Write your picture book!

  Lilla’s innovative picture book writing course, My Kid Book Pitch, is back as a LIVE course in 2026! Find out more and sign up here.

Sundance heart Make Art That Sells #homedecsecrets Part 1: METAL

#homedecsecrets Part 1: METAL

Did you know that there are things you can add to your Home Decor pitch that make you stand out? You don’t just want to show your art on a pillow, but there are ‘finishing techniques’ you can add to a basic pillow to make it really special. Today we’ll show you… In our upcoming course ‘MATS: Creating Collections for Home Décor’, top art director Margo Tantau shares finishing techniques for each of the five most popular materials used for products in this market. These allow you to play with your product to make your presentation to the client even more exciting and marketable! We hope you’ll find them inspiring, and feel confident to try new and varied looks in your product pitches. That, in turn, will make your pitch more desirable and unique. Finishing techniques are different processes that can be done by the manufacturer’s factory to enhance the

MATS Home Decor Student Showcase part 1 {January 2016 class}

We are so proud of our wonderful Make Art That Sells alumni and are pleased to showcase a series of gorgeous student work that was produced in our January session of Creating Collections for Home Décor *** Mitzie Testani My showcase image is from Week 4: ceramics. It’s a mix of painted line converted to vector and traditional media (watercolor and gouache paint). It’s my favorite because I was able to combine typography, pattern and paint and I finally figured out how to step away from some of what I made and integrate more of my unedited, painted images. I made a ton of imagery that I didn’t use. I’m getting better at critiquing myself, I think. How did the Home Décor class help you grow? The pace and the challenges of designing for specific substrates really pushed me. I feel like I’m making better gut decisions when I work.

mats promo 17a Make Art That Sells Reasons to take ‘Creating Collections for Home Décor' (No. 12): Be part of something

Reasons to take ‘Creating Collections for Home Décor’ (No. 12): Be part of something

All the Make Art That Sells experiences are special, not only because of what you learn and how you grow, but because of who you share the experience with. Each course offers you the opportunity to join a private online community of artists just like you – others who want to make it as a professional, who also have growing pains, successes to celebrate, and advice to share. Often class participants form strong bonds with other artists in class, organizing local meetups, becoming friends and even exhibiting together at trade shows. This class will be just like that, with a community of artists from all over the world. You can be part of something amazing, and that is something to be treasured. Feel like this is exactly what you need? Register now! Want to learn more about the Home Décor market? Sign up for our free video series here.

KevinBrackley Headshot LR Make Art That Sells Alumni success 'spotlight' interview with Kevin Brackley

Alumni success ‘spotlight’ interview with Kevin Brackley

We are so proud of our Make Art That Sells Alumni, that we are pleased to be publishing a series of spotlight interviews showcasing their successes and artwork. We also ask 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 alumni Kevin Brackley Tell us a little about how you got started in art and design I’ve always been interested in art and design, although I’ve had no “formal” training in it, apart from a desire to learn and experiment. I studied visual merchandising and enjoyed seeing how you could tell a story with products as well as apparel. I became more interested in design and the endless possibilities of design software and have spent thousands of hours honing my skills through online tutorials. I’ve never viewed this as studying as

mats promo 18a Make Art That Sells Reasons to take ‘Creating Collections for Home Décor: (No. 11): Grow your portfolio

Reasons to take ‘Creating Collections for Home Décor: (No. 11): Grow your portfolio

Career longevity comes from making a lot of commercially-viable art, having a recognizable style and being committed. Whether you are in the early stages of your career, or a veteran, this course will freshen up your portfolio with new pieces inspired by the weekly professional-level assignments. But more importantly, it will teach you how to present your work as collections, showcasing your ideas for product concepts, making your work instantly more appealing to art directors. Not only are they more likely to notice you, but they are more likely to buy more from you, and work with you for longer because suddenly you know how to speak their language. Take a look at what is on offer with this short video: [vimeo]https://vimeo.com/126983190[/vimeo] This course will help you transform your portfolio from a series of flat art pieces to a commercially-appealing showcase of your talent which demonstrates exactly what you are

Sneak Peek of New Trend Boards for Home Decor Class

Here’s a sneak peek of the trend boards you’ll get when you sign up for CREATING COLLECTIONS FOR HOME DECOR.  (There are over 50 images per board!) WIN A FREE PLACE IN OUR UPCOMING GLOBAL TALENT SEARCH. Share this Trend Board photo (above) on Instagram and Twitter with the #LillasTrends and tag @MakeArtThatSells on Instagram or @ArtThatSells on Twitter by May 2nd and we will pick one lucky winner! Learn more about this life changing contest here. Share away because it could be you! WHY TREND BOARDS? Every time we run the Home Décor course, we provide new trend boards chock full of imagery to inspire you to design terrific products. But more importantly, these fresh boards are made to give you direction in color, subject matter, and vibe so that your work wows art directors. Plus, you get a Trend Board Analysis worksheet to help you better understand the trend

mats promo 04a Make Art That Sells Reasons to take ‘Creating Collections for Home Décor: (No. 10): Get your burning questions answered

Reasons to take ‘Creating Collections for Home Décor: (No. 10): Get your burning questions answered

Throughout the five weeks of class you can ask any questions you like to Lilla and Margo. This is an amazing opportunity to find out the things they never tell you in art school, to discover more about what it’s like in the real professional world, and learn how to give yourself the best chance of success. Behind-the-scenes of the filming of the course with Lilla and Margo For an idea of the kind of questions students have asked on previous MATS courses, take a look at the various downloadable Q&A we share in our ‘Free stuff’ section here. Feel like this is exactly what you need? Register now! Want to learn more about the Home Décor market? Sign up for our free video series here.

cbkhandcarved Make Art That Sells Want to know some #HomeDecSecrets? Join our fun free creative challenge

Want to know some #HomeDecSecrets? Join our fun free creative challenge

In our upcoming course ‘MATS: Creating Collections for Home Décor’, top art director Margo Tantau shares finishing techniques for each of the five most popular materials used for products in this market. These are very cool techniques that you can play with on your product to make your presentation to the client even more exciting and marketable! Finishing techniques are different processes that can be done by the manufacturer’s factory to enhance the material you are working with. Examples include: Placing pom poms, trims or embroidery on a pillow Embossing, shaping, or silkscreening on metal Painting or decoupaging on wood, etc. Example of some finishing techniques used on wood – products from CBK Understanding and knowing about different techniques is a great way to stand out, to be creative, and to show that you know how to add value to a design. Every day next week, we are going to

april gallery Make Art That Sells April 2016 Bootcamp Gallery is now Live

April 2016 Bootcamp Gallery is now Live

The second gallery from our 2016 Make Art That Sells: Assignment Bootcamp class is now live! You can view it here: The gallery features over 250 pieces of original art inspired by the April class assignment… to design ornaments for the home decor market using lumberjack drawings and corresponding imagery from the mini CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE APRIL GALLERY! There was so much fabulous work submitted in response to this brief, and we love the ongoing supportive energy in the Bootcamp community. What a generous, talented group of artists they are! Would you like to join us on one of our Make Art That Sells classes? Graduates of our courses have gone on to win work from clients such as Hallmark, Robert Kaufman Fabrics, Oopsy Daisy, Uppercase Magazine, West Elm, Midwest CBK, and more. It is industry learning that works in the real world. Find out more and register HERE

mats promo 19a Make Art That Sells Reasons to take ‘Creating Collections for Home Décor (No. 9): Make better art

Reasons to take ‘Creating Collections for Home Décor (No. 9): Make better art

Since launching in 2013, Make Art That Sells has rapidly gained a reputation as the go-to place for anyone serious about making commercially viable art whilst staying true to themselves. We have been completely blown away by the response of our participants (many of whom have come back to repeat the course), and have been thrilled to see huge leaps forward in their artwork. Make Art That Sells really works, as can be seen in this blog post sharing some of the many jobs participants have landed since graduating. The Home Decor course will build on all that has been shared before, with specific guidance on how to make better art, as well as sell more of it to clients. Here are a few words from graduates of other Make Art That Sells courses, to show that the teaching can make a huge difference to artists: This is the course you need