Lilla here. As many of you already know, before I was an art agent, I was a full-time illustrator, and today I wanted to show you some of my old artwork that I recently shared with my My Arty Book Pitch class.
I went to illustration school in California, and after I graduated I moved to New York, because that’s where you had to be to be an illustrator back then, before the internet was invented.
I lived at 255 Clinton Street, Brooklyn. In 1985, after I’d been there about a year, I got a job from San Francisco Focus, who I’d done a few illustration gigs for already when I lived in San Francisco. They wanted me to illustrate an excerpt from A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, maybe because I was in Brooklyn, so they thought I’d have some insight.
In those days you couldn’t just Google your references, you had to go out and find them. I went to Chinatown and bought these gorgeous tins to draw, and I still have them because how could I not?! I didn’t have a ton of money so they were a little bit of a splurge, although they weren’t expensive.
And this is what I sent through to the client … On the bottom layer is my black and white brush line illustration of the little girl looking at the tea tins.
If you’re on the older side, you might remember working with Rubylith and Amberlith!
We had to hand-cut each layer, like stencils, and then indicate the PMS color for each layer.
I hope you enjoyed seeing this! For more inspiration, stories from my decades in the creative industry, insider tips and more, be sure to check out the library of past Zoom events over on the Make Art That Sells YouTube channel here: they’re great to listen to while you draw and paint.
Mark your calendar:
- If you’re missing Assignment Bootcamp: Portfolio (or you’re kicking yourself for not signing up) then don’t miss Bootcamp Special: Character Play, which starts July 10th. Find out more here.
- Join me plus Make Art That Sells teachers Zoë and Riley for a FREE live Zoom event on Monday, July 10th at 12 noon ET/5 pm BST. Mark your calendar now!
- In our next newsletter: A peptalk from me, and a mini exercise to boost your mood.
Until next time. Lots of love
