want to illustrate children’s books?
i’m a children’s book designer! here’s what you should include in your portfolio if you want to get commissioned to illustrate for children’s books:
children! (duh)
animals
anthropomorphic animals
trucks/vehicles
anything seasonal - particularly christmas and halloween
scenes - i always look for farm, city, construction site and ocean/nature scenes
dinosaurs
other tips:
if you have an agent, include them/your agency in your bio
if you don’t, make it very clear you’re available for work/open for freelance
commissions are different - they are for one specific piece/individual pieces done in bulk. if you’re ‘open to commissions’, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re open to illustrating a whole book. i probably won’t inquire
post art on every platform! i’m looking on your website, your instagram, maybe even your tumblr
more work isn’t necessarily better, but i need to put together an entire page of examples to present you to my team. if there isn’t a page’s worth of work, i’m afraid you don’t have enough
post the insides, not the cover - it’s cool if you already have published work, but the cover is not usually the best example of what you can do
demonstrate every aspect of your abilities - if you can draw vehicles but don’t have an example, i won’t know!
every piece/sketch helps! post it all :)
