We’ve got a fabulous student success story to share with you today!
Art agent Lilla’s main motivation in founding Make Art That Sells is helping creative people prosper and thrive and make real money from their art, and that’s why we love to share success stories from our wonderful community.
Make Art That Sells student Siski Kalla recently got in touch to let us know that since taking Make Art That Sells courses, she’s landed multiple traditional book illustration contracts, is now represented by an agency, and has worked with lots of self-published authors too. She told us: “It’s now my full-time career! I always recommend Make Art That Sells. Best fun ever too!”
We knew we had to find out more about everything Siski has been up to, so we reached out with some more questions: enjoy our alumni success interview with Siski below.
Siski Kalla
Siski (left) plus her first self-published book, Let’s Explore Snails: An urban wildlife explorers book (right), which has just won an SCBWI Spark Honour Award!
MATS: Tell us a little about how you got started in art and design.
I fell in love with children’s books as an adult! I was buying books for my daughter (now 17!) and just wanted to be a part of it: I loved the way the illustrations and words can take you to other worlds and make you feel so many emotions.
I had painted a bit as a child, but when I realised how magical children’s books could be, it made me want to try to write and illustrate children’s books too, to make people feel like I felt reading those books. I joined the SCBWI and quickly realised that I’d chosen what seemed an impossibly difficult path, but I’m extremely stubborn and was inspired by others who’d done it, so I just stuck to it, hungry to learn and improve.
Two spreads from one of Siski’s first picture book illustration jobs, for Wonderbly.
I’m mainly self-taught. Illustrator friends helped immensely with sage advice, but the Make Art That Sells courses are what gave me a real push. The knowledge imparted is so rich, and Lilla and Zoë made me want to work harder and better, so not only did I learn a lot via the videos and homework and so on, I learned purely because I was so enthused to work even harder every day.
MATS: Lilla always says “People buy your joy.” What brings you joy?’
Children and nature. My favourite children’s books combine these two aspects, along with gorgeous colours and light. Sometimes I feel like I’d like to eat the pages they look so delicious!
MATS: Which is your favorite market(s) to design for and why?
Children’s books and products just bring me so much happiness and I also feel like books for children are so very important. A book can change lives, they’re powerful.
One of Siski’s illustrations – since taking Make Art That Sells classes, she’s illustrated a ton of picture books.
I’m also a sucker for textile design. A beautiful napkin or tablecloth, a pretty pillowcase can make a huge visual difference to a room and that can change your entire mood! I just love the idea of lifting people’s spirits with anything I produce.
MATS: What are you working on currently?
I’m illustrating a creative non-fiction children’s book with vet, naturalist and TV personality Dr Sean McCormack – all about the reintroduction of beavers to London! As the story is somewhat based on reality – beavers were released in Ealing, a suburb of London, in 2023 – it requires a lot of research on my part, to make sure I get the visual details right. I love that aspect of illustration non-fiction as I learn so much along the way.
Siski’s most recent picture book illustration gig.
MATS: What are some of the key things you have learnt from the Make Art That Sells experience?
You can’t underestimate the value of support from other women in art. It’s incredible in so many ways. Without that, I would not be making money from my art, fact. Also that people buy your joy – it’s such a wonderful thing to be told and such a wonderful way to approach your art!
I loved Lilla’s art prompts – draw eight types of vehicles or eight types of homes, for example – they made me explore my imagination and open myself up to different things to draw too.
MATS: How have Make Art That Sells classes helped your artwork evolve /grow?
I can look at my first attempts when starting a course and compare to the end and the difference is incredible!
In Illustrating Children’s Books, I learned so much about each page as well as the whole book – about character, those little details of posture or expression that can transform an illustration from nice to really expressive. I also got a feel for how it might work if I was commissioned to illustrate one … which I then was! I relied heavily on what I’d learned from Lilla and Zoë to illustrate I Love You This Much for Wonderbly, a book that’s since been translated into 8 languages!
More illustrations from Siski’s first book for Wonderbly – the book can be personalised for different children.
MATS: Any aha moments during Make Art That Sells that you would like to share?
Me! That sounds weird, but via Make Art That Sells and Lilla’s encouragement and words, I began to truly understand that what makes my art unique – and therefore saleable – is that it’s mine, no one else’s. So rather than trying to create a style that suits the market or that doesn’t feel like ‘me’, really diving into what I love to produce, what brings me joy, also brings others joy and is also what sells!
MATS: What are your key successes since taking a Make Art That Sells class?
After taking the MATS MBA (Money Badass) and Illustrating Children’s Books, I started making real money, working for various clients on their books, and doing editorial work. Now I make my living out of illustration – my dream!
Key successes include turning what was a hobby into a full-time career, getting headhunted by a literary agency, getting paid to do what I love, getting book contracts for my illustration work, having my first author and illustrator book published by Clavis Publishing, and very recently winning a SCBWI Spark Honour Award for my creative non-fiction book, Let’s Explore Snails: An urban wildlife explorers book. To receive recognition from the SCBWI is amazing, it’s a great organization and worldwide – so the fact the judges singled my book out, makes me feel really proud of what I’ve achieved.
A spread from Siski’s own author-illustrated picture book, Gertie is not ALL dogs, based on a character she created in a Make Art That Sells class. Sign up for a class now and save in our big Spring Sale!
My first author-illustrator picture book, Gertie is Not ALL Dogs, grew from a character I came up with during a Make Art That Sells course. I made a character sheet for her, with various emotions, and got such a good response to her that I decided to write a story. It worked!
MATS: How would you describe taking a Make Art That Sells class to a fellow artist looking to develop their art?
A fabulous way to push yourself in creative ways you wouldn’t be able to do otherwise, along with a great way to connect with others. And especially for Illustrating Children’s Books – there really is NOTHING like it out there. There are a gazillion courses and retreats for children’s writers, but so little for illustrators. It’s such an excellent course, I am going to do it again, I’ll gain just as much each time I do it.
Another of Siski’s beautiful illustrations. Dreaming of a career in picture book illustration just like Siski? Sign up for one of our game-changing courses now and save up to 45% in our huge Spring Sale!
MATS: What is your dream gig for your artwork?
This is another aspect of the courses that really worked for me – dreaming! Right now I’m working on self-publishing a series of non-fiction picture books about urban wildlife. Let’s Explore Snails was released in 2024, and Let’s Explore Ducks and Let’s Explore Moths are coming out soon. I’d love to see the characters from those books turned into animations or maybe plush toys!
Wow! We hope you enjoyed reading Siski’s story! See more of her art on her website and Instagram
Don’t forget our big Spring Sale is on NOW, so if you want to write a success story of your very own and save up to a whopping 45% off our raved-about courses, shop the sale now!
- 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. It ENDS SOON!
- 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* (*please note the time change as the US changed for Daylight Savings from March 9th) for creative career advice, class giveaways and more.
Lots of love
The Make Art That Sells team xxx
