Nicola Kinloch - Balancing Art and Education: The Craft of Children's Book Illustration

Nicola Kinloch is an artist and illustrator with a background in fine art photography and textile design who recently ventured into children's book illustration. Her first illustrated book, written by her mother Patricia Lang, is about bees and beekeeping, combining adventure storytelling with educational content. The book uniquely presents the world from a bee's perspective, teaching children about beekeeping while engaging their imagination. With a passion for visual storytelling, Nicola has developed her own illustration techniques and is now working on additional books for the bee series as well as her own projects.

In this episode:

• Nicola's background in fine art photography and textile design
• How the mother-daughter collaboration began during COVID
• The inspiration behind the beekeeping children's book
• Nicola's process for learning illustration and developing her style
• Techniques for creating illustrations by hand and digitally
• How to balance technical information with storytelling in children's books
• Finding the right visual style for different age groups
• The importance of pacing and page turns in visual storytelling
• Nicola's upcoming projects, including "The Adventures of Common Cutlery"
• Resources for aspiring children's book creators

Resources mentioned:

• Online courses: "The Art of Sketching" by Matthias Adolfsen: https://www.domestika.org/en/courses/1218-the-art-of-sketching-transform-your-doodles-into-art/reviews?page=313
• The Good Ship Illustration Limited: https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/
• Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI); https://www.scbwi.org/
• Children's Writers and Artists Yearbook 2025: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1399411829?&linkCode=ll1&tag=pubperf-20&linkId=400c65572fa1761b41f901ed6233057c&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl

Book Recommendations:

• "Designing Your Life: Build the Perfect Career Step by Step" by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0451494083?&linkCode=ll1&tag=pubperf-20&linkId=400c65572fa1761b41f901ed6233057c&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl

Connect with Nicola Kinloch:

• Website: https://www.boundtobee.com/
• Kindle Publishing Income: https://kindlepublishingincome.com/
• Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/nicola-kinloch

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