The Ins and Outs of Illustration

Illustrations are pictures that are either drawn, painted or are a photograph which explains the story it is accompanying. The most common of these is the illustrations of books. An illustration can give a visual picture that shows the story and it characters. This give the child a reference to work from and their imagination does the rest. Traditionally illustrators used pen and ink, water colors and oils for their designs. Today a computer is more likely to be used with packages that allow an artist more freedom.

There is an organization called the SCBWI (Society of children’s book writers & illustrators) that was formed in 1971. The company is a form of network that exchanges ideas and information on a central hub between the writers and illustrators. Direct contact can be made with publishers who find them work. There are thousands of members world wide and it is the largest organization of its type. Its members benefit from arranged conferences that are international and regional that all of its members are welcome to attend. A bi-monthly magazine and news letter is also written and published by SCBWI, in this publication they offer grants and awards for up and coming designers and writers. The SCBWI also holds the Kite Award which is the award given for fiction and non fiction writers as well as the Sid Fleischman Humor Award. The SCBWI offers membership to anyone who has an interest in writing and illustrating and there are two types of memberships available. The full membership is for the professional artists, writers and publishers who have had their work published or commercially produced. The associate membership is open to everyone else. Also some of the illustrators and writers are only able to have an associate membership if their work has been published but is not in the children’s field. When the writer or illustrator signs their contract and can prove that the project is for the children’s field and is going to be publish and or produced then your membership will be upgraded to a full membership. Both associate members and full members pay the same yearly fee of $75 for the first year of membership and then $60 per year after.

The SCBWI offers five awards per year – The Golden Kite Award, The Sid Fleischman Humor Award, The Sue Alexander Most Promising New Work Award, The Magazine Merit Awards and the Portfolio Award. They also offer grants – The General Work In Progress Grant, The Work In Progress Grant for a Contemporary Novel for Young People, The Work In Progress Nonfiction Research Grant, The Work In Progress Grant for a Work Whose Author Has Never Had a Book Published, The Martha Weston Grant, The Don Freeman Memorial Grant In Aid, The Barbara Karlin Grant and The Kimberly Colen Memorial Grant. These grants can only be applied for once per year, per student and only one grant per year.

The internet site of the SCBWI also has a discussion board where it includes: Writer’s Corner, Illustrators Corner, Manuscript & Portfolio Exchanged and the Classifies section.