This month I’m enrolled in Lilla Rogers’ class called Make Art That Sells (Part A). Each week we get an assignment based on different industries that license artwork. We learn about each industry and what they’re looking for. Lilla, our “fairy art mother”, dispels a lifetime of valuable knowledge about creating art, best practices and how to keep a good attitude!

 

 

I wanted to show you a little behind the scenes. Here’s my messy desk full of sketches from week 1. Our industry of the week was Bolt Fabric. Our assignment was to design  a vintage kitchen fabric print inspired by pyrex bowls and peppers. I doodled around a bit then decided to use my watercolor pencils. They are by Caran D’ache and love them. You can place the color exactly where you want it then blend with a brush and water.

 

 

Here’s my final piece with coordinating prints at the bottom! I’m really proud of myself for learning how to scan in my hand drawn art, clean it up and place it into a layout. Some of the detail is hard to see in this low-res image, but I love the effect. To be clear, the class doesn’t teach computer techniques, but the Facebook group is full of helpful classmates that generously share tips!

 

 

Week 2’s industry was Home Dec. Our assignment was to design dishes using the paisley motif. I began playing with markers (Koi brush pens) and then added black lines on top with Micron pens. I liked blending the paisley shape into an ogee shape and then things got really groovy!

I got a little stuck with this assignment so I decided to pull from some motifs that I had created in Illustrator in the past and re-vamped them. They already had some paisley motifs and I updated them with a new color palette and some of the hand drawn line work. The black details were too dark so I use a fern green. I spent a lot of time trying a gazillion different things!

 

 

And here’s my final piece! I also learned (through online tutorials) how to place my finished artwork onto photos of plates for the mock up. That wasn’t the easiest thing ever…but I did it!

Now we’re on week 3: Children’s Books! Oh boy…this will be a doozy. I’m excited about the industry and would LOVE to illustrate a kids book but I’m struggling with the theme. I’ll update you when I get further in the class!