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Category:#matsprep
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Get Part 3 of your FREE children’s book illustration assignment!

Lilla here! Firstly, don’t forget to join me and my brilliant Illustrating Children’s Books co-teacher, children’s book art director and author Zoë Tucker, for a FREE live Zoom event TOMORROW Friday, October 6th, at 12 noon ET/5 pm BST. We’ll be talking about the #MATSprep, showing off some of our favorite picture books, answering your questions and giving away a FREE place in class! Don’t miss it! Set an alarm now! Join the Zoom here – you’ll also find a link in our Instagram Stories tomorrow, and on the front page of our website at www.makeartthatsells.com. I recently shared the first two parts of a FREE three-part warm-up exercise that I’ve created for you ahead of Illustrating Children’s Books, which starts THIS MONDAY, October 9th. If you missed them, you can catch up on Part 1 here and Part 2 here. How did you enjoy Part 2? I bet you


matsprepSQ DAY2

FREE children’s book illustration assignment Part 2 – plus a bonus!

Lilla here! Firstly, don’t forget to join me and my brilliant Illustrating Children’s Books co-teacher, children’s book art director and author Zoë Tucker, for a FREE live Zoom event next Friday, October 6th, at 12 noon ET/5 pm BST. Meet your teachers: top art agent Lilla (left) and brilliant children’s book art director and author Zoë (right). Join them LIVE on Zoom and you could win a FREE place in class! We’ll be talking about the #MATSprep, showing off some of our favorite picture books, answering your questions and giving away a FREE place in class! Don’t miss it! Pop a note on your calendar now. Join the Zoom here – you’ll also find a link in next week’s blog, in our Instagram Stories, and on the front page of our website at www.makeartthatsells.com. A couple of days ago I shared the first part of a FREE three-part #MATSprep warm-up


matsprepSQ DAY1

FREE children’s book illustration assignment #1: Create a character

Lilla here! Today I’m going to share the first part of my FREE #MATSprep for my online course, Illustrating Children’s Books. I really love teaching this course. Why? Because I feel your excitement, your commitment, and no matter if you’re starting at the beginning or are an experienced published illustrator, I’m so happy that you want to strive to make the best children’s book illustration that you can make. I love seeing your work, and I love watching the inevitable growth that occurs over the five weeks of the course. What’s a #MATSprep? It’s a FREE warm up exercise to get you ready for class, and it’s open to everyone, whether you’re signed up for class or not. Illustrating Children’s Books 2023 starts in less than two weeks, on Monday, October 9th, so over the week and a half, I’ll be sharing this free assignment I wrote especially for class.


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Join our new FREE art challenge and WIN!

Drum roll please … Introducing our fab new FREE quarterly Art Challenge! Deadlines and challenges are a creative’s best friend – they’re a great way to motivate yourself and get on with making fantastic art without having to think too much about what you’re going to create. Here’s the low down: Art agent Lilla will set you a fresh new art challenge once every quarter, on September 1st, December 1st, March 1st, and June 1st. The topic will ONLY be revealed by email. That means you MUST be on our mailing list to take part. Sign up here now. You’ll have exactly one week to complete the challenge. Enter by sharing to social media with the hashtag #MATSArtChallenge and by emailing a jpg version to [email protected] with the subject line MATS Art Challenge. Lilla will pick her favorite piece of art submitted before the deadline. Art supplies at the ready:


IMG 6298 2 2 Make Art That Sells Here’s Part 2 of your FREE illustration assignment!

Here’s Part 2 of your FREE illustration assignment!

Lilla here. Today I’m sharing Part 2 of the FREE #MATSprep illustration assignment I created for you to get you warmed up for Bootcamp Special: Character Play. Today you’re going to find out exactly how easy it is to create winning characters for some of the hottest art markets right now. This course really is for all levels! Win a free place in class! First I need to remind you to join me and my brilliant Bootcamp Special teachers, Zoë and Riley, in a FREE live Zoom event on the first day of class, Monday, July 10th at 12 noon ET/5 pm BST! Zoë and Riley are both incredible teachers who are a joy to learn from as well as having huge amounts of information to share, and I know we’re going to have a blast. Join us – scribble a note on your hand now so you don’t forget!


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Open for a sweet treat: FREE assignment inside!

Lilla here. Today I’m sharing the first part of a FREE two part #MATSprep illustration assignment I’ve created for you to get you warmed up and ready for Bootcamp Special: Character Play, which starts Monday, July 10th! Q: Hold up. What’s Bootcamp Special: Character Play? A: Bootcamp Special: Character Play is a playful, relaxed course that’s designed to boost your creativity and give you more income streams for your art, so you can make more money doing what you love. It focuses on two fabulous art markets – children’s picture books and toys and games – and is taught by two top experts. I am grateful to the thousands of students who have taken my Make Art That Sells courses and the kind words you send me about my teaching style, because you’ve found that my assignments grow your art like nothing else and because they help you land real


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Light your fire: 2 FREE mini assignments from art agent Lilla

Lilla here. Something else came up in a recent live Zoom event with my My Arty Book Pitch students that I wanted to share with you. Here’s what I want you to know. I see how hard you’re working to get that project to happen, whatever it might be. For my My Arty Book Pitch students, it’s their illustrated book pitch, but it might be building a portfolio or setting up a new website or sending out kidlitart postcards or honing your style. That new phase – learning new things, discovering new things you want to do – should never stop. Here I am, in my late 60s, and I’m still figuring out what floats my boat, how I can help, what makes me excited, and what I’m dying to do. My first book, I just like to make things, for Quarry Books. I want you to keep that passion.


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FREE VIDEOS: 11 different themes for your picture book story

Art agent Lilla shares 11 different themes for your picture book story Hurry HURRY – My Kid Book Pitch 2023 starts TODAY, and there’s still time to sign up! Join the class now and get Section 1 of your [128]-page workbook and your full set of Lilla’s dreamy Magic Cards, and join Lilla for your first LIVE webinar of the week! Don’t miss out! Here’s your schedule for Week 1. Find the full schedule for this four week magic-packed class here. Still wondering what your story could be about? Still worried that you’re maybe not really a writer? Lilla has tons of experience of working with artists and other creative people, and she designed this course especially to teach artists and illustrators how to write, beta testing it on her artists before rolling it out to you, our wonderful students. Katie Vernon, a Make Art That Sells student who is


MATS PREP CCHD DAY 5 SQUARE

Win a FREE place in the Zoom TODAY plus final FREE assignment inside

Lilla here. I can’t wait for you to join me in class! Creating Collections for Home Décor LIVE starts THIS Monday, February 13th, and I sure hope that you’re as excited as I am! First up, don’t forget to join me and my fabulous Creating Collections for Home Décor co-teacher, Margo Tantau, for a FREE live Zoom event TODAY, Friday, February 10th, at 12 noon ET/5 pm GMT! We’ll be talking about the #MATSprep, answering your questions about the course and anything else you want to ask us from our decades in the industry, and popping a volunteer up onto the screen so we can chat to them directly. Plus we’ll be giving away a FREE place in class to one lucky viewer (if you’ve already signed up then you can swap it for a different Make Art That Sells course or gift it to a friend)! Don’t miss it!


MATS PREP CCHD DAY 4 SQUARE

FREE assignment: Let’s explore your kooky personality

Lilla here. I’m excited to share Part 4 of this #MATSprep warm up exercise I’ve created for you ahead of my course, Creating Collections for Home Décor, which starts NEXT MONDAY, February 13th. You can catch up on the previous parts here if you missed them, or just dive straight in. If you haven’t signed up for Creating Collections for Home Décor yet, there’s still time! You’ll spend an incredible five weeks with me and my fantastic co-teacher, creative director and trend queen Margo Tantau, learning everything you need to know to create and license products for the lucrative home décor market. You’ll create some stunning art and learn how to present your designs as collections, making them more appealing to clients. The course is packed with information from our decades in the industry – don’t miss it! Sign up now. In Part 3 of this free #MATSprep, we started