How to get into editorial illustration: success stories #1

How to get into editorial illustration

Imagine flicking through your favorite magazine and spotting your own gorgeous art
Imagine picking up groceries and seeing your beautiful art on a front cover on the newsstand
Imagine getting a call from an editor or art director telling you they love your art and begging you to work with them
Imagine getting paid to read a manuscript and illustrate it

Learn from an expert

Our first course for 2021, Editorial LIVE: Illustrating for Magazines and More, starts TODAY! Let top art agent and former full-time illustrator Lilla Rogers teach you everything she knows about this cool and lucrative market from her decades in the industry. If anyone knows how to get into editorial illustration, it’s Lilla!

In just four weeks, you’ll create a powerful full color conceptual editorial illustration that will strengthen your portfolio and help you to get work and make money in this amazing art market. There’s still time to sign up – book your spot now!

Just some of Lilla’s editorial illustrations. Before she was an art agent, Lilla worked for many years as a successful professional illustrator in NYC. Wondering how to get into editorial illustration? Let Lilla show you!

What is editorial illustration anyway? 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. It’s a fantastic market for your art, covering everything from edgy to playful and idea for all styles, and it’s booming right now, especially online (just think how many online articles you’ve flicked through over the past few months!).

Read editorial illustration success stories from our students

Today we wanted to share some of our previous students’ success stories – but we have so many we’ve had to split it into two parts. Here’s Part 1 – find Part 2 here!

Sonja Morris

Sonja has taken multiple Make Art That Sells courses, including Assignment Bootcamp, Creating Collections for Home Décor and MATS MBA (Money BadAss).

Art created by Sonja for Assignment Bootcamp.

We were delighted to hear that one of Sonja’s illustrations, on life during covid, was published in Womankind magazine during the first covid lockdown.

Sonja’s illustration on life in lockdown for Womankind magazine.

See more of Sonja’s work on her website and Instagram.

Washington Post

Speaking of coronavirus (as if we weren’t fed up with that already), two of the artists represented by Lilla Rogers, Jennifer Potter and Bambi Ramsey, were chosen by the Washington Post for inclusion in an article about the best art created by their readers about life during the pandemic.

Social Distancing in the Mission by Jennifer M Potter for the Washington Post, a Make Art That Sells student who is now represented by Lilla Rogers.

Both Jennifer and Bambi were previously Make Art That Sells students before Lilla offered them representation. Want representation with top art agent Lilla? Signing up for a Make Art That Sells course is an incredible opportunity to get your gorgeous art directly in front of her!

L’eau de Bleach by Bambi Ramsey for the Washington Post. Lilla offered Bambi representation in 2020 after spotting her in class!

Susan FayE Carr

Susan is another repeat Make Art That Sells student (why do our students do so many of our courses? Because they grow their art so much, and because they really work!) who has taken part in various MATS courses including My Year of Art School 2020 and she’s already signed up for it again in 2021! She says: “Home Decor PLUS was the very first Make Art That Sells class I took in October 2019, and then I decided to dive right in with My Year of Art School 2020. Thank goodness I did, because it kept me sane during this crazy year.”

Art by Susan for a previous Editorial LIVE course. Want to create stunning portfolio art like this? Book here!

Susan tells us that after completing the course, she dutifully printed and filed the pdfs for “What To Do When You Get A Job” thinking she might need them in a year or so, when she got around to sending work out to editors. But just a few days later, she was contacted by the editor of a small fiber arts magazine in Australia called Indie Road, who had spotted an earlier piece of her work and asked if she would be interested in doing a version for one of their magazine covers.

Susan says: “I immediately did the Susanville Happy Dance, then proceeded to fish out my freshly-printed PDF and went through the list step by step. I researched the magazine, then had the confidence to ask questions about the concept, deadlines, and compensation. I sent a couple of samples of relevant newer work and a link to my Instagram, which just happened to be chock-full of recent Make Art That Sells work … which she loved! Together we came up with the concept for the cover and I knew to discuss sending her a rough for approval. I am pinching myself.”

Susan’s cover art for Indie Road magazine.

Susan adds: “Had this happened just a month or two earlier, I would have panicked, felt like I was in over my head, and might have even turned down the job. But thanks to Editorial Live, and Lilla’s expert advice, I had the confidence and the knowledge to know how to proceed. Funny how things in the universe just line up so magically sometimes.”

See more of Susan’s work on her website and her Instagram.

We hope you’ve enjoyed the show so far. Find Part 2 here!

Join art agent Lilla for a FREE Zoom event TODAY at 12 noon ET/5 pm GMT! She’ll be discussing why she chose the article she did for the class (there may even be some clues!), sharing some of her favorite art from our FREE #MATSprep (want to join in? Find it here), showing some of her editorial illustration work and telling stories from her years as an illustrator. Mark your calendar and set an alarm on your phone now!

**Did you miss the Zoom event? Want to watch again? You can see it here.

Are you ready to join Lilla for her very first course for 2021, Editorial LIVE: Illustrating for Magazines and More? You’ll get immediate access to your gorgeous online classroom and the private Facebook group where you can meet your fellow students, plus you’ll give yourself the maximum amount of time to complete this week’s assignment – and maybe even get your art reviewed by art agent Lilla! Hurry! Sign up now!