Illustrated Animal Characters for Storybooks
A course by Kevin Waldron , Illustrator and Children’s Book Author
Joined December 2019
Explore your daydreams and tell a story that makes children smile with watercolor animal characters
Explore your daydreams and tell a story that makes children smile with watercolor animal characters
Joined December 2019
All great stories begin with great characters, especially in children’s books. To tell memorable stories that connect with kids, illustrator Kevin Waldron often looks to animals for the wide range of creative freedom they allow, developing playful protagonists with their own personalities and voice.
In this course, learn how to start illustrating animal characters for children’s books. Discover Kevin’s creative process for developing characters with unique personalities and see how to use them as the starting point for creating your own storybook. Explore the creative possibilities of animal characters in storybooks and give life to an original creative idea.
What will you learn in this online course?
22 lessons & 20 downloads
- 99% positive reviews (133)
- 3,148 students
- 22 lessons (4h 29m)
- 20 additional resources (5 files)
- Online and at your own pace
- Available on the app
- Audio: English
- English · Spanish · Portuguese · German · French · Italian · Polish · Dutch
- Level: Beginner
- Unlimited access forever
What is this course's project?
Create two characters within an illustrated scene that can be used as the foundation for a children’s storybook.
Projects by course students
Who is this online course for?
This course is for anyone interested in illustrating animal characters for children’s books or other forms of visual storytelling.
Requirements and materials
No prior knowledge of drawing or illustration is required.
To take this course, you should have a desire to create illustrated characters, as well as the following materials: a sketchbook, a pen, watercolor brush pens, watercolor paper, and some colored pencils.
Reviews
A course by Kevin Waldron
Kevin Waldron is a NYC-based illustrator and author who is dedicated to creating original illustrations for storybooks, animations, and other visual media. He grew up and studied in Dublin before moving to London to complete a Master’s degree at Kingston University.
His first book, Mr. Peek & the Misunderstanding at the Zoo, won the first ever Opera Prima award at the Bologna Book Fair and was recently made into an animated TV series. He has worked with several editorials including Hansol, Saatchi & Saatchi, Templar Publishing, and Penguin Books. His latest work includes t-shirt designs, temporary tattoos, and several storybooks, including a cookbook for dogs and a book that helps detect eye problems in young children.
Content
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U1
Introduction
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About Me
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Influences
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What Will We Do in This Course?
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U2
About Characters and Stories
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Materials
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My Children's Stories and the Characters I Designed 1
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My Children's Stories and the Characters I Designed 2
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Creating Characters
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Documentation and References
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U3
Character Development
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Character Development: Sketches 1
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Character Development: Sketches 2
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Character Design: Adding Color 1
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Character Design: Adding Color 2
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Character Interaction 1
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Character Interaction 2
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U4
Scene Development
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Sketching the Elements in the Scene
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Composition of the Scene 1
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Composition of the Scene 2
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Completing the Final Scene 1
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Completing the Final Scene 2
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Completing the Final Scene 3
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Completing the Final Scene 4
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Final Thoughts
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FP
Final project
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Illustrated Animal Characters for Storybooks
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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
Domestika's courses are online classes that provide you with the tools and skills you need to complete a specific project. Every step of the project combines video lessons with complementary instructional material, so you can learn by doing. Domestika's courses also allow you to share your own projects with the teacher and with other students, creating a dynamic course community.
All courses are 100% online, so once they're published, courses start and finish whenever you want. You set the pace of the class. You can go back to review what interests you most and skip what you already know, ask questions, answer questions, share your projects, and more.
The courses are divided into different units. Each one includes lessons, informational text, tasks, and practice exercises to help you carry out your project step by step, with additional complementary resources and downloads. You'll also have access to an exclusive forum where you can interact with the teacher and with other students, as well as share your work and your course project, creating a community around the course.
You can redeem the course you received by accessing the redeeming page and entering your gift code.
tcicordero
I enjoyed this course very much as I felt like I had a finished project at the end. I worked with more thought, color and patterns than I ever had. I appreciate the step by step modeling and tips. I would love to take more courses with this instructor.
margie
Excelente para incluir los animales en los cuentos infantiles.
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carolinemcpherson
An informative and useful course.
natalia
PlusEncantada con el curso ! Muy recomendable para creación de personajes y escenas de libros infantiles.
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rupi.jagdev.gill
Really enjoyed this course, beautiful and entertaining to watch. Lots of useful tips to get started creating your own original work and building a style. Thank you.