Creating a Children's Book

Student Worksheet 5: Storyboard and Research

Part 1: Below is a storyboard to help plan your illustrations. Write the main idea of the writing on one side, and the idea for your illustration on the other.

Part 2: Now you must choose a technique for your artwork. You may also want to choose a backup artist, in case your official artist is not at school one day.

When choosing a technique, first look at the materials that you can work with. If you cannot find something you would like to use at school or at home, you may have to choose a different technique.

Here are some possible techniques:

• Collage. Cut pictures from magazines and newspapers or use printed pictures from the computer, tissue paper, cloth, string and wool.
• Pencil and paper. Make black-and-white pencil illustrations, just the way Eric Beddows does in Zoom Upstream!
• Coloured pencils or crayons.
• Felt tips. Only if you have enough, though! They can run out before your pictures are finished.
• Paint. This can be hard when you want to paint small things.
• A combination. You could paint the background and use collage for characters and other parts of the picture. Or you could use any other combination you want!

Anything else you can think of, and have materials for.

Part 3: Even when you have finished your storyboard, you are not ready to draw yet. Just like Eric Beddows, you must research your backgrounds.

You can find information on what to include in your backgrounds in the library, in encyclopedias and information books. Find books with pictures like the ones you want to draw and use them to help you.

If you have a computer that is connected to the Internet, you may be able to find pictures and information there, too. Go to Google or Yahoo to search the Internet.

www.google.com/
www.yahoo.com/

Type in a word that describes what you are looking for, and click on search. You will have to check each site yourself. If it is not what you need, simply click the "back" arrow in the top left corner of the computer screen.

If you still cannot find information to help you draw your background, ask your teacher. Some backgrounds may have to come from your imagination!