Most people see only the finished illustrations in a children's book. But each of those final images represents dozens of decisions, multiple revision rounds, and a structured production process that takes months. This behind-the-scenes guide walks through exactly what happens between "I have a manuscript" and "the book is printed" — from an illustrator's perspective.
Before any drawing happens, the illustrator reads the manuscript multiple times. The goals during this phase:
Identify the visual beats. Which moments in the text have the strongest visual potential? Which need illustration to be understood? Where are the page-turn opportunities? A 32-page picture book typically has 15–17 illustrated spreads, so the illustrator must choose which moments to show and which to skip.
Note what the text doesn't say. The best illustrations fill gaps in the text. If the text says "she walked into the room," the illustration defines the room — its size, its contents, its mood, its light. These visual decisions shape how readers experience the story.
Research the subject. Historical settings, specific animals, cultural details, real locations — all require reference gathering before drawing begins. An illustrator working on a book set in 1920s Harlem needs period-accurate clothing, architecture, and objects.
Character design is where the book's visual identity gets established. The process:
Exploration sketches. 15–30 quick variations of the main character, testing different body proportions, facial features, and personality signals. These are rough and fast — the goal is finding the right feeling, not perfecting details.
Refinement. The top 3 candidates get developed further: different poses, expressions, and clothing. The author (or art director) selects the direction.
Character sheet. The final design gets documented: front view, side view, three-quarter view, plus 6–8 expression studies. This sheet becomes the reference for every page in the book, ensuring the character looks the same from beginning to end.
For books with multiple characters, each gets a sheet. The characters are also drawn together to ensure their sizes, colors, and proportions work in relationship to each other.
The storyboard is the blueprint for the entire book. It's a series of small, rough sketches — one for each spread — showing how the text, illustrations, and white space will be arranged across all 32 pages.
Key decisions made during storyboarding:
Pacing. Which scenes get full-bleed spreads (slow, immersive moments) versus spot illustrations (faster, lighter moments)? How does the visual rhythm change across the book?
Composition variety. Are the spreads visually diverse? A book where every illustration is a medium shot of the character in the center becomes monotonous. The storyboard ensures a mix of close-ups, wide shots, different viewpoints, and varying levels of detail.
Text placement. Where will the words sit on each page? Text and illustration need to work together in the layout — not compete for space.
Once the storyboard is approved, each spread gets developed into a detailed pencil drawing at full size. These refined sketches show everything that will appear in the final art: character poses, expressions, backgrounds, props, and text areas.
This is the most important approval step. Changes at the sketch stage are easy and fast. Changes after final coloring is complete are expensive and time-consuming. Authors reviewing sketches should look for: character consistency, emotional accuracy, narrative clarity, and anything missing from the scene.
Most projects go through 1–2 rounds of sketch revisions before moving to final art.
With sketches approved, the illustrator creates the finished illustrations. This is the most time-intensive phase — each full-spread illustration can take 8–20 hours depending on the style and medium.
Traditional media: Watercolor, gouache, colored pencil, or collage, then scanned at high resolution and color-corrected digitally.
Digital: Created entirely in software (Procreate, Photoshop, Clip Studio), exported at 300 DPI in CMYK color space.
Hybrid: Pencil or ink work done traditionally, then colored and finished digitally. This is increasingly common because it combines the organic texture of traditional line work with the flexibility of digital color.
Once all illustrations are complete, they're placed into the final book layout with formatted text, and print-ready PDFs are generated for the printer.
At US Illustrations, this entire process is included in every project — from manuscript analysis through production files. Authors receive a free trial sketch to evaluate the style before committing. Flat-fee pricing from $120 per illustration covers everything.
We'll send your fully colored illustration within 24 hours!
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Authors receive polished final illustrations, but the work that produces them includes phases most clients never witness:
Reference gathering (1–3 hours per illustration). Before drawing anything, the illustrator collects visual references: photo references for poses and anatomy, environmental references for settings, color references for palette decisions, and published book references for style benchmarking. A children's book illustration of a character climbing a tree might require 15–20 reference photos of children climbing, tree bark textures, leaf canopy light patterns, and similar published illustrations for style comparison.
Failed attempts (2–5 per final illustration). Most final illustrations are preceded by abandoned versions — compositions that didn't work, expression attempts that missed the emotional target, color combinations that clashed. Professional illustrators are faster at recognizing failures and pivoting than amateurs, but the failures still happen. A 15-hour final illustration often represents 20–25 hours of total work including discarded attempts.
Consistency maintenance (30–60 minutes per illustration). After completing each illustration, the illustrator checks it against the character sheet — overlaying proportions, comparing color samples, verifying distinctive features appear correctly. This unsexy quality-control step is what separates professional 32-page books from amateur ones where the character looks different on every page.
File preparation (15–30 minutes per illustration). Converting from working file to deliverable: flattening layers, converting to CMYK, adjusting for print color shift, adding bleed areas, verifying resolution, naming files consistently. None of this is visible in the final art, but missing any step creates expensive production problems.
The revision process is where most author-illustrator relationships succeed or fail:
Sketch revisions (typically 2 rounds). At the pencil/sketch stage, major changes are cheap — repositioning characters, adjusting compositions, changing expressions. This is the time for big creative decisions. Professional projects allocate most revision time here because changes at this stage cost hours, not days.
Color/final revisions (typically 1 round). After final coloring, only minor corrections should be needed: color temperature adjustments, small detail additions, text placement refinements. Requesting fundamental redesigns at this stage wastes the illustrator's time and your money — it's equivalent to asking a builder to move a wall after the house is painted.
How to give good feedback. "I don't like it" is unusable. "The character looks angry but the text says she's curious — can the eyebrows be raised instead of furrowed?" is actionable. Identify the specific problem (what's wrong), the reason (why it matters), and leave the solution to the illustrator (how to fix it). This approach respects the illustrator's expertise while ensuring your vision is met.
Creating a children's book is a multi-phase production process, not a single creative act. Each phase builds on the last: manuscript analysis informs character design, character design informs storyboarding, storyboarding informs sketches, and sketches inform final art. Understanding this process helps authors collaborate more effectively and set realistic expectations for timeline and budget.
A professional 32-page picture book typically takes 3–6 months from manuscript analysis to final production files. This includes character design (1–2 weeks), storyboarding (1–2 weeks), refined sketches with revisions (2–4 weeks), and final art (8–16 weeks). Digital workflows tend to be faster than traditional media.
Typically 1–2 rounds at the sketch stage and 1 round at the color/final art stage. The sketch stage is where most feedback should happen — it's much easier to change a pencil drawing than a finished painting. Clear, specific feedback at each stage keeps the project on track.
You should receive high-resolution (300 DPI) print-ready files in CMYK color space, typically as TIFF or PSD. For digital distribution, you'll also get RGB versions optimized for screen. A complete delivery includes all interior spreads, the cover (front, spine, back), and the full book layout as a print-ready PDF.
Salisbury, M. (2004). Illustrating Children's Books. Barron's Educational Series.
Shulevitz, U. (1985). Writing with Pictures. Watson-Guptill Publications.
Graphic Artists Guild. (2024). Handbook: Pricing & Ethical Guidelines. 17th Edition.
