Author Needing Illustration Help

[llynn_henshaw]

Hi, I've written 11 children's books, but I don't have an illustrator for them. Also, I'm not in the financial position to hire someone to do the work. I would love to be able to purchase a software product that would allow myself to do the illustrations. However, after hours of searching on the web, I'm only confused as to what would work best for myself. I'm new at this, so I need a product that would be for beginners but would be of quality status for my books. The illustrations I'm looking for are of cartoon characters and in 3D. I'm not sure if I'm even on the right forum for something like this but I'm desparate. Bottom line, can anyone recommend a software program for me that would meet my needs in providing quality illustrations for my childrens books or any other recommendations. I can't afford to just go out and start purchasing different software programs to see if they will work. I'm only in the financial position to purchase one product to make a go of it. Or, does anyone know of an illustrator willing to do the work upfront with a contract to a percentage of the books proceeds. Thank you for your help!

Lisa

[Johnathan]

Illustrator would probably be the best though i'm not sure go to the Adobe site and download the free trial of Illustrator CS3 and see if it does what you want it to do.

[toptomato]

I, too, suggest Illustrator. Once you've downloaded it, and have had a chance to work through some of the basics, get some good training videos or books with dvd files you can practice with. There are some great online resources, such as lynda.com, which is very reasonable, and they have all levels of training.

I'd also suggest getting a tablet (Wacom is one brand) so you can draw with a pen, rather than using a mouse, which is a bit like trying to sketch with a potato in your hand.

Illustrator is a very complex program, but it's also easy to work with and get some fun results while you learn. Good luck! Welcome to the world of AI.