Want to know what our artists think makes a great art director?
I recently asked our artists what they think makes a great art director. What kinds of things help artists thrive and do their best work? Read on to see their responses!
Contact us to assign or license–we’re happy to help!
Fully illustrated biography of Anne Frank (Penguin Random House)
Buy it here
Lilla: Anke, can you tell us what makes a great art director?
Anke: I like it if I get inspiration from the AD but then have the freedom to create and can feel free to reach out if I need to–like having a frame for a project but freedom within it. If an AD wants changes I like it if they say something like, “this looks great already but could you change this or this?”
I think it’s important that the Art Director is available when you’re in the middle of a project so that you don’t have to wait too long for the answer, so you can keep working right away.
Lilla: Can you give us an example of a comment by an art director that was especially meaningful to you?
Anke: For the Anne Frank book I mostly worked with the designer Janene Spencer. After we finished the project, she wrote an email to me. One thing she wrote, was that I’m an amazing person to work with. It made me so happy and proud to read this. The AD Alice Todd has been so nice too. Always so kind in her words and thanking me so much for my work. I loved it as it was a lot work and it gives you a really good feeling during the project if everyone is being so kind and thankful. I’m the same the other way round as I like this vibe so much and it makes all our days just so much nicer.
Sarah Papworth
Part of a series of illustrations for an article on the 2019 fitness and nutrition forecast for The Washington Post. These were done with a mixture of pencil lines and watercolor.
Lilla: Sarah, what things are most important to you when working with an art director? What makes an art director great in your book?
Sarah Papworth: Friendliness is probably number one. And good organisation for a project, especially if it’s a long project. For me, these two things really help with making a job enjoyable and less stressful.
Lilla: What do you enjoy most about working with art directors? How do you find it beneficial?
Sarah: It’s fun working with different art directors, as I learn so much from their vast knowledge and experience in their field. And it’s wonderful working towards an idea/vision together. I always feel grateful for their help in getting a piece to look it’s best. Sometimes you can’t see the changes that are needed in your own work, so a fresh pair of eyes is amazing. It’s definitely a team effort.
It was great working with Victoria Fogg at the Washington Post on the Local Living pull-out cover (above). Victoria had seen my portfolio and knew which direction she wanted to go with, and that she wanted to feature the little people in the illustration. My style is quite flexible, and I use a lot of different mediums, so having the art direction and a brief to work to means I can be focused, but also play around within those borders.
One of the many illustrations by Sarah Papworth for the fully-illustrated text
I Know A Woman by Kate Hodges (Quarto Group)
Buy it here
Above: This was a much longer project, 84 illustrations in total, with a tight deadline. Working with Melissa Hookway at Quarto on my first book was a brilliant experience for me. I learnt to work quicker, and how to keep up the pace and enthusiasm working through a long project.
Melissa was super-organised. She created a spread sheet to track our progress, and gave me briefs for each portrait, which meant I could really focus on drawing and getting the illustrations to look as good as possible in a short amount of time.
Cover of the Weekend/Going Out Guide for The Washington Post
Lilla: Jennifer, what makes a great art director?
Jennifer: I love it when an art director takes the time to provide critical feedback and challenges me to do my best work. We’re a team with a shared goal of making an amazing product. It’s great when we can collaborate on something we’re both really proud of!
Katie Vernon for Anthropologie
Lilla: Katie, what did you like about working with your art director at Anthropologie?
Katie: I love when an AD has a unique vision for turning my illustration into a beautiful product.
Check out some boo-tiful work by our artists! See Mara Penny’s bat pattern, Sarah Papworth’s haunted house, and more.
Happy Halloween! Hope you have a great spooky day with lots of treats.
Contact us to assign or license–we’re happy to help!
Available for licensing at time of writing
Available for licensing at time of writing
Available for licensing at time of writing
Available for licensing at time of writing
Papyrus
Publix supermarkets
Available for licensing at time of writing
Available for licensing at time of writing
Coffee, tea, and elaborately moustacioed man with butterfly.
We’re feeling all cozy over here in Boston in Fall, and now it’s time for a nice cup of tea. Kim Fleming, agent here at Lilla Rogers Studio, curated this lovely collection of images by our artists for you. Scroll along to see the goodness by our artists.
Contact us to assign or license–we’re happy to help!
Animation by Natasha Dewitz
Last time we ran our incredible editorial course, Editorial LIVE: Illustrating for Magazines and More, it sold out before it was even launched! And for good reason: Lilla Rogers was a successful illustrator in NYC, and she’s got decades of experience with tons of insight to share with you.
Want to find out how you can get your gorgeous art in your favorite magazines? Let Lilla show you how!
Class starts today! Sign up here.
Sarah Walsh for Honest History Magazine
The one question Kendra Binney would love to be asked, plus incredible new work
Today we’d love to share some highlights from Kendra Binney’s portfolio. We’re delighted with how, in such a short period of time, she’s taking off in children’s book illustration and getting loads of card and stationery gigs, among other commissions.
Kendra writes: I’m a nature loving painter, draw-er, pet collecting mess maker. All of my best clothes are covered in dirt, paint, and animal hair.
What’s the strangest work experience you’ve ever had?
I randomly met a woman one time who had tattoos of my artwork completely covering both her arms. There are probably odder experiences, but that one stands out. It was pretty flattering.
What question would you most like to be asked?
“Kendra, can I please clean your house everyday, forever?”
Contact us to assign or license. We’re happy to help!
Animation by Natasha Dewitz
World map commissioned by Oopsy Daisy
Buy it here
This piece was created for my Illustrating Children’s Books course for the double page spread assignment. The text for the course was “A Girl Who Said NO!”, a story about Greta Thunberg written by co-teacher Zoë Tucker.
Kendra submitted this piece for our Global Talent Search and it sealed the deal for representation with us (along with her incredible body of work).
Kendra illustrated this lovely piece for Poses week for my
Illustrating Children’s Book course.
Kendra created this magical and moody piece for Folktale Week.
Various products for Roger LaBorde
Buy them here
Calypso Cards
Buy it here
Original wall art
A beautiful editorial piece by Kendra Binney
Join me! CLASS STARTS MONDAY, OCTOBER 28TH. In this four-week live course, you’ll find out how to get work in this cool and lucrative market, whether you have previous experience or not; what to show on your website or Instagram to get magazine work; how to come up with concepts in your own style; and much more.
Here’s why these artists get so many exciting commissions. A new animation, a piece for Disney/Hyperion plus whole bunch of gorgeous personal pieces available for licensing
Today I’d love to give you a tour of some recent pieces by our artists and a little bit about why they attract so many commissions.
Contact us to assign or license–we’re happy to help!
Animation by Natasha Dewitz
We love Sarajo Freiden’s appealing art, and in particular, how she depicts characters. Sarajo has illustrated a number of books and loads of articles–we’re talking The Washington Post, The New York Times, and The Boston Globe–and a huge mix of work for brands like All Bran, Klutz, and Godiva Chocolatier because of her lively characters, juicy color and fresh style.
Clairice is regularly commissioned to illustrate book covers, magazine headlines, and pretty gift products because she creates such beautiful typography, interspersed with her charming illustrations. I’m talking Celestial Seasonings packaging, a Clarkson Potter coloring book, Crate & Barrel ornaments, a whole bolt fabric line, even a rom-com map for Entertainment Weekly!
Flow Magazine (France)
Two of the most amazing things about Tara’s work and why she gets so many commissions–greeting cards, licensed product lines with Anthropologie, a gratitude planner for Scholastic, an illustrated book on Emily Dickinson–are her absolutely stunning color palettes and her beautiful way with paint. I find her art calming.
Personal piece, available for licensing
One of the striking elements of Bonnie’s work is her loose, bold black line that seems to dance with an uninhibited freedom. Her strong line is one of the reasons why she gets so many book cover commissions–her line reads well small which is important on book sites such as Amazon.
Disney|Hyperion
Flora Waycott’s brand-new book is now available! Buy your copy on Amazon or Indiebound and enjoy drawing lots of wonderful things via Flora’s charming step-by-step illustrations.
It would probably be easier to chat about what kinds of jobs Helen has not been commissioned to illustrate! From wine glasses to chocolate packaging, to book covers and magazine illustrations, Helen, who boasts almost 300K Instagram followers, is always in demand. Her style is wholly unique, sporting exuberant color that is broadly appealing.
Personal piece, available for licensing
Another artist that gets a vast array of commissions is Carolyn Gavin. From wine labels, temporary tattoos, chocolate packaging, puzzles, home decor collections, apparel, magazine illustrations, and loads of packaging illustrations for L’Occitane, she’s worked in pretty much every category you can think of. Her paint is luscious. See why she has almost 400K followers on Instagram. Yeah, you read that right.
Collection for Ooh La La Fabric
Here’s another artist with a wholly original style, and the ability to illustrate concepts in a delightful way. This is exactly why she has illustrated THREE children’s books for James Patterson in the Big Words for Little Geniuses series.
Bigger Words for Little Geniuses (Jimmy Patterson Books)
Besides her work–a sloth!–for the beloved quirky company Blue Q, Kate has done ornaments for Crate and Barrel, designs for Hasbro’s Baby Alive, bags for Publix stores, and loads of greeting cards, but maybe my favorite is her surface design for garden pots and birdhouses. She gets work in these markets because her work has an appealing, accessible charm with a touch of quirkiness. Her colors are like candy, and her imagery is a delight to peruse.
Personal piece, available for licensing
In addition to a card deck for Chronicle, print ads for Ivory soap, and reusable bags for Safeway, one of Linda’s most meaningful commissions was a recent series of covers for Oncology Nursing Magazine. There is an ethereal quality to Linda’s work that has great appeal.
Personal piece, available for licensing
Peek inside the Studio, my garden, and see our artists’ Show and Tells.
We recently showed you highlights from our 3-Day Annual Retreat, and now I’d love to show you a few photos of the activities that the artists participated in, from our Sketch Scavenger Hunt to Vintage Bingo.
Thought you might like to see photos of the Studio and back patio set up and ready for the arrival of the artists, Day One.
Above: Breakfast on the patio.
After a Studio update to discuss all of our exciting new plans for the future, it was time for a vintage Bingo break.
Above: Vintage Bingo break!
Below: Our Snoop Groups. The artists broke into small groups to discuss a particular topic. Then, they reported back to the larger group with tips and thoughts.
Sarah Papworth, Anke Rega, Åsa Gilland, Jessica Allen
Erica Root, Mara Penny, Kendra Binney, Bambi Ramsey
We devote a load of time at the Retreat for the artists to do teach-ins, where they show something like an art supply that they love, share a tech hack, or anything else they want to share.
Above, artist Kendra Binney (Portland, OR) shows some of the ‘cheap’ art supplies she uses in her art, which was surprising to all of us, because her work is so elegant and fancy. For original art that she sells, she covers the work in light-fast resin.
Artist Anke Rega demonstrated how she incorporates digital work with her traditional media work.
The Sketch Scavenger Hunt was new for this year. I gave our artists a list of things to look for in my garden (like “Draw an unusual leaf” or “Draw something purple”) and then they were free to roam and sketch.
Anke Rega, left, and Sarah Papworth
Thank you, artists! See you next year!
I’m reflecting upon our magical 3-day Annual Artists and VIP Retreat
I’m reflecting upon our magical 3-day Annual Artists and VIPs Retreat this past week, now in its 5th year. It began as an idea we had, sipping coffee and dreaming up cool ways to do business.
Ideas + plans = new reality.
This year’s Retreat was such fun, but also super great for business. It’s what I call a feminist model of business–embracing things like physical beauty–loads of fresh colorful bouquets in vintage vases; it’s about healthy and abundant buffets; it’s about cozy and plentiful spots for people to relax and chat in the sunshine. It’s about a 🎸guitarist and wine 🍷 in the early evening with golden light. But it’s also about a bit of wackiness like playing vintage bingo.
Mix up the ingredients: beauty, coziness, nature, and play. Next add giant helpings of some of the most brilliant illustrators working today plus some of the top art directors in the business.
We are already getting juicy commissions as a direct result. Business is kind of a dull word for simply putting people together and benefiting both parties in a lucrative way. And when it’s about art, then it’s about adding more beauty to the world. And right there you have my business philosophy. Have fun with business, enjoy business, play business like it’s a game.
I’d love to share some of the highlights with you.
In addition to eleven top artists, we were honored to host Frances Soo Ping Chow, Creative Director, Running Press; Carolyn Eckert, Art Director, Storey Publishing; Marissa Giambrone, Art Director, Quarto; Ashley Halsey, Art Director, Sellers | High Note; Jo Obarowski, Creative Director, Sterling Publishing; Melia Parsloe, Associate Designer, Page Street Publishing; Julie Philibert, Senior Design Stylist, Brewster Home Fashions; Gibbs Rainock, Art Director, Hasbro; J Walker, Designer, 2Communiqué.
Our artists made lovely portfolio magazines to give out to the art directors:
Above: Portfolios featuring the work of Åsa Gilland, Sarah Papworth, and Julia Christians.
Above: Click photo to see Sarah Papworth flipping through her amazing sketchbook. This video post got over 14,000 views on Instagram!
Giveaways from the artists: Kendra Binney, Jennifer M Potter, Kelly Anne Dalton, Bambi Ramsey, Asa Gilland, Julia Christians, Erica Root, Jessica Allen
Speed Art Dating
The highlight of the Retreat is Day 2: VIP Presentations and Speed Art Dating. This is the glorious opportunity for our artists and the VIP art directors to sit together for 10 minutes and chat about the artists’ work. Oh yeah, and vintage tablecloths.
Kendra Binney (top) with Jo Obarowski from Sterling Publishing
Carolyn Eckert, Storey Publishing (left) with Erica Root
Ashley Halsey, Sellers Publishing | High Note (left), with Mara Penny
Jessica Allen (left) and J Walker, 2Communiqué
Åsa Gilland (left) with Marissa Giambrone, Quarto
Wine and Cheese Gathering
After a rich and lively day, the artists, Studio ladies, and the VIPs unwind with wine, cheese and music in the golden early evening light.
Click on the video above to get a small taste of our wine and cheese event in my garden.
Thank you to all the ADs who attended!
Art directors: Interesting in participating next year? Reply to this email!
Watch for our next newsletter where we show the Artist days at the Retreat: Show and Tell, Snoop Groups, Sketch Scavenger Hunt, and more.
Blurb magazines
ADs at the Retreat loved the gorgeous magazines we gave them featuring Card and Decorative art (left) and Children’s Book art.
—> Art directors, please contact us to request your very own gorgeous copy! Please include your title and company name with your request.
The big reveal: See the work our artists created for my recent Illustrating Children’s Book course
Today, we’d love to show you work by our artists that they created for my recent course, Illustrating Children’s Books, which I co-teach online with art director Zoë Tucker. We emphasize the importance of creating a compelling character with “spark”, as Zoë often says, and the artist needs to be able to sustain continuity in the character’s poses. Most of all, the work must have an appealing, unique style appropriate for the text. Check out the work below to see this in action.
Contact us to assign or license–we’re happy to help!
Animation by Natasha Dewitz
BIG NEWS! Check out our brand-new animation page! From Jon Cannell’s Good Times animation ads to Sarah Papworth’s animated Beyoncé
We believe in motion as the future of digital media, and wanted to be able to show you how dynamic our artists’ work looks in action, so we’ve created an entire tab on our site dedicated to animation.
We’ve been working hard behind the scenes on this newest feature on our site, and now we are able to reveal the animated images of over 22 of our artists’ work! Check it out here–see Jon Cannell’s Good Times ads, Sarah Papworth’s animated Beyoncé portrait, and loads more. We think you’ll enjoy it!
Need an illustration and want it animated? We can now do that in-house, too.
Contact us to assign or license–we’re happy to help!
Animation by Natasha Dewitz
Animation by Natasha Dewitz
Animation by Natasha Dewitz
Watch this very fun short animation of Jon Cannell’s art as part of a series of work Jon did for Goodtimes, a natural burgers and frozen custard chain.
Want more of Jon Cannell goodness? Click here to download Jon’s gorgeously designed PDF of some of his very best work.
My Home Decor Plus live course starts September 30th! Join me!
Above: Gorgeous home décor products illustrated by Carolyn Gavin for TAG, Ltd.
Featuring Mara Penny: check out TWO of her newest, fully illustrated books and her huge bolt fabric collection
Today, we’re delighted to feature our artist Mara Penny, who lives in Oakland, California. I fell in love with her work a few years ago when I spotted her in my courses at Make Art that Sells. She brings a joy to her work and fresh color palettes that are irresistible.
Dive in below and check out TWO of her newest, fully illustrated books and her huge bolt fabric collection (and a peek inside her home!)
Check out Mara’s fully-illustrated brand-new book, Like a Girl (Sterling)
Publishers Weekly writes, “Penny works in stylized collages that distinctively capture the likenesses of the women, who encompass people of varying backgrounds and abilities.”
Above: From Like a Girl(Sterling)
Animation by Natasha Dewitz
The Practical Witch’s Spell Book (Running Press)
The cool part about Mara is that she is able to paint such beautiful and magical subjects as you can see here, in her fully-illustrated book, The Practical Witch’s Spell Book. Her magical style was one of the many things that attracted me to Mara’s work initially, and I was eager for her to get a book that would showcase that part of her work, and so I was delighted when she was commissioned to illustrated this book.
A complete introduction to modern magic and witchcraft with spells and incantations for love, happiness, and success. See interiors below.
One of Mara’s dream projects was to design a bolt fabric collection, and so we were over the moon when she was commissioned to create several lines for the esteemed bolt fabric company Moda. She was asked to illustrate all 50 the United States.
Below, enjoy her first line from the Southwest region, called Desert Song. Mara illustrated the State Birds, State Flowers, and State Maps of Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona for this collection.
Above: Mara was asked to create four different colorways for each pattern, which was a treat for this master colorist!
Mara’s studio
Mara Penny writes, “I have a gallery wall next to my desk that includes a portrait of my grandmother (top left) when she was about my age. That oil painting was my security blanket when I was very little. It was unframed and I would drag it around the house with me. The edges are roughed up and dog-eared. She was an artist, and the first oil painting she made was of an olive tree that hangs next to my desk. My daughter’s name is Olive so it’s a full-circle moment!”
