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Book illustration: first spread
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Book illustration: first spread
From text to finished illustration — create characters, a storyboard and a complete book project for your portfolio.
Created byAzat Nurgaleev
Last updated 6/2026
English
What you'll learn
- Understand the structure of a book: types of illustrations, the spread as a unit of storytelling, and the placement of text on the page.
- Analyze a text and divide it into scenes — identify the introduction, setup, climax, resolution and finale.
- Create characters through silhouette, proportions and expressions — convey personality through shape.
- Build a visual narrative: alternate shots, rhythms and scenes so the story reads naturally.
- Work with storyboarding — draw 6 scenes with considered composition and alternating angles.
- Select a tonal and color solution for the illustration.
- Develop a final illustration: composition, environment, volume, detailing and characters.
- Assemble a complete book project for your portfolio.
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Course content
4 sections • 7 lectures • 7h 17m total length
Requirements
- Basic drawing skills — the ability to work with brushes and layers in any graphics program.
- A graphic tablet or iPad with any stylus.
- Any program with brushes and layers: Procreate, Photoshop, Krita or similar.
- A device with internet access to watch the lessons.
- No experience in book illustration is required — all you need is a willingness to learn and practice.
Description
Want to create book illustrations but don't know where to start? Not sure how to turn text into an image, build scenes and make the story read naturally? This course gives you exactly what's missing — the ability to think like an illustrator.
We will take Little Red Riding Hood — a familiar story that lets you focus on visual decisions rather than coming up with a plot. Three modules. A concrete result. No fluff.
In the first module you will break down the structure of a book and understand how text becomes a spread. You will create two characters — Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf — and learn to convey personality through silhouette, proportions and expressions. In the second module you will build the visual sequence of the story, draw a storyboard of 6 scenes with alternating shots and rhythms, and select a tonal and color solution. In the third module you will bring the illustration to its final result: composition, environment, volume, detailing — and assemble everything into a complete project.
By the end of the course you will have a finished piece: characters, a storyboard of 6 scenes and a final illustration — a complete book project ready to add to your portfolio.
Who this course is for:
- Illustrators who want to try their hand at book illustration and understand the specifics of working with text.
- Those who draw characters and scenes but don't know how to build a visual narrative.
- Beginner illustrators who need a complete portfolio project — with characters, a storyboard and a final illustration.
- Anyone who wants to understand how a book works from the inside — from structure to the placement of text and images.