Creating appealing, engaging and authentic characters is essential to making successful picture books. In this one-day masterclass with the award-winning Dapo Adeola (Look Up!) and acclaimed illustrator Chanté Timothy, you’ll explore character case studies, and use practical exercises and group sharing to transform your concepts into believable characters through movement, gesture and interaction, using story to bring them to life.

Post masterclass, you’ll also have an opportunity to develop and submit your character studies for written critical feedback. All you’ll need to bring is a character concept (detailed guidance will be provided by the artists when you sign up).

This masterclass will be delivered in-person with a limited number of attendees able to join online.

With:

• Dapo Adeola is an award-winning children’s book illustrator and character designer who creates characters and images that challenge expectations around race and gender in a fun and upbeat way. He is the co-creator and illustrator of the bestselling picture book Look Up!, winner of the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize and the Number 1 debut picture book of 2019. Dapo also runs illustration and character design workshops in and out of schools, to help highlight the importance of representation in popular media and the possibilities of a career in illustration to children from diverse ethnicities.

• Chanté Timothy is a children’s book illustrator whose work explores movement, expression, and storytelling through her characters. A Pathways alumni who is published in four amazing titles, Hey You! by Dapo Adeola, My Big Mouth by Steven Camden, Happy Here introduced by Sharna Jackson alongside 10 Black British authors and 10 illustrators, and A Black Woman Did That by Malaika Adero. Chanté’s work consists of vibrant imagery focused on different themes of diversity.

Who: This event is for 18+ only.

When: Saturday 21st May 2022, from 9am - 5pm BST

Where: TBC

• £70 [early bird, if booked by Sunday 3rd April 2022]
• £90 [after Monday 4th April 2022]

To find out more about our other Pathways Plus courses, visit our Pathways website.

Pathways Plus is a series of Masterclasses and Short Courses for all aspiring illustrators, delivered by award-winning illustrators and highly-experienced children's book publishers. The courses provide an amazing opportunity to learn how to illustrate children's books from the best in the industry as well as giving participants a real insight into the world of children's publishing.

Pathways Plus courses can be taken as one-offs or as a package and have been developed by the same team who created Pathways Into Children's Publishing, a unique, highly-acclaimed two-year professional training programme for aspiring and emerging illustrators.

All Pathways Plus courses involve:

• professional advice
• shared insights and experiences
• practical tasks
• creative guidance
• resource-sharing
• interaction with tutors and participants
• critical feedback