How are you feeling right now? Have you settled into this new strange normal yet? Do you feel odd when you see people on TV standing close to each other? Can you remember the last time you wore shoes?
Maybe you’re feeling anxious or stressed or just downright bored. Maybe you’re loving the slower pace of life. Maybe you’re somewhere between the two, finding occasional glimpses of joy amongst the dull dross of day to day life.
To give you a focus, a distraction or simply some creative inspiration for the next few weeks, top art agent and Make Art That Sells co-founder and teacher, Lilla Rogers, has put together four weeks’ worth of FREE assignments which we’ll be sharing throughout the month of May.
You can use them to journal, to create a keepsake of this strange time, or even as portfolio pieces. Lilla says: “As a creative person, you have the magical ability to communicate your feelings to others. They would be especially good for editorial: magazines, book covers, news sites and other websites all need your powerful art right now.” Illustrators can step in and depict what’s happening in a way that photography alone can’t – once you’ve seen one doc in a facemask, you’ve seen them all, right?
Drum roll please … Your first FREE assignment is My Happy Future Me!
Enjoy inspiring and uplifting FREE assignments from top art agent Lilla Rogers every week in May. Here’s your first one! What will your happy future look like?
British Jennie: Lilla, what was your thinking when you were creating this worksheet?
Lilla: It’s so important right now to envision a brighter time ahead. Maybe the future will bring some amazingly positive changes in your life and the life of our sweet planet. In each box, draw or write about the future. You can imagine what the world will be like, what things will look like for you, or what you want your future to look like. Reflect on how each box would make you feel. Then, using those feelings words, fill in the blanks at the bottom of the page, and sign it.
My Happy Future Me by Katie Vernon, a Make Art That Sells student who is now represented by Lilla Rogers.
British Jennie: I definitely need this right now. At the moment, the highlight of my day is when the mailman arrives and brings me all the weird stuff I’ve been buying online. Any tips for how to fill it out?
Lilla: I gave this assignment to my artists, so I’ll share some of what they did with you. Remember just to use them as a starting point to inspire you. Isn’t it incredible to see how different they all are?
My Happy Future Me by Erica Root, a Make Art That Sells student who is now represented by Lilla Rogers.
British Jennie: It really is. They’re stunning! But Lilla, online shopping, begging my children to please put on clothes they haven’t slept in and idle snacking can only fill so many hours of my day. What else can we do while we wait for next week’s amazing free assignment?
Lilla: If you wanted to create separate illustrations of each box rather than bunching them all together on a single page, you could do that too; or perhaps just pick the box which speaks most strongly to you and use it to create a single powerful illustration. And of course if you’ve been online shopping for new art supplies, it’s a great opportunity to try those out too.
My Happy Future Me by Anke Rega, a Make Art That Sells student who is now represented by Lilla Rogers.
Thanks Lilla!
As ever, don’t forget to share what you do on social media, especially Instagram, and tag us @makeartthatsells. Lilla will be looking at what you do and choosing her favorites for us to share!
My Happy Future Me by Mara Penny, a Make Art That Sells student who is now represented by Lilla Rogers.
Keep an eye on our newsletter and blog over the next few weeks for the rest of Lilla’s arty assignments. We can’t wait to see what you’re going to do!
Lots of love
British Jennie and the rest of the Make Art That Sells team xxx
P.S. Want to learn more with Lilla? Would you love to build or boost your career in the exciting world of children’s picture book illustration? Do you dream of writing a picture book all of your own? Right now you can save 15% off our life-changing Illustrating Children’s Books course and Lilla’s brand new course, My Kid Book Pitch, with our Kid Book Double Scoop bundle! Find out more and grab your spot here.
