How to draw an illustration for a fairy tale with a pencil and paints

Many parents whose children go to school wonder “How to draw an illustration for a fairy tale?”. At an art lesson in a comprehensive school or at a composition lesson in an art school, they are often asked to draw fragments of fairy tales. The hardest part is to come up with a plot. The graphic embodiment of the problems is not. The main thing is to fill your hand and arrange all the illustrations for one work in the same style.

Features illustration

The most difficult part in illustrating is to select from the work those pieces that will be depicted in the book. Artists usually draw the main parts of novels: the beginning of the work, the climax and conclusion. But, of course, one can illustrate a remembered and beloved moment.

How to draw an illustration for a fairy tale as detailed and clear as possible? Before creating a sketch, you need to read the work at least twice. The first time a person gets acquainted with the plot, and the second time, he remembers details that, when first read, are not striking.

What you need to pay attention, illustrating the work:

• Appearance of the heroes. Before portraying heroes-antagonists, you need to remember the distinguishing features of their appearance. A mole on the cheek or a scar on the forehead must be drawn, otherwise the main character will lose his personality.
• Clothing characters. Strange, but few people remember the description of clothes even of the main characters. Therefore, before you sit down at the table for drawing, you need to re-read the passages in which the description of the clothes is given.
• The interiors or exteriors complement any illustration, so the description of furniture or wood is of great importance. It is worth paying attention even to such trifles as bumps under the feet of the main characters or a shabby carpet that adorns the center of the room.
• Minor characters need less rendering, but do not forget that the friends of the main characters should be recognizable.

Graphic illustration

How to draw an illustration for a fairy tale in graphic style? There are several techniques here:

• with a pencil;
• using mascara;
• using soft material (coal, pastel, etc.)

Decide in which style the illustration will be executed. If you plan to painstakingly draw the smallest details, then take a pencil. If the drawing looks more like a sketch, soft material will do.

Graphic work is difficult to make as spectacular as color. To achieve a good result, you need to draw an illustration of the tale in stages.

1. The first step is to sketch the fragment of the fairy tale you like.
2. The second step is the layout. It is needed so that in the future all parts of the picture fit into the limited space of the canvas.
3. The next stage is the study of the details. This is a responsible mission, and if children draw an illustration, parents should control this process.
4. The final part is the application of light and shadow to shapes and objects. The main thing is not to forget that the foreground with the main characters should be darker than the background.

Illustration with paints.

How to draw a fairy tale illustration with paints? It is not difficult if you disassemble the whole process in stages. For example, we need to draw an illustration for the fairy tale “The Snow Queen”.

To do this, we divide the work into parts:

• The first thing we find is the moment that needs to be illustrated. Take the plot as an example: The Snow Queen sits on the throne, and Kai plays at her feet.
• Decide on the appearance of the characters: long or short, they will have hair, snub-nosed noses, what color eyes. It is advisable to reread the description of the characters in a fairy tale.
• Draw a sketch. Choose the poses in which the Snow Queen and Kai will sit.
• Now for the fun part: think over the clothes the protagonists are wearing.
• The last stage of the sketch is the rendering of the interior. Scroll through a fairy tale, be inspired by the atmosphere of a cold palace, find clues.
• After the sketch is done, transfer it to the cleaner. Remember that paints will be applied on top of the pencil. This is important if the illustration will be done in watercolor, so sketch the final sketch with watercolor pencils.
• The final stage is coloring.

Combined Technique

If you want to paint with several materials, you will have to combine several techniques. How to draw an illustration for the fairy tale "Ugly Duckling"?

First you need to do everything by analogy with the plan to create an illustration for the "Snow Queen". When the paint is ready, draw in ink details and shadows. Pay particular attention to the foreground. If the fairy tale is illustrated by children, it is better to leave the faces of the characters unpainted.