This is hard to demonstrate, but please watch this very short video from Ira Glass (it’s about 2 minutes long) which introduces and explains this concept really well.
Taste develops over time and with experience. That doesn’t mean that you can’t progress while your sense of taste is developing, of course you can! It just means that you need to question some of your decisions and learn to see and recognise the elements of your work that are lacking or unsuitable. You will do this for the whole span of your career - constantly checking. You’ll become more instinctive about it. You will make better decisions. But it takes a lot of analysing, practice, and trial and error.
So concentrating on that last part - go back to your research. Look at the picture books you’ve identified as being the ones your book would sit next to on bookshelves. Lets imagine you’ve identified the funny books as the books of your people.
Now compare the illustrations in the funny books to the books that deal with serious stuff. Do you notice a difference in the illustrations? Imagine using the illustrations from the funny book in the serious book. Then imagine that the other way around. Would it work? It would take something away from the book as a whole rather than adding something to it.
You will need to bear this in mind if you are planning on writing too - apply the same sense of good taste to your words as you do your pictures. Choose thoughtful words and sounds if you’re writing a serious book, use funny words and sounds if you’re writing a funny book. There is obviously a lot more to writing than that, but hopefully you can see my point. Pick a lane for your book and stay in it. You can try a different lane for another book.
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