by Daniela Frongia
First, I ask the publisher or author to send me the story and character descriptions, in order to have an idea how each illustration or book cover could be. If the author or publisher already has an idea about how each character should look, I start the character-design process, a sketch that contains the personality the book will have. I think this is the most important phase of the whole project.
After this phase, when all the main characters are ready and confirmed, I proceed with the sketches. There is a real exchange of ideas for each sketch, to make sure I am drawing what the author or publisher wants, always giving my ideas, suggestions and vision.
After this step is the fun part for me: the coloration! I love this phase because children’s books need to be colorful and vibrant to capture the child’s attention. It is a long process. Just one page in the coloration phase can take more than 10 hours, but I have to say that it is very satisfying. At the end, it’s like doing meditation during work.
In this phase I plan the edges and margins for the printing process.
I’ve worked as a children’s-book illustrator for six years, with a variety of publishers and authors all around the world.
At the moment I’m working on ten different children’s books. Each book has something special, like magic I can give children something to believe in or fight for, from bullying, to a trip around the world, to daily life stories, or funny stories with talking dogs. Every author can be part of the children’s world.
Daniela Frongia is a children’s-book digital illustrator and book-cover designer in London. To see more of Daniela’s work, check out her website and Facebook page.