Locations to Illustrate for your Picture Book Portfolio Part 4: Schools

Illustration by Astound US Inc illustrator Jesus Lopez, Advocate Art illustrator Christos Skaltsas, and Illo Agency illustrator Marina Kondrakhina

Locations to Illustrate for your Picture Book Portfolio Part 4: Schools
Teacher: ITSme Society

Oh the places you’ll go, in your illustrations that is. The more travel in your work, the more exciting your portfolio will be. In this blog series we are exploring the places, near and far, that publishers are looking for when searching for illustrators. There is so much to explore in each location, we only touch the surface here. Please use these as prompts to make each illustration a unique experience.

Your artwork can take you anywhere, including keeping you here. Just because you can go anywhere, doesn’t mean there is anything wrong with where you are.There are many everyday places around us to draw inspiration from, such as schools, parks, and cities. School might not be something you want to revisit, but in an illustration you can just revisit the fun parts. Think about what you enjoyed most in school, and use that as inspiration. These locations all work well together as well. Leave school and take a stroll down the city street to the park. Cities and parks look different around the world. What do yours look like?

Schools:

We interrupt this grand world / interstellar tour with another popular location. Schools are a good setting to see characters in; this is a place many young people relate to, and very young readers need to be introduced to the hallways they will learn in. Despite school conjuring up the less-than-exciting nostalgia of watching the clock behind the teacher’s head tick by for many of us, schools never have to be boring! Classrooms do not have to be simple rows of desks; they can be hectic and decorated with displays and typography on the walls. It could be a busy sports hall, theater, or a mad science lab! Characters might sit in the canteen, digging into their packed lunches or turning their nostrils up at the latest cooked meal, perhaps they are playing hopscotch in the playground or sinking into beanbags in the library. All whilst sporting a unique backpack, glasses, and hairstyle. Riding the bus to and from school is also a great time to draw characters’ interacting, the bus can also introduce your characters to many places on school trips, including museums and galleries.