classic story but containing a narrative twist. You must include a time alteration, a sequential resource, and propose a format modification.
Projects by course students
Who is this online course for?
All those who like picture books and everyone who is passionate about telling stories through drawing and wants to experiment and be creative.
Of course, also to artists, illustrators, reading enthusiasts, teachers, writers, students, designers, animators, and visual artists.
Requirements and materials
Basic drawing skills are required. You don't need to be able to draw professionally, but you do need to be able to clearly express an idea.
You need a comfortable workspace, mixed media papers, brushes, colors, watercolors, pencils, markers, a notebook, scissors, a cutter, and a stapler.
Reviews
Paula Bossio
A course by Paula Bossio
Paula Bossio is a graphic designer, illustrator, and children's book author who is passionate about stories: seeing them, listening to them, reading them... but above all, creating them. She has won national and international awards for her illustrations, including the Nami Award (Korea), the Noma Concours (Japan), and the A la Orilla del Viento and Caniem awards (Mexico), among others.
She has worked as an author and illustrator for publishers such as Penguin Random House, PigeonHole Books, Fondo de Cultura Económica, Alfaguara, GatoMalo, Usborne Books, and more, and has also worked as an illustration teacher in the Graphic Design Faculty of Universidad Jorge Tadeo Lozano, Universidad Areandina, and Universidad Santo Tomás in Bogotá.
Content
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U1
Introduction
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Presentation
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Influences
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What will we do in the course?
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U2
First narrative resources
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The Story and its Components
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Counting through the nonlinear
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Telling the story through the object
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U3
Language of the images
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Telling stories through the visual
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Telling stories through composition
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Telling stories through sequence
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Telling stories through the functional. Part 1
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Telling stories through the functional. Part 2
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U4
Experimenting with the story
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Preparation to narrate in sequence and quick sketching techniques
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Fast colorization techniques. Part 1
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Fast colorization techniques. Part 2
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Experimenting with the plot and the relationship between characters
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Experimenting with the nonlinear and with the object
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Experimenting with plastic and compositional elements
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Experimenting with sequential and functional elements
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U5
Assembling the final model
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In search of the story and the images
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The colorization and final assembly of the model
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FP
Final project
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Narrative techniques for illustrated stories
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What to expect from a Domestika course
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Learn at your own pace
Enjoy learning from home without a set schedule and with an easy-to-follow method. You set your own pace.
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Learn from the best professionals
Learn valuable methods and techniques explained by top experts in the creative sector.
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Meet expert teachers
Each expert teaches what they do best, with clear guidelines, true passion, and professional insight in every lesson.
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Certificates
PlusIf you're a Plus member, get a custom certificate signed by your teacher for every course. Share it on your portfolio, social media, or wherever you like.
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Get front-row seats
Videos of the highest quality, so you don't miss a single detail. With unlimited access, you can watch them as many times as you need to perfect your technique.
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Share knowledge and ideas
Ask questions, request feedback, or offer solutions. Share your learning experience with other students in the community who are as passionate about creativity as you are.
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Connect with a global creative community
The community is home to millions of people from around the world who are curious and passionate about exploring and expressing their creativity.
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Watch professionally produced courses
Domestika curates its teacher roster and produces every course in-house to ensure a high-quality online learning experience.
FAQs
You’ll learn to analyze and apply artistic elements like color, lighting, composition, and sequencing to create and transform illustrated stories, developing coherent and expressive visual narratives.
This course is aimed at intermediate learners—perfect for those with basic knowledge of illustration or visual storytelling who want to deepen their skills in building and analyzing illustrated narratives.
You’ll need basic drawing supplies like pencils, paper, watercolors, markers, plus access to digital or manual tools for sketching and composing illustrated mini books.
The course includes exercises to create visual sequences, use thumbnails, and vary shot types, exploring rhythm, narrative tension, and spatial and temporal transitions in illustrated stories.
You’ll learn quick coloring techniques using watercolor and markers, color mixing for skin tones and atmospheric effects, and how paper and materials affect the final result.
Yes, the course explores devices like visual metaphor, intertextuality, hypertext visuals, and the functional integration of text and image to enrich graphic and literary storytelling.
Yes, the course prepares you to plan, illustrate, and structure picture books, applying narrative, visual, and editorial techniques for children’s and young adult literature projects.
Excelente!
Es un curso muy completo, de mis cursos favoritos. Increíble conocimiento, talento y forma de explicar de la profesora. ¡100% recomendable!
Curso nota 10, professora nota 1000! Recomendo qualquer curso da professora Paula. Pena que só tem dois aqui.
Me encanta la forma como Paula Bossio nos toma de la mano para mostrarnos la magia que se esconde en cada elemento que hace a un libro ser lo que es. Los recursos y la diversidad de ejemplos hacen de este un curso infaltable para quienes queremos entender mejor el mundo de la literatura infantil.
de lo mejor que he visto en domestika