Angela's session provided a great set of tips tailored to upping your skills as a nonfiction illustrator, as well as smart craft tips that enhance any kind of illustration work.
She briefly described Melissa Stewart's five types of nonfiction with example titles for each noting the wide age range nonfiction books for kids covers and how illustrators can find work illustrating for any category. If not a whole book, a lot of nonfiction titles still do work-for-hire for illustrated covers, spot illustrations or diagrams. Separate from trade published nonfiction books, educational publishers also hire freelance illustrators and Angela sees that work as an entry point into the publishing world for many artists.
Angela covers best practices when researching a person or topic: Tips on working with primary sources, how to ethically use photo references, and the need for checking and securing permissions. Angela notes the art spread shown from her example titles may not be hyper-realistic looking yet are still accurate and authentic to their subjects.
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| Interior spread from Angela Quezada Padron's As the Seas Rise: Nicole Hernández Hammer and the Fight for Climate Justice |
She shares examples of illustrated spreads that succeed in telling a true story in unique or out-of-the-box ways with relevant stylization or artistic interpretation that finds ways to connect back to the subject matter whether personally or culturally.
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| Illustrated spread by Martina Peluso from Tango Man: The Musical Life of Astor Piazzolla (written by Erin Fennell, out Fall 2027) |
Check out the rest of Angela's illustrating tips by viewing the session in full via the instant replays and follow along with the rest of the conference. You can still register at https://www.scbwi.org/events/virtual-summer-conference-2026. Session replays will be available until September 13th, 2026.
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