North Texas Virtual Fall Workshop
Oct 18, 2025
Online event
Developing Characters In children’s books, characters are everything—and making them unforgettable is key. In this hands-on workshop, you’ll explore the essential elements of character creation. Learn how size, silhouette, and details combine to shape a character’s unique personality and appeal. To spark your creativity, a visual prompt will be sent out in advance. Using this as inspiration, participants can develop a character - through words, illustrations, or both. Whether you’re a writer, illustrator, or somewhere in between, this workshop will give you the tools to bring your characters to life.
Biography: Julie Downing
Julie Downing has written and illustrated over 45 picture books for children, including The Firekeeper's Son, No Hugs Till Saturday, Lotus and Feather, and First Mothers. She is a recipient of several awards, including a Parents' Choice Award and the New York Public Library Best Books Award. Alongside her professional work, Julie teaches Children’s Book Illustration at the Academy of Art University, San Francisco.
For more information about her work, please visit her website: www.juliedowning.com
Workshop Date
Saturday, October 18, 2025
Time & Timezone
2:00 pm - 3:30 pm CST (Central Standard Time) Time Converter and World Clock
Workshop Schedule
- Presentation: The session will begin with presentations on picture book characters, core concepts, and the creation of characters for storytelling.
- Activity: Character sketching activities (traditional pencil/paper or digital) to apply the learning. An option to post the sketches online and receive critiques in real-time will be available to the first 20 attendees who sign up!
- Q&A: A live Q&A over Zoom.
Pre-event
- Zoom: This is a virtual workshop. Attendees will require the Zoom app or a web browser, a device (laptop/desktop/smartphone/tablet) with an Internet connection. The meeting link will be available on your Member Home > My Events.
- Sign up: Zoom.com
- Padlet: Attendees (limited to 20) will share workshop sketches on Padlet, a free online drag-and-drop platform that will allow real-time collaboration and feedback. Padlet is easy, user-friendly, and does not require learning technical skills.
- Sign up: Padlet.com
Registration Deadline
Registration will close on October 15, 11:59 pm.
Cancellation Deadline
Cancellations will be accepted with full refund until October 15, 11:59 pm.
Capacity
There is no limit on registration.*
*IMPORTANT: Due to time constraints, posting sketches on Padlet and receiving individual critiques by Julie will be available to the first 20 attendees who register.
Once the 20-person capacity is reached, attendees will be on a waitlist and notified if spots become available upon cancellations.
Except the Padlet posting limit, ALL attendees will be able to follow the workshop: presentations, activity instructions and critique session, and Q&A.
Questions
Email: [email protected]
Please allow a 24-hour response time.