Our Retreat Recap! See how we have fun while schmoozing with art directors.
We were thrilled to host our 5th Annual Artists & VIP Retreat at my home a few weeks ago. I’d love to share some of the highlights with you.
Above: Anke Rega, of Berlin, shows some of the artists a nifty way that she makes masks and layers on Photoshop.
Here’s the loveliness that was on Anke’s screen.
Below: Meet one of our newest artists, Åsa Gilland, who traveled from Indonesia for our event. Here, she shears some denim on craft day.
Above: Sarah Walsh drawing with a white paint pen on blue gouache.
Here I am salivating over Sarah Walsh’s art at our one-on-one speed dating. People, it’s all about the shoes, let’s face it.
Above: I should never leave these three alone. From right: Zoe Tucker, Brighton, England, Children’s Book Art Director who delighted all the artists with her expertise. Center:Artist Mara Penny of Oakland; Left: Zoe’s irreverent and lovable sister Dr. Kirsty Sinclair.
Above: Katie Vernon shows the artists images from her recent artist residency in Iceland.
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We devote a load of time at the Retreat for the artists to do teach-ins, where they show an art supply they love, share a tech hack, etc. Here, artist Jennifer Potter (San Francisco) generously shows her speedy way to make technical pattern repeats.
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A sloth, a llama, and blue hair. New illustrations just out!
Just out! Here’s Hsinping Pan’s second book for James Patterson Books. Her first book for the authors was a New York Times bestseller. These are really wonderful books, and Hsinping’s cover art reads so well onlne. Read on for more studio goodness.
Hsinping Pan for Jimmy Patterson Books
Trina Dalziel for The Washington Post
We’re getting ready for our 4th Annual Artists and VIP Retreat here in Arlington, MA next weekend. Stay tuned to see more.
Above: Rubber stamping the name tags.
See last year’s Retreat photos here.
Sarah Walsh for Willow Creek Press
Tara Lilly Personal Work
Applications due September 24, 2018
New illustrations! Enjoy a map of Balboa Park, paper dolls, mindful reading, and more
Enjoy a map of Balboa Park, paper dolls, mindful reading, and more. Contact us for all of your illustration needs. We’re happy to help!
Katie Vernon for National Geographic Traveler
Clairice Gifford for Éditions Auzou
Zoe Ingram for Creative Co-Op
New Products! A pup in a cup, a well-being illustration, honest history, and a dreamy paper collection
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Sarah Walsh for Honest History
Rebecca Jones for Crocodile Creek
We’re looking for an illustration agent to join our team! Learn more here.
We’re getting ready for our Annual Artists and VIP Retreat here in Arlington, MA. Stay tuned to see more.
Katie Vernon for Roger la Borde
Trina Dalziel for Breathe Magazine
New products just in by our artists! Plus Helen’s new pet.
When our artists get a new illustration commission, we get so excited. And then, when the product gets shipped to the Studio, we go nuts. Here are the latest ones to come in. Enjoy!
Announcing the 2018 GTS Winners!
What an incredible field of talent! The level of mastery and beauty made the decision incredibly exciting yet super challenging. We are grateful to our impressive panel of VIP judges who narrowed down the field from 50 semi-finalists to six, from which we were then tasked with selecting a winner. We loved seeing the work for the final assignment, which was to illustrate a short section of one of three texts to create a double-page picture book spread.
After hours of discussion and deliberation here at the Studio, including reviewing the entire body of work of each artist, we are delighted to reveal the winner of our international search for our next artist, our Global Talent Search!
Based on mastery of work and originality of style, we are delighted to announce that the winner of our Global Talent Search, and next represented artist, is Kendra Binney! (Scroll down for more big news!)
Kendra Binney, Portland, Oregon
I’ve been following Kendra since we discovered her work in my Make Art That Sells courses four years ago where she stood out with her dreamy, magical style for a wall art assignment. While we know that she is capable of gorgeous imagery for things like home décor products, journal covers, fabric, and wall décor, we were delighted to see her brilliant ability to tell enchanting stories with unique characters in ethereal environments for the two GTS assignments. Her colors are addicting and her subject matter is fresh and enthralling. We are so eager to represent her, pitch her work, and see her stunning imagery show up on a vast array of beautiful things. Kendra, welcome to the Studio!
We are delighted to announce that Kendra will be flown out to our Annual Artists and VIP Retreat in Boston in September, plus win a host of prizes!
Final assignment
Semi-final assignment
Enjoy some of Kendra’s images we love:
Art directors, don’t hesitate to contact us to chat about Kendra for your next project. See more of her work here.
But there’s even more GIANT NEWS!
We were absolutely blown away by the work by ALL SIX of the Finalists! In previous years we’ve taken on two or three artists. But now, we asked ourselves, how could we eliminate any one of these fine artists? We know that we can get a great deal of top-notch work for each of these brilliant artists, and after Skyping each one, we saw a professionalism and high level of motivation that was undeniable. We knew that each of these artists brings something unique and fresh to our studio. Narrow the field? Impossible! We are crazy about all of the finalists. Therefore, we did something completely unprecedented, and with great delight, we are thrilled to announce that we are taking on all of the Finalists!
And now, in no particular order, please give a warm welcome to our newest represented artists:
Sarah Papworth, West Midlands, United Kingdom
I’ve been a huge fan of Sarah’s work for years, and watching her grow in my MATS courses has been so rewarding. We are crazy about her work and are impressed with her range. She is a watercolor master able to shift easily from luscious florals to dark and moody storytelling, all with charm. Her beautiful lettering work is key in getting a huge variety of projects. We can see getting her work in everything from magazine illustrations to home décor collections to bolt fabric to greeting cards and more.
Final assignment
Semi-final assignment
A few pieces of Sarah’s that we love:
See more of Sarah’s work here.
Åsa Gilland, Sweden/Indonesia
Everyone here absolutely loved Åsa’s wit on her the final assignment. We were saying things to each other like, “Did you see the glasses on that yak?” “The leash is an octopus!” She is an extraordinary talent, able to create characters with amusing personalities and unexpected twists. Here, for the children’s book text we provided about an odd pet, she reversed the expected and made the pet a little boy! There’s a reason she was both the People’s Choice and one of the judge’s top five. We are quite sure that she will be a busy children’s book illustrator and we are delighted to be a part of that.
Final assignment
Semi-final assignment
Here are some more of our favorites:
See more of her work here.
Julia Christians, The Harz Mountains, Germany
Zoë Tucker, my co-teacher in our Illustrating Children’s Books Course, and I loved what Julia did for the various assignments in class. She brought it. We were already fans, but the wit she displayed in her semi-final assignment just captivated us—the main character is so busy Instagramming that she misses out on the experience in front of her. Then, for her final assignment, she surprised us with warm characters in a lovely, richly-textured environment using an elegant color palette. We look forward to keeping her busy with books, from picture books to middle grade graphic novels, to adult covers.
Final assignment
Semi-final assignment
Here are a few more images that we love:
See more of Julia’s work here.
Jennifer Potter, San Francisco, California
Another class star, Jennifer Potter’s background in video and animation explains why she creates such dramatic cinematic scenes. Everyone loved her work for the Final assignment. We can totally see keeping her busy with children’s picture books as well as middle grade graphic novels and adult fiction book covers. Just for starters.
Final assignment
Semi-final assignment
We picked out a few of our favorites:
…and look at her sketchbook work! This opens up all kinds of possibilities for Jennifer to be commissioned for art instructional books, travel pieces for editorial, travel guides, and more. It’s fun to think about what awaits her.
See more of Jennifer’s work here.
Anke Rega, Berlin, Germany
I had the pleasure of speaking to Anke a while ago when she won a Skype call with me. She was motivated, charming, and determined to make a career of illustration. I am so impressed with how she stuck to her guns and kept working and evolving. When the GTS happened, the judges also saw her specialness. I knew her work was strong but I was blown away to see her children’s book spread and her graphic novel page for the GTS.
She brings an irresistible hipness to her work that we are excited to pitch—her cool people rendered in her signature cobalt blue and pink tones. We can envision her commissioned for a variety of editorial clients, from magazine work to story books, from graphic novels to portrait books to home décor collections.
Final assignment
Semi-final assignment
Here are a few of our favorites:
See more of Anke’s work here.
We feel so fortunate to be taking on all this abundant talent. Thanks so much for following along this magical competition! Art directors and editors, we’d love to know what you think. Feel free to reach out to Lilla or Susan.
A ton of new products by my artists–wine labels, sassy oven mitts, drawing books…
Today I’m delighted to show you a few of the latest products by my artists–an illustrated wine label, a sassy potholder, a drawing book, bunny enamel plates, and more. Enjoy the show! See more of our artists’ products here.
A divided plate by the inimitable Helen Dardik…
Look what I spotted at Whole Foods! These charmers are by Rebecca Jones.
This gem is just out, illustrated by Mara Penny.
Sarah Walsh writes, “Hooray! My book PEOPLE in the Playful Painting series with @quartocreates debuts today! Each drawing has seven steps with micro steps within to give more detail and direction. If “people drawing” intimidates you I do think this is THE book for you. It’s straightforward and lighthearted in its tone. There are additional tips on simple painting techniques. And the subjects vary. There are famous people like Edgar Allan Poe and people from my imagination like 80s girl. Of course 🌈💙 This was my first writing experience with a book so that was a cool learning experience. Words don’t come as easy as pictures so it was a bit challenging 😬 A shout out and a thank you to my editor Annika! 💙 I’ll be sharing some vids of the inside soon so stay tuned ✨”
These just arrived from Creative Co-op! We are thrilled with Zoe Ingram‘s newest home decor collection.
Check out that watering can in the background.
Sassy oven mitt by Anne Bentleyfor BlueQ
Lovely wine label by Carolyn Gavin
A stunning cover by Clairice Gifford with embossing and even gold foil!
The six super amazing Finalists are this very moment working on their final assignment! Stay tuned: We announce our Global Talent Search winner Friday, August 17th, so be sure to watch your inbox for our giant news of the year.
Speaking of our artists, these two sassy lasses met me for lunch recently in San Francisco when I was filming my new course for Creativebug. More on that later.
Me at Creative Bug
Why I love creative business. A new podcast and a new badass course
While technological advances have given us access to swathes of information and new ways of working, the world still needs unique human voices in creativity. The savviest creatives have unprecedented opportunities to monetize their talents and rock it out as business owners.
Who will be our next represented artist? Announcing the 2018 GTS Finalists!
Announcing the 2018 GTS Finalists
The judges and the people have spoken! The competition was intense, with judges telling us that it was challenging to select a mere five artists from such an incredible pool of work.
We’re delighted to now reveal the 2018 Global Talent Search Finalists, chosen from the 50 Semi-Finalists (who were selected from over 1,200 artists’ work).
Five artists were chosen by our panel of VIP industry experts, and one was chosen by public vote (our People’s Choice Winner).
The overall competition winner will be represented by Lilla Rogers Studio and will be flown from their home city to our Artists and VIP Retreat in September!
Click here to view the Finalists!
Over 10,000 votes were cast by the public, and we can now reveal that the 2018 Global Talent Search People’s Choice Finalist is. See the People’s Choice Finalist here.
Read the next steps in the competition here.
Finalist 1 (The People’s Choice and Judge’s choice): Åsa Gilland, Sweden
MATS Student since 2014
The People’s Choice Finalist Åsa was also one of the five Finalists chosen by the judges. As per our rules, this allowed the judges’ sixth choice to also join the group of Finalists, and we are delighted with our top six, who will now take on one more assignment to try to win the title of Lilla Rogers Studio Global Talent Search Winner 2018.
Here’s what one of our GTS judges had to say about Åsa’s GTS submission:
‘I love her style – it is loose and organic yet detailed. Her people have personality and unique looks. I like that she did not format this piece in little blocks like so many others.’
Finalist 2: Jennifer Potter, San Francisco, California
MATS Student since 2017
Here’s what one of our GTS judges had to say about Jennifer’s GTS submission:
‘Jennifer Potter: great layout, smart inclusion of the hands, theme tied into every element, including the rope frames. Love the limited palette. In an instant, I knew this was about a few people, a boat, and was from the past. Great skills in scenes, people, and objects.’
Finalist 3: Kendra Binney, Portland, Oregon
MATS Student since 2014
Here’s what one of our GTS judges had to say about Kendra’s GTS submission:
‘Kendra Binney’s Birdsong was a standout. I loved it from first glance before I even began reading. The art is really striking and appealing and fresh, the color use is lovely, and the storytelling is superb.’
Finalist 4: Sarah Papworth, West Midlands, United Kingdom
MATS Student since 2015
Here’s what one of our GTS judges had to say about Sarah’s GTS submission:
‘Her journal took my breath away, and this assignment was amazing. The lettering. the tonal quality, the details, the story. But most of ALL, it’s her vast portfolio that has such differentiation within it. Her piece has style, finesse, variety, great lettering, and solid talent.’
Finalist 5: Anke Rega, Berlin, Germany
MATS Student since 2016
Here’s what one of our GTS judges had to say about Anke’s GTS submission:
‘The color palette is very appealing and the way she decorated the interior showed that she’s tapped into trends.’
Finalist 6: Julia Christians, The Harz Mountains, Germany
MATS Student since 2017
Here’s what one of our GTS judges had to say about Julia’s GTS submission:
‘I want to work with her! What else can I say? I like the energy in her work, the humour in her characters. She would work for picture books and middle-grade fiction.’
To all those that participated in the competition this year, a big giant THANK YOU for being a part of it!
Stay tuned to find out who will win the competition!
The 2018 Global Talent Search winner will be announced on lillarogers.com on August 17th!
Vote Now! Announcing the GTS Semi-finalists’ work for assignment #2
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The assignment was to create a graphic novel page around two characters and some odd vintage items (a riverboat cruise postcard, a laundry matchbook, etc.)
