Category:Tips & Advice
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Posted on March 5, 2020.

FREE VIDEO: What does an art agent look for in a portfolio?

Did you hear the big news? Our surprise special guest for March Bootcamp is … Lisa Congdon! Fine artist and illustrator Lisa Congdon is best known for her colorful, graphic drawings and hand lettering, and for sharing creative inspiration through her books, podcast recordings, Instagram feed and public speaking. She’s the author of eight books, including the starving-artist-myth-smashing Art Inc: The Essential Guide to Building Your Career as an Artist, bestselling Whatever You Are, Be a Good One, and her latest book Find Your Artistic Voice: The Essential Guide to Working Your Creative Magic. She has worked for clients around the world including Comme des Garçons, Crate and Barrel, Facebook, MoMA, REI, among many others. She was named one of 40 Women Over 40 in 2015 and is featured in the 2017 book, 200 Women Who Will Change the Way you See the World – and in case you can’t

Posted on January 3, 2020.

Get your FREE Dream Armadillo and Dream Snail worksheets!

Happy new year from all of us here at Make Art That Sells! What are your plans for the year, large or small? You may remember me, British Jennie, from a couple of newsletters in December. I write all of the Make Art That Sells newsletters and social media posts and various other bits and bobs behind the scenes, but aside from that I also have three smallish children, two cats and a dog. In 2020, my goals, as for the previous decade, will mainly revolve around getting enough sleep. It absolutely blows my mind that ten years ago I would go to bed with the full expectation of being able to sleep uninterrupted for eight whole hours, night after night, without someone needing a drink of water or a trip to the bathroom or to have monsters flushed out from under the bed or sudden reassurance about something that

Posted on December 12, 2019.

Tips from a top art agent: Lilla’s advice for the holidays

Hi everyone, it’s British Jennie here. I write all of the Make Art That Sells newsletters and social media posts and various other bits and bobs behind the scenes. Earlier this year, I was lucky enough to visit Lilla at her home and studio in Boston, which was wonderful for many reasons, but one that struck me as soon as I walked in is that it’s such an incredible space. It’s beautiful, and it’s so so clean. I have three small children, so this was like stepping into a different world for me. She has no yogurt on her walls, no one has inexplicably left a Slinky, a doll’s head and two sticks next to her coffee machine, there are no foodstuffs smeared on any of her furniture. It was amazing. What’s her secret? Grown children and professional help, of course, but I wanted to know if she had any

Posted on December 1, 2019.

Find out how you’re going to get a kid book deal in 2020, plus get our FREE job-snagging download

Ready for your kid book deal? Let art agent Lilla Rogers and children’s author and children’s book art director Zoë Tucker teach you everything you need to know! There’s something magical about a picture book, isn’t there? Opening the pages, the feel, the smell – and of course the beautiful art. How must it feel to get to illustrate a book of your very own: to spend weeks or months digging deep into the text and bringing it to life for generations of children to enjoy – and getting paid to do it? How do you get a picture book gig? By showing art directors and publishers exactly what they want to see in your portfolio and pitch. And that’s what top art agent Lilla Rogers and recently published children’s author and brilliant children’s book art director Zoë Tucker are going to do. If you’re dreaming of illustrating – or

Posted on November 29, 2019.

How to build a show-stopping portfolio

Here’s the big reveal for Day 4 of our fab FREE cyber sale #MATSprep: meet #illustratorBarbie! Isn’t being an illustrator just the best job ever? Getting to hang out in your pajamas all day making art and getting paid for it? Share your finished piece with us on Instagram and let us know what you love most about being an illustrator in the caption! What did Lilla love about being an illustrator? Find out, including why it’s the opposite of soul-crushing in the audio clip below. Our Giant Cyber Sale is now on, which means that, until next Monday, December 2nd ONLY, all your old favorites plus our exciting NEW classes for 2020 are heavily discounted! Registration for all of our outstanding courses for 2020, including Lilla’s brand new courses, My Kid Book Pitch and Lilla’s Mystery Box, will be open next year at full price, but you can grab

Posted on November 18, 2019.

Get your FREE Dream Armadillo downloadable worksheet!

How will your 2020 look? Which art markets will you focus on? Want to make your art even better? Want to get your beautiful art in front of a top art agent and maybe snag yourself representation? Let the Dream Armadillo lead the way! Art agent Lilla has come up with yet another brilliant and wacky downloadable worksheet to help you start to plan how you’re going to take your amazing creative career to the next level in 2020. Plus we’ll also reveal our schedule of raved-about courses for 2020, so you can get planning and plotting your year ahead! Meet the Dream Armadillo! What are your career goals for 2020? How will you meet them? We’ve got everything that you need to help you make art that sells and build a successful creative career! To help you to start to think about your career goals and dreams for 2020,

Posted on October 21, 2019.

Discover the top 5 things you need to show in your portfolio to get a lucrative editorial career!

Just one week to go until the start of Editorial: Illustrating for Magazines and More (The Popular Culture Edit)! Hurry – book your place here! What do you need to show in your portfolio to land editorial illustration jobs? Art agent and former illustrator Lilla shares her tips below! As well as being a top art agent and an excellent educator who has taught everyone from professional artists to little kids, Make Art That Sells co-founder and teacher Lilla Rogers was also a successful illustrator, so she has boatloads of advice, tip and insight to share with you. What’s editorial illustration? Broadly, it means anything having to do with text (words). For example, it could be something like a magazine article, a newspaper article, a blog, a news site like the Guardian or the New York Times, or a book cover or interior. Hear Lilla explain what an illustration can

Posted on August 29, 2019.

Make beautiful color palettes from ugly colors! By professional artist Mara Penny

Do you want to know how to make beautiful color palettes from ugly colors? We’re thrilled to be able to share a guest post today from illustrator and color enthusiast, Mara Penny. If you’ve watched any of our free Facebook Live events, you’ll already know that color can be a dealbreaker for top art agent and Make Art That Sells co-founder and teacher Lilla Rogers, but getting started with color can be intimidating. Don’t panic! Let Mara break it all down and show you how you can easily make beautiful color palettes … How to make beautiful color palettes from ugly colors Hello everyone! My name is Mara Penny and I live in Oakland, California. I am one of Lilla’s artists after joining Lilla Rogers Studio just over two years ago. I have taken many, many Make Art That Sells courses over the last five years and am a verified

Posted on May 30, 2019.

FREE class on composition for illustrators from top art agent Lilla Rogers!

Today we’re sharing a great FREE mini class from art agent Lilla Rogers on composition for illustrators, to help you become a composition master! As an educator, Lilla has taught everyone from little kids to professional artists, but one thing remains constant: she breaks down complex ideas in a way that makes it whimsical and fun, and accessible for everyone. Or as Lilla says, “I trick you into doing your best work.” Just check out this lovely composition for illustrators class to see what we mean. Kick-ass composition for illustrators by Lilla Rogers Lilla here. Years and years of illustrating full-time taught me ways to design a page, and now I’ll share them with you. I’ve gathered some flora from my mother-in-law’s bucolic country garden in Western Massachusetts to show you some of my own favorite composition layouts. How your artwork is composed is so important! I’ve seen really great imagery passed on by art directors because the overall

Posted on April 26, 2019.

Get a FREE sneak peek into our Creating Collections for Home Décor e-course

Do you dream of having your own home décor collection? Imagine dropping round to a friend’s house for coffee and finding that she’s got mugs that you designed … Or imagine seeing your stunning art on beautiful cushions and throws in a shop and hearing customers exclaim over how lovely they are … Or imagine your fabulous china being picked up and featured in a glossy style magazine. How would that feel? Work done in class by Lilla’s artist Katie Vernon Feeling inspired? Our wonderful indepth ecourse, Creating Collections for Home Décor, is self-paced, so you can start right NOW! Created by top art agent Lilla Rogers and trend queen creative director Margo Tantau, it will help you build a professional, market-savvy and downright kickass pitch presentation featuring five of the most popular materials used in home décor. Plus you can currently save 20% on both Creating Collections for Home Décor and our brand new LIVE course, Home Décor Plus,