Build a rewarding career in the dreamy world of picture book illustration!

  Hurry HURRY! Our raved-about Illustrating Children’s Books course starts THIS MONDAY, April 27th – sign up here!

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Incredible real-life success stories from our students!

Do Make Art That Sells courses really work? YES – and here’s the proof! We absolutely love sharing our brilliant students’ success stories, and luckily for us we have tons to share. Check out previous student success stories here or read on for the latest from our alumni (and look out for even more stories coming up next week too!). Kruti Desai Make Art That Sells student Kruti has landed more than half a dozen picture book illustration jobs since taking Illustrating Children’s Books! Kruti told us: “[Illustrating Children’s Books] was truly a valuable learning experience for me! It helped me understand that having knowledge of or passion for illustration is only the beginning: what really matters is learning how to channel that creativity in the right direction. The course gave me a clearer understanding of visual storytelling, character development, and how illustrations work together to build a strong picture


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Replay of Live with Lilla #1: What is Your Art Dream? (Art Accelerator Week)

If you missed the Live with Lilla, there is a replay below! Now is the time to snag those courses you’ve had your eye on! Hurry hurry HURRY – our fabulous Spring Sale is on NOW, with 25% off individual courses and up to 45% off our fabulous bundles! If you want to grow your art, fill your portfolio, explore new art markets and make real money from your art then don’t miss this!    


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HURRY! Huge savings start TODAY!

Now is the time to snag those courses you’ve had your eye on! Hurry hurry HURRY – our fabulous Spring Sale is on NOW, with 25% off individual courses and up to 45% off our fabulous bundles! If you want to grow your art, fill your portfolio, explore new art markets and make real money from your art then don’t miss this! Art directors, creative directors, publishers and clients NEED your gorgeous art to sell their products. Plenty of the hot art markets – including children’s books, non-fiction books for adults, greeting cards, and toys, games and puzzles – are booming right now, because people always want books, puzzles and cards. Whether you’re looking for a change of direction, you’re ready to take your illustration career to the next level, or you simply want to grow your art and flex your creative muscles, we’ve got everything you need. Amazing value


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Art Career Accelerator Week: FREE download and great savings!

What’s your art career dream – and how can fairy artmother Lilla help it come true? Our huge Spring Sale starts Monday, April 13th! We wanted to do something different this time, so to celebrate we’re running a week of fab FREE live Zoom events with art agent Lilla which are all about manifesting with intention, plotting your next career move, and turning your dreams into reality! Join former top art agent Lilla at any or all of her inspiring, informative FREE live events this week and start creating your blueprint for art career success! Announcing our NEW FREE live Zooms with Lilla! An amazing opportunity to get career advice from agent Lilla for FREE! Join Lilla at any one or all of these invigorating, inspiring, lively live events to get your questions answered by a top art agent (and mentor, author, speaker, columnist, educator, illustrator and more) with four


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FREE Art Challenge: Check out the art from our latest assignment

Have you heard about our FREE Quarterly Art Challenge yet? Once a quarter – on March 1st, June 1st, September 1st and December 1st – you get a FREE illustration assignment direct to your inbox. You then have one week to complete it – because nothing cuts through procrastination like a deadline. Art agent Lilla looks at all the art submitted before the deadline, and then picks one (or two) pieces of art which wins prizes like free Make Art That Sells courses, free products, and more. Our most recent free Art Challenge was in March, and, as ever, we loved seeing the beautiful art that you created! Today we’re sharing the two winners (because Lilla couldn’t pick just one!), who each won a free place on Illustrating Children’s Books, plus the Honorable Mentions. March’s challenge was to recreate a fabulous vintage souvenir plate from Lilla’s collection, personalized for your


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How to figure out what to draw

Lilla here. You know that feeling when you want to draw something, but you don’t know what to draw? Here’s what worked for me recently. So here’s the scene. I’m curled up with a steamy espresso, journal, and fountain pen filled with red glitter ink—my morning routine. So far so good. I’m craving making some art, but I don’t know what to draw. You would think I would know what I want to draw after decades and decades of teaching art, making art, agenting, illustrating, and owning pretty much every art supply. But no. I have no ideas. Nada. So first I list the art things that I like doing these days. Let me think … Lettering, Procreate, flowers with Latin names, vintage things, people, drawing packages with lettering on my iPad in Procreate, like this from my 30-Day Style Play challenge from last year. But I still have no


MY MATS SUCCESS Make Art That Sells What REALLY happens in a MATS team meeting

What REALLY happens in a MATS team meeting

The Make Art That Sells team are typically spread across three or four countries and at least three time zones, but we meet once a month by Zoom to catch up and plot and plan for the months ahead. As you can imagine, it’s some pretty high-powered stuff. Shoulder pads up to our ears. We review our profit and loss margins for the last financial quarter and explore our deliverables for the upcoming quarter. We push the envelope and think outside the box. We harvest ideas. We disrupt. We have multiple balls in the air. Ha. Just kidding. Actual photo of MATS team planning. Eighty per cent of the team is British, so by law we have to kick off with some comments on the weather. This causes us problems, because, while we all share a common language, we speak very different units. “It’s like 30 degrees here,” Lilla might


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Just four spots left!

Art agent Lilla’s small-group mentorship intensive, Inner Circle, quickly sold out both times we ran it in 2025. It’s running just once in 2026, and with places strictly limited to 12 and EIGHT spots already gone, it looks likely to sell out again – so if you want in, sign up now! Inner Circle is the opportunity of a lifetime to mine Lilla’s wisdom and experience gleaned from 40 years in the creative industry, as an art agent, an illustrator, an author, a columnist, an educator, a speaker and more. The exact syllabus is geared towards the specific needs of the group. Participants enjoy six weeks of lively group meetings with Lilla and the rest of the class, with weekly assignments, and plenty of time to ask Lilla questions and get advice that will help them home in on their art careers with laser focus Where would you love your


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A Thermos Crisis and a Love Story

Lilla here. I want to share with you a little story I had fun writing and illustrating recently. At a recent team meeting, the team asked if I’d like to include some of my own illustrated writing pieces this month, and I absolutely loved the idea! Plus I thought you could be inspired to write and illustrate your own pieces for yourself, for your own enjoyment or social media. Look out for another piece of writing from me in our blog and newsletter on March 26th! The plastic inner straw of my cherished thermos doesn’t stay attached anymore, rendering it useless. You may feel that this doesn’t constitute a crisis, given the state of the world these days, but nevertheless I am forced to face the fact that I must choose another thermos from my collection. While they are all pretty, none have the qualities of my broken beloved thermos,


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LAST CHANCE to write your winning picture book!

Hurry HURRY – registration for art agent and author Lilla’s picture book writing class, My Kid Book Pitch, closes TODAY! We don’t know when it will run as a LIVE course again, so if you want to write you dreamy picture book story with motivation, deadlines, and twice-weekly Zooms with Lilla and your classmates to keep you on track, then book your spot now! Have you ever wanted to write your very own unique children’s picture book, but didn’t know where to start? Lilla has written this accessible and playful but incredibly effective course that will lead you gently through her Make a Story Recipe step by step to write your very own special story, create a ready to send pitch, and maybe land that book deal – just like loads of students before you have done already. Read some of their stories here. Some of the books written and