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HELENportraitdrawing Make Art That Sells Meet Helen Stephens, renowned children's book illustrator and author of How to Hide a Lion

Meet Helen Stephens, renowned children’s book illustrator and author of How to Hide a Lion

Meet Helen Stephens Today, we have an interview with children’s book illustrator Helen Stephens, who calls herself an authorstrator: an author who writes with pictures and adds words in where needed. Helen drawing Helen has been creating children’s books for over 17 years and she is known for her bright, instantly recognisable illustrations. As well as illustrating for authors like Michael Morpurgo, Cécile Aubry, Sophie Hannah, Holly Webb and Roger McGough, Helen writes her own stories. These include Fleabag, The Night Iceberg, The Big Adventures of the Smalls, the Betsy toddler series, and How to Hide a Lion, which has sold in 14 languages, been nominated for The Kate Greenaway Medal and The Redhouse Book Awards and won the Prix Livrentete. It is now being developed for stage at The Polka Theatre in Wimbledon, where it will be shown this Christmas. The most recent additions to Helen’s ever-expanding portfolio include


mymatsprep daily art Make Art That Sells 5 Free daily art assignments #myMATSprep

5 Free daily art assignments #myMATSprep

We are very excited about the upcoming MATS Prep! Back by popular demand! Starting Monday September 19, Lilla will help you grow your work to prepare you for our newest course, Illustrating Children’s Books. This #myMATSprep is a little different than previous ones!  Each day you will be building upon the assignment you worked on the day before.  So that by the end of the week you will have a finished piece of artwork which may even be a portfolio piece! In this 5 day free mini series of assignments, you will learn about: character setting scale and perspective scene magic environment Find out who this young girl is and why it matters to Illustrating Children’s Books: Learn about playing with scale and flipping:   BONUS: Every day in #MyMATSprep is complete with a tip from Lilla for you on being the best artist you can be. What is #myMATSprep? It’s


Q1 Make Art That Sells If you were a children's book character, who would you be and why?

If you were a children’s book character, who would you be and why?

How about you? who would you be and why? Comment on our Facebook post here or share an image of your character on Instagram with your comments. Be sure to tag @makeartthatsells and use the hashtag #MATSKidBook so we can see your character! *** Would you like to develop your own characters in our ‘Illustrating Children’s Book‘ class? Do you dream of illustrating a children’s book? Would you love to create a magical world with characters that you’ve designed? Do you love the magic of children’s books and feel that you have something to offer? Then this course is for you. In five weeks, you’ll create a brilliant children’s book pitch to help you land your dream children’s book gig. You’ll get over 20 videos, weekly assignments, live weekly video reviews, interviews with publishers and illustrators and more. Co-taught by top art agent Lilla Rogers and highly-respected children’s book art


gts imafinalist Make Art That Sells 2016 Global Talent Search Finalists announced!

2016 Global Talent Search Finalists announced!

The wait is over. It’s time to reveal the 2016 Global Talent Search Finalists, chosen from the 50 Semi-Finalists (who were selected from nearly 1,000 artists’ work). We are thrilled to unveil the SIX Finalists, knowing that one of these artists’ careers is about to change forever. Five were chosen by our panel of industry experts, and one chosen via public vote (our peoples choice winner). The overall competition winner will be represented by Lilla Rogers Studio for two years, and win a host of licensing deals from prestigious companies (see here for the awesome prize details). The second assignment Lilla created was full of possibilities! The Semi-Finalists were asked to design a cover of a dessert recipe book from Sunny’s Cafe. So without further ado, here we go… Over 10,000 votes were cast by the public, and we can now reveal that the 2016 Global Talent Search People’s Choice


MANI2016 BERNA DATEMA Make Art That Sells Manifesto Monday 2016 {part 6}

Manifesto Monday 2016 {part 6}

Welcome to Manifesto Monday, where we share some of the Manifesto artwork submitted by our Make Art That Sells Alumni. Would you like to experience the Make Art That Sells class yourself? Browse our live and self-paced classes here *** MARISA PARRA Through the wonderful MATS Global Talent Search and resources, I feel that my art has been brought to new heights. I find that I’m being more relaxed when it comes to creating my art work, which is making me more in tune to my creativity. I even find myself experimenting and playing more with different mediums. See more of Marisa’s work here *** BERNA DATEMA | BERNA’S PLAYGROUND I have taken MATS A, B, Bootcamp and Home Decor, I joined the Global Art Gathering in Brighton and participated in the Global Taken Search. I took all this classes because I feel I am getting better and better in


gts votenow Make Art That Sells Cast your vote! 2016 Global Talent Search Public Voting is now open! Vote now and help launch an artist’s career.

Cast your vote! 2016 Global Talent Search Public Voting is now open! Vote now and help launch an artist’s career.

We’re incredibly excited to unveil the online gallery of the submissions for the second assignment of the 2016 Global Talent Search! We’d love you to vote for your top five favorites. The 50 Semi-Finalists were announced two weeks ago and then were given Assignment #2 to challenge them further. They’ve just finished the assignment, and now you get to vote on your choices. At the same time, our esteemed panel of VIP judges will also go in and privately select their top favorites. “Sunny” checking out a London café In the second assignment we continue the adventure of our fictional character, ‘Sunny Spindler’ (played by our own marketing director, Reine Sloan) who visits a café to discuss the cover of her cookbook with her editor. Our 50 semi-finalists have accepted the challenge to design the cookbook cover, and now you can see the brilliance that they’ve submitted, here. Why did


matsD freevideo square Make Art That Sells NEW Free video series--Children’s Book Illustration: Expert Tips. Starts Monday, September 12th

NEW Free video series–Children’s Book Illustration: Expert Tips. Starts Monday, September 12th

Please join me the week of September 12th, to watch our new, free video series. Gather insight from Zoe Tucker, children’s book art director as we share with you: 5 things you must have in a children’s book illustration pitch How you can transition from another art market to children’s book illustration Why you don’t even need to draw realistically What exactly the children’s book art director does to help you to make your book go from good to great On the last day join Zoe and me for storytime. I’ll read one of my favorite children’s books which illustrates many of the points we teach in our new course. It’s a book that breaks many of the rules! Your teachers in our newest course, Illustrating Children’s Books. Lilla on the left, and top children’s book art director Zoe Tucker on the right. Sign up for the free 5 part


MANI2016 NICOLA DELAMAIN Make Art That Sells Manifesto Monday 2016 {part 5}

Manifesto Monday 2016 {part 5}

Welcome to Manifesto Monday, where we share some of the Manifesto artwork submitted by our Make Art That Sells Alumni. Would you like to experience the Make Art That Sells class yourself? Browse our live and self-paced classes here ***  NICOLA DELAMAIN I have taken MATS B, Bootcamp, the Global Talent Search and attended MATS Live in Brighton. MATS has inspired me to get out there and show off my talent! Lilla and the MATS live team left me brimming with confidence and gave me a can do attitude. See more of Nicola’s work here *** AMY M ALEXANDER | CAPTAIN DOODLE LIMITED Currently enrolled with MATS A, but very excited about the Illustrating Children’s Book Course! Lilla’s empowering resources and approachable method was more than enough inspiration to prompt my enrolment with the MATS(A) Course this past January. The course has not only provided me with valuable market insight


IreneLee Make Art That Sells Alumni success 'spotlight' interview with Irene Lee

Alumni success ‘spotlight’ interview with Irene Lee

We are so proud of our Make Art That Sells Alumni, that we are pleased to continue 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 Irene Lee.  Irene has taken MATS Bootcamp and participated in the Global Talent Search. Tell us a little about how you got started in art and design It may sound cliche to say that I’ve always been into art, design and crafts. I grew up drawing all the time and crafting a ton. On my birthday, my mom would take me to the craft supply store and let me buy a bunch of pom poms and ribbon and whatever else I was into. I just kept drawing, painting and taking photos


Lilla video crop Make Art That Sells How do I know who becomes a success? Watch Lilla's free video series

How do I know who becomes a success? Watch Lilla’s free video series

I am often asked, “Lilla, am I good enough? Will I make it as a successful artist?” After all these years of teaching and representing artists, I have a pretty good handle on who will be successful. Or more importantly, what are the top qualities that one must develop? Why do some make it and others don’t? I discuss all of this in my free video series “On the Road to Artistic Success” here. You may be asking yourself: Am I good enough? So much great art out there—where do I fit it in? How can I make my art the best it can be? What is success for me? Join me as I share my thoughts on these questions, and more, here xo Lilla P.S. If you enjoy our free video’s, keep an eye out for the new video series, all about Illustrating Children’s Books! More information in next