Lilla here. Oh, man, you are a whole bunch of brilliant artists! You delight me with your imagination, sensitivity, talent. You may have seen in last week’s newsletter that we’ve decided to create a free public gallery to showcase all the incredible art that you’ve created over the past few weeks – find it here, and please do use it. I love to see what you’ve done. Of course, you can share your art on social media too – remember to use the tag #MATSprep and tag @makeartthatsells so I can see.
I trick you into doing your best work! You’re going to be amazed at what you can achieve in my classes.
(By the way, have you heard that I’m looking to represent new artists I’ve spotted in Make Art That Sells classes? All 20 of the artists I’ve offered representation to since Make Art That Sells started in 2013 have been former students – because I have you so well trained, and because I trick you into doing your very best work! So many of my artists are fully booked up right now – especially those who can do children’s book illustration – so I’m on the lookout, especially from amongst Illustrating Children’s Books students. In fact, I’ve just taken on yet another Make Art That Sells student – can you guess who? We’ll be doing the big reveal a week from today!)
I hope that you’ve enjoyed this free #MATSprep as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it and seeing all your beautiful art. It’s a great way to warm up and get ready for Illustrating Children’s Books, which starts this Monday, and it also gives you a taste of my teaching style, to see if it’s a good fit.
Today, for our last day of Prep, you’re going to live the life of a children’s book illustrator. It’s about placing a character into an environment. That’s the nuts and bolts of illustrating a kid book, and it’s just one of the things you’re going to learn in my course, Illustrating Children’s Books.
I want you to take your drawing of Jitna from the very first prep and place her into any scene that you’ve done so far. If you’re just joining us, check out the previous assignments on the blog here to catch up.
Where is Jitna? Is she enjoying the environment? Is she scared? Brave? Create a story in your head for her. Play. Daydream. This is your art and you’re the boss of it!
Share your art!
Once you’re done, upload it to our public gallery here, and don’t forget to share on social media too if you’d like to (tag @makeartthatsells and use the hashtag #MATSprep so I can see).
Your final task, after you’ve uploaded your art to our gallery, is to look back over everything you’ve done for this prep. Take a minute to appreciate how far you’ve come. Congratulate yourself. Let it sink in. If you’ve grown this much in just five short assignments, just think how much you can achieve in five wonderful weeks!
Brilliant children’s book art director and Make Art That Sells co-teacher Zoë Tucker (left) and Make Art That Sells co-founder Beth Kempton
Finally, if you like to listen to podcasts while you create, we have a treat for you this week, as Beth Kempton interviews Zoë Tucker ahead of Illustrating Children’s Books! For those of you who haven’t met them yet, Beth is a co-founder of Make Art That Sells and a bestselling author, and Zoë Tucker co-teaches Illustrating Children’s Books with me and is also a brilliant children’s book art director and bestselling children’s picture book author. They chat about everything from how to pitch a children’s picture book to how to thrive as a children’s book illustrator to how it feels to see your words come alive on the page: listen below for free here.
Enjoy, and see you in class.
Lots of love
Lilla xxx
P.S. I’ve been having tons of inspiring conversations recently? Did you miss my brilliant chat with the wonderful Vanessa Brantley-Newton, an illustrator of over 87 children’s books and diversity expert? Watch the replay here.
Mark your calendars! Join me this Monday, July 27th @ 12 Noon ET/5pm UK, for a FREE public live event with my brilliant co-teacher, Zoë Tucker for the first day of Illustrating Children’s Books! We’ll be showing a few of our favorite children’s books and sharing what makes the illustrations so spectacular. Join us!
And finally, join me TODAY, Thursday, July 23rd, at 12.30 ET/5.30 pm GMT for a free WebinART Zoom with my wonderful artist, Julia Christians. We’ll be talking about her process (“the three Ps: Photoshop, Pencils and Procreate”), her tips on working from home with two kids and how she stays sane, and we’ll do a giveaway of one of her beautiful illustrated books. Join us here, password Julia77.
