Happy Festive season! We are so proud of our wonderful Make Art That Sells alumni and are pleased to showcase some festive designs and products they have created for the season. Here is part 9. See all the festive showcase posts here as they unfold.
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Ashley Lotecki | Ashley Lotecki Design
This year I’ve been focused on developing and crafting a line of products that feature my illustrations and hand lettering using different techniques. I am excited to say that I will be launching my own e-commerce store very soon! Here is a peek at one of my original wooden ornament designs “Gingerbread Man,” which I laser etched and cut, then hand-finished.
The MATS classes have been a great way to have designated time for me to focus on further developing my voice as an artist – with a stronger voice I’ve been able to, and continue to, push my ideas further and start developing products featuring my illustrations by utilizing different art forms and methods beyond the traditional.
See more work here: Website | Instagram | Shop
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Sarah Aspinall
The product I would love to tell you all about is my brand new debut Picture Book- ‘Penguins Love Colors’, (Blue Sky Press, Scholastic). Official release date 29th November- just in time for the holidays!! :) There is also an animated trailer I had made especially: Here
Link to buy : click here to order! (is also available at Barnes and Noble and Independent book sellers throughout the country, as well as at Walmart and Target).
Aimed at ages 2-6, the story is about 6 creative little penguins who LOVE to paint! Living in a world covered in snow, they decide to brighten things up one day as a colourful surprise for their penguin Mama who loves colors too!
The classes have been invaluable in terms of helping me to develop my work. One of the first briefs Lilla gave during my first MATS Class, was a Christmas card with a penguin on it! I came up with a very strange design, but didn’t stop refining and experimenting for many months afterwards… and now I have not one, but TWO children’s picture books all about my little penguins. ‘Penguins Love Their Abc’s’, will be out this time next year. Hooray!!
My plan for 2017 is to expand into some different illustration markets. Editorial, paper goods and baby/children’s products would be wonderful. I also hope to build upon book series, I have everything crossed for a third book, and hope the release of my first will expose my work to art directors all over the world.
See more here: Website | Instagram
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My Christmas decorations came directly from the Lumberjack assignment in Bootcamp! They comprise a collection of woodland themed characters handmade from beautifully soft lumberjack flannel embellished with felt, buttons and sequins – I loved the assignment and was so inspired that I actually made the decorations and they are available to buy on my Etsy shop.
I have taken MATSB (live) Bootcamp and MATS A and B self paced – just signed up for children book course too – can’t wait! Mats courses have really revolutionised my creative process, I draw, draw, draw all the time now and with a much more varied subject matter than before – I don’t restrict myself anymore and enjoy it more as a result. The courses also pushed me into developing new work for different markets, not only that but through Mats I have made wonderful supportive friends online, who share ideas, opportunities and advice with such wonderful openness i feel totally blessed.
See more work here: Website | Shop
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Kim Fleming | Kim Fleming Illustration
A wintry watercolour pattern. Link to purchase
I’ve taken MATS A&B and several Bootcamps
The MATS classes I took helped my work go to the next level through focusing on trends and limited colour palettes. For 2017 I am hoping to get some more licensing work!
See more work here: Website | Shop
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I was thinking of fun and festive animal characters for this design. I have taken MATS Bootcamp and the Home Decor class. Taking the Make Art That Sells Classes have really helped me realize the importance of ICONS . Focusing on and making lots of icons has really allowed my art to grow, because it makes it so much easier to design multiple pieces that coordinate and be suitable for a variety of surfaces.
See more work here: Website | Instagram
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Transform your art career and Make Art That Sells. Registration is open for Illustrating Children’s Books (starts 16 January, 2017), Assignment Bootcamp (starts March 2017) and our amazing self-paced versions of MATS A & MATS B which include a huge vault of reviews from Lilla and class assignments from all our previous sessions.
