Wow what whirlwind of a month! For those who don't know I took the plunge and enrolled for an online e-course called Make Art That Sells led by global illustrator and agent Lilla Rogers and it has just finished. I'd thought I'd share some thoughts and photos of what we learnt each week not just to remind me of what went on but also to show my progress.
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| WEEK 5- Design for the Gift Market |
The course aimed to introduce us to 5 different art licensing market areas over 5 weeks and through a combination of shared weekly tips, in depth market information, artist and industry interviews, and style development and business advice we also got to make new work through the weekly assignment challenges and minis.
Here was the class market area for each week (MATS Part B looks at 5 more market areas):
WEEK 1 Bolt Fabric
WEEK 2 Home Decor
WEEK 3 Children's Book Illustration
WEEK 4 Wall Art
WEEK 5 Gift
The weeks I enjoyed the most were Children's Book Illustration and Gift, the weeks that were definitely more challenging were Bolt Fabric and Home Decor. It's funny because I thought I wouldn't enjoy the children's book illustration at all (I think I just thought I'd be overwhelmed with amount of work that it may entail)!
Over the course of the 5 weeks I have felt myself being stretched both in terms of technical challenges- in particular learning how to do mock-ups in photoshop with my patterns, and also mentally with regard to handling critique and coping with seeing everyone's else incredibly talented work and not just giving up. Lilla's constant reminders of being positive, to change one thing and that our talent is not finite have been particularly helpful in pushing me forward and getting past my insecurities and doubts. We are all on a journey and as such will find we are all at different levels- we should see obstacles as opportunities to grow and stretch and not forget that we never really stop learning.
Here are photos/pics of the work I created for the different weeks. I think I would like to redo the Bolt Fabric and Home Decor but I even in this short time I feel like I've improved on presentation and know my working habits have changed significantly. It be may be the end of the course but I feel like it's only the beginning of my creative journey in Art Licensing!
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| WIP- I took the opportunity to get out the inks and paint! |
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| WEEK 1 - Bolt Fabric |
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| WEEK 2 - Home Decor |
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| WEEK 3 - Children's Book Illustration |
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| WEEK 4- Wall Art |
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| WEEK 5 - Gift Market |
