Color Quest 2026
£79 / $106 (approximate)An amazing world of color to explore!
We’re excited to announce that Lilla’s popular course is now available as an instant-access class! Join Lilla on a fun adventure into color called Color Quest, a class that is perfect for all levels, from beginners to professional illustrators.
You’ll love the inspiring assignments she’s dreamed up for you, which will increase your ability to mix a vast array of subtle colors and to create gorgeous palettes to use in your artmaking. Plus you’ll produce four exciting portfolio pieces from assignments that Lilla has created for you based on the expertise she’s gleaned from decades in the business as both an art agent and an illustrator.
In addition to the inspiring download assignments—a total of 24 downloads—you’ll enjoy zoom replays which include color demonstrations, Lilla’s paint mixing tricks, her secrets for color nuance and more. Plus, you’ll benefit from a replay of a review from when the course previously ran live where Lilla reviewed a selection of work from class. Tons of teaching tips you can apply to your own work. This is gold!
Want to find out more? Scroll down for more information.
* excluding sales tax which will be added at checkout depending on your country of residence.
Find out more about Lilla’s popular course, Color Quest. Originally run as a live class, the content is now available as an instant-access course. Check out Lilla’s video below from when the course was live.
Discover new palettes and create a gorgeous color library with daily worksheets.
Dreamy color palettes by Lilla Rogers
Lilla here. I want to tell you all Color Quest, and why I’m so excited about it for you. Sometimes we use the same colors over and over, colors we love; it’s an easy way to work. (I’m guilty of it, too!) But as an agent, I know how important it is to include a range of work in your portfolio, to show work in an array of color stories that exude a variety of moods.
Products agented by my art agency. Note the variety of color palettes on each product. Color variety helps you attract a rich array of work.
That’s exactly why I made this course—to help you create a rich array of color palettes. For example, they could maybe be soft and delicate, bold and impactful, energizing like 60s pop, vintage-y and earthy, or deep, mysterious and moody. This not only makes life as an artist more interesting, but will definitely attract all kinds of wonderful commissions. Art directors will see your work in these varied colors and they will be able to envision commissioning you for, say, a book on palmistry or a lively home décor line or a thoughtful children’s book. Nice, right? Missed it when it ran LIVE? You can enjoy all the content now, all available as a self-paced course.
Art from class by Jan Schmidt
DAILY DOWNLOADS
My students have told me that they loved the daily download assignments for my recent Lettering course. Each day they had the excitement of downloading an assignment—a small, do-able yet powerful exercise—so I knew that I wanted to replicate that for the color course. We’ve made all content now available as an instant-access class, so you can work through the course at your own pace.
Here’s a sample! Download it here and give it a try. We call it a MATS Prep, which is a warm-up exercise to give you a taste of and to prepare for the actual course. I hope you enjoy it. You can view it on your screen, but some folks liked to print them out and make a book of them or paste them into a letter-size sketchbook and work on them on the facing page.
Do you know my teaching style? If not, I’ll reveal my devious plan: I trick you into doing your best work! After four decades of teaching artists, I understand how to bring out the best in my students. I love creative people and the way their minds work. All my courses are structured into bite-sized bits laced with fun and surprise elements to keep you engaged. You become motivated to do the work, and then I believe you’ll find that you’re pretty impressed with the work you create in class. Read on!
Sign up today!
The course was originally run live , so you can follow the schedule below if you want to work to deadlines, or choose to work at your own pace.
You’ll get a visually luscious download of your mini assignment, every day, Monday through Friday. If you have time, you can dive in and work on them each day, or save them for the weekend for an enjoyable creative retreat. Wondering how long the exercises will take? It’s really up to you, your schedule, and your interest level.
Monday Mutes
I love painting right on a worksheet, don’t you? On Mondays, you’ll warm up and perfect your color mixing skills with my Monday Mutes recipes. Color mixing is actually a subtle technique that you can improve upon. What does that mean? You’ll be able to create colors with greater nuance and variety. This means that your art will be even more beautiful.
Additionally, when you get your Palette Finder downloads later in the week, you’ll know how to match the colors on the download. What I mean is that you’ll have greater facility with mixing the exact color that you’re seeing. For example, you’ll create that perfect lightness or darkness (tone or shade) of red, say, or tweak the warmth or coolness of the color, muddying it or keeping it intense.
I can’t emphasize enough that with color mixing, you don’t have to be perfect. Pigments sometimes can’t always give you exactly what you want. That’s fine! Anything you do is going to be fabulous because you’re going to be exploring and growing. Color is such an amazing world, an endless universe for you to explore.
Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday Palette Finder Mini Assignments
Now for the meat of the course! Now that you have greater facility in color mixing, you’ll move on to creating your palettes. Every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, you’ll get a Palette Finder downloadable assignment page which features a gorgeous image displaying a unique palette that you’ll match. Simply put, you’ll make a page of blobs or squares representing the colors you see in the image. This will be the palette.
I’m excited for you to enjoy these pages! I’ve spent months digging deep to gather the most gorgeous color palettes for you to replicate. They feature quirky vintage ephemera, stylish clothing, charming old-fashioned tins, interiors from hotels I stayed at in Paris, and more.
You may wonder if we start out slow and build. Good thinking! Yes, we start out easy. You’re going to start your first Tuesday by simply matching the four colors of the image. It’s structured in a way that increases complexity and challenge, which is fun.
You’ll also get FOUR additional bonus Palette Finder assignments! Each one is based around a pretend illustration assignment from a client, to give you a taste of how you’ll use what you learn in class in a real-life scenario.
I’m so excited for these because they help you understand why you need different palettes—because when a client emails you with a commission, the color palette you come up with needs to match the vibe of the job.
So now you’ll get TWO Palette Finders every Thursday – a standard one and a bonus pretend commission one – and you can either do both or pick one if you’re short on time. That gives you a total of 16 Palette Finders over the whole course!
Friday Part 1: Zoom – Replay
Watch the replay where I demonstrate the Friday assignment, share my best color techniques, review different watercolor papers (that makes a huge difference!), plus I’ll share some of the best paint brands and pigments (I have loads of paint!). I’ll share insider tips from my three decades as an art agent and my decade as a full-time illustrator.
Friday Part 2: Mystery Revealed! Re-color Assignment
Now for the good part! You’ve created three pretty color palettes over the week. Then the mystery image to recolor is revealed. You’ll get a download with a fresh image to draw and re-color with any of your palettes. I’ve selected images that are easy to draw but also full of personality so that you can have a lot of fun with them, and they will be great for your portfolio.
Art from class by Shona Vanaswegen
End of class review – Replay
Watch a replay of the live review, a popular event, it’s an hour or so where I share my agent insights, pointers and tips in a supportive way. I love to motivate and help you grow, and the review is a place for that….lots of teaching tips you can apply to your own work.
Sign up to Color Quest today and get instant access to a gorgeous archive of downloads!
This was originally a LIVE 4 week class full of color palettes, recoloring assignments and more. You can follow the schedule below, from the live class, to keep on track if you prefer to work to deadlines. Alternatively, you can work at your own pace.
Some of Lilla’s color studies and flower illustrations
Here’s your summary of what you’ll get in class each week. And remember, you can work to the schedule, or work at your own pace instead….do what works for you.
- Monday Mutes: Color-mixing to start your week.
- Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday Palette Finder Mini Assignments: Create 12 gorgeous palettes over 4 weeks.
- Friday Part 1: Live with Lilla Zoom: Enjoy color demos, student pop-ups, career advice, Q&As and breakout rooms.
- Friday Part 2: Mystery Revealed! Re-color Assignment: Create 4 beautiful portfolio assignments during class (1 per week)
- Plus a replay of the end of class review where Lilla picked a selection of student work
Art from class by Heather Manning
NOTE: The schedule above is from when the class previously ran live over 4 weeks. You can follow the schedule above or work at your own pace. All course materials are available as soon as you sign up and the classroom remains open until 31st January 2027.
Don’t miss out! Sign up here!
Lilla has more than forty years’ experience in the creative industry, and has shedloads of wisdom and advice to share. She began her career as a full-time illustrator, represented by agents in London, Paris and Tokyo, and worked with hundreds of clients worldwide, including Rolling Stone, Vogue Magazine, and the GRAMMYS.
She then went on to found Lilla Rogers Studio, a visionary art agency that represented dozens of artists from around the world and sold art for products worth more than $300 million. She’s also an author, a speaker, and a columnist. A lifelong educator, she founded Make Art That Sells in 2013 with author and entrepreneur Beth Kempton. Her main focus now is nurturing, mentoring and teaching creatives how to make real money from their art.
Don’t miss out. Sign up to class TODAY!
I’m so excited to offer bring this course to you! Color is my favorite thing, and I’ve concocted assignments that are sure to broaden your color understanding and library of palettes.
Why is color important for your career?
- One of first ways an agent or art director is going to respond to your art is by the color; it’s that important, so you want yours to be the best it can be.
- People purchase products very often simply by the color of the product! Increase your sales with images that attract, delight, and appeal.
- This course will help you create a handy library of twelve varied and stunning color palettes to use when you create images.
- You’ll become a pro at color mixing and making an array of really beautiful, nuanced colors.
- You’ll create a portfolio piece at the end of each week using one of the varied color palettes you’ve made, so you’ll have four portfolio pieces by the end of class. They’re fantastic for your website, social media, newsletters and wherever you show your work because your gorgeous color palettes will definitely stand out.
See how colors can affect the mood of an illustration, like this piece by Colee Wilkinson for Illustrating Children’s Books
Color Quest is truly for all levels, from people who don’t have an art background to the working professional. It’s for those that want to up their color game.
Materials List
Welcome to the Materials List for the Color Quest course! I love art supplies and I bet you do too. Let’s dive in.
For this course, you can totally use either digital media (like an iPad) or traditional media (like watercolors and gouache).
However, I’m strongly encouraging you to use traditional media. You will get even better at mixing colors and creating beautiful, nuanced colors if you use traditional media.
You’ll get a weekly Mystery Recolor Reveal Assignment, and if you are more comfortable with using digital media, you can do so for that assignment.
I’m fine with you using either watercolors or gouache or a combination of both. Watercolor can be a bit more translucent than gouache, and gouache can be translucent but also very opaque. No need to really worry about this. I use them interchangeably. For this course, either is fine.
General supplies:
- Watercolor paper (any brand; a pad or loose sheets)
- A few paint brushes of various sizes and/or a water brush
- Water jar (You don’t need a water jar if you’re using a water brush)
- Paper towel or rag
You may wish to print out each download (letter size) and paste it into a big sketchbook with your blobs and art on an accompanying page.
Some of my paints. This is for illustrative purposes only. You do not need to buy these particular brands, or this many paints. If you already own lots of paints, go ahead and check that you have some in each category.
Any brand is fine, but more expensive paints are usually better. You’ll get richer, deeper colors. Best paints are Windsor Newton, Holbein, Daniel Smith among others.
What I suggest that you have for this course, at a minimum:
- Two or three of each primary color:
- red
- blue
- yellow
- At least one of each secondary color:
- violet
- green
- orange
- White and black
- While not necessary, you are free to buy as many different additional paints as you like, bearing in mind your budget.
Want an easy way to get all the colors you need?
I love this set! The paint quality is gorgeous and the colors are dreamy. The paint can be used thickly as gouache or thinly as watercolor.
An easy (and possibly less expensive option) is to purchase this fabulous palette which will give you several of each primary and secondary color, plus neutrals, black and white, and even two metallics.
Kuretake Gansai Tambi, Watercolor, Set of 36
If you already own the palette above, then the next one is a great add on, but not at all necessary. The colors are absolutely stunning!
Gansai Tambi Watercolors, Art Nouveau, Set of 24
Set up a nice station or gather everything on a tray to prepare for class so it’s easy to dive in. Set yourself up for success.
A note: The mini assignments (which should take only a few minutes a day) can all be done on the weekend if that’s easier for your schedule. And remember all content is available now, so follow the suggested schedule or work through the content at apace that suits you.
I honestly cannot wait to see what you do. This is a fun but meaty course that will definitely improve the beauty of your work. You will be amazed with what you create!
Lilla Xo
If you wish to download a PDF of the materials list, click here.
FAQs
If you have a question about Make Art That Sells please check these Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) first. If you do not find an answer to your question here please feel free to contact us at [email protected].
Q: If I want to do the daily Micro Mini, can I do it on my iPad rather than using paint?
A: Absolutely. However, there’s nothing like mixing colors from scratch, and the course is geared to working with traditional media. But whatever you’d like to do to keep the momentum going for those days when you barely have a spare minute, then by all means, work digitally.
Q: If I work digitally, though, it’ll just take me seconds to mix the colors for the Palette Finder Mini Assignment using a digital tool. Can you give me an additional challenge?
A: Great question. Yes! In that case, I’ve an additional challenge for you which I’ll share in class.
Q: I’ve never taken an online class before. How does it work? Do I need to be at my computer at a certain time?
A: You will have access to content in a beautiful password-protected online classroom. All content is instant-access and is available as soon as you sign up for you to work at your own pace. All zooms from when the class was run live are available as replays to watch when convenient.
Q: What format is the class taught in?
A: The class consists of a series of Mini Assignments and Assignment PDFs delivered via a password-protected online classroom.
Q: What do you get in Color Quest?
A: You’ll get assignment PDFs to create new color palettes and finished portfolio pieces. There will be replays of the live zooms which include color demos, discussions on colors and FAQs. There’s also a replay of a zoom with Lilla at the end of the course, in which she selected some student for review.
Q: Can I interact with Lilla during the course?
A: No, this is a self-paced course which includes replays of the class zooms. However, you will be able to interact with students in a private Facebook group. We do encourage you to interact and ask questions of the super-supportive MATS community in the private group.
Q: Do I need any special materials?
A: Lilla has supplied a materials list for this class. Please review that section. You can use a scanner or even your smartphone camera to photograph your work. You may find it useful to have access to a printer to print out course materials.
Q: Will I be able to communicate with others in the class?
A: Yes, you’ll be able to communicate in the private Facebook group (where you can also share your work). This is a great chance to connect with other artists and designers, get different perspectives and share your work.
Q: Is this an art class or a business class?
A: This class is purely assignment-based aimed at helping you strengthen your portfolio and create commercially-viable pieces. Lilla shares advice and tips, but if you are looking for significant business/industry insight please consider taking one of our other popular live courses.
Q: How long will the course materials be available?
A: The classroom will be open until January 31st 2027. The Facebook group remains open indifinitely.
Sign up to Color Quest today!
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- You acknowledge that your work will only get viewed by Lilla if you submit your assignment(s) as directed when any given class is live. You also acknowledge that although Lilla will view every piece of work submitted and provide general feedback to class during any live courses, and that only a handful of pieces will be chosen each week for specific critique (which will be shared with the class), and there is no guarantee that you will receive personal critique from Lilla during the course. Furthermore, you acknowledge that there is no feedback from Lilla Rogers offered in any course which is not live (i.e. our instant access self-paced classes).
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All our courses are delivered online in a private password-protected classroom. We do not deliver physical products in the post, but rather send you an email with the URL of the classroom and the password you need to log in. This email is sent to the email address you used to register for the class. Our online communities are offered via individual Facebook groups, to which you can request access, which will be granted once your enrolment has been confirmed. You can access the private classroom for your course via the Account section of this website, on or after the advertised start date of the course. For self-paced classes, you can access the private classroom via the Account section of this website, as soon as your purchase is complete.
Make Art That Sells reserves the right to change the time of any advertised Live Review without notice, for any reason whatsoever. If you have any issues accessing classrooms you can contact us at [email protected] where we will always endeavor to respond within 72 hours.
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Make Art That Sells, 2025
