A Day in the Life of a Children’s Book Illustrator
Children’s: A Day in the Life of a Children’s Book Illustrator
Every day for me begins quietly. No alarms, no rush. Just a cup of tea beside my sketchbook and the sound of morning light slipping into the room. I like to sit for a few minutes before touching a pencil or stylus — it helps me settle into the world I’ll be creating that day. That’s the real start of my work as a children’s book illustrator.
Waking up with stories
Before I draw anything, I read the story I’m working on. Slowly. Sometimes twice.
It doesn’t matter if I’ve already read it ten times — every time something new shows up. Maybe a small word, a mood, or a moment I missed before.
I try to feel what the writer felt. If the story is about a small girl chasing fireflies, I imagine how that light would move across her face, how her smile might look under a dim sky. I want to feel it before I draw it. That’s how my day starts — not with drawing, but with feeling.
Working as a freelance children’s book illustrator, I’ve learned that every story has its own rhythm. Sometimes soft, sometimes wild. I just try to match that rhythm through my colors and shapes.
The messy table
Once I start sketching, my desk turns into a battlefield of pencils, paper scraps, and half-finished ideas. I can never keep it neat — and honestly, I don’t want to. That mess is proof that something is happening.
I start with quick sketches. Loose, rough, sometimes crooked. They help me see what the story could look like. When I find a shape that feels right — a smile, a pose, a tiny detail that catches emotion — I know the character is starting to live.
Being a professional children’s book illustrator means you learn to listen to your drawings. They tell you when something’s off, when something’s too forced. Sometimes I erase the same thing ten times until it finally feels natural.
Bringing color to feelings
After lunch, I move from sketchbook to screen. I used to work with brushes and watercolors, but over the years digital tools became part of my world. Still, I treat them like real brushes.
Color is where the story starts to breathe. I don’t follow any set rules for color. If the scene feels happy, I make it bright. If it feels quiet, I soften it down. I paint with mood more than technique.
Children don’t read colors the way adults do — they feel them. So I follow that instinct.
Sometimes it takes the whole afternoon to decide how one page should feel. But once I get it right, it feels like everything clicks into place.
People behind the pages
Late afternoon is when I check messages. Working as a freelance children’s book illustrator means talking to people in different time zones — authors, editors, sometimes parents who’ve written stories for their kids.
Every person I work with brings a different kind of energy. When they see the art and say, “Yes, this is exactly how I imagined it,” that moment makes all the long hours worth it.
When someone new asks how to hire a children’s book illustrator, I tell them to find someone who feels their story — not just someone who can draw. Because good art starts from connection, not perfection.
When the world gets quiet again
Evening is my favorite time. That’s when I go back over the day’s work. I zoom in, look for small things — a misplaced shadow, an uneven smile, a detail that might tell a bigger story.
Sometimes I add little things that no one asked for — like a butterfly, a hidden heart shape, or a small star in the corner. Kids notice those things more than anyone else. That’s what I love most about this job.
When I finish a page, I lean back, take a slow look, and smile. I know somewhere, someday, a child will see it and feel something — maybe joy, maybe curiosity, maybe comfort. And that thought is enough to close my tablet for the day.
The quiet after creation
Night is when I step away from art. I sit on the balcony, sometimes flip through older projects. Each book feels like a piece of my own story — full of experiments, mistakes, and small wins.
Being a children’s book illustrator isn’t just about skill. It’s about patience, and emotion, and that strange happiness that comes when a story starts to glow with color.
Even after years of doing this, the excitement never goes away. Every new story feels like a new adventure — one that begins with a blank page and ends with something that touches a child’s heart.
That’s why I keep doing it. That’s my reason. My art, my day, my world — it all begins and ends with a story.
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