July 2023 - Lilla Rogers

Our artists are quirky, sweet, funny, touching, and their art reflects that. We hope you enjoy this selection of recent personal art.

Contact us to assign or license art. We’re happy to help you find the perfect artist or gorgeous images for your project!

Jenny Miriam

OK, we know it’s not Easter but HOW CUTE are these bunnies?

Available for licensing as of this writing.

Tisha Lee

Available for licensing as of this writing.

Katie Vernon

UFO rainbow dogs? Why not!

Available for licensing as of this writing.

Sarah Papworth

Anke Rega

Available for licensing as of this writing.

Trina Dalziel

We just love Trina’s delicate linework, perfect for this cozy scene.

Available for licensing as of this writing.

Charlotte Bruijn

Flora Waycott

Available for license as of this writing.

We’re thrilled to announce the publication of Plants to the Rescue, illustrated by Brian Lambert, published by Neon Squid.

Read our interview with Brian, below.

Brian Lambert

Brian says:

This book was published by Neon Squid who mainly publish STEM-focused books.

It was written by the wonderful Dr. Vikram Baliga, who uses his social media following to teach people about plants, science, and conservation efforts.

I loved working on this book! Plants are just plain fun to draw and color, so getting to do a whole book of them was a blast!

Plants to the Rescue,illustrated by Brian Lambert, published by Neon Squid.

Buy it here.

“From climate change to plastic pollution, this book explores real issues facing the planet and how plants can contribute to solutions.”

Q. What did you learn from doing this project?

A. I learned a whole lot about plants, which you can too if you read the book! I have a whole arsenal of nifty facts that I can trot out at fancy dinner parties now.

Q. What did you love about the theme?

A. The book is about how plants can be used to solve some of our planet’s biggest issues, from huge scale things like global climate change to much smaller things like how you can use a banana peel to help with sunburns and bug bites! Science! It’s just fun to learn about all these kinds of things!

Q. How do you come up with your sketches? Do you do research?

A. For this project the publisher provided me with a very thorough brief and a rough sketch layout that I basically used to just fill in the blanks. So, you can kind of imagine getting a page with a bunch of boxes drawn in to indicate buildings and some little stick figures here and there and then the text is also roughed in so I know where I need to leave open space.

The brief would also have a description of what they want. For the city page they told me they wanted a rooftop garden, a skybridge, and a building that uses hydroponics, etc.

Sometimes I did do a little extra research. For example, I watched some YouTube videos about modern and future construction techniques and what kind of buildings they expected to be able to build in the future so that I felt I was drawing buildings that were at least somewhat plausible.

Q. How do you decide on color palettes?

A. The AD really wanted bright vibrant colors. I also knew I was going to need a lot of different types of greens as this was a book about plants.

The base colors were from a color palette that Lilla Rogers had provided in a class, but I then expanded it.

For each color, I made a lighter version by adding a tinge of yellow, and a darker version by adding a little blue. I’ve found this makes the colors more interesting.

I ended up with an amazing palette that is extremely versatile.

Q. Were there challenges on this project?

A. The biggest challenge came about halfway through the project when I got appendicitis! The publisher was very understanding about giving me more time but it was hard not to feel stressed about getting everything done in time after that.

Q. How long did you work on the book?

It took about 9 months from the first sketch to sending in the final illustrations.

Q. What medium did you use for the illustrations?

I use the Procreate app on a 12.9in iPad Pro from 2021, and I use some slightly altered pencil brushes from maxpacks.com.

Thanks so much Brian!

Plants to the Rescue is available now: Buy it here!

See more of Brian’s beautiful illustration work here.

Outstanding books and products for you this month. Fancy learning Procreate? Need a stylish new tote or lunch satchel? We’ve got you covered.

Contact us to assign or license art. We’re happy to help you find the perfect artist or gorgeous images for your project!

Ruth Burrows

The one we’ve all been waiting for– Ruth Burrows’s Procreate Book!

Ruth writes: In this book, I would like to introduce you to the way I make my art and illustration using Procreate. It’s a “how-to” book, but it’s also a “how you might want to” guide.

The Illustrator’s Guide to Procreate (David & Charles)

Written and illustrated by Ruth Burrows.

Buy it here!

Sarah Walsh

Tara Lilly

Who doesn’t want bags like these?

Mushroom Tote by Sarah Walsh (Blue Q)

Buy it here.

Floral Lunch satchel by Tara Lilly

(The Somewhere Co.)

Buy it here.

Åsa Gilland

Introducing the third title in Terra Babies at Home, a board book series that presents plants, animals, and the environment to early readers from the intimacy of their home and helps them connect to the natural world.

Selected by the American Library Association’s Sustainablity Roundtable as one of the top ten sustainability-themed children’s books in 2022!

Published by Duopress.

Buy it here!

Janie Secker

Fabulous portrait of Dolly Parton, as part of Rebel Girls Rock: 25 Tales of Women in Music (Rebel Girls)

Buy it here.

Maruga Koops

Congrats to Maruga for the US release of her picture book Hip Hip Hooray! (Clavis Publishing)

Cottage Door Press

Yeehoo Press

See below for our artists’ gorgeous personal work–we hope it inspires you.

Contact us to assign or license art. We’re happy to help you find the perfect artist or gorgeous images for your project!

Kendra Binney

Available for licensing as of this writing.

Rebecca Jones

Available for licensing as of this writing.

Kim Fleming

Available for licensing as of this writing.

Julia Christians

Available for licensing as of this writing.

Clairice Gifford

Available for licensing as of this writing.

Erica Root

Available for license as of this writing.

This Week’s Featured Toy Pitch

Our Toy and Games Agent Riley Wilkinson has been working with our artists on some fabulous toy concepts for you. Feast your eyes!

Munch by Mara Penny

This beautifully illustrated card game by Mara Penny is a fresh take on the classic game of War.

The fast-paced game play features educational facts about the ecosystem and food chain.

Contact us for more information about this fantastic toy pitch.

See more toy concepts–ready to license–here.

Yup, you read that right. We’ve taken on a new artist!

When I teach over at Make Art That Sells, I have the enviable job of watching students grow into incredible artists, and there are always many I swoon over.

However, we just couldn’t resist the work of Fay Ford. Fay comes from a background as a textile designer at the renowned Designers Guild and brings her magical watercolor finesse to all the illustrations she creates.

Contact us to assign or license art. We’re happy to help you find the perfect artist or gorgeous images for your project!

Fay Ford

Oxfordshire, UK

What medium do you use?

I trained as a textile designer when traditional painting was the only way! I still love to paint and draw by hand, and I use pretty much everything, gouache, watercolour, inks, acrylics and colour pencils, for my artwork and then use digital to finish things off.

Click here to read more of Fay’s Q&A.

We’re delighted to welcome Fay Ford to our group!

Fay lives in the UK with her husband, two Labradoodles, and, when they’re home from Uni, two sons. She splits her time between the quiet green countryside of Oxfordshire and the beautiful open skies of the Cornish coast.

Fay studied Printed Textile Design at Central St Martin’s School of Art and Design in London and worked for many years in-house as a textile designer at both Designers Guild and Diane Harrison Designs.

See her portfolio here.