We’re so proud of our wonderful alums and love to shout about their successes! If you have a story to share, whether it’s just being brave enough to hit SEND on your first email to an art director or snagging that amazing multi-kid book deal, we want to hear about it – and right now you could win a tote bag of delicious goodies and a place on Lilla’s Art Recipes: Drawing Faces to help you land more great work! Enter the competition here.
In this newsletter, we’re finding out more about Esther Mols, who has been a graphic designer for the past 17 years, and a MATS addict for the past two.
After doing a portrait of a Suffragette for Assignment Bootcamp 2018, Esther was inspired to create more in the series. An art director spotted them on Instagram and asked her to illustrate a non-fiction children’s book about Stephen Hawking.
Hi Esther! Please tell us a little about you and what brought you to MATS.
Esther: I am Dutch and live in Germany with my husband and two children. I drew a lot as a kid but stopped as a teenager; I wanted to draw all my life but somehow life was in the way. I have been working as a freelance graphic designer for the past 17 years, and for all those years I was frustrated when I could not offer illustrations to my clients! A few years ago, I started drawing again and in 2017 I finally found Make Art That Sells and did my first Bootcamp. I was immediately hooked: the briefings are so inspiring and I find myself drawing things that I could have never imagined doing, like people. I’ve now done about ten MATS courses in the last two years, including the Global Talent Search.
One of Esther’s entries in the Global Talent Search 2018, in which she was a semi-finalist.
What’s been your greatest achievement since finding MATS?
Esther: During Bootcamp 2018, I fell in love with drawing people: first I did Aretha Franklin for the “What’s in your bag?” assignment, and then I drew not one but three Suffragettes, because I could not get enough. I drew more and more portraits and posted them on social media. I also did Lilla’s “Drawing Faces” course. She told us all the time: “If you can draw people, you get work”. She was right! In June I got an email from an Art director from Penguin Randomhouse UK who had found me on Instagram, asking if I was interested in making illustrations for a non fiction childrens book about Stephen Hawking. I worked all summer on the book and made about 80 illustrations in total. It was the most amazing experience. I was extra proud as I found out that Lilla’s artists Sarah Walsh and Anke Rega illustrated other books in the same series.
The front cover and one of the illustrations from Esther’s Stephen Hawking book gig, which she got after an art director saw her Assignment Bootcamp work on Instagram.
What is your favorite thing about MATS?
Esther: For me these courses are life changing. I honestly think that I would not have been where I am now without them. I love the live classes like Bootcamp the most, I work better with dead lines. What I find magical every time is to see what every single one is doing with the same briefing, every piece is different. We all have our own style. Another class I loved was Portfolio Review. I made my first portfolio website in 2000 and I still had work in my portfolio from those days – a vintage portfolio! I thought it was good to show everything I ever did, to show my experience. In the course I realized that you only have a few seconds to make a first impression, so I deleted almost all the old work and refreshed my website. I think one of the best pieces of advice Lilla gave was “show the work you want to get”, so now I check my site on a regular basis and change things, whereas previously I used to add everything I made.
One of Esther’s finished pieces for her first MATS course: Assignment Bootcamp 2017. She later reworked the image to enter into the MATS holiday card competition, which was then included in the Flow Calendar 2019!
And last but not least, a very important part is the MATS community. So warm and positive. Since a lot of students return again and again, you meet each other all the time, and I’ve made lots of online friends. The Facebook groups are a safe and friendly place. You can ask for advice, and share your doubts or fears or successes. There is no competition, we all wish each other success. Another thing Lilla said that stayed with me is: “The market is big enough, there is a room for everybody”. It made me realize that not only the big brands and publishers need illustrations, there are literally thousands of smaller companies, magazines and people that need illustrations too. That is really motivating.
Esther’s entry for the MATS holiday card competition, which was then included in the Flow Calendar 2019.
What’s next for you?
Esther: I am working on a book cover for a Dutch publisher now, also a great job. I think my heart lies with editorial illustration and I am so looking forward to the editorial course later this year!
Don’t forget, if you’d like to share your MATS success with us, you can drop us a line at [email protected] and/or fill Lilla’s quirky #myMATSsuccess any time you like – plus there’s still time to enter our fab competition to win a Lilla Rogers Studio tote full of goodies and a place on Lilla’s Art Recipes: Drawing Faces!
We can’t wait to hear your #myMATSsuccess stories!
Love from
The MATS team xxx
P.S. Don’t forget you can also share your success stories on Instagram with the tag #myMATSsuccess!