Children’s book illustrator - what further training?

[Mozziebite]

My DN wants to be a Children’s book illustrator. She draws well, is doing arty subjects at A Level but has asked me what she should do as a degree as I work in publishing. But I have no idea! A degree in illustration?

She very specifically wants to work on Children’s stuff, and I’d say that’s her talent, she does very cute cartoons. But she can’t do more complex drawings.

Anyone have any suggestions?

She’s very bright and motivated. I know what she wants is quite a big dream job, and no idea where to direct her.

We've just watched a fab program on Quentin Blake on BBC iPlayer, he taught at RCA.

Oh that sounds great - I will find it!

She needs a degree in illustration, but……. I don’t want to rain on your parade, it’s almost impossible to get a job in it.

Ove known a lot of people do book illustration, and everyone wants to illustrate kids boooks because they are fun. But it’s years of building up a following on Instagram.

Yes I would imagine it’s one of those almost impossible dream jobs!

Almost every illustrator I know earns most of their income from graphic design. At least to start with.

yes, a degree in illustration- there's a lot more to it than being able to draw cute pictures

Suggest she looks at the Children’s book illustration degree (masters?) at Anglia Ruskin Uni (Cambridge) which, I understand, has a high success rate for graduates getting jobs.

If you work in publishing surely you could ask your art department what a good way in would be?

I’ve seen publishers like Hachette offer internships in their art department… Portfolio seems to be the main request but an illustration degree is a good idea.

It’s probably difficult to get a job as an illustrator for a publisher butnitjis very, very, easy to become a freelance book cover designer for the huge self publishing industry. Covers sell from $50 (simple stock photo edit) to $1500 (custom illustration) and everywhere in between… So she can certainly get her work on book covers if she wants.

And she should buy/borrow a copy of The Children’s Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook (published in July of each year) which would be really beneficial.

There are plenty of short courses in places like Domestika where she can learn digital illustration skills in procreate, plenty of illustration based courses and water colour illustration etc. they are often 3 courses for £26 and are quite good so could be a good idea for a gift?

I did a degree in Graphic Design and Illustration and wanted to be a book illustrator as well. The difference is I'm not very good at drawing ( don't ask how I'm in this field haha) I now work as a designer but have done illustration roles in the past.

My uni tutor was a very successful illustrator but he also worked as a tutor to have regular income.

Tell your daughter that self promotion is key and an online presence is the most important. All of my favourite illustrators are on Instagram.

a first step would be to do an art foundation course, local FE colleges do them or sometimes its offered at universities, the idea of these is that students get to try a variety of fields (eg printmaking, photography, graphic design, illustration) to help them choose what they want to specialise in at university

This is all super useful! Thank you! I will give my niece these tips!