Children's Book Illustration with Photoshop
A course by Eric Castleman , Children's Book Illustrator
Recreate traditional painting techniques with digital tools by exploring colors and textures to make vibrant illustrations for children’s books
Recreate traditional painting techniques with digital tools by exploring colors and textures to make vibrant illustrations for children’s books
Making art for children’s books means working with both young readers, and adults in mind. Adding movements, textures, and happy accidents into your designs is an opportunity to entertain both of them. Children’s book illustrator Eric Castleman specializes in recreating traditional painting techniques with digital tools that delight viewers of all ages. He has worked for brands including Highlights magazine and had his work featured in art galleries.
In this online course, Eric teaches you digital illustration techniques in Photoshop that reintroduce the pleasant mistakes of traditional painting. Learn to tell stories through your illustrations, and create artwork filled with vibrant colors and textures. Remember the kid you were and make art with them in mind!
What will you learn in this online course?
18 lessons & 12 downloads
- 95% positive reviews (19)
- 785 students
- 18 lessons (3h 26m)
- 12 additional resources (1 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
Recommended software for this course
Adobe Photoshop
ProcreateWhat is this course's project?
Create a traditional-looking children’s illustration using Photoshop.
Who is this online course for?
This course is for anyone with an interest in learning how to illustrate for children using digital tools.
Requirements and materials
No previous experience is required.
In terms of equipment, you will need drawing materials, as well as a device with access to Photoshop.
Reviews
A course by Eric Castleman
Eric Castleman is a children’s book illustrator living in Montana who specializes in traditional painting techniques with digital tools. His interest in illustration started as a child and, having an artist for a brother and a sister interested in crafts, he was always creative growing up. He spent time drawing during school but didn’t consider art as a career until his wife, a painter, bought him a book on how to build a business from his passion.
Since then, Eric has worked for Highlights magazine, and The Monster Project, and has been featured by Kidlit411, Society of Visual Storytelling, and multiple art galleries. He works primarily in mixed media, integrating unique textures and light into his work.
Content
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U1
Introduction
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About Me
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Influences
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U2
First Steps
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Finding Inspiration and Collecting Textures
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Thumbnail Value Sketches
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Rough Line Sketches
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Character Study
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Final Line Drawing
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U3
The Composition
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Preparing Layers in Photoshop
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Adding Color
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Applying Textures
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Using Monotone Values
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U4
Final Details
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Rendering the Background
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Rendering the Midground 1
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Rendering the Midground 2
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Rendering the Midground 3
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Rendering the Foreground and Final Details 1
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Rendering the Foreground and Final Details 2
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Rendering the Foreground and Final Details 3
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FP
Final project
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Children's Book Illustration with Photoshop
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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.
Adobe Photoshop
Procreate
andrearebelo
Honestly, not great - I did not like the style of illustration so much.
tina.piper
I'm a little ambivalent about the course. I liked the very detailed step-by-step approach that helped to fully understand the process. I did gain some valuable insights. However, I think the result still has quite a digital look in that the colors aren't very varied or have a real brush look so in that respect the course didn't fully meet my expectations. I think the course is very helpful for beginners though as it gives very detailed instructions.
rp_11_
PlusEric has a great nature for teaching and his kindness and abilities shine through in this delivery of the modules. It was really inspiring to see his process.
nesta.rob
Plusmuy bueno
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vnmy2nq6h9
Eric Castleman is an excellent artist and teacher. As a beginner that is interested in dabbling with digital, I found his instruction to be very informative. Seeing his process has helped me realize that I already have the basic working knowledge of the apps he uses and that getting started will not be as daunting as I thought. Eric has opened my eyes to some new techniques that I can’t wait to try in Photoshop. I have taken the plunge to invest in a newer iPad and an Apple Pencil. Wish me luck!