Storytime - Awesome Art Pack - Teaching Resource Pack - 10 Tips for Beginner Illustrators

Aug 20, 2026

Upload by Himbo

Aimed at beginner illustrators, this teaching resource pack supports a complete warm-up and practice workflow, from inspiration gathering and daily sketching to building characters through shapes, proportions, and facial expression. Learners complete step-by-step activities including warm-up doodles, wacky creature creation, finishing and copying illustrated grids, and rapid 60-second observation sketches. The pack also includes colouring and drawing sheets plus an illustration competition entry form to guide submission-ready artwork.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages16

Reading Time40 min

AccessFree to download

10 Top Tips for Beginner Illustrators

Look for illustrations and build inspiration

Copy, draw daily, and develop a personal style

Character sketching, observation, and shapes

Add expression, poses, textures, pattern, and colour

Warm-up Doodles Activity

Turn nothing into something

Wacky Creature Creator

Finish the Illustration

Creature Grids and Step-by-Step Doodle Sheet

Copy the Creature Grids

Draw a Triantiwontigongolope - Step-by-Step

Sheets and Entry Form

Colouring Sheet

Drawing Sheet

Storytime Illustration Competition Entry Form

© [storytimemagazine.com 2017](storytimemagazine.com 2017) StorytimeTM awesome art pack So you want to be an illustrator? This pack will help you get started! It’s full of great warm-up exercises to inspire you to create your very own imaginary creature so you can enter our illustration competition. Our amazing judge, Luke Flowers, has even created a step-by-step guide to drawing a Triantiwontigongolope –just like the one in our latest issue. All you need to get going is to print off this pack, grab some pencils and fire up your imagination! IN THIS PACK: 10 Top Tips for Beginner Illustrators Warm-up Doodles Activity Wacky Creature Creator Finish the Illustration Grids Copy the Creature Grids Draw a Triantiwontigongolope Step-by-Step Doodle Sheet Grid Sheet Triantiwontigongolope Colouring Sheet Drawing Sheet Storytime Illustration Competition Entry Form © [storytimemagazine.com 2017](storytimemagazine.com 2017) Storytime Illustration Competition: Anniversary Issue ~~ ~~STetaochrinyg~~ ~~RtesiomurceesTM 10 TOP TIPS FOR BEGINNER ILLUSTRATORS Look for illustrations. They are everywhere! Not just in Storytime magazine, but also in picture books and chapter books. You’ll see them in advertisements, on signs and on packaging. Which ones do you like best and why? Start an inspiration scrapbook and fill it with your favourite illustrations. Copying is a great way to get started. Copy anything and everything! Flick through the pages of Storytime and copy the illustrations you like best. Use the grids in this pack to help you. Draw whenever you can and wherever you can. Draw every day! Carry a sketchpad with you and draw any animal you see. The more you draw, the better you’ll get. And the more you draw, the sooner you’ll find a style of your own, instead of copying other illustrators. When you first create a character, fill a whole page with sketches and doodles. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Experiment and have fun. Come back to it the next day and choose the sketches you like best. Work on them some more until you get it just right. Look at your pet or a picture of your favourite animal. Really look at it. Now, without peeking at it again, sketch it in 60 seconds. How many details did you manage to sketch? This exercise will help you improve your sketching and observation skills. Keep at it until you get better and more confident. © [storytimemagazine.com 2017](storytimemagazine.com 2017) Everything is made from shapes – animals too! A cat’s head is acircle with two triangles for ears. Its legs are long, thin rectangles. Its body is an oval. Draw your favourite animal or pet in basic shapes only. Try this with different animals. Draw the head first, then add the body (unless you’ve created an animal with an all-in-one head and body, like a snake) . Don’t add details like arms, legs, tails or facial features until you’ve got the head and body shapes right. An illustrated face doesn’t have to have lots of detail to be full of expression. Just two dots for eyes and two lines for eyebrows can say a lot, depending on where you put those dots and lines. Experiment in our Warm-Up Doodles Activity. Once you’ve mastered the basic body and head shape and the face, draw your animal in different positions. Observe how the animal moves, eats and sleeps. Can you capture any of those poses in 60-second sketches? Fill a sketchbook page. When you’ve got the position right, add textures, pattern (like stripy fur or scales) and colour to turn your sketch into a proper illustration. Experiment with all three of these elements until you’ve got it just right. top tip! Make cards for your friends and family with your drawings on them. This will help you to get better at drawing and more confident about showing your work to other people. You might even get your first illustration job creating a card for someone you know! © [storytimemagazine.com 2017](storytimemagazine.com 2017) Storytime Illus

FAQs

What beginner illustration activities are included in the pack?

The pack provides 10 top tips plus warm-up doodles, including a wacky creature creator and exercises for finishing and copying illustrated grids.

How does the pack help learners improve sketching and observation?

It includes a 60-second drawing exercise based on a pet or animal reference, encouraging detailed observation and repeated practice to build confidence.

What resources are provided for creating competition-ready artwork?

It includes finish-the-illustration grids, creature grids, step-by-step doodle sheets, a colouring sheet, a drawing sheet, and a competition entry form.

Aug 20, 2026

Upload by Himbo