Learn to Tell Stories Through Art
Create visuals that connect with young readers and tell stories that spark their imagination. This course covers character design, color, layout, backgrounds, and delivery to client.
Course includes Marco's custom digital brush pack and bonus interview transcripts.
The material is exceptional. Besides the fundamental, the teacher delivers so much nuances and details. As the title states, it is "beyond". Well done!!!
The Picture Book Problems That Hold Artists Back
- 01You don't know how to design consistent, expressive characters
- 02Your pages feel flat and lack storytelling flow
- 03Choosing a cohesive palette feels overwhelming
- 04You're unsure how to layout your book's scenes with purpose
- 05You're not familiar with print jargon
The Full Children's Book Creation Process
This course covers the full process from reading a manuscript to delivering final art to a client. Marco teaches character design, posing, shape, color, backgrounds, layout, and rendering. The course also includes bonus interviews with published authors and industry professionals.
A Peek Into the Course
A glance at Marco's approach in children's book illustration.
By the End of This Course,
You'll Be Able To:
Build characters with personality, consistency, and emotional appeal.
Use color to strengthen mood, age range, and narrative flow.
Lay out spreads in a way that guides the reader and tells your story visually.
What Students Are Saying
Marco Bucci is very good at explaining his thoughts and process, everything was clear. I had already illustrated my first two books before taking this class and the book I illustrated after is way better because of this lesson. I totally recommend it. Thank you Marco Bucci for taking the time to organize all these lessons and share your knowledge!!
Another great class by Marco, full of examples, insights of author's thinking about the subject of the class and some great illustrations. If you are interested in making illustrations for children's books or any book for that matter you should definitely check this one out as it is great resource for character creation and all that fun stuff. Well done Marco.
I can assure that Marco is not only a fantastic artist, but also a great teacher and has a flair for sharing his knowledge in a very interesting way. Now I feel more confident to create my own illustrations and strong enough to cope with drawing problems like perspective or selecting colors. If you hesitate to buy this course, fear no more. Here you can find golden guidelines and the rest depends on you. So, grab the course and practice, practice, practice to become better at art!
Choose Your Learning Path
Select the option that works best for you.
8.5 hours of premium lesson content.
Marco teaches each stage of the illustration pipeline with real project examples.
From manuscript interpretation to client delivery.
- Manuscript, Print Jargon, Storytelling
- Character Design and Perspectives
- Real Assignments
- Bonus Interviews
- Marco's Brush Pack
- Illustrating Children's Books (8.5 hours)
- 1-month community access (exclusive livestreams, Q&A, challenges, critiques)
- Marco's Brush Pack
- Plus this bonus:
- Free Audiobook: Creativity & the Campfire
Marco Bucci
I'm a professional concept artist and illustrator with over 15 years of experience in the entertainment industry. I've worked with major studios including Disney, Dreamworks, and various game development companies.
What I care about most now is helping artists understand the principles behind great work. Through my courses and community, I've reached over a million artists online and helped them develop their skills and grow as artists.
No matter where you are in your practice, the way I teach fundamentals will change how you see and approach your paintings.
Frequently Asked Questions
For traditional media, any brand of watercolors and gouache will work, though do not recommend student-grade paints. I use brands like Winsor&Newton, Holbein, and Daniel Smith. I also recommend using at least 140lb paper, as anything thinner will not be able to survive multiple washes.
Draw Your First Picture Book
This course takes you from a manuscript to finished spreads. Everything in between (and beyond) is taught step by step.
Reviews From Verified Students
Très bon cours
Cours très complet avec des exemples pratiques bien expliqués.
The best!
This is my second video tutorial I bought (first one is Color Survival Guide, which gives me A LOT of eureka! Moment. This one is also a delight. Opening my eye to some persepective I didn't notice. As always, Marco style of teaching is great. Things which seems complex to me are distilled in simple and insightfful manner. If you are still on the fence to get this course, don't be. It's totally worth it!
Excellent course! Not just for children's books.
A very comprehensive course! Even though the focus is on illustrating children's books, you learn gesture and rhythm, storytelling, expressions, building form and more. This course has helped every aspect of my drawing.