Children's Book Illustrators
by Oliver Skehan
One could say there will always be a need for children's book illustrators. This is simply due to the amount of children in the world. All children should like books. Most children, like some adults, find reading text more taxing than looking at the pictures. This is where illustration and illustrators come in.
For some reason, pictures are more appealing to people than text. This is hard to fathom. There is so much more to learn and experience in text. But still it is pictures that get all the accolades. True. They are shiny and bright while text is black and dull. But still this is no reason for abandoning text. No reason for adults anyway. Children can be excused - simply because they are children and know no better. For hundreds of years there have been illustrations in children's books. Those who started out illustrating books did so from a base of having a basic skill or ability to draw and enhance a dull page of text. But nowadays it is different. While you can still be a very accomplished illustrator with no training more and more people are doing courses in illustration and design.