As an illustrator, I do not treat the first idea as a finished answer, but as a starting point. An image slowly comes together through sketches, experiments, compositional decisions, colours and the small details that eventually hold the scene in place.

How Does an Illustration Idea Come to Life?

The illustration process rarely begins with a complete image already visible in the mind. More often, it starts from a less certain but exciting direction: a feeling, a character, a situation or a visual mood that slowly needs to find its right form.

This is especially true in book illustration and picture book projects. In these cases, the image is not a separate decoration, but part of the story. The question is what it should reveal from the world of the text, where it should give the reader support, and where it should leave space for imagination.

An illustration idea does not become a finished image through inspiration alone. It is shaped by many small professional and sensitive creative decisions.

The first idea is not yet the final image

The first idea often only points in a direction. Sometimes a character’s facial expression appears first. At other times, it is the mood of a background, a pair of colours, a movement or the inner tension of a scene.

At this stage, the illustrator does not only ask, “what should be in the picture?” The more important question is often: “why should it be this way?” Where should the character stand? Where should they look? What should surround them? How close should the viewer feel to the scene? These decisions determine whether the image simply shows something, or begins to tell the story visually.

Sometimes the first idea gives a strong foundation right away. At other times, several attempts are needed before it becomes clear that the scene does not actually work from the angle first imagined. That is not a mistake. It is a natural part of the work.

The freedom of searching through sketches

Sketching is one of the most important stages for me. At this point, nothing is fixed yet. The lines are still searching, trying to find their place, and often a sketch that is not especially polished, but honest, shows the right direction.

A good sketch does not necessarily have to be detailed. It has to be accurate. It shows where the weight of the image is, how the scene moves, where the viewer’s eye travels, and what would only burden the composition unnecessarily.

What do I look for in the first sketches?

• The main movement of the scene: the moment that carries the story most clearly.
• The character’s place: how close or distant they should feel to the reader, and how they relate to their surroundings.
• The path of the viewer’s eye: where the eye starts first, and where it returns.
• Unnecessary elements: what may look nice, but does not help the image.

At this stage, it can also become clear that a detail I first considered important actually weakens the image. Then it has to be let go. An illustration does not become strong because every idea is included, but because the right things remain.

When details begin to hold the image together

Once the composition works, the detailing can begin. This is where the world of the image becomes more visible. Textures, shadows, folds in clothing, small surfaces in the background and the finer parts of a character’s expression begin to appear.

Details, however, should not be there for their own sake. The line of tree bark, a gravel path, light coming through a window or the shadow around a character’s eyes works well when it adds something to the image. It creates atmosphere, guides attention or makes the emotional situation of the story more precise.

In children’s book illustration, it is especially important that richness of detail does not make the image confusing. The child should have things to discover, but should not lose the main point of the scene.

Colours give the image its emotional temperature

Colouring is the point where the mood of the image really begins to be felt. The same scene can become cheerful, quiet, mysterious, tense or intimate depending on the colours used.

It is not only about whether a colour is beautiful. It also matters what that colour does to the image. A warmer background can bring the scene closer. A cooler tone can create distance or uncertainty. A stronger contrast can show what the viewer should notice first.

When colours work well, they do not sit on top of the drawing as a separate layer. They breathe with it. That is when the image becomes a coherent visual world, not just a coloured sketch.

Digital canvas or paper: the tool serves the image

An illustration can be made with traditional tools, digitally, or through a mixed process. The point is not whether the tool itself seems more “artistic”, but whether the finished image carries the mood, surface and visual order the story needs.

A digital illustration can also be layered, delicate, painterly or textured. A traditionally made image can also become overcrowded or imprecise. What matters is whether the image works: whether it is readable, emotionally accurate and suited to the world it needs to show.

When is an illustration finished?

In the final stage, the changes are often no longer large ones. They are small decisions: does the image need one more shadow, is a contour too strong, is something pulling attention away, does the image have enough space, and has the scene reached the point where it can work on its own?

There is a moment when the best thing is not to add more, but to stop. This is hard to turn into a rule, but it can be recognised during the work. The image comes together: the character is in place, the mood holds, the colours no longer compete with each other, and the scene says what it needs to say.

For me, this is one of the best parts of the illustration process. Not because everything has become perfect, but because the image begins to work as its own small world. It is no longer only an idea, a sketch or a technical task, but a scene the reader can enter.

You can find a selection of Galantusz Grafika’s previous illustration and picture book work in the portfolio.

What should you send when asking for an illustration quote?

If you are looking for an illustrator for a book, story, publication or another creative project, you do not need to prepare a complete professional brief for the first message. A few basic details, however, can help make the direction and scope of the work clearer.

• A short description of the project: what kind of material is being created, what it is about and what mood you imagine.
• The number of images needed: whether it is a single illustration, a series, interior book illustrations or artwork including a cover.
• The format: printed book, digital publication, web surface or another type of use.
• The visual direction: preferred style, reference images, colour world or directions to avoid.
• The deadline: when the finished illustration or print-preparation material would be needed.

These details are not needed for a full professional analysis. They simply help clarify what kind of illustration work may be needed.

Author: Ágnes Ujréti
illustrator and graphic designer - Galantusz Grafika, 2026