Custom Illustrations
Custom Children's Book Illustrations
In a picture book, the illustrations tell half the story. We design your characters, plan every spread with your text, and paint artwork that a child will want to look at again and again, along with a cover in the same style.
- Illustrated in-house, never subcontracted
- Character designs approved before any spread
- Storyboard of the whole book before final art
- Revisions included until the brief is met
The problem
Picture books are designed, not decorated
A common first plan is to write the story, then commission one picture per page to show what the text says. That produces a book where words and pictures repeat each other, and a reader turning pages with a child has nothing new to discover in the art.
Strong picture books split the work. The text says what cannot be drawn, such as what a character is thinking or a joke in the narration, and the pictures show what the text leaves out: the expression on a face, the cat sneaking off in the background, the mess that grows from spread to spread. Planning that balance is the illustrator's job as much as the author's.
So we start with the manuscript and a storyboard of the whole book, not with a single finished picture.
What we create
What goes into custom picture book illustration
Character design
Turnaround sheets showing your main characters from several angles with a range of expressions, so they look like themselves on every page.
Concept art
Early sketches of key settings and the overall look, so you can approve the world of the book before it is drawn in full.
Storyboard
Small sketches of every page and spread with your text placed, showing pacing, page turns and where words will sit over the art.
Scene artwork
Full-colour spreads and single pages, with space planned for the text so nothing important sits under the words or in the gutter.
Cover art
A cover illustration in the same style as the interior, composed for the title and readable as a thumbnail.
Digital and print-ready files
High-resolution artwork with bleed for print, and files suited to a fixed-layout ebook, where text and images stay in place.
Not sure which option fits?
Send us the brief. You will get a scope, a timeline and a fixed price within 24 hours — no obligation.
Book structure
How many illustrations a picture book needs
Traditionally printed picture books are most often 32 pages, a length that comes from how printing sheets fold into sections. After the title page, copyright page and dedication, that usually leaves somewhere around 24 to 28 pages for the story, laid out as a mix of double-page spreads and single pages. Shorter and longer books exist, and print-on-demand does not require 32 pages, but most picture books are planned around that shape.
That is why we quote from your manuscript and a page plan rather than a flat number of pictures. A book with fourteen full spreads is a different job from one with single-page images and spot art on every left-hand page.
How it works
From manuscript to finished art
1. Manuscript and page plan
We read your text, suggest where the page turns fall and agree a page plan. If the text needs trimming to let the pictures work, we will suggest it.
2. Characters and style
Character sheets and a style sample. Nothing else is drawn until you are happy with how your characters look.
3. Storyboard and sketches
The whole book in rough form, then tighter sketches of each spread. This is where composition changes belong.
4. Colour and delivery
Final colour artwork, the cover, and files for print and ebook. Each book is quoted with its own timeline, set by the page plan.
- Choosing a trim size after the art is finished, which can mean cropping or redrawing
- Putting faces or key details in the gutter, where they disappear into the binding
- Leaving no calm space for text, so words fight with busy backgrounds
- Characters that change shape, colour or clothing from page to page
- Illustrating every line of text literally instead of adding something new
- Planning a reflowable ebook for a picture book instead of a fixed layout
Pricing
What custom children's book illustration costs
Picture book illustration is quoted per project from the page plan: the number of spreads and single pages, how detailed the scenes are, the cover, and any extras such as endpapers or character art for marketing. You get a fixed price before character design starts. Usage terms for the artwork are agreed in writing with the quote.
If you also want help with the story itself, or a book written around a particular child, see our personalised children's books service.
Free proposal
Tell us the goal. We’ll send the plan.
Share your requirements and a strategist gets back to you within 24 hours with scope, timeline and a fixed price. No obligation, no sales pressure.
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Response within 24 hours
Usually much sooner during business hours.
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Talk to a strategist
Not a call centre — the person who scopes your work.
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Fixed pricing upfront
You approve the number before anything starts.
Prefer to talk?
[email protected]Questions
Questions about custom children's book illustrations
Still unsure about something? Talk to a specialist — no script, no sales pitch.
It is quoted per book, based on the page plan: how many spreads and single pages need art, how detailed the scenes are, and the cover. A 32-page picture book with full spreads throughout costs more than one with simpler spot illustrations. You receive a fixed quote before any drawing starts.
Most picture books are planned around 32 pages, with roughly 24 to 28 pages for the story after the front matter. That might be around a dozen or more double-page spreads, or a mix of spreads and single pages. We agree the exact plan from your manuscript.
Yes. Character design comes first, with sheets showing each main character from different angles and with different expressions. Nothing else is drawn until you approve them, because every spread depends on getting the characters right.
Usually yes. Fixed layout keeps the text and pictures exactly where they were designed to sit, which matters when words are placed over artwork. Reflowable ebooks suit text-led books. We supply artwork that works for a fixed-layout edition.
Yes, the text should be final or very close. The storyboard depends on where every sentence falls, and rewriting after art is finished can mean redrawing spreads. We are happy to give feedback on page turns and length before illustration begins.
Usage terms are agreed in writing before work starts, covering the book, its future editions and marketing. If you plan merchandise, plush toys or animation, tell us at the quote stage so the agreement covers it.
Works well with
Pair it with the rest of the stack
Personalized Children's Books
A story written and illustrated for one child.
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Maps, diagrams and interior art for other books.
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Picture book layout, print files and fixed-layout ebook.
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Printing options for illustrated books.
Learn moreReady when you are
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