Deep Sea Explorers Club Children’s Book Illustration

As part of the Let’s Make Picture Books group, I created this children’s book illustration piece for the Deep Sea Explorers club as they set out to explore the wreckage of the Titanic. The idea was to make creatures of the deep sea seem lovable and I wanted the scene to feel fun and colorful. I added the snack table to reinforce they regularly meet to explore different parts of the ocean.

Study & Exploration

Inhabitants of the deep ocean are, honestly, pretty terrifying! It was a challenge to present them in a fun and approachable way for a children’s book illustration for picture books. I spent nearly a week researching all the different types of life that live in the dark depths of the sea, watching videos, reading about and sketching them.

Sketches

Working through several rough sketch iterations helped to evolve the overall illustration. As they progressed, the idea of the snack table took place and the main, human character took on more detail and personality.

I then moved on to some color roughs to quickly explore the palette that work the best and not be too dark.

Color Roughs

Final Full Page Artwork and Details