Illustration Styles for Your Picture Book

illustration style

Choosing the perfect illustration style for your picture book is essential. Every story demands a different form of illustration, and the publisher must be clear about which type of illustration they need for their book.

The various styles of illustrations can be broadly categorized into two types – Traditional and modern illustrations.

The early days’ artists’ had pen, paper, and paints to make their illustrations, but now illustrators have digital tools and techniques. They have the best 2D and 3D software to create their illustrations, such as 3DMax, Photoshop, and Maya.

pencil illustration style

                                                         color illustration style

 

Various illustration styles

Woodcutting: The ancient illustration technique was popular in the Middle Ages. In this technique, the illustrations are carved on a wooden block. This technique made it possible for books that are produced in volumes to have beautiful illustrations printed from the master cutting.

wood cutting illustration

illustration style - blogmusketeer

 

Pencil style: This one is the most popular style of illustration. It is easy to create sharp and accurate lines using a pencil. The pencil also allows for creating soft shadows and transitions. Some artists also use pencil for initial sketching work of illustration, and later on, they complete their illustration with another material.

Metal etching technique: In this traditional style of illustration, a metal, which is usually zinc, copper, or steel, is used. To etch illustrations on the metal, first, the metal is covered by the waxy material, which is acid-resistant. The artist uses a pointed etching needle to scratch off the ground to create his/her images. These lines have bare metals without wax. Now the metal is dipped in acid to give acid bites to the metal where there is no wax. It creates lines sunk into the plate. The wax is then cleaned from the metal, and the plate is inked all over the metal. Next, the ink is removed from the surface, which leaves ink only in the etched lines. This metal is used to print illustrations on paper.