If you are an artist, writer and/or working with unreached kids and would like to learn how to tell stories through visual arts, our team is in the process of developing online training just for you. Or maybe there are artists in your community that God can use to bring your stories to life through art. We will guide you and/or your artistic team-members step by step on how to produce illustrated children’s books and other visual aids that can help your endeavours to reach the children in your community.
What will you learn?
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Your identity and purpose as artists from God’s Kingdom
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How to write captivating Scripture-based stories that are culturally relevant.
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How to illustrate: storyboarding, creating characters, background, etc.
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How to get it out there: book formatting, cover design, publishing (print/ebooks/book apps), etc.
In addition to course materials, as a student you will receive personal time with instructors, reviewing projects, giving feedback, and answering questions. Live meetings will be scheduled at a time to best accommodate the international students enrolled in the course.
How Long is the Course?
It’s an 8-week course. The courses will be at your own pace on your own time as the teachings are through video content which you access online. Along with the videos are activities for self-reflection, creative response, and sharing with others.
When is the next one?
The next one starts September the 4th, 2025.
How much is it?
The cost for this course is $200 (USD).
That said, we offer scholarships for students from World B and C Countries. You can submit this request in your registration. We want you to be able to take this class and to be fully invested in it.
What to expect?
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Pre-recorded Training videos which you can watch at whatever times fit your schedule.
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Live online group sessions where you get to: ask questions of your teachers, receive further instruction/critique, and share your own ideas with your fellow students.
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Opportunities for you to instill the teaching deeper into your heart and mind through creative response activities.
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Assignments in which you will practice the teaching methods and techniques in order to grow and enhance your creative gifts.
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You will be automatically join an online community of Kingdom artists who love Jesus and want to share him with the world.
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Opportunities, after the course is finished, for further mentorship as you work at creating your own Children’s Books for Missions
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An opportunity of having your finished book/eBook to be shared/distributed among the unreached children through our App.
Children’s Book Writing
Here, we’ll be covering the biblical foundations of storytelling, as well as the art of storytelling, all within the context of creating content for children.
Understanding Children’s Books
It’s time to get stuck in! Here we’ll be covering the anatomy of children’s books, as well as some foundational aspects of the whole process including culture and contextualization
Design and Illustration Basics
Character design, colour theory, developing storyboards… there’s a lot to get through! Let’s start with some basics first.
Layout and Background Design
We’ll need to set our characters within an environment. Here, we’ll be coving basic background design, perspective drawing, as well as setting the tone.
Character Design
Characters are how children interact and identify with the story. We need to take our time here, and be sure to get it just right!
and so much more…
During the course, you’re also going to be covering anatomy, gesture drawing, stylization, book design, as well as creating an audio/video version of your book. There’s a lot in here, and we can’t wait to go through the journey with you!
Meet the Instructors
Avril van der Merwe is the author of How Cheetah Got His Tears (Puffin Books, 2017), Once Upon a Rhinoceros (Puffin Books, 2018), and I Don’t Want to be a Hyena (Puffin Books, 2019), Don’t Be Shy, Bushbaby (Puffin Books, 2021), as well as several prize-winning children’s stories set in Africa. She developed a love of illustrated children’s fiction during a decade working as a Montessori pre-primary teacher in Cape Town, and high school English teacher in Johannesburg. Avril grew up in South Africa, but now lives in Seattle, USA, where she works as an inspirational writer and speaker, while continuing to write children’s stories and adult fiction. She also holds a PhD in Biblical Studies. An ordained Pastor through the Fellowship of Christian Assemblies.
Myra is the founder and team leader of Create Seeds. She graduated with a BD in graphic design with honours from the Swinburne National School of Design, Melbourne. She quickly got a job offer at a major children’s book publisher, Hinkler Books in Melbourne, Australia. During that time she had illustrated 4 educational books that were published and distributed nationally in Australia.
In the last 3 years, she had illustrated two other Children’s Story Books, ‘Stella the Rosella’ and ‘The Great Victor’. Both books have been published. ‘The Great Victor’ has won a gold medal award from the ‘Readers’ Favorite’, an international book award contest.
Illustrator, designer, storyteller, husband, and father. Graham Lewis Fleming is a creative catalyst, varied in his approach and pursuits. He leads the School of Illustration and practicums at U of N. He leads workshops on digital art, visual storytelling, and publishing children’s books. He has guided children as young as five years old in making their own books. He continues to further his own education with online courses. Graham makes his home in Tokyo, Japan.
Tod Polson received both his BFA and MFA from The California Institute of the Arts (Cal/Arts) under scholarship from the Walt Disney Co. His student film, Al Tudi Tuhak, won many awards including the Student Oscar. Between degrees, Tod apprenticed under the Oscar winning team of Chuck Jones, and Maurice Noble. Tod has worked extensively as a director, designer, and teacher, helping develop a variety of projects all over the world. Some of these projects include the Emmy award-winning El Tigre for Nickelodeon, the Oscar-nominated feature The Secret of Kells, and the Golden Globe-nominated, The Book Of Life. His animation design book, The Noble Approach, Maurice Noble and the Zen of Animation was published by Chronicle Books LLC. Currently, Tod is developing projects big and small from Thailand.
Rick grew up on a pig farm, in Canada, with a love for animals and drawing, which he began as soon as he could hold a pencil. After achieving a Bachelor of Fine Arts at Calvin University, he worked as a freelance artist while also training bird of prey in various wildlife parks. However, after feeling a tug on his heart to “teach kids about life through art” he pursued a degree in art education at the University of British Columbia. His career as an art teacher opened up a variety of opportunities to teach in both Canada and the USA, as well as on the mission field in Papua New Guinea, Tanzania, and Cambodia, all with his wife, Becky, and their 4 sons. He now uses his gifts for creative teaching and art to reach people with “the news of the FULLEST life.” This journey has led him and his family to YWAM where he now serves with Create Seeds as an illustrator and teacher.
Mr B, is the founder of an animation school based in South Asia. He has taught in YWAM schools in the past.
Mr B started working with small productions studios and mostly worked as a freelance artist. He also worked on the pre-production of the movie Shark Tale when he was with DreamWorks Animation. Eventually, Mr B moved to South Asia to start up his own studio and founded a School of Animation and where he could train many local students to expand their portfolios and compete at a global level.
Yuko is an illustrator and author who lives and works in the Big Island of Hawai’i. She has written and/or illustrated more than thirty five children books and many children activity books, mostly with Hawaiian themes. Her illustrated picture book: Tales of Tutu Nene was awarded the “Best Illustrator” category Bronze Medal in 2012 Moonbeam Book Award, nonfiction book: Winter is for Whales won the 2008 IPPY Book Award in Children’s Book category, and Over on the Island received the 2008 Moonbeam Children’s Book Award.
Besides writing and illustrating children’s books, Yuko enjoys teaching art at various settings, from kindergarten to university level. Yuko graduated with a MA in Illustration from Savannah College of Arts and Design (SCAD), and a BA in Art from the University of Washington. Yuko is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). Yuko has taught “Children’s Book Illustration” at the University of the Nations (YWAM),
Nathan was a former staff of Create International. He has illustrated contextualised artwork for different unreached people groups including the Bengalis and Iranians.
After his time with Create International, Nathan was pursuing a career in the animation industry. He graduated from Max the Mutt College of Animation, Art and Design.
Nathan has over 6 years experience working on animated content for television. He has worked on series such as Final Space and Bravest Warriors in the animation department and also has experience working as a storyboard artist. He is attracted to fun and challenging new projects and always on the lookout to collaborate with others that want to produce quality content. Presently he’s storyboarding for atomic cartoons for various series for television and streaming services.
