The option of water colour can create a soft appearance with a range of tones and texture. This designer has combined his watercolor pre imagery with a digital effect to add a sharpness and clarity to the imagery. I think soft water colour would suit illustration for a child audience and the contrasting, sharp, dark effect of the digital finish could be used well to illustrate a story such as James and the giant Peach which has quite a dark almost sinister tone as well.
Lovely use of 'aquatic' colours and white space.
