Give your art that Whimsical feel

Ari
Sep 4
3 min read

Updated: Sep 16

Making Your Art Kid-Friendly

Simple Techniques to Give Your Art That Playful, Kid-Friendly Feel

I just finished illustrating my first ever children's book over the past seven months and I’ve learned a lot of lessons along the way. Here are some tips to hopefully help you on your way if you're planning on illustrating your own children's book or you just want more of that childlike style that feels so fun and playful.

Procreate brush stroke texture technique for children’s illustrations — I used Procreate’s shape tool, then erased parts and added squiggles for a hand-drawn feel.

1) Forget perfect lines

I knew when I first started I purposely didn’t want perfect lines such as circles, squares, or straight lines. I’ll admit larger shapes are a bit more difficult to draw completely perfectly so you can use the perfect shape tool in procreate then erase parts of it and go over it to add some squiggles to create that hand drawn feel you see in children’s books.

Illustrated flower plant for an illustrated childrens book — I added some neon yellows, greens and pinks to give the leaf a more playful feel

2) Get creative with colors

One of the biggest revelations I found was that the colors don’t even need to be perfect. I started putting neon yellows, greens and pinks on my leaves and they looked so cool. I began doing it all over my illustrations and it felt like the missing piece I needed to give that whimsical finished look. This is the kind of stuff that really puts the magic into your art so really play around with it.

Brush texture strokes on walls and steps for illustrated childrens book — I added depth to the walls and steps with varied brushwork.

3) Move your brush freely back and fourth

This one’s a bit hard to put into words, but it’s a texture trick I’m obsessed with. If you relax your brush grip and make gentle up-and-down strokes, adding light pressure back and forth, you get this beautiful, subtle texture across your art. When you go back and forth, try moving just a bit diagonally — it gives the illustration a more playful, hand-drawn feel. I use this all the time now, and it’s added the perfect depth I was missing before.

Girl looking out the winder showing a nice illustrated glow effect for an upcoming illustrated childrens book — I added a soft glow to the girl and her dog for a somber feel.

4) Always add a glow

When I look at any children's illustration art 90% of the time there's a glow on it and this is really what adds that special whimsical feel to it. I mainly used a bright yellow color but you can play around with neon greens, or bright pinks but this is something that can really help level up your illustrations.

illustrated grass texture used on procreate for an upcoming illustrated childrens book — I played around with lots of textures and patterns here

5) Add pattern details

It’s those detailed textures in the ground or the sky or planet that adds that special magic to your illustrations. I really fell in love with that pointalism look and layered it with about 2-4 different layers and colors. This adds a nice texture that really works for children's illustrations.

Final thoughts

These are just a few of my favorite tips that have really helped me level up my illustrations and was just something I learned over time after looking at thousands of illustrations and studying different techniques. I hope this helps you out and let me know if you have any favorite tips when illustrating!

Also I’m almost finished with my very first children’s book (eeek!) and I can’t wait for you to see it! If you’d love a special signed edition straight from me, you can join my email list from the link below so you’re the first to know when it’s ready.

Let's Go!