Bring book characters to life

THIS year’s Bendigo Writers Festival will feature several workshops by leading locals in the publishing industry, including illustrator and visual artist Liz Duthie.

Duthie is an internationally published children’s book illustrator whose first picture book, Wombat by Christopher Cheng (2021), received a Royal Zoological Society of NSW Whitley Award Commendation.

Her workshop, Creating Vivid Children’s Book Characters, will cover how to create unique characters, how text is used to design one, and what art directors are looking for.

Duthie said the most important thing in creating a unique character is to literally draw from real life.

“Just picking up little details that are real rather than relying on what might be in your head,” she said.

“Also looking at the way that the body moves and studying expressions on people’s faces and what happens when they have particular emotions.

“Often what I do is if I’m imagining how they might be acting in a certain situation, then I might look at my own face… What are my eyebrows doing? What’s my mouth doing?”

According to Duthie, the workshop is designed for people wanting to develop their folios or for those “just up for a bit of fun.”

“It’s aimed at adults rather than children, aspiring illustrators or it can be for more experienced (ones) if they want to hear from a different point of view, or just people who like to draw.”

Creating Vivid Children’s Book Characters takes place on Sunday 18 August from 1.15pm to 2.45pm at the Bendigo Art Gallery. Tickets via GoTix.