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.

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

mymatsprep daily art DAY5 V2 Make Art That Sells #MYMATSPREP: Jitna in your scene (Day 5)

#MYMATSPREP: Jitna in your scene (Day 5)

Oh, man, you are a whole bunch of brilliant artists! You delight me with your imagination, sensitivity, talent. Are you enjoying yourself? Play. Visit Instagram and search the hashtag #mymatsprep to see the vast array of terrific art being created this week for the MATS Prep. You know, a few years ago we came up with the idea of a free mini series as preparation for our courses. We figured that it would be a way for the students to get geared up for class and also to get a taste for what my teaching style is like, to see if it’s a good fit. We have been wowed with the response to our MATS Preps, and I thoroughly enjoy writing them. I hope you’ve found them helpful. So today, for our last day of Prep, you’re going to live the life of a children’s book illustrator. It’s about placing a

MatejaL Studio Make Art That Sells Alumni success 'spotlight' interview with Mateja Lukezic

Alumni success ‘spotlight’ interview with Mateja Lukezic

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 Mateja Lukezic from Mima illustration​ who has taken our Illustrating Children’s Books class. Tell us a little about how you got started in art and design I was working for seven years as a graphic designer in a big company. When I came back to work after the birth of my second child I felt something was missing. I couldn’t be creative in the way I wanted. I decided to leave my job, which was not an easy decision and go to college. I obtained a degree for Scenography and Animation. I was invited to make illustrations

nikki upsher photo Make Art That Sells Alumni success 'spotlight' interview with Nikki Upsher

Alumni success ‘spotlight’ interview with Nikki Upsher

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 Nikki Upsher Design, who has taken MATS A, MATS B, Creating Collections for Home Decor and Illustrating Children’s Books. Nikki was also a finalist in our 2015 Global Talent Search. Tell us a little about how you got started in art and design I did a degree in fashion design and graduated in 1988….i worked in the fashion industry for 20 years. I retrained 10 years ago in graphic design and worked as a greeting card designer for 5 years for a big UK company and left to freelance in Nov 2014. Lilla always says

mymatsprep daily art DAY4 V2 Make Art That Sells #MYMATSPREP: Scene Magic (Day 4)

#MYMATSPREP: Scene Magic (Day 4)

Wow, what fantastic worlds you created yesterday. I dig your wacky minds. By the way, if you’ve just joined us, you can start any time. Visit Instagram and search the hashtag #mymatsprep to see the vast array of terrific art being created this week for the MATS Prep. Today, I’m going to teach you three giant tricks to create depth (distance) in your artwork. –If you draw something on the top of your page, it looks like it’s far away. For example, if you draw a little house toward the top of your page, it looks like it’s in the distance. That’s because our understanding of distance in art is that the higher up the page, the farther away. And then, by making stuff smaller, it enhances the illusion of distance. The converse is true: things at the bottom of the page are close to the viewer. You can enhance

profile pic alexandra thompson Make Art That Sells Alumni success 'spotlight' interview with Alexandra Thompson

Alumni success ‘spotlight’ interview with Alexandra Thompson

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 Alexandra Thompson, who has taken Bootcamp and Illustrating Children’s Books. Tell us a little about how you got started in art and design Art has always been a huge part of my life. I’ve been drawing since I can remember and my family always encouraged me to pursue the arts. When I was small I used to get up early before anyone was awake and pop in Disney VHS movies. I would hit pause and draw the characters from the shaky screen. I’d always dreamed of creating picture books, but I ended up getting

Lisa Larsen Portrait Lg Make Art That Sells Alumni success 'spotlight' interview with Lisa Larsen

Alumni success ‘spotlight’ interview with Lisa Larsen

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 Lisa Larsen, who has taken Bootcamp, Mats-A and the Global Talent Search How did you get started in art and design? Art is something that has always been part of my life. I started painting as a child and throughout my life as an adult I have taken many art education courses, participated in several art shows, founded a couple of art rubber stamp and greeting card companies, and so on. However, I truly started my career as an artist and designer after I retired from 25 years of working in high tech. I decided

mymatsprep daily art DAY3 V2 Make Art That Sells #MYMATSPREP: Setting flip (Day 3)

#MYMATSPREP: Setting flip (Day 3)

  I’m going to make you flip out today! Children are so in touch with their imagination. They live in fantasy land a great deal of the time. Children will love your imaginative world. I’m eager today to help you make some magic. Take the drawing you did of the view out of your bedroom window from yesterday (or if you didn’t do it yet, no worries; you can dive right in today). Now, flip the proportions of things. For example: Make huge buildings tiny. Make little insects huge. If the people were big, make them small. If they were small (like you’re looking down at the from the top floor of a building), then draw them huge. You get the idea. It’s going to be crazy! Little people and huge plants. Draw it, and show us. I cannot wait to enjoy what you’ve done! You’ll be creating some more