I decided at the last minute to sign up for some of the courses on Make Art That Sells at the start of the year and I am so glad I did. It is such an inspiring and encouraging community of creative people.
You can see some of the pieces I added to my portofolio here: https://www.birdagram.com/portfolio-2/
I did the MATS Money Badass MBA course in January and it has really helped me to gain focus and direction with the projects and time management goals I have for 2019. The advice and industry insights have been invaluable. I loved MATS Assignment Bootcamp for the intense creative push in terms of diversifying portfolio work. In this year´s Bootcamp we worked on a range of creatively satisfying mini assignments that are a wonderful creative springboard and went on to produce work for the stationery market, home decor market, editorial market as well as a graphic novel spread. MATS Home Decor has been a creatively challenging and brilliant, mentored environment to learn insider know how for developing pitches for the home decor market.
I have realized that I need to practice drawing a lot more, especially faces and people. MATS Drawing Faces to the rescue. If you have never heard of MATS head on over to the website and check it out. It is fun and exciting but be ready to work hard and learn! I am 50 and I still wonder if it might be a bit crazy to be jumping into the big wide world of illustration at my age but Lilla Rogers and the team are so kind and encouraging and there is so much valuable insight to learn from the MATS community.
One of the biggest questions for me as a creative stepping back into the creative industry after a long absence is how to create and hone a portfolio that will be sellable and industry ready. It takes time and effort to build the right kind of work for the niche one is in. MATS courses really help one to think of the bigger picture as well as learn what sells in each area of the creative industry and what the potential markets are. You will gain confidence and very important insights into the markets for creating sellable artwork from a top art agent and top art director that would take years of trial and error to find out on one´s own.
I totally plan to sign up for an entire year of MATS courses next year (look out for the great Black Friday deals) to keep building portfolio work and to be inspired by creative minds from around the world. It is money well spent. If I had to pick only one MATS course I would go for Assignment Bootcamp because of the diversity of portfolio pieces that one gets to work on and for the creative push.
