At first glance an e-course can sound like it might be impersonal – just you and your computer and your sketchbook, beavering away in your corner of the world. But the reality is the absolute opposite. A course like Make Art That Sells brings people together from all over the globe with a shared love of creating, a shared desire to monetise their talent, and a shared ambition to make great art that flies out of the door. The community that has built up around MATS is astounding – hundreds of lovely, generous artists supporting each other’s steps to success, in a way which is perhaps unusual in this highly competitive industry. And sometimes the participants even get their families involved. We love how Sarah Alcock’s daughter helped her create this adorable video about her experience in class. (It’s less than a minute long and we guarantee it will make you smile!) – click on the image to watch it.

If you have any problems viewing this video, click this link to watch it on Vimeo.com.

If you want to learn how to make art that sells in the top ten hottest markets, from one of the world’s top agents (who has sold art for products worth over $100 million) AND become part of an amazingly supportive artists’ community, sign up for Make Art That Sells now (begins October 7 online).

What a journey this has been! Over 1500 entrants joined us from more than 30 countries worldwide for our first round, and then 50 semi-finalists battled it out to win one of six coveted spots in the Final. You can find out more about what was involved at each stage of the competition here.

Today we are thrilled to reveal the six Finalists, knowing that one of these artists’ careers is about to change for ever. Five were chosen by our panel of industry experts, and one was chosen via public vote. The overall competition winner will be represented by Lilla Rogers Studio for two years, and win a host of licensing deals from prestigious companies (see here for details). The assignment was to create a Farmer’s Market Tote Bag with an autumnal theme.

So without further ado, here are our six finalists (in no particular order), along with some of the judges‘ feedback about their work:

EMILY BALSLEY

Judges’ comments about Emily’s entry included:

• I’ve never seen a pumpkin strapped to a bike rack before, so…..Emily’s brilliant.
• I love the title: it’s a simple, strong written idea, and the axis for a sweet, soulful, fun piece of art.
• Retro but not too much so; has roots in the past but is still totally original.
• This is a great composition. The style feels fresh and original. There is something truly happy and carefree about the design. It really evokes emotion, and sends a very clear message. The palette is simple, yet very effective. I love the graphic quality of the illustration, combined with the decorative lettering.
• The way she rendered the presentation makes it look like a real tote bag I could see living happily in stores this fall.

ZOE INGRAM

Judges’ comments about Zoe’s entry included:

• Scrumptious color…love the whimsical flavor.
• This is a fun and contemporary “up-do” to color for fall.  I like the playfulness of the images and their arrangement.
• The type is fun and the whole composition hangs together well.  I like the contrast in line quality of the illustrations and just the general warm, cozy – yet modern feel.
• Love the colors on this one! That pink/coral color is beautiful paired with the brown and pops of orange and turquoise.
• All of her elements are executed really well with gorgeous detail.

DANIEL ROODE

Judges’ comments about Daniel’s entry included:

• Daniel has a sweet approach and a great range. His characters, people and animals alike, are fabulous and cute and funny.
• Amazingly cute and whimsical design with a hint of nostalgia for vintage kids illustration.
• Love Love Love. Just a big happy tree and all its friends. From musicians to fellows with a wheel barrow (ending the action in the lower right corner. Great sign-off).
• Clever. And incredible facial expressions. I want to visit here.
• Cute vintage-y characters in a scene that doesn’t feel busy but incorporates nice details (facial expressions, interactions between characters).

LIZZIE MACKAY

Judges’ comments about Lizzie’s entry included:

• Beautiful color sense. I love the line quality of her work, and she has a really great eye. I liked how there were multiple layers to her design, as I looked at it I kept being drawn in and saw more. The subject was not so literal, but a bit inspirational and unexpected.
• This is just so charming in its contemporary, naive style reminiscent of Lois Lenski. My eye wants to move around and discover all of the little surprises in the illustration. It is very sweet, but very modern.
• Fantastic use of geometrics which have been brought subtly into the design. This and the great typography shows the designer is very aware trends.
• Really love this palette. Feels Earthy and green, gives you the warm fuzzy feeling of Fall. She has a great illustration style, love her characters and icons.
• She needs to be hired by the universe to make some new flowers. The shapes and ideas are delightful.

JOSEPHINE KIMBERLING

Judges’ comments about Josephine’s entry included:

• I just love this. It’s just plain old gorgeous. It’s very refined, lush, and powerful. She uses great attention-getting colors. It’s grown up and sophisticated, yet fun and playful.
• There is beautiful detail in every element. It feels polished, and complete. Nothing is unfinished or rough. Your eye moves easily from one thing to the next, with lovely stops everywhere you look. FAB.
• I like her use of color and the style of the flowers and composition. It has a good energy to it that is playful yet not juvenile, and would appeal to a range of ages.
• Great use of color and the tote has a fashionable flavor.
• This piece is thought out in every aspect. The colors feel like Fall, but modern, young, hip Fall. Not too traditional. Love the play on words “It’s for gathering”.

VESPER STAMPER

Vesper was the clear winner of the public vote (over 10,000 votes cast!) and goes through to the final as ‘The People’s Choice’.

Judges’ feedback

We asked the judges “Overall what made your top 5 stand out from the crowd?” This is what they said:

• I think they’re all really strong illustrators with a keen sense of design and an attention to craft and detail. They stood out amongst the awesome entries and gave me a little charge when I saw each of them. I think they all have their own voice and incredible skills to back up that voice.
• Great use of the theme. Simple and timeless design elements. Thoughtful consideration of the execution and how the illustration will sit on the tote.
• Illustration style, color palette, composition, cleverness, thoughtfulness of how to make this concept their own.
• Unique approaches with clear personality and imagination that shows!
• They aren’t just decorating, they’re supporting clear concepts, and often with a strong use of text.
• They have a strong visual ground; the ideas have a focus and scale that works on a bag often seen from a distance.
• They know how to make characters you can empathize with.
• The designs I chose were fashionable (on trend), looked hard to do (not easily replicated by anyone who knows how to use Illustrator), they had their own sense of style (a way of drawing that runs through their whole body of work), and were joyful to look at (meaning people will feel happy when they see it)
• My top 5 were chosen because of their overall sense of style and design color, and typography. All had an interesting, eye-catching, unexpected take in their work and for me that made my choices. I looked at details and techniques. I felt that each of these artists would be very sale-able, and a designer that could tackle a project.

We also asked them “What general advice would you give to those who didn’t make your top 5 about how to make their work more commercially viable?” Here’s their advice:

• Try to make your work stand out from what is in the market already.
• When you have a challenge like this, give us a fresh, surprising solution.
• Think about the overall composition.
• Get words involved; they’re the secret weapon of great illustration. Or, create a picture that shows a little “narrative nano-second” – a moment that has sense of timing. It’s better than a scene that is just standing still.
• Simplify. Don’t make it too busy for something like a tote bag. This particular assignment naturally called for a strong central image.
• Consider what people want to carry around every day. Totes are meant to be fun, simple and functional additions to your wardrobe and everyday life.
• Remember your audience’s age. Is a market bag used by a teenager or an adult? What style would most appeal to your client’s customer?
• Think about what would appeal to a wide range of people – don’t indulge in eccentricity too much. Be quirky if the brief allows and have your own ideas – but also think whether it would appeal to the mass market.
• Put a LOT of effort in
• Truly challenge yourself to be unique in style – not a version of other popular illustrators or styles. Use your imagination to create a unique way of showing an idea or telling a story.
• Ask yourself what makes your design stand out…and be able to articulate it.  If you can’t, then you haven’t challenged yourself enough.

Congratulations! 

Congratulations to everyone! We are thrilled that our judging panel, comprising some of the top art directors and creative professionals in the industry, selected a set of Finalists which includes FOUR graduates of Make Art That Sells. It was clear that the course helped them develop commercially-viable art, choose amazing colors and present it professionally. We cannot wait to see the work that comes out of the next class (beginning October 7 2013!)

Gratitude

Huge thanks to everyone who entered the competition, and especially to the 50 semi-finalists who put so much time, energy and love into their submissions. We are sorry that you cannot all be in the Final, but hope you have enjoyed taking part, and that the exposure has been valuable to you. We would also like to thank everyone who voted, and all our judges who took so much care selecting their choices and sharing their thoughts.

What happens now?

The Finalists will be sent their third and final assignment later today by email. They will be asked to submit their entry by Monday 23 September, and in the meantime will have a 1-1 Skype call with Lilla so they can find out more about each other. After that Lilla and her team of agents will select the winner, who will be announced here on the blog on Thursday 3 October 2013. And then a whole new phase of their art career will begin…

Several great things are happening with our Global Talent Search and I want to share them with you, before we reveal our Finalists later today.

Lots of artists – the 50 semifinalists – are receiving amazing exposure to top industry leaders – our panel of judges – who often MAKE careers. Our judging panel includes people like Ingrid Liss of Demdaco, manufacturers of Kelly Rae Roberts’ gorgeous licensed products, to Marie Perkins, author of the highly regarded Print and Pattern blog. Beth Kempton, my producer, and I have brought these judges together to view the work of the 50 semi finalists and to thoughtfully select the top 5 finalists, looking for quality, originality, and marketability. In many cases, they even viewed the websites of the artists. It’s probably safe to say that many of these artists may never have gotten that kind of exposure without this competition, and we are thrilled for them.

I am reminded of the American Illustration Annual, in the 1980’s, was then the brand-new, revolutionary juried book, and with its team of incredible judges, brought together and provided exposure to so many brilliant knowns and unknowns. (I am grateful that it helped to give ME a start).

Competitions are a powerful tool for showcasing top and new talent – just look at like the Grammys, Oscars, and Tonys.

It’s pretty awesome.

It’s also hard that not everyone can win, but everyone knows that when they enter, and I just hope that the experience, the exposure, the excitement and the focus are all beneficial for everyone who has taken part.

As for my agency, Lilla Rogers Studio, we get a brand-new fabulous artist to represent and our industry is uplifted and energized by exposure to much great talent. And hopefully a lot more gifted artists get the exposure and work that they deserve. That has to be a good thing.

Xoxo
Lilla
Ps. A personal benefit is that I was fortunate to work closely with the brilliant Margo Tantau, VP of Creative at Midwest CBK, to create the final challenge and I must say, it’s pretty awesome! Margo gets her dibs on the winner (my next artist!) and together they get to create a branded line of stunning products for her company. Win-win-win.

The 2013 Lilla Rogers Studio Global Talent Search has got the art industry buzzing! We had over 1500 participants from 30+ countries around the world, battling to win the prize of representation by Lilla Rogers Studio and a host of licensing deals. No wonder – this will be a life changing opportunity for the winner!

In the first round all participants designed a journal cover for Paperchase. These entries were narrowed down to 50 Semi Finalists, chosen by Lilla Rogers, and then those artists responded to a second assignment – a brief to design a Farmer’s market tote bag (Autumn/Fall theme) – with stunning results.

And now it is YOUR turn to have your say!

You can see all the semi-final work in our online gallery (open here now). You can vote for up to five pieces of work, with one vote per image per email. The artist with the most votes when the gallery closes at 9am PST / 12 noon EST / 5pm GMT on Sept 9 will go through to the Final as The People’s Choice. Our esteemed panel of judges will select a further 5 finalists.

The list of six finalists will be revealed on Lilla Rogers’ blog on Tuesday 10 September.

This is your opportunity to help change the trajectory of an artist’s career. Vote for the art you would love to see on products in the shops – vote for the art you love, and the art you would buy!

VOTE HERE NOW

Check out this gorgeous video made by Antonija M, one of the talented students of Make Art That Sells Part A. In it Antonija shares what she learnt in the course, and creates a fabulous pattern with all her new ‘knowledge’!

If you can’t see this video properly click here to view it on Vimeo!

Excitement is building for Make Art That Sells Part B which starts on October 8 (registration is now open here). In this course we give you the inside scoop on the following hot markets:

PAPER 

BABY/CHILDREN’S APPAREL & DÉCOR

SCRAPBOOKING

EDITORIAL

PARTY PAPER

It works like a kit for each market – Lilla tells you what each market wants, and then walks you step-by-step through the process of creating a portfolio piece. Lilla teaches you how to break it down so you can respond to any brief, regardless of how daunting it may initially feel. With her help you can get that dream gig!

Each week includes:

• In depth market overview (what sells, who buys it, what they are looking for)
• Examples of real jobs
• Interview with a market expert, art director or flourishing artist known for selling work in that market – think Paperchase, EK Success, Real Simple Magazine and more!
• A professional-level assignment and step-by-step guidelines to respond with great art that sells
• Access to assignment critique from Lilla (a handful of pieces will be critiqued each week)
• Style development advice
• Hot trends & fresh inspiration
• Business and life advice from Lilla

You will also get access to a private community space where you can connect with other artists and designers, share your work and support each other.

The two parts of the course are designed to work together but you can just take one part if you prefer.

IF YOU WANT TO LEARN EXACTLY WHAT TO PUT IN YOUR ARTWORK TO MAKE KILLER PORTFOLIO PIECES WHILE STAYING TRUE TO YOUR STYLE AND TASTE, THIS IS FOR YOU.

If you join this course and fully take on board Lilla’s advice, YOU ARE GUARANTEED TO GROW AS AN ARTIST, BUILD YOUR PORTFOLIO AND GAIN MORE MARKET SAVVY so you can make great art that sells. But don’t just take our word for it – read our amazing testimonials from alumni of MATS here.

For those of you who wanted to sign up via our interest-free installment plan, please be aware the deadline for this is this FRIDAY (AUGUST 30). Find out more and secure your place here.

It’s time to reveal the 50 Semi-Finalists in the 2013 Global Talent Search!

We were flooded with entries in response to the exciting brief set in association with Paperchase, inviting entrants to design a journal cover with a playground theme. Here is what Lilla had to say about reviewing the submissions, and undertaking the difficult task of making the selection…

“What’s it like to review submissions from over 1,500 participants from over 30 countries around the globe? I’ll tell you what it’s like:  It’s exhilarating! I couldn’t wait to see what would turn up as a result of the assignment.  For starters, I was astounded by the quality of work and the calibre of the artists. Work was submitted in every medium: paint, watercolor, Adobe Illustrator, even 3-D pieces! My goal was to seek out the best of the best, and by a very careful process of elimination, I was able to narrow down the selection to 122 images. From there I began an even more studied (and challenging!) examination, and then finally I brought in my crack team, Susan McCabe and Jennifer Nelson, for their savvy input as seasoned agents to help narrow the work down to this group of AMAZING 50 semi-finalists.

(In alphabetical order by surname)

Kiran Ahmad

Kelly Angelovic

Jan Avellana

Emily Balsley

Elspeth Alix Batt

Wendy Bentley

Maria Bogade

Gaia Bordicchia

Miriam Bos

Rosie Martinez Dekker

Chantel de Sousa

Susan Driscoll

Noemi Gambini

Lien Geeroms

Julia Glukhoy

Lindsay Grime

Lyndy Hants

Kim Hawes

Tamara Henderson

Denise Holmes

Victoria Horner

Jill Howarth

Zoe Ingram

Josephine Kimberling

Anita Kingsley

Tara Lilly

Dawn Machell

Lizzie Mackay

Antonija Majstorovic

Julie Mclaughlin

Lucky Nielsen

Erin Paisley

Juliana Pedemonte

Clare Phillips

Fatinha Ramos

Daniel Roode

Angie Rozelaar

Marta Rusin

Aimee Sicuro

Cindy Silverstein

Natalie Singh

Vesper Stamper

Amy Sullivan

Irene Tan

Megan Thomas

Victoria Weiss

Kara White

Selena Wong

Louise Wright

Janet Zack

Drum roll please… The winner of the Global Talent Search will not only be represented by Lilla Rogers Studio, but will win a Mini Collection license with Robert Kaufman Fabrics (and a host of other prizes – see here for details!)

The Mini Collection with Robert Kaufman Fabrics will feature 2-4 designs with 2 colorways per design.

Design by Suzy Ultman

The winner will collaborate with a Senior Stylist assigned by the Robert Kaufman Studio, who will personally guide them through all processes involved to produce and market their work on fabric. The details of the license, including royalties, will be negotiated by Lilla Rogers Studio on behalf of the winner. 

Registration for the Global Talent Search closes TOMORROW! If you have not yet registered, what are you waiting for? This is an incredible opportunity and someone has to win – it might just be YOU! Find out more and register here.

We are bursting with excitement to reveal unveil another fantastic prize for the winner of the Global Talent Search (registration closes this Wednesday June 26)…

The talented winner will win a license for a journal cover with gorgeous stationery chain Paperchase. The details of the license, including royalties, will be negotiated by Lilla Rogers Studio on behalf of the winner.

Helen Dardik for Paperchase

Find out more about Paperchase on their website here.

How amazing? If you haven’t yet thrown your hat into the ring for the Global Talent Search, why not? Someone has to win and it might just be you! Register here by June 26 to be in with a chance of winning this career-changing prize!

We are so excited to unveil yet another fabulous prize for the winner of the Global Talent Search (registration closes June 26)…

The talented winner will create a decorative garden product with Studio M, the new artful home and garden division of Magnet Works, Ltd.! The Director of Product Development will personally work with the winner throughout the development process to give them a better understanding of how a product line is conceptualized, developed, and marketed in the Specialty Gift Industry. The details of the license, including royalties, will be negotiated by Lilla Rogers Studio on behalf of the winner.

Find out more about Studio M on their website and blog, or connect on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest.

How cool? If you haven’t yet thrown your hat into the ring for the Global Talent Search, why not? Someone has to win and it might just be you! Register here by June 26 to be in with a chance of winning this career-changing prize!

We are thrilled to announce another prize for the winner of the Global Talent Search! Not only will they get represented by Lilla Rogers Studio for two years but they will win a host of licensing deals including…

A gift or home decor product line with Midwest-CBK!

Choosing from the uber talented pool of artists will be difficult, and winning will be quite a distinction. Midwest-CBK’s Vice-President of Design & Creative  will personally help guide the recipient through the process of understanding how a product line is conceptualized, developed and marketed, invented and reinvented. You will work together to create a strong product line of either gift or home decor, depending on what is the most natural fit. There’s the potential of developing wall art, lighting, textiles, ceramics, gifts, specialty products… all offered with the voice of this artist to help them build an identity & strong brand footprint in the marketplace. The licensing details will be negotiated by Lilla Rogers Studio on behalf of the winner.

Awesome, right? If you haven’t yet thrown your hat into the ring for the Global Talent Search, why not? Someone has to win and it might just be you! Register here by June 26 to be in with a chance of winning this career-changing prize!