Last month, Uppercase publisher Janine Vangool joined Lilla for a special LIVE REVIEW in our MATS Part A and Part B self-paced courses We shared one brand new assignment in each class and had over 100 submissions in each one. You can view the public galleries here. We are thrilled to be showcasing a 4 part series of the ‘picks’ that Lilla and Janine chose as part of the live review. Part 1 below is from the MATS A ASSIGNMENT: Illustrate the title page of a new version of the UPPERCASE Surface Pattern Guide, demonstrating your exuberant love of surface pattern. We shared one brand new assignment in each class and had over 100 submissions in each one. You can view the public galleries here: MATS A Gallery | MATS B Gallery SARAH GOLDEN Lilla and Janine’s thoughts: Really like the overall pattern with text. Incorporated hand- lettering is
Category:Creativity
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MATS Home Decor Student Showcase part 4 {January 2016 class}
We are so proud of our wonderful Make Art That Sells alumni and are pleased to showcase a series of gorgeous work that was produced in our January session of Creating Collections for Home Décor *** Kym Orr The items shown are from fabric week with a focus on flora and fauna. My chosen mood board was “La Marina,” a seaside/ocean theme. I tried to capture the look of seaweed in a contemporary way, presenting it alongside other ocean elements, which I then applied to pillows, lampshades, tea towels, and ottomans. This image is my favorite from the course because it most closely represents my style, and I would actually love to own all of the items. How did the Home Décor class help you grow? It helped me see the bigger picture, that my artwork could be applied to a whole world of objects. Seeing my artwork mocked-up on

#mymatsprep DAY 3: WHERE YOU’RE GOING TO WORK FOR THE 5 WEEK INTENSIVE COURSE
Photo by Lilla Rogers Find a spot where you’ll make art for the course. Is it outdoors? At your art table? At a café? On a balcony in Bermuda? (Ok, maybe your space isn’t a vacation spot. That’s ok.) This is where you’ll be making art for 5 weeks. Make it special and inviting. Add flowers. Line up your supplies. Get a new paint palette. Put your pencils in a kooky vase or can. Show us the photo! Join the fun and show us your images for MATS Prep! –Upload your image on Instagram tagging @makeartthatsells and give it the hashtag #mymatsprep –To see all the fantastic images for MATS prep: Go to the #mymatsprep tag here

Free access to a live review with Lilla Rogers and Margo Tantau!
Often, when working on your portfolio in the quiet of your own studio, and sending things out to potential clients in the hope of landing work, it can feel like you are scrabbling in the dark. Is this on trend? Is this what they are looking for? What could I do differently to make it catch someone’s eye? There’s no-one there to answer those key questions for you. Enter the brilliant team of Lilla Rogers and Margo Tantau, who bring you both the view of the art agent (who lands the cool jobs for her artists) and the art director (who buys the art from those artists). Their combined experience of over five decades in the industry, and the placing of art on hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of products, is unparalleled. And today we are offering you the chance to see them in action for free! We are
#mymatsprep DAY 1: ART CUP
Are you ready for #MyMATSPep? Lilla has cooked up a very special series of creative prompts, starting TODAY! It’s free, and Lilla has created a series of five mini assignments to get you ready for ‘MATS Creating Collections for Home Decor‘ all this week before the course starts next Monday. If you are not already signed up to the class, come and join us! Photos by Lilla Rogers/Anthropologie ART CUP Put your art on a CUP that you’d like to use every morning. Does it have words? Flowers? What is its shape? What colors? What does your handle look like? Is there a saucer? Does it match or is it different? Look at that, you have just designed a product. Margo and I will teach you how to do tons of this on the top home décor substrates such as metal, wood, glass, ceramic fabric. Extra credit: Upload and order

Alumni success ‘spotlight’ interview with Emma McGowan
We are so proud of our Make Art That Sells Alumni, that we are pleased to being 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 Emma McGowan. Emma has taken our Bootcamp for the last 2 years, entered the Global Talent Search 2 years running and attended our Global Art Gathering in the UK Tell us a little about how you got started in art and design My dad was a commercial artist and I loved the fact that his work tools were pens and pencils and a drawing board. The margins of my schoolbooks were filled with doodles and I always intended to become an artist. But instead of going to art school I somehow

#homedecsecrets Part 5: WOOD/MDF
When making art to pitch to an art director to get one’s very own home decor collection, most people think of plopping their art on pillows, lampshades, and something to hang on the wall. Did you know that there are tons of products you can show that will help you stand out? You can take a product like a ceramic plate, for example, and indicate a raised or embossed design? These extras are called ‘finishing techniques’ and all this week we have been sharing a peek at some of the finishing techniques showcased in our upcoming class ‘MATS: Creating Collections for Home Décor’ (which starts on Monday 16 May!). We are giving you daily prompts to get your creative juices flowing. Our last material is… WOOD/MDF. Wood is such a basic part of our every day, it’s something we almost forget about. Take a look around your house… what is

#homedecsecrets Part 3: GLASS
Did you know that you can take your home decor product pitch from good to great by adding what’s called “Finishing Techniques”? All this week we are sharing a peek at some of the finishing techniques showcased in our upcoming class ‘MATS: Creating Collections for Home Décor’, and giving you daily prompts to start seeing more possibilities for your art. Next up is GLASS… Glass is always a little mystifying and daunting, because it seems fragile yet strong all at once. It is ethereal, beautiful, purposeful, and practical. And we need it! Glass can be the basis of some amazing Home Décor pieces. Lighting, is a major use of glass – think lamp bases, pendant lamps, glass or crystal baubles hanging from a chandelier. Think pressed glass – something that would come out of a mold, like glasses, plates, or perhaps some decorative artwork pieces or glass tiles. Think serving

Cool new free #mymatsprep series for you
It’s that time again! Get your hashtags ready as #mymatsprep is about to begin again! This time we are gearing up for our upcoming course ‘MATS: Creating Collections for Home Décor’. The daily #mymatsprep prompts are designed to warm up everyone registered for class, but anyone can join in. A brand new #mymatsprep series will be shared on the blog every day next week so mark your diary and keep your eyes out! Example of some finishing techniques used on metal – products from CBK And if you missed it, all this week we are running a fun series of #HomeDecSecrets (yes we’ve gone a little hashtag crazy). These daily blog posts give you insights into some of the fascinating finishing techniques used on home décor products. This will make you realise the expanse of possibilities available for your art in this market. You can find out more and join

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.