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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 (as I write this, there are around 2,000 posts on Instagram for #mymatsprep and over 2,500 for #mygtsprep), and I thoroughly enjoy writing them. I hope you’ve found them helpful. So today, for our

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

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 scene

We are pretending all week that you have just been commissioned to illustrate a children’s book. Yesterday, you played around with drawing a character called “Minette”. Now, you’re going to play with the setting. The environment, or setting, is one of the most exciting parts of a children’s book. Why? Illustrators love settings because it’s their opportunity to create an imaginative world that adds to the text. What’s the view out of your window? All photos by Lilla Rogers For today, you’re going to make a setting exploration drawing. Go to your bedroom window and draw what you see outside. (If you don’t have a window in your bedroom, you can choose another window.) Do your visual research. Look up at the sky, look down below, look for people, cars, trees, things on the sidewalk, things in the distance. I can’t wait to see what you see! What’s the view