Fantastical Character Illustration for Children’s Books

A course by Natalia Colombo , Illustrator and Graphic Designer

Illustrator and Graphic Designer. Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Joined June 2021

Free your imagination and learn to create unique characters that bring illustrated stories to life using experimental techniques

98% positive reviews (57)
1,652 students
Audio: Spanish
Spanish · English · Portuguese · German · French · Italian · Polish · Dutch

Free your imagination and learn to create unique characters that bring illustrated stories to life using experimental techniques

Discover new sources of inspiration to create worlds full of wonder and fantasy. In this online course, illustrator and graphic designer Natalia Colombo shows you how to spark children's imagination with picturebooks.

With more than 60 books published in countries across the world including France, China, the United States, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina, she teaches you experimental illustration techniques for creating fantastical characters.

Read more ↓

What will you learn in this online course?

15 lessons & 34 downloads

Materials
6 minutes, 38 seconds
Experiment to unlock
7 minutes, 13 seconds
Ink stains
14 minutes, 41 seconds
Geometric forms
12 minutes, 6 seconds
Draw erasing
17 minutes, 6 seconds
Character casting
13 minutes, 20 seconds
  • 98% positive reviews (57)
  • 1,652 students
  • 15 lessons (2h 40m)
  • 34 additional resources (15 files)
  • Online and at your own pace
  • Available on the app
  • Audio: Spanish
  • Spanish · English · Portuguese · German · French · Italian · Polish · Dutch
  • Level: Beginner
  • Unlimited access forever

What is this course's project?

Create unique characters to be the stars of a double-page spread in your own picturebook.

Projects by course students

Who is this online course for?

Illustrators, designers, and anyone who wants to explore and experiment with different ways to create new characters with their own personality.

Requirements and materials

Basic knowledge of Adobe Photoshop is needed to follow this course.

As for materials, you need paper, colored pencils, markers, an eraser, graphite and black pencils, paintbrushes and ink, a palette, water, a scanner or smartphone to digitize your work and a computer with Adobe Photoshop.


Reviews

1,652 Students
57 Reviews
98% Positive ratings

Natalia Colombo

A course by Natalia Colombo

Teacher Plus
Illustrator and Graphic Designer

Natalia Colombo is an illustrator and a graphic designer with a degree from the University of Buenos Aires. She's worked in advertising agencies and her own graphic design studio. After gaining experience illustrating textbooks, she published her first picturebook. She now has more than 60 books published, and with each new book, a new challenge.

Throughout her career, she's had the opportunity to collaborate with publishers in France, China, Italy, Spain, the United States, Canada, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, Mexico, Argentina, and more. She has also received multiple awards for her work, including the International Compostela Prize for Picture Books and the Iberoamérica Ilustra award. In addition to illustrating books, she's collaborated on animation projects for two Argentine TV channels: Encuentro and Pakapaka.


Content

  • U1

    Introduction

    • About Me
    • Influences
  • U2

    Unlock

    • Materials
    • Experiment to unlock
    • Ink stains
    • Geometric forms
    • Draw erasing
  • U3

    Casting of characters, script and scenery

    • Character casting
    • Where do the characters live? 1
    • Where do the characters live? 2
    • Miniscript
  • U4

    Mounting

    • Retouch
    • Composition
    • Backgrounds and textures
    • How and where to present your works?
  • FP

    Final project

    • Fantastical Character Illustration for Children’s Books

What to expect from a Domestika course

  • 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.

  • Learn from the best professionals

    Learn valuable methods and techniques explained by top experts in the creative sector.

  • Meet expert teachers

    Each expert teaches what they do best, with clear guidelines, true passion, and professional insight in every lesson.

  • Certificates
    Plus

    If 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

If you're a Plus member, when you complete a course you've purchased, you'll instantly get your personalized certificate. You can see all your certificates in the Certificates section of your profile. You can download your certificates as PDFs and share the link online. Learn more about certificates.
Fantastical Character Illustration for Children’s Books. Illustration course by Natalia Colombo

Fantastical Character Illustration for Children’s Books

A course by Natalia Colombo
Illustrator and Graphic Designer. Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Joined June 2021
  • 98% positive reviews (57)
  • 1,652 students