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contest square 1 Make Art That Sells Competition Alert: Guess the name of the new MATS course!

Competition Alert: Guess the name of the new MATS course!

We’re holding an exciting competition to celebrate a BRAND NEW COURSE launching in spring 2018! You’ll have your chance to sign up for this new course & several others during the MATS GIANT CYBER SALE which will be on from November 21st-27th! TO ENTER:  – GUESS THE NAME OF THE NEW MATS COURSE! – Add your guess(es) in the comments of the pinned Facebook post (see link below) – You can guess as many times as you like! – The deadline to submit your guess is November 19th at 11:59pm PST – The winner will be announced on November 20th! ENTER HERE: www.facebook.com/makeartthatsells (see pinned post) Keep an eye on @MakeArtThatSells on Instagram for hints! The first hint will be shared tomorrow but feel free to start guessing anytime! The winner will get all this goodness, worth over $200 in a cool Lilla Rogers Studio tote bag! The prize includes: 2 Candles 3 Children’s books A fabric


lilladrawingNL Make Art That Sells Three things NEVER to do for a brilliant art career

Three things NEVER to do for a brilliant art career

There are three things NEVER to do for a brilliant art career: 1.) Stop learning new things. Keep drawing the same things over and over. 2.) Don’t make a lot of art. Stay uninspired and don’t make time for new work. 3.) Don’t keep up with what art directors & successful artists have to say.   But if you DO want a brilliant art career, take MATS and supercharge your art! Perhaps you want to increase your sales on Etsy with new and better work. Or maybe you want to learn about new markets. Perhaps your career has stalled and you want to get reinvigorated. Maybe you want to try something new. Or maybe you just plain love being surrounded by all that great support and inspiration. Lilla doing one of the things she does best! Why should you take one of our popular self-paced MATS A / MATS B


felicia matsphoto Make Art That Sells Alumni success ‘spotlight’ interview with Felicia Spahr

Alumni success ‘spotlight’ interview with Felicia Spahr

We are so proud of our Make Art That Sells Alumni, and we are pleased to feature a series of spotlight interviews showcasing their successes and artwork. We’ve asked them to share how the MATS courses have helped them learn and grow. You can see more Alumni Success stories here *** Today, we have an interview with Felicia Spahr who has taken MATS A. Tell us a little about how you got started in art and design After years of being in advertising, then starting my own business, I suddenly had a powerful insight: that I was an artist, and I needed to do something about it. I fell in love with painting, and committed to sitting down at my kitchen table every day and making art like my life depended on it. I basically went from Square 0 (non-existent drawing and painting skills) to…something much better :) Lilla always says “People


alumni success 04 Make Art That Sells MATS works! Alumni success stories from students who took MATS A & B

MATS works! Alumni success stories from students who took MATS A & B

I’m constantly blown away by my students and I really love watching your art keep getting better and better! The MATS community is like no other and it really is a wonderfully supportive group. Today, I want to share some recent successes from MATS alumni who have taken our popular MATS A and MATS B classes! Please join me in congratulating them! MATS Works! KRISHNAA SHYAM Krishnaa launched a kickstarter campaign last week to manufacture her silk scarves. Krishnaa writes: MATS taught me to always believe in yourself and go after what you want. To know that constantly working and pushing yourself out of you comfort zone can lead to delightful and interesting results. MATS also helped me as an individual to never give up and that every artist has something original and special to offer. Read Krishnaa’s Alumni Success interview here. LIV WAN Liv was commissioned by Snapchat to


MATs image interview Make Art That Sells Alumni success ‘spotlight’ interview with Krishnaa Shyam

Alumni success ‘spotlight’ interview with Krishnaa Shyam

We are so proud of our Make Art That Sells Alumni, and we are pleased to feature a series of spotlight interviews showcasing their successes and artwork. We’ve asked them to share how the MATS courses have helped them learn and grow. You can see more Alumni Success stories here *** Today, we have an interview with Krishnaa Shyam from Krishnaa Shyam Designs. Krishnaa has taken MATS: Creating Collections for Home Décor, bootcamp 2015, 2016, 2017 and attended the MATS: Global Art Gathering. Krishnaa also launched an exciting Kickstarter campaign here. Tell us a little about how you got started in art and design I’ve always been interested in pattern, drawing and design. I grew up in an extremely artistic household. My grandmother was an artist and I sat with her when she sketched and painted. Our home had the old mosaics from the 50’s with designs which was one of my first influences for pattern.


SuzyUltman headshot forweb square Make Art That Sells How to create a logo with Lilla Rogers Studio Artist Suzy Ultman

How to create a logo with Lilla Rogers Studio Artist Suzy Ultman

Today, we are pleased to share with you a free video tutorial from Suzy Ultman, one of the amazing artists represented by Lilla Rogers Studio. Suzy is kindly going to take you through the process of creating logos (with a bit of background!). Logos are essentially a visual representation of your brand and Suzy will walk you through the all-important qualities of a good logo, and then through the process of creating your own. Share your logo designs on Instagram! Be sure to tag us @makeartthatsells and use the hashtag #MATSlogo THE 4 QUALITIES OF A LOGO (1) SIMPLE: clean, flexible, and easily recognizable (2) VERSATILE: able to work across different media and within different contexts (3) DISTINCTIVE/MEMORABLE: quickly recognizable in the crowd (4) TIMELESS: still hip in 10 – 20 years, depending on the market & size of your company PROJECT – CREATE YOUR OWN LOGO First, research the market.


LillaRetreat2017 005 Make Art That Sells An inside look into Lilla’s Art Retreat 2017!

An inside look into Lilla’s Art Retreat 2017!

What do you get when you mix up some of the top illustrators working today with a bunch of the most exciting VIPs in the industry? You get my 3rd Annual Artists’ Retreat that was held last month at my studio/home/nearby lake, that’s what! Our annual artists’ retreat is how we work with our Lilla Rogers Studio Artists on their career development, keep them inspired, and basically energize all of us. My artists fly in from all over the world for this fun packed event. Here we are in Lilla Rogers Studio enjoying conversation with Janine Vangool taking photos (far right). My artists stitching and painting on tote bags for their afternoon craft. I was so honored that Janine Vangool, publisher of the beloved UPPERCASE Magazine, attended my artists’ retreat too! Lilla Rogers Studio Artist Sarah Walsh with Janine Vangool at the retreat. Janine was one of the many art


Liv Wan Potrait BW Make Art That Sells Alumni success 'spotlight' interview with Liv Wan

Alumni success ‘spotlight’ interview with Liv Wan

We are so proud of our Make Art That Sells Alumni, and we are pleased to feature a series of spotlight interviews showcasing their successes and artwork. We’ve asked them to share how the MATS courses have helped them learn and grow. You can see more Alumni Success stories here *** Today, we have an interview with Liv Wan from Liv Wan Illustration. Liv has taken have taken MATS A, Bootcamp and the Illustrating Children’s Book Course. Tell us a little about how you got started in art and design I grew up with my grandfather and we didn’t have a lot of money for me to learn anything such as piano, ballet or really anything. So I had to find some low-cost but fun hobbies to do when I was young. My grandfather was a great cook and I learnt how to cook by watching him cook and helping him to


hurryclassstartstomorrow Make Art That Sells Hurry! Class starts tomorrow! Read about Student Successes

Hurry! Class starts tomorrow! Read about Student Successes

  Hurry! Class is filling up fast! I hope you’ll join me as we make some incredible art together. Today, I want to share some recent MATS alumni successes, focusing on the illustration jobs our students have gotten for the Children’s Book industry after taking some of our courses! These are so wonderful to celebrate as we prepare for the next session of the Illustrating Children’s Books class, starting on Monday, October 2nd. Please join me in congratulating them! MATS WORKS! ANNABEL TEMPEST Annabel illustrated three BabyLit Books published by Gibbs Smith. ‘Pride and Prejudice’ and ‘Moby Dick’ (above) were just released and the third book, ‘The Jungle’ book, is next. Annabel writes: The reason I took MATS courses was in order to build my portfolio to a point where an agent would take me on. It worked! I’m delighted to say that I was taken on by Vicki Willden-Lebrecht’s agency ‘Bright’ Read Annabel’s


facebook live HOW TO CHOOSE A TEXT TO ILLUSTRATE FOR A CHILDRENS BOOK PITCH 1 Make Art That Sells How to select a text to illustrate. Free download and Join our Facebook live! Our Illustrating Children’s Book course—starts Monday!

How to select a text to illustrate. Free download and Join our Facebook live! Our Illustrating Children’s Book course—starts Monday!

I thought it would be really fun to pull a handout from the upcoming Illustrating Children’s Books course (starts Monday!) and give it to you now so you could get started early. Download your free copy here. This handout will help you choose which text to illustrate for the course. It focuses on examining your personality type, art style, and preferred art media. I always want my students to be able to dive right into art-making, and the most effective way to accomplish this is by breaking everything down into tiny, bite-sized bits and making the process fun. This prevents procrastination and engages the creative brain. Hear directly from one of our students just how terrific the course was. Watch this fun short video by Kirsti Davidson.   The first step in creating an illustrated children’s book pitch is this: You need to select a text that shows off your style! The cool part of this course is that we actually provide you with three carefully-selected texts that you’ll enjoy illustrating. Don’t worry—we help you every step of the way to do your