An author who is publishing a picture book will work with an artist to develop illustrations for the book. Often, authors offer suggestions about the art they would like to see on the page. They may even use the copy and paste functions of their computers to pull images from the internet as suggestions for the artist and publisher. The author of the book about five friends who can clean up a lake found this photograph online. She would like her artist to create an illustration that expresses an idea like the idea expressed in this photograph.
The author sends the photograph along with some others to her publisher. She included this note: “These children are younger than my characters, and they are on a sandy beach instead of a lakeshore, but I like the way they are working together to pick up trash.” Now the artist has a better idea of what the author has in mind. The artist can use the photograph as a guide for creating an illustration that fits his the narrative. Using the computer and the internet allows an author to create a professional looking narrative that is almost ready to be published.