Coffee at Lilla's ☕🌼

How a personal project led to the coolest opportunity | illoguild #31

Jan 13, 2025

Hi everyone,

Like many of you, I’ve been a Make Art That Sells student for some time, and I get so much out of every class I take. Most of the classes have prompts such as a children’s book text or a specific brief to complete, but there’s one class that really gets at personal interests: My Arty Book class.

This class is designed to help us develop an illustrated non-fiction book about any topic based on our own experiences and interests. The end result is so cool, because all of us students get to learn about a variety of topics from each other, and each person is so passionate about their chosen subject matter.

Choosing a topic I love for a personal project

When I had the chance to pick my topic, I went through tons of possible ideas, but ultimately I landed on dogs! All year I had been drawing dogs, whether it was sneaking them into kid book projects or creating patterns featuring pups. So it seemed to be an obvious choice.

I dove into research which meant reading about dogs for hours and hours, collecting reference images of cute pups, and following a bunch of famous dogs on instagram. Before I knew it, everything I was doing for the whole month was about dogs! I was snapping pictures while out on walks and saving social media posts I came across. Inspiration was everywhere. It was so exciting!

And not only was I getting so excited about all the research, but I was also so happy about the way I was creating art. I had just finished illustrating my first book in gouache, and now I got to start a new project, again in gouache. It felt like everything was coming together! Here’s one of the pages I created for my project during the Arty Book class:

So not only was I researching and writing about a topic I love, but I was also creating art in a way I love. I think it was this combination that got my work into the review during the Arty Book class (and this is the power of personal projects — there’s an energy and excitement that comes through in work when the creator is so passionate!)

I felt so proud to see my work (the piece above) pop up in the review, and

Lilla Rogers

gave me such valuable feedback. I took that feedback to heart for the remaining assignments. Then during one of the Zooms, Lilla said, “Katie, you’re local right? Let’s meet up for coffee!”

Omg, what? Now this dog project has led to coffee at the famous studio of Lilla Rogers?! I was so excited!! And looking back, I think it’s the power of personal projects that made it happen. What I mean is… by creating work that was authentically me, I was led to this really incredible opportunity to meet Lilla!

So before I go any further on this discussion of personal projects, let’s get into the most exciting part of this newsletter… visiting Lilla’s studio!

Coffee at Lilla’s

I’m so grateful for the opportunity to have met

Lilla Rogers

in person, and she is just as full of joy, warmth, and support as you could ever expect. I felt so welcomed and loved, and I’m really excited to share about that day with you!

First let me take you on a tour around the famous studio…

Look it’s the Zoom background! It was the coolest thing to see it in real life! The space was inviting, warm, and so full of creativity. There are multiple art making stations, all the flat lay props you could ever want, and so many art supplies! They have to be the happiest art supplies ever to live in this studio. Lilla showed me drawers and drawers of all her treasures from vintage trinkets to colorful cuttings of fabric. It was a trove of inspiration.

The most amazing part was getting to watch some art making in real time when Lilla broke out some pastels:

The studio tour continued and honestly I could have spent forever there. It was so inspiring and it felt like there was so much to discover. Here are some other images from the day:

Left: Ooooh did I possibly spot some color splotches for the Color Quest class? 👀 I’m signed up and can’t wait for it to start in February, especially after seeing all the color inspiration in Lilla’s studio!
Middle: How cool is this? Lilla showed me a blouse she’s working on. I’m so curious to see it after all the embellishments have been added. I’m hoping to spot it in a future MATS zoom.
Right: These were the most delicious cookies that Lilla’s husband generously picked up for us. We enjoyed them after a tasty lunch that Lilla had prepared. She was such a generous host and I felt so honored to be there. From coffee to lunch to cookies along with a studio tour and time to chat — it was beyond lovely!

Ok so what did we talk about?! So much! I feel like we were bouncing around from topic to topic because there was just too much to cover! From art supplies to classes to Substack to life in general, we covered a lot of topics.

We also talked about my project from class, and Lilla was so generous to give such valuable feedback. She provided me with 4 sheets of handwritten notes 🥹 For example, she gave me these sentence starters to help with my writing:

One of the four pages of notes that Lilla graciously wrote to help me develop my Arty Book. I tried to channel Lilla’s flat lay skills while arranging props for this photo.

Do you also see her art direction notes about the dog’s eyes? So good. And so valuable. With all this feedback, I now know my next steps for developing my Arty Book even further.

The friendliness, warmth, and support that Lilla offered was so appreciated and so valuable. I think this door to meet Lilla opened because I was working on a project that I am so passionate about, which has me thinking about the power of personal projects…

The Power of Personal Projects

This whole experience of taking a class, working on something I love, and then getting to meet a mentor clearly shows how personal projects can lead to exciting opportunities.

The power of personal projects is in our own excitement and expertise. There’s something special that happens when we create for ourselves. We get to put ourselves—our personalities, interests, backgrounds, even weirdness—into our work to create art that is truly and authentically us. And no one else can create that unique combination that makes our work ours.

So let’s lean into these personal projects, no matter how specific or broad, mainstream or niche, big or small, because the you that you bring is what makes your art shine.

Share your Personal Project in the comments!

I can’t wait to hear what personal project you’re hoping to start. Or maybe you’re already working on something, so let me know how it’s going! What are you working on? What’s your plan to make sure you have time to work on it? Let me know in the comments!

Upcoming Live Events

Monday, January 20 | illoguild Live

Join us for a live Zoom session where we’ll dive into the power of personal projects and how they can fuel your creativity, grow your portfolio, and spark new opportunities. Hear from the illoguild as we share our experiences, insights, and tips for making time for what truly excites us as artists.

Whether you're starting something new or revisiting a long-time passion, this conversation is for anyone looking for a reason to pursue a personal art project!

Use the button below to sign up and check your local time, as clocks change this month:

You're invited - Sign up here!

Thursday, January 23 | Art Gym Workshop: Anthropomorphic Animals

Adam Ming

and I will take you on a journey of different ways to capture animal likeness while giving animal characters human traits (and costumes), we’ll study how some of the greats have successfully achieved this, then try to create some of our own. Animal characters are so in demand in children’s picture books. They also look great on cards, and can help convey certain messages for editorial illustrations and even comics.

As always

Art Gym

is for all skill levels, here beginners and seasoned pros rub shoulders all the time. Subscribe here:

Subscribe to Art Gym