Picture books are one of the most magical and rewarding art markets out there, and we couldn’t be more excited to see so many of our graduates landing incredible picture book illustration deals!
Here’s your teacher! As an art agent for 30 years, Lilla has viewed thousands of artists’ portfolios and agented many hundreds of picture books, so she knows just what you need to show in your portfolio.
Today, we’re celebrating some of the amazing picture book success stories our talented students have shared with us – they’re truly inspiring! (Love these? You can explore even more of our alumni’s fantastic achievements right here.)
And don’t forget—our huge Spring Sale is happening right now! That means 25% off every single course – and if your dream is to get paid for illustrating picture books, don’t miss our game-changing Get Me a Picture Book Deal bundle, packed with even bigger savings. Find out more here!
Lynn Gaines
Imagine spotting a book YOU illustrated in the wild! Make Art That Sells student Lynn Gaines with her first picture book (left) and another gig she got (center and right).
Back in 2022, we revealed that Make Art That Sells student Lynn Gaines had landed her first picture book deal, illustrating Stella Keeps the Sun Up – and now we’re delighted to share that she’s just illustrated her FOURTH book in the series, Stella and Roger are On the Move!
Lynn told us: “It was because of Make Art That Sells that my agents, Lori and Claire at Painted Words, spotted me in the first place and took me on in 2016.”
Lynn has taken a ton of Make Art That Sells courses, including Illustrating Children’s Books several times, My Kid Book Pitch, Creating Collections for Home Décor. Don’t forget ALL our courses are currently 25% off in our Spring sale – or save up to 45% when you buy as part of a bundle!
Lynn continued: “Because of all my classes, especially Illustrating Children’s Books, I learned how to take what I knew from working in the greeting card industry at American Greetings and develop storybook characters with expression, movement and personality. More importantly, learned how to develop a pitch and show how I could illustrate a picture book, thanks to Lilla and Zoë – there’s so much information, so well presented!”
One of Lynn’s character pages for Illustrating Children’s Books (left) plus another picture book job she got (right).
Lynn added: “I can’t thank Lilla, Zoë and the Make Art That Sells team enough for all the fantastic teaching over the years – I am so grateful!”
See more of Lynn’s art on her website and Instagram
Some of the picture book illustration jobs Make Art That Sells student Lynn Gaines has got so far. She’s illustrated four books in the Stella series! Find out how to get jobs like this – grab one of our career-changing courses now in our big Spring Sale.
Ivett Trazsi
Make Art That Sells student is another graduate with a slew of picture books under her belt – and she got in touch to share not one but THREE pieces of good news.
Firstly, Ivy told us that she’s recently illustrated her fourth picture book, The Pixies Plan ChristmasThe Pixies Plan Christmas, by Cheryl Latham.
One of the illustrations for Make Art That Sells student Ivy Trazsi’s most recent book illustration gig, The Pixies Plan ChristmasThe Pixies Plan Christmas.
Ivy said: “As it is only my fourth illustrated children’s book as a freelance creative, I could not feel more honoured and proud to be chosen as Cheryl’s illustrator. This project was a dream come true throughout: I loved her manuscript and we shared an initial spark which led to these awesome super detailed illustrations (sometimes even crazy detailed, I must admit that). Her constant motivation and energy was something I will always treasure, now together with the book! A REAL book still sounds surreal to me!”
Some of Ivy’s work for Illustrating Children’s Books including character sheets (left and center) and a front cover. In this course you’ll create a ready to send pitch containing everything you need to get paid jobs!
Secondly, Ivy’s third illustrated book, Dancing with Cara: The Rainbow Stories, by AC Bradburn, won the Gold Award at the Readers’ Choice Book Awards in the Best Children’s Book age 3-7 category!
Ivy told us: “I cannot even express how this feels, I never won an award before!”
Illustrations from two of Ivy’s books: Dancing with Cara: The Rainbow Stories (left), which won an award, and My Soul Still Sings of Everly (right).
Finally, Ivy was featured on a list of eight amazing children’s book illustrators compiled by 30 Day Books.eight amazing children’s book illustrators compiled by 30 Day Books.
Ivy told us: “I am very new to the children’s illustration market and feel grateful for every single opportunity. The community and classes with Make Art That Sells and Lilla are really life changing!”
See more of Ivy’s art on her website and Instagram
Siski Kalla
Siski got in touch to tell us about a whole host of success stories, including multiple books, representation and more – so much, in fact that we’ll be sharing a full interview with her in a few days’ time, so keep an eye on your inbox!
Art by Make Art That Sells Siski Kalla for Illustrating Children’s Books. She’s since landed representation and multiple book deals and is working as a full-time illustrator. Want this to be you? Grab a course now!
Siski said: “I did a few courses (the MATS MBA (Money Badass), Creating Collections for Home Décor and Illustrating Children’s Books twice). Since then, I’ve had multiple traditional book contracts, got offered agency representation, and have worked with lots of self-published authors too. It’s now my full-time career! I always recommend Make Art That Sells. Best fun ever too!”
See more of Siski’s art on her website and Instagram
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We hope you enjoyed reading our students’ stories as much as we enjoy sharing them!
Do you want to build a rewarding and lucrative career in the magical world of picture book illustration? Do you want to spend months getting lost in a dreamy manuscript and creating winning worlds and characters for children to fall in love with? Don’t miss out – sign up for one of our raved-about courses today!
- ON NOW: Our big Spring Sale is now ON, with 25% off every single individual course, and up to 45% off our amazing value bundles! Get our career-changing courses for less: click here to explore the sale.
- TODAY, Thursday, March 6th: Join art agent Lilla plus brilliant children’s book art director and picture book author Zoë Tucker and creative director and smash hit game creator Riley Wilkinson for a LIVE Zoom event at 12 noon ET/5 pm GMT!
- Friday, March 14th: Don’t miss the amazing lively Zoom with art agent Lilla on the very last day of our big Spring Sale! Join her at 1 pm EDT/5 pm GMT * for creative career advice, class giveaways and more.
(*please note the time change as the US changes to Daylight Savings from March 9th)
Lots of love
The Make Art That Sells team xxx
