From Surface Pattern Design to Children’s Book Illustration: An Honest Review of 3 Top Art Courses

I recently—and by that, I mean over the last year and a half—made a big decision for my creative business: I decided to dive into illustration, rather than just creating repeating patterns for fabrics.

Why the pivot? For starters, I realized how much I love adding tiny, intricate details to my designs, and those beautiful little nuances tend to get lost when printed on fabric. Secondly, I wanted to diversify my income. Let’s be real for a second—despite what the internet tells you, the fabric designs I have out in the world are not passively generating that highly advertised six-figure income! And lastly? I just genuinely love to learn new things. (Even when adding another project to my plate isn't the most practical idea.)

As part of this three-part pivot, I decided to take several art classes to learn the ins and outs of illustrating children’s books. If you are an artist thinking about making a similar jump, this post is for you. I’m sharing exactly what I took, what I thought of the curriculum, and my honest recommendations—the good, the bad, and everything in between.

Spoiler alert: It’s mostly good because I have thoroughly enjoyed the process! Here is my deep dive into the three main programs I tackled.

1. Cursiva (Penguin Random House)

Cursiva is a fantastic online learning platform owned by Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial in Spain, offering a wide range of courses on writing, editing, and illustration. The fact that it is directly tied to a major publishing house like Penguin Random House was a huge selling point for me.

I took the Taller de Ilustración Editorial, taught by the talented Ariadna Oliver. The curriculum was incredibly eye-opening. I learned so much about the publishing industry that I simply didn’t know, especially the granular technicalities: file sizes, color formatting, and the exact specs art directors expect.

The best part of this course, however, was the feedback. You submit weekly homework, and Ariadna provides highly valuable, personalized critiques on your assignments and your portfolio. Since I didn't actually have a children's illustration portfolio yet, I submitted some standalone illustrations I had created, and her insights were gold. I walked away with a much stronger understanding of how to build dynamic layouts and craft better visual compositions.

The Disclaimer: Classes are in Spanish.

Key Takeaways:

• Best for: Learning the technical, behind-the-scenes rules of the publishing industry and building portfolio-ready pieces.

• The Highlight: Personalized, weekly feedback from an industry professional.

This is a double spread illustration I created as part of the class with Cursiva. The theme was “The Wizard of Oz” I chose to illustrate this particular scene from the book.

2. Make Art That Sells (Lila Rogers)

What can I say about Lila Rogers? I learned a lot from her. She is kind, hilarious, and I honestly got a little addicted to listening to her speak. Her general take on life and creativity is incredibly refreshing; she is just a fantastic role model to have in this industry.

I took several of her classes, both live and self-paced, including:

• Color Quest

• Bootcamp: Character Play

• My Arty Book Pitch

• MATS MBA

• Illustrating Children’s Books

Lila's courses completely transformed how I approach character interactions, color palettes, and page layouts. I especially loved her transparent discussions about what art directors are actively looking for right now. She constantly champions the importance of using references, continuously learning, and pushing yourself to get incredibly good at your craft.

The Disclaimer: If you are taking these specific courses solely to get 1-on-1 feedback on your art, this might not be the best fit. Lila gives brilliant feedback, but she selects a handful of artists to review during the live sessions. While there is a massive amount to learn from watching her critique others, it likely won't be your specific art on the screen. (She does offer other classes with personalized attention, but they are at a higher price point.) For me, I was there to learn the foundational industry skills, so it was completely worth the investment!

Key Takeaways:

• Best for: Industry trends, character development, and high-energy motivation.

• The Highlight: Lila’s infectious energy and deep knowledge of what sells right now.

Illustration that I created for Children’s Book Illustration by Lila Rogers based on a story that Zoë Tucker wrote.

3. UC San Diego Extended Studies (Children’s Book Illustration Certificate)

I decided to go all-in and pursue the full Children’s Book Illustration Certificate through UC San Diego Extended Studies. This is a longer-term commitment, requiring several specific courses, and I am still working my way through it!

I recently completed Children's Book Illustration I: Thinking in Pictures, where I actually developed a full 32-page book dummy project. It was rigorous but incredibly rewarding. I am also currently working through Figure Drawing I and Child Book Illustration II.

Interestingly, one of the biggest surprises was taking a class on Writing Children’s Books. I enrolled to better understand the illustration side, but it awakened a writer in me! I started spilling story after story, which even led me to join a writing critique group (shoutout to my fellow Read-Aloud Rebels!) to keep refining my manuscripts.

These classes meet weekly (live or online) and include graded weekly assignments. They are definitely time-consuming, but the structure and academic rigor are exactly what I needed. I am so looking forward to the final portfolio-building course!

Key Takeaways:

• Best for: Structured, academic-level learning and comprehensive skill building from writing to drawing.

• The Highlight: Pushing beyond just illustration and learning how to structure a full 32-page narrative.

Illustration created as part of 32-page book dummy project for Illustrating Children’s Book I.

Bonus Shoutout: Domestika & Procreate

While those were my three main deep dives, I have to mention a smaller class I took on Domestika by Lucy Fleming. It was a super affordable investment, but it completely cracked open my understanding of digital workflow.

Since I create most of my Moshito Designs illustrations using Procreate, seeing exactly how she uses different digital brushes to build light, texture, and magic in her illustrations was invaluable. I've been heavily investing in my own Procreate brush sets and digital mockups recently, so this is a class I know I’ll go back to again and again.

This is the illustration I created following Lucy Fleming tutorial.

What about you? Have you taken any illustration or writing courses that completely changed your workflow? Are you team traditional media or team Procreate? Let me know in the comments below—I'm always looking for my next class!

Thank you so much for reading! Please keep in mind that I am still learning. I selected the classwork that seemed semi-decent to show you today, but trust me, I created a lot of monstrosities in between. Keep learning, keep growing, and give yourself some grace while you work.

I’d love to know—what’s the biggest 'monstrosity' you’ve made recently on your way to creating something great? Let me know in the comments!

Happy illustrating,

Ana