Our absolute student-favorite online course, Illustrating Children’s Books, starts THIS MONDAY, April 27th, and we can’t wait!
We’ve got three incredible texts for you to choose between – one witty one written by art agent Lilla, one dreamy one by picture book author Zoë Tucker – who’s previously had THREE of the texts she’s written for Illustrating Children’s Books published – and one calm, mindful by British Jennie. As ever, it’s suitable for all styles and all levels, and we think you’re going to adore the stories we’ve come up with this year!
Three of the stories which Zoë has written for Illustrating Children’s Books have been picked up and published so far – in other words, you’re working with professional-level texts. Book your spot here.
To give you a little taste of Lilla’s innovative teaching style, which breaks everything down into smaller steps to keep you engaged and accountable and to keep overwhelm at bay, we’ve been sharing a FREE three-part #MATSprep warm-up exercise, and today we’re sharing Part 3. If you missed out on Parts 1 and 2, find them here – but HURRY, because class starts SOON!
Here are your teachers! Join former top art agent Lilla (left) and brilliant children’s book art director and author Zoë (right) for a FREE live Zoom on the first day of class, April 27th, at 12 noon ET. Set a reminder now!
Speaking of class, don’t miss the fab FREE live Zoom event with Lilla and Zoë on the first day of class, Monday, April 27th, at 12 noon ET/5 pm BST! They’ll be showing off some of their favorite picture books and talking about what makes them so great, answering your questions, sharing what you’ll learn in class, talking about the #MATSprep, and tons more. Don’t miss out – set a reminder now!
Here’s a sample of all the goodness you’ll learn in week one of this transformative five week course. Don’t miss it!
Now on to Part 3 of your free #MATSprep!
In the previous two #MATSpreps, you’ve been working on a creating a scene, because getting paid to spend months creating magical worlds for children to get lost in is one of the most rewarding things about the dreamy world of picture book illustration.
First you drew some trees in Part 1, and then in Part 2 you added some birds and some hills or mountains in the distance.
Today, in Part 3, you’re going to put them all together and add a path meandering through. Make your finished drawing around the size of a horizontal book spread, around 11 x 17 inches. You’ll learn more about that in class.
Yesterday we shared a tip from art agent Lilla about how you can create more depth in your scene using atmospheric perspective – making things in the background a little more muted than those in the foreground.
Today we’re going to share two more powerful tips from Lilla.
Tip #2: Location
If you place something at the top of your page, it looks like it’s far away. That’s because our understanding of distance in art is that the higher up the page, the farther away. And then, by making the house tiny, it enhances the illusion of distance.
The converse is also true: things at the bottom of the page are close to the viewer.
You can enhance this by altering the scale (size) of whatever it is you’re drawing.
Look at this lovely spread for class by Make Art That Sells student Cate Kennedy, who brilliantly utilizes scale to create depth, for example. We immediately understand that the tiny figure in the top left of the picture is further away than the character crouching in the foreground on the right.
Art by Make Art That Sells student Cate Kennedy for Illustrating Children’s Books. You’ll get tons of tips like this in class from your teachers, Lilla and Zoë, which will help you take your art to the next level! Sign up now.
Tip #3: Length
Third, if you draw something that starts at the bottom of your page, and travels up the page, we ‘read’ it to be moving to the far distance. For example, a road, river or a fence will progressively get smaller as it goes up the page.
In this spread below by Make Art That Sells student Yasemin Caglar, the “path” is actually a staircase, but you can see how it starts at the bottom of the page and goes up, getting smaller on the way, so we understand that it goes off into the distance.
Art by Make Art That Sells student Yasemin Caglar for Illustrating Children’s Books. Class starts in just a few days, on Monday, April 27th. Don’t miss out – sign up here!
Or take a look at this spread by Make Art That Sells student Rhaida El Touny. Note how the mountains are at the top of the page and have more muted colors and less detail than the rocks at bottom right, making them feel more far away. The stream on the right hand side moves up the page, getting smaller as it goes, immediately giving a feeling of depth. And check out that cute little crab, bottom right, off on their own adventure – a great example of a secondary storyline.
Art for Illustrating Children’s Books by Make Art That Sells student Rhaida El Touny. In just five weeks, you’ll create an eye-catching pitch that contains everything an art director or publisher needs to see.
These are three powerful techniques you can use to create a sense of depth in your work, and you’ll get loads more tips like this in class from your teachers, Lilla and Zoë, to help you create a show-stopping pitch designed to catch the eye of an art director, agent or publisher. HURRY – class starts Monday! Sign up here.
How fun was making a scene? Imagine that being your actual job, that you get paid to do!
When you’re done with your finished spread, be sure to share your work on social media and tag @makeartthatsells and use the hashtag #MATSICB13 so Lilla and Zoë can find it!
Are you ready to dive in and make a commitment to your success as a children’s book illustrator? Sign up here. Hurry! Class starts soon!
- Monday, April 27th: Create a ready-to-send picture book illustration pitch in just five weeks in Illustrating Children’s Books! Find out more and sign up here.
- Monday, April 27th: FREE live Zoom with art agent Lilla and children’s book art director Zoë at 12 noon ET/5 pm BST! Get your questions about picture book illustration answered by two industry experts!
- October 12th: Give your creative career a huge boost with warm supportive mentoring from former art agent Lilla in her small-group mentorship intensive, Inner Circle. Places are strictly limited and there are just four spots left – get yours here.
- Next newsletter: Don’t miss the FREE Zoom with Lilla and Zoë, plus get your FREE Text Chooser!
Lots of love
The Make Art That Sells team xxx
