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Your MATS Prep Make Art That Sells #MatsPrep for Illustrating Children's Books class: My Home Planet

#MatsPrep for Illustrating Children’s Books class: My Home Planet

Let’s get you ready for my course, Illustrating Children’s Books! I’ve chosen my very favorite MATS Prep for you. What’s a MATS Prep? They are free exercises to get prepared for class, or just to have some creative fun. What’s the number one thing that art directors look for in a portfolio when selecting an illustrator for a children’s book? They look to see that an illustrator can draw a great character! What is a ‘great’ character? It can be a person, an animal, or even a thing like a robot or even a pencil! The character has personality. So how do you show that? We will teach you how in class, but for now, here’s a tip: give it interesting accessories. What is it holding, carrying, wearing? Do the accessories help to tell the story? I’m going to show you some work for for Illustrating Children’s Books. See how

IMG 2914 Make Art That Sells Illustrating Children's Books Student Showcase part 5 {Oct 2017 class}

Illustrating Children’s Books Student Showcase part 5 {Oct 2017 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 the previous session of the Illustrating Children’s Books class. View more student showcase posts here. *** Natallia Bushuyeva I chose the image from the week „Emotions“ because this was my first attempt to create a character in professional way. I loved to play with Eleanor’s emotions, making her crying or laughing. How did the ‘Illustrating Children’s Book’ class help you grow? ICB class helped me a lot. During 5 weeks I learned and improved much more, then during last two years, when I was trying to learn and to illustrate children’s book in my own. The information, given from Lilla and Zoe, is precious! I was also very encouraged to draw and to break my barriers thanks to the Facebook group. What did you discover about yourself? I

ClassroomBanner Round2 BabyApparel1 Make Art That Sells Illustrating Children's Books Student Showcase part 4 {Oct 2017 class}

Illustrating Children’s Books Student Showcase part 4 {Oct 2017 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 the previous session of the Illustrating Children’s Books class. View more student showcase posts here. *** Asma Enayeh | Asma Original   I really enjoyed working on my cover as it was the last week and I already had understood how the course works. I got used to sketching everyday for the daily prompts and I had already designed all the characters of the story. So working on the cover was a matter of putting all the story characters together in an eye catching way. I had the privilege to see my cover featured in the live review by Lilla and Zoe in the “Cool Style” section. A lovely way to wrap up the five weeks journey with this feature. How did the ‘Illustrating Children’s Book’ class help you

Illustrating Children’s Books Student Showcase part 3 {Oct 2017 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 the previous session of the Illustrating Children’s Books class. View more student showcase posts here. *** Nicole Wilson My favorite image from weekly assignments: Week 5 Cover. This was my favorite image from the course as it was the culmination of everything we learned from Lilla and Zoe over the course of 5 wonderfully challenging and creative weeks. It really reflected how much I had both grown and learned from the time we began the course and turned in our Week 1 assignments. How did the ‘Illustrating Children’s Book’ class help you grow? I feel like Lilla’s brilliant children’s book illustration course really gave me wings to fly as a working artist and supported me beautifully through the process of honing new skills and brushing up on older

Illustrating Children’s Books Student Showcase part 2 {Oct 2017 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 the previous session of the Illustrating Children’s Books class. View more student showcase posts here. *** Lynn Gaines | Lynn Gaines Design   This image is from week 4 MATS ICB: Environment -the image shows our story’s main character, Eleanor, trying to get her pet giraffe up to her 27th floor apartment in the elevator. How did the ‘Illustrating Children’s Book’ class help you grow? This class helped me to work on developing characters that have more life in them, conveying emotion and movement and setting them in an environment as well as working on the craft of story-telling through my art. What did you discover about yourself? I actually enjoy drawing characters that have personality and a story to tell. How would you describe the course to

Illustrating Children’s Books Student Showcase part 1 {Oct 2017 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 the previous session of the Illustrating Children’s Books class. View more student showcase posts here. *** Michelle Vinson | Brush & Inc. My favorite submission and week for Illustrating Children’s Books was the emotions week. Making my character come to life was always a struggle (or fear) and I felt like I broke through a barrier during this week and now feel more comfortable telling my stories through my illustrations. How did the ‘Illustrating Children’s Book’ class help you grow? Illustrating Children’s Book class helped me grow professionally because it confirmed that, YES, I do want to illustrate children’s books. I feel like the class gave me the steps to work hard and make that happen. What did you discover about yourself? I discovered that I have so

matsD profilepromo1 Make Art That Sells Alumni success ‘spotlight’ interview with Kate Mazeika

Alumni success ‘spotlight’ interview with Kate Mazeika

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 Kate Mazeika  who has taken Illustrating Children’s Books class twice! 1. Tell us a little about how you got started in art and design… I knew I wanted to be an illustrator since high school when a local illustrator spoke to my art class about his job. I went to Columbus College of Art and Design and earned a BFA- my major was illustration. 2. Lilla always says “People buy your joy”. What brings you joy? I get a lot of joy from creating textures and playing with color. I also like to learn new skills/digital

prima8 Make Art That Sells Alumni success ‘spotlight’ interview with Katy Halford

Alumni success ‘spotlight’ interview with Katy Halford

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 Katy Halford who has taken MATS A, MATS B, Bootcamp, Home Decor and Illustrating Children’s Books 1. Tell us a little about how you got started in art and design… Ever since I have known I have always loved to draw. I was supported from a young age by my parents and grandparents and they encouraged to draw whenever I could. I remember I used to draw eyelashes on every character, and this became a distinct quirk in my drawings and has stuck with me ever since. I also used to make little cut out houses

PAXJonKlassen www.lookatthesegems.com Make Art That Sells Here's how to be a Children's Book Illustrator

Here’s how to be a Children’s Book Illustrator

Imagine being a children’s book illustrator, spending your days drawing for a picture book and getting paid for it. How do you get that gig? I will tell you: You create a pitch that is exactly what art directors need to see to hire you, and our popular course, Illustrating Children’s Books will teach you just that. Join me, Lilla Rogers, and my co-teacher, the highly regarded children’s book art director Zoë Tucker as we provide everything you need to launch your children’s book illustration career or bring it to the next level in our popular Illustrating Children’s Books e-course. Through this step-by-step, supportive and engaging five-week online course, we will help you create a brilliant pitch and also give you all the tools, insight, and advice you need to succeed. Co-teachers Lilla Rogers & Zoë Tucker Enroll in Illustrating Children’s Books and you’ll get: Facebook Live broadcasts from class

assignmentInspiration 325x1007 Make Art That Sells Hurry! Last chance to sign up for Assignment Bootcamp + My Year of Art School!

Hurry! Last chance to sign up for Assignment Bootcamp + My Year of Art School!

Nothing is more fun that making your best artwork with a lively group of like-minded students. Tomorrow is the very last day to sign up for my popular Assignment Bootcamp class, and I want to lure you into joining me. Get a look at this stellar work done by my students for class. What astounds me is not just the abundance of talent, but the enthusiasm and coolness of our students. In the January Mini Assignment for Bootcamp, I eased the students into the big assignment with this fun, playful Mini Assignment. I always like to give a Mini Assignment that will bring out the best in each student. How? By making it approachable, easy to draw, but with a broad scope so there is plenty of room for diversity of styles. I asked the students to draw the contents of their own bags. Check out the work, and you’ll