Last fall, art agent Lilla hosted a Zoom event with three of the artists she represents, Sarah Walsh, Tequitia Andrews and Lydia Graves.
Watch the snippet below, or catch up on the full Zoom (scroll down to the next video)
The whole discussion is worth a watch – Catch up on the full Zoom below. – and it’s great to listen to while you sketch or draw, but today we just wanted to highlight this snippet from Sarah Walsh, because we love it so much.
Here’s the transcript: “I’ll just say to everybody here the hype is real, and I don’t say things I don’t mean. I want to say something really quick about the way that Lilla teaches class. I think it’s really unique in the way that Lilla has an amazing business sense, she knows what she’s doing, she knows the markets. She’s been doing it for a long time, but also has such a curiosity, so she keeps things fresh and she’s always learning about how the industry is changing.
Sarah in her studio (right) and some of the products she’s illustrated with Lilla’s agency (right).
“But I think the thing that makes Lilla’s classes unique is that Lilla understands in order to be successful as a commercial artist you also have to be personally satisfied. And I think she helps you get in touch with who you are as an artist and your voice, and she helps you align those things with the market. That’s like the magic combo that I feel like she has the corner on.”
Because not to be all woo woo, but I think there is an important angle to really tapping into who you are as a person, because otherwise why are we doing this? Why are we making art? Unless we’re gonna go work for someone else, we’re the one driving this ship and I think you have to have your finger on the dial of like who you are as an artist, so that it kind of shapes your career in the right direction.
Art by Sarah for Lilla’s non-fiction book writing and illustrating course, My Arty Book Pitch.
That’s the biggest thing that sets her classes apart for me, I’ve dabbled in other classes, and she gets into the spiritual angle of it a little bit, that I feel like is very very important to set things on the right course from the get go.
Some more products illustrated by Sarah and agented by Lilla.
The hype is real. I’ve never regretted taking a class, I’ve always been like duh, why did I wait so long to take this class? That’s basically like my reaction within a day of taking the class. I’m like why were you being so stubborn and dragging your feet, it’s an investment. And also I’m the kind of person that needs external pressure. I have been wanting to write and illustrate a book for god knows how long. I’ve illustrated over 20 books for other people and when I took Lilla’s children’s book illustration course and the other one where you develop your own stories, I learned SO much! And it really helped me think differently and I already felt like I grew so much from just taking the class.”
Thanks Sarah! If you want to find out more, check out our game-changing online art courses here.
Why not learn how to draw faces with instant access to Lilla’s unique course Lilla’s Art Recipes: Drawing Faces – or sign up for our next LIVE course, Illustrating Children’s Books, which starts May 20th?
See you in class!
Lots of love
The MATS team xxx
- Monday, May 20th: Create a complete ready-to-send picture book illustration pitch in just five weeks in our career-changing LIVE course, Illustrating Children’s Books!
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