Mellow Jello

I wanted to share my most recent project created for Lilla Rogers' Assignment Bootcamp course! The theme for March was Jello and we had to design a pattern for bolt fabric. The jello theme was definitely a challenge for me. I've been busy with like 5 other ongoing projects this month and it was hard to make myself sit down and focus on jello! haha

Well the week before the assignment was due, I finally sat down and got to work. Here is my final piece. I created a main pattern plus 2 coordinate patterns as well. I ended up having a lot of fun making these and love how they turned out.

Going Cuckoo!

You may be quite familiar with me posting about Lilla Rogers' ecourses by now. Last year I took both her classes, Make Art That Sells (A & B). When she announced that she was going to offer another course, Make Art That Sells: Assignment Bootcamp, I quickly signed up. The format is similar to her other classes, but the difference being we get one assignment per month (instead of one per week) and none of the other instruction she provided in her other classes. Assignment Bootcamp is basically an opportunity to continue to make new art for my portfolio, practice working within a professional creative brief, and connecting with other artists around the world.

Our first assignment was to draw cuckoo clocks and then take that art to create a iPhone case design. Here are my initial sketches...

My Final Design:

I haven't had a chance to upload this to my Society6 shop yet, but I hope to soon! I'll let you know when this design will be available for purchase :)

Lilla Rogers Studio School - Week 5

The final week of Lilla Rogers' ecourse, Make Art That Sells was a great one. We looked at the Party Paper market and had to design a paper plate and napkin in a Bavarian/ Ukranian folk style. It was so much fun to create!

I learned so much from this incredible class. I think it has forever changed how I feel about my art and my life. Lilla taught me to take my work seriously. To treat is as more than just a hobby and really nurture and develop it.

Lilla Rogers Studio School - Week 3

This week's assignment for Make Art That Sells was a lot of fun. Our category was Scrapbooking and we were asked to create scrapbooking art incorporating the theme of typewriters and cameras. It was exciting to sit down and draw a completely new subject matter and it felt good to fill my sketchbook with happy little doodles, then scan them in and create this sweet color story. The process overall felt easy and natural for me. I enjoyed choosing what to draw and creating a mood for the page, almost like telling a story....

Lilla Rogers Studio School - Week 2

Week 2 of Make Art That Sells was surprisingly exciting. We looked at the Baby Apparel market and our assignment was to create art with a camping theme! I don't know how I lucked out with 'camping', but I had a ton of fun creating these designs. Plus it was cool to apply them to some clothing templates to see how my art could really be used on clothing!

Lilla Rogers Studio School - Week 1

This past week was exciting because Part B of Lilla Rogers ecourse, Make Art That Sells started! The first week we focused on Paper and for our first assignment, we all designed a holiday greeting card. You may already know that designing greeting cards is sorta my thing, so I was excited to really dive into this one. We started out drawing Christmas candy and ornaments, then incorporating those elements into our final card design. I decided to experiment with some fun lettering for this "Holly Jolly Christmas" card...

I'm so thankful for this class! Every week is so inspiring and encouraging. Lilla is truly a positive force. She can make you believe that your dreams really are possible. After spending the past month struggling with health issues, this course is exactly what I need to help me get moving again.

This card is now available for purchase in my Etsy shop along with more new holiday goodies I plan to share here later this week :)

My Latest Projects

Last week I finished my submission for Lilla Rogers' Global Talent Search! The assignment was to create a journal cover with a playground theme. I went with a whimsical animal scene complete with hopscotch and a mushroom swing...

Also, I forgot to post my final project for Lilla Rogers Studio School (which ended a few weeks ago). The final week was all about the gift market and we created art for a zipper pouch. I spent a lot of time creating mine, experimented with some new digital techniques, and had fun creating a colorful, complex design.

Lilla Rogers Studio School - Week 4

The theme for Week 4 was wall art and we all got out our paint and collage supplies to create our weekly assignment. I had a lot of fun with this one. It felt so good to work with acrylic paint and dig out my massive collection of collage materials. I used Mati Rose's book as a guide for each painting. 

Lilla Rogers Studio School - Week 3

Last week our assignment was to illustrate the fairy tale, "The Snail and the Rose Tree." It was quite a challenge for me as I've never designer/illustrated a children's book and I only had 3 days to complete it.

I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I learned a lot from the process and now want to continue experimenting illustration layout, texture and watercolor techniques.

Butterfly Garden

I just finished this new pattern, "Butterfly Garden" based on the plate designs I created for Make Art That Sells. 

I'm so excited for this week's assignment. The theme is children's books!

Lilla Rogers Studio School - Week 2

For week 2 of Lilla Rogers' Make Art That Sells class we had to design our own plate collection with a botanical theme. I started out with lots of sketches and then decided to paint different pieces with watercolor and acrylic ink. Next I scanned them in and assembled them on the computer.

This assignment was definitely a challenge (I played with SO many different arrangements) and ended up submitting the top design for the class. It was fun creating the art for this and I plan to work with it more to create a pattern design too.

Lilla Rogers Studio School - Week 1

I just completed Week 1 of Lilla Rogers Studio School, Make Art That Sells. The class so far has been incredible and I feel so lucky to have this opportunity. I'm so excited to learn, stretch my creative bones and work hard to create new art. The topic for this week was bolt fabric. I'm really pleased with how my Retro Kitchen pattern turned out!