The best possible testimonial for any course is the quality of the work that comes out of it, and a great way to assess this is by seeing the befores and afters from the students taking the course. Plus everybody loves a makeover, right?!
Today we’re thrilled to share some extraordinary work by our Make Art That Sells students, showing their progress before and after taking courses from Make Art That Sells. As an educator, Lilla prides herself on the effectiveness of her teaching, and she works hard to make sure that her students find her courses useful and fun: you can expect lots of surprises, cliffhangers, inspiration and whimsy along solid wisdom and insight in any MATS course!
As a top international art agent, Lilla views hundreds of portfolios and sells millions of $$$ worth of art every year. She knows exactly what art directors are looking for and she co-founded Make Art That Sells because she knows that too often brilliant, creative, talented people aren’t presenting their work in a way that will land them the work and income that they should be getting. Make Art That Sells is all about bridging that gap.
The bottom line is that we want you to make real money from your gorgeous, unique art. You deserve it. It’s what Make Art That Sells is all about – and it works!
Have you taken a MATS course and want to be featured in a newsletter and get top art agent Lilla to review your work? Just send us your Before and After images and mention what course the After art is from and we may include it in a future newsletter!
Drum roll please! It’s time for the big reveal!
Amanda Harvey
This is Amanda’s work before and after taking Lilla’s Art Recipes: Drawing Faces. Wow! What an incredible difference! Amanda says: These were the only faces and people I drew. Now I can’t stop drawing faces and people! All thanks to Assignment Bootcamp and Lilla’s faces class.
Work from MATS student Amanda Harvey from before and after taking Lilla’s Drawing Faces course
Lilla says: I was blown away by her After image: she has added such an array of details, like beards, glasses and hats. From simple facial features, she’s evolved to create unique and interesting characters. She does this in part by varying the size and shape of facial features and expressions. She will definitely get more work now. I’d love to see her add colour!
Frida Hammar
Many of our MATS students take our courses again and again (in fact, we’re proud to boast an incredible 75% return rate!), because they enjoy them so much and because they learn so much. The more you learn, the better your art, and the more exciting and lucrative your career! Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned professional, it’s such a tremendous learning opportunity to be tackling the same assignments alongside a host of other artists.
Work from MATS student Frida Hammar from an earlier and the most recent Illustrating Children’s Books course
Lilla says: Frida’s Before work is strong and appealing but her After piece, done in my most recent Illustrating Children’s Books class*, shows how her work is more current, updated, more sophisticated – her features and color palette, her unique character.
Plus her character is more animated, which is a key quality that art directors look for. She will definitely now get picture book work.
*(Don’t forget that the next Illustrating Children’s Books course is currently 25% off in our giant cyber sale, or grab it as one of our amazing value bundles such as the Get a Kid Book Gig Bundle or one of our wonderful My Year of Art School bundles!)
Fiona Barden
Fiona is another returning MATS student, and these two images are taken from the second weeks of our most recent and the previous Illustrating Children’s Books courses. Week 2 is all about emotions, including how to illustrate emotions through facial expressions, how to make the reader connect with your character and much more. Even in the space of a single course, you can see how much more expressive the character on the right is, and Fiona has almost doubled the number of emotions that she’s illustrated. This is why so many students take our courses over and over again!
Work from MATS student Fiona Barden from the fourth and fifth Illustrating Children’s Books courses
Lilla says: Both of these images are strong, but look how Fiona has truly expanded her mastery of facial expressions (right), which is what every art director wants to see in the children’s book market. This will definitely increase her chances of getting work.
Jennie Joyce
Jennie says: My first piece is a snow globe that I illustrated in December 2017, before I ever took a MATS class. It is clear I was uncomfortable or unable to draw faces because I didn’t even attempt to draw them. Nine months later, after taking My Year of Art School, I drew a portrait of Aretha Franklin. You can see how much I’ve learned!
Work from MATS student Jennie Joyce from before and after Assignment Bootcamp and Drawing Faces
Lilla agrees. She says: Jennie’s work has increased massively in boldness and confidence.
Leena Shanbhag
Leena is another graduate of Lilla’s Art Recipes: Drawing Faces. Her Before image is strong but she has still benefited from taking a Make Art That Sells course and has increased her chances of getting interesting lucrative work from her unique art.
Work from MATS student Leena Shanbhag from an earlier and the most recent Illustrating Children’s Books course
Lilla says: Wow! I love the Before image, but the After image will get work. There’s more there: more detail and color, rich paint texture, a believable expression and an interesting pattern on her dress. I would suggest that Leena now makes this into an editorial style illustration to get magazine and book work: add a few more details to tell the story of this character.
Natallia Bushuyeva
Natallia is another returning Illustrating Children’s Books student and again these two images are taken from the same week of different ICB courses, in this case the third course in 2017 and our fifth Illustrating Children’s Books course, which has just finished.
The first image is excellent and shows a wide range of emotions and poses, but in the second image you can see how much stronger Natallia’s character work is now and how much more unique and believable her character is.
Work from MATS student Natallia Bushuyeva from an earlier and the most recent Illustrating Children’s Books course
Lilla says: Wow, Natallia! You went from very good to crushing–it excellent! I loved watching you take in all the info in Illustrating Children’s Books to create a winning character with a range of emotions and believable action poses. I can’t wait to buy your children’s book one day!
We hope you enjoyed the show! Isn’t it incredible to see the growth which people are capable of? Whatever level you’re at, whether you’re just starting out, there’s always something new to learn, plus of course you get to be motivated and inspired to make lots and lots of beautiful art! It feels so good to create. And Lilla and her wonderful teachers specialize in breaking things down so that the huge amount of insight and information you get is never overwhelming.
Are you ready to take the next step? Are you ready to invest in your creative career? Are you ready for your art to SHINE? Our GIANT CYBER SALE is on RIGHT NOW – sign up now and see what your before and afters will look like!
Grab your FREE copy of our gorgeous guide to our giant cyber sale here!
But HURRY! LAST CHANCE! Don’t forget that our GIANT CYBER SALE ends at midnight TONIGHT! It’s our biggest sale of the year, with some of our bundles reduced to a whopping 50% off so grab your spot now!
Love
The MATS team xxx
