The Good Ship Illustration

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1. How do I get my work featured? With Creative Boom's Katy Cowan

   30 oktober 2026 · 29 min

   Afspelen
   This week our Katie chats to Katy Cowan, founding editor of Creative Boom, the independent platform that's been cheering on creatives of every background for 17 years. It started as a side project dreamed up on a sun lounger on her honeymoon (true story!) and now reaches over 300,000 readers a month. Lees meer

   If you've ever wondered how illustrators get picked up by Creative Boom, Katy tells us everythiiiiing: keep sharing your work, keep your Instagram active, and make your website a nice 'n' friendly place for journalists/art directors to land.

   Grab a notebook, this one's full of amazin' tips 💛

   Timestamps, for the timestamp fans:

   00:00 – Meet Katy
   01:00 – Gatekeeping
   03:00 – Goody gatekeepers
   04:00 – "You're not in trouble"
   05:00 – Marketing when you're shy
   06:30 – Hiding behind the brand
   07:00 – 2024
   10:30 – A new brainstorming buddy
   11:30 – AI, the nuanced bit
   14:30 – Where the work is
   15:30 – The perfect storm
   16:30 – The tightrope
   17:30 – The future is human
   19:30 – The courage to be disliked
   20:30 – Getting featured
   23:30 – Press-ready websites
   25:00 – GEO
   25:30 – Honeymoon ideas
   26:30 – Slipped Disc
   27:00 – Being enough

   Links mentioned:

   🌟 Creative Boom: https://www.creativeboom.com
   🎧 The Creative Boom Podcast: https://www.creativeboom.com/podcast/
   📸 Creative Boom on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/creativeboom/
   🎶 Katy's personal Instagram (for the Slipped Disc DJ videos): https://www.instagram.com/katylcowan/
   🎨 Sarah Martinon, the illustrator behind the Hermès campaign Katy mentions: https://www.instagram.com/sarahmartinon/
   🚢 The Good Ship Illustration: https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com

   Byeeee for now!

   x The Good Ship Illustration (Helen, Katie & Tania)

   Come and say hello!

   ✏️ @thegoodshipillustration
   🌏 www.thegoodshipillustration.com

   p.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question for The Good Ship Illustration Podcast 🎙

2. How to stay in touch with your illustration clients without being annoying - part 2 of our @MadebyJames interview

   23 oktober 2026 · 39 min

   Afspelen
   James Martin (aka @MadebyJames) is baaack! Part one was your starter, and this week is the chonky main course. James did promise to come back with something v useful, and he kept his word. Lees meer

   Buckle in for a step-by-step formula to help you build relationships with the people you'd love to work with.

   There is absolutely NO cold emailing or cheesey self-promotion involved.

   Timestamps, for the timestamp fans:

   00:00 – Welcome back James, and why part two is all about the practical stuff
   01:00 – A brand is really just a way of getting more opportunity
   02:00 – What James means by "opportunity design"
   02:45 – The book Obvious Adams
   04:00 – Why you should ask your clients for feedback, not other creatives
   06:00 – Why complicated marketing advice makes us feel silly
   07:30 – Good business relationships take time (you can't skip straight to "here's my work, give me money")
   09:00 – Sandboxes: pressure-free 20-minute conversations
   10:45 – Introvert? Start your first sandbox with a friend
   11:50 – Everything good in your life started with one conversation
   13:30 – Physical mailers and the "effort heuristic"
   15:45 – The 5-3-1 framework: five existing clients, three strategic relationships, one aspirational one
   19:00 – Focusing on just nine people, and starting a relationship journal
   21:30 – The time exchange library
   23:30 – What to send when you're following the seven email rule
   26:30 – Asking for a sandbox
   28:00 – The "second portfolio": gifting a scrappy idea that solves their problem
   30:45 – Reciprocity
   33:30 – Getting ready for when they look you up: your bio, profile pic and a "how to work with me" PDF
   37:00 – Cold emails are gross and they don't even work

   Links mentioned:

   • Part one of our chat with James was last week (we'll add the link here when we have it)
   • James's Substack: https://madebyjames.substack.com
   • James's free Super Duper Mentorship for emerging creatives: https://madebyjames.substack.com/p/join-my-free-mentorship-program
   • James on Instagram: https://www…

3. Is there any point becoming an illustrator now that AI is here? An interview with James Martin @madebyjames PART 1!

   16 oktober 2026 · 58 min

   Afspelen
   Trigger warning: In this episode, James talks openly about his experience of childhood sexual abuse, as well as addiction (drugs and alcohol). It's mentioned briefly in the 06:52 to 11:00 section and discussed again from 45:23. There's also plenty of strong language throughout. Look after yourself and skip this episode/seek support if you need it. Lees meer

   This week our Katie is chatting to James Martin, AKA @MadebyJames. He's a designer, author, Canva design advisory board member & creative partner at Lincoln Design Co.

   James is nice an' honest about the wiggly creative career road that got him to where he is today.

   We chat about the "gravity of average" and why everyone's starting to look and sound the same, an economist with two ice cream sellers on a beach 🍦, whether there's any point becoming an illustrator now AI is here aaaand why your weirdness is more valuable than ever. 😎 FLY YOUR FREAK FLAG!!

   ALSO, this is part one of two - next instalment is coming next week.

   Timestamps, for the timestamp fans:

   00:00 – Welcome James Martin, aka Made by James, and a quick intro to who he is and what he does
   02:43 – The world has never been more distracting
   06:29 – James's journey: school, trauma, addiction, and finding his way to an art foundation
   11:00 – Falling forward into graphic design
   15:03 – Following your gut and doing more of what lights you up
   18:09 – Writing No Bullsh*t Branding
   21:11 – Ddopamine
   25:06 – Is there any point becoming an illustrator now that AI is here?
   29:54 – The "gravity of average" and how systems pull everyone towards the middle
   32:53 – Hotelling's Law, ice cream sellers on a beach, and why opportunity lives at the edges
   38:08 – Time, the long game, and "automate the predictable, humanise the meaningful"
   41:44 – Bring back dilly dallying!
   42:04 – Your weirdness as your difference: taste, story and point of view
   45:23 – Feeling scared to be yourself, and why James chose to share his story
   49:29 – Being real online vs oversharing, and sharing fro…

4. Lessons from our 'failures' + Illustration Business Club doors close tonight!

   9 oktober 2026 · 25 min

   Afspelen
   This week, you're stuck with Katie and Helen again, answering more of your businessy questions (Tania's back next week! Don't cry! She's coming back, really!) Lees meer

   RIP to our dear friend and editor Deirdre McDermott of Walker Books, who died recently. Dee was a legend. We don't have the words to do her justice here, but we miss her very very much. 💛 And of course, Smelly Peggy too.

   Timestamps, for the timestamp fans:

   00:00 – Helen and Katie are back
   00:45 – Any consistency hacks? Katie's summer of posting every day
   01:45 – Reposting old posts
   02:45 – When your illustration work 'flops'
   03:30 – Stop when the fun runs out
   04:30 – Illustrator's boob
   06:15 – 2012 washing powder
   08:00 – The rise and pause of Katie's jobs board
   10:45 – Being misunderstood online
   11:45 – "Get over yourself"
   13:00 – Helen's online school visit that didn't quite work
   15:45 – Lessons
   17:00 – Helen's year out
   18:45 – Finding Your Creative Voice
   19:30 – Remembering Deirdre McDermott of Walker Books

   Links mentioned:

   Illustration Business Club: https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/business

   Find Your Creative Voice: Fly Your Freak Flag (with Helen's video about her year out): https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/freak-flag

   Helen's free online school visit: https://www.helenstephens.com/virtual-school-visit

   Walker Books: https://www.walker.co.uk

   Byeeee for now!

   x The Good Ship Illustration (Helen, Katie & Tania)

   p.s. It's the last day! The Illustration Business Club doors close TONIGHT, Friday 9th October, at 10pm UK time. There's an option to pay in 10 smaller instalments, and we'd love to see you in there before they shut. https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/business

   Come and say hello!

   ✏️ @thegoodshipillustration
   🌏 www.thegoodshipillustration.com

   p.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question for The Good Ship Illustration Podcast 🎙

5. Help! Posting my illustration work makes me cringe 😬

   2 oktober 2026 · 23 min

   Afspelen
   This week it's just Helen and Katie here (helloo - Tania was off in Naples eating pizza for us. We were living vicariously through her.) Lees meer

   Let's get stuck in and answer your excellent questions about marketing your illustration work.

   "I just don't know where to begin!" and overcoming our arch nemesis: cringe.

   Plus SLOTH FACTS. You're welcome.

   Timestamps, for the timestamp fans:

   00:00 – Time off is good for you, and good for business
   01:00 – Helen's short, intense work bursts on the latest Salty book
   02:00 – Take the bus
   03:00 – "Where do I start with marketing?"
   04:00 – Trying on hats (and taking them back off)
   04:45 – The creative car and the business car
   06:00 – Brilliant work nobody sees vs brilliant marketing that needs more art car time
   07:00 – Seven ways to get your work in front of picture book publishers
   08:30 – Low-pressure Instagram and the overflowing camera roll
   09:30 – If we were starting again: website, portfolio etc.
   11:00 – Ditch the "aspiring", "wannabe" and "itty bitty" labels
   11:30 – Cringe
   12:45 – Caveman brains
   15:00 – It's not meant to be easy
   16:15 – "How do I get over myself?"
   17:15 – Seeking validation vs showing up to share your goodies
   18:00 – Illustration Business Club doors are open, plus the new 10-pay option
   19:45 – Art Club, sloth ribs and a guinea pig Wild West village

   Links mentioned:

   Illustration Business Club: https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/business

   The Association of Illustrators: https://theaoi.com

   SCBWI British Isles: https://britishisles.scbwi.org

   Northumberland Zoo: https://www.northumberlandzoo.co.uk/

   Byeeee for now!

   x The Good Ship Illustration (Helen, Katie & Tania)

   p.s. Get your illustration business ducks in a row. 🐥 🐥 🐥 The Illustration Business Club doors are open now, with a new option to pay in 10 smaller instalments.

   We'd love to have you sailing with us! https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/business

   Come and say hello!

   ✏️ @thegoodshipillustration
   🌏 www.thegoodshipillustration.com

   p.s. We…

6. "I hadn't drawn for 21 years" an interview with Jo Overend 🐥

   30 september 2026 · 27 min

   Afspelen
   Jo Overend is in da house (ship?) Lees meer

   But first, Illustration Business Club is finally OPEN! It's been over a year since we last flung the doors open and we'd love to have you sailing with us! https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/business

   Jo is an author-illustrator, an OG Good Shipper, and the author and illustrator of Megaduck (her debut picture book with Walker Books) 🐥

   When Jo started out, she hadn't drawn for 21 years. She posted her drawings anyway, eeeeven the ones she didn't like, and sometimes three to five Instagram posts a day (!!!)

   Timestamps:

   00:00 – Hello Jo (and Megaduck, in giant cardboard cutout form)
   00:23 – Megaduck's final artwork is done and handed over to Walker Books
   01:03 – Getting final artwork finished alongside full-on childcare
   01:56 – Setting the goal of a full colour dummy for Bologna
   02:57 – Walking into shops with your prints (terrifying!) and taking the wholesale leap
   03:37 – Why rejection is almost never about you
   05:46 – Katie's human design corner: give people something to say yes or no to
   06:10 – Sending Walker seven more book ideas without waiting for a meeting
   07:01 – Posting real things to agents and publishers, and the "is it worth the stamp?" wobble
   09:13 – Why genuine, thoughtful post gets remembered
   10:10 – Agents and publishers actually WANT your follow-up email
   11:42 – Jo's Illustration Business Club experience
   12:23 – Getting stocked in her favourite shop, and growing into wholesale
   13:12 – Community, competitions, and winning the Picture Hooks mentorship (plus a book deal the same week!)
   14:34 – Tania's "friendly stalking" method for finding art directors
   15:50 – "Have we met?" How Jo's postcards got there before she did
   16:57 – Helen's broccoli theory of being seen
   17:25 – The anonymous egg problem, and why a face (or a logo) builds trust
   18:29 – Jo's advice for scared, shy, overwhelmed illustrators
   19:04 – Not drawing for 21 years, then posting 3 to 5 doodles a day
   22:02 – Megaduck news: US in February, UK in Ma…

7. Do I need loads of followers to get illustration work?

   26 september 2026 · 44 min

   Afspelen
   Fancy getting into your business car for a bit? Illustration Business Club doors are open until 9th October 2026, and you get lifetime access, so you can go at your own pace (pudding first, broccoli later). We'd love to have you sailing with us https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/business Lees meer

   ///

   We recorded this podcast LIVE on Instagram on Friday! (So please excuse the audio if it doesn't sound 100%) Anyways, here's the replay. Katie and Helen had a nice 'n' friendly illustration business Q&A, answering your questions as they came flying in. If we missed your question, it's nothing personal! We're doing another live Q&A next Friday too over on our Instagram @thegoodshipillustration so do come along and ask your question again :) https://www.instagram.com/thegoodshipillustration/

   Half-arse is better than no-arse.

   Timestamps, for the timestamp fans:

   00:00 – Welcome to our live Q&A podcast
   01:50 – Should you keep your children's and grown-up work on separate Instagram accounts?
   03:15 – Illustration Business Club doors, early birds and payment plans
   04:30 – Organising your website when you've got lots of income streams
   05:30 – SEO, long-tail keywords and lying down in the middle of the road
   08:45 – What are publishers looking for in a portfolio?
   12:00 – Do you need a big social media following to get started?
   14:00 – Where to start with licensing
   17:30 – How to say no when friends want you to illustrate their book
   21:45 – Should you approach an agent or go straight to publishers?
   23:30 – Instagram is not your portfolio (and half-arse is better than no arse)
   25:30 – Does business stuff apply to fine art too?
   27:15 – Your creative car and your business car
   30:00 – Working for free, "exposure" and being paid in lobsters
   30:45 – How do you stay invested in a picture book idea all the way through?
   34:00 – Pricey website hosting vs the cheaper option
   35:45 – Dealing with the newbie beginner scaries
   38:00 – When getting paid makes you tighten up
   40:00 – Structuring you…

8. Marketing *without* social media as an illustrator. Is it possible? (Illustration Business Club doors now open!) 🎉🎉🎉

   25 september 2026 · 26 min

   Afspelen
   This week, we're back at the kitchen table after the summer holidays, and the doors to Illustration Business Club are officially OPEN! Wahoooo 🎉 Lees meer

   A quick catch-up first: Katie trying to not-work for six whole weeks, and Tania's summer spent changing her work on a big museum project.

   Then there's a nice big juicy question from a listener: can you market yourself without social media if you really hate filming yourself?

   Timestamps, for the timestamp fans:

   00:00 – Doors are open! IBC, the new 10-pay option and the early bird pricing workshop
   01:15 – Back for autumn: summer holidays, Berlin playgrounds and trying not to work
   02:45 – Tania's summer project and changing her work
   04:15 – Keeping an eye on creative funding locally
   05:30 – Why the Business Course became Illustration Business Club
   06:45 – Key dates: early birds, the introvert-friendly marketing workshop and the 12th October kick-off
   08:00 – What's inside: licensing, rights, extra income streams and expert guests
   09:15 – "What even is live illustration?" and illustration as a business
   11:00 – Listener question: can you market yourself without social media?
   11:45 – Life before Instagram
   13:30 – Tweeting your work vs trudging round art directors
   15:00 – Physical mailers
   16:30 – Why niching down makes marketing (and SEO) soooo much easier
   17:45 – Social media is not a work-getter
   18:45 – Tania's maps: letting the work do the marketing
   20:30 – Good work first, then word of mouth
   22:30 – Speaking your clients' language
   23:30 – SEO for beginners, starring Tania

   Links mentioned:

   Illustration Business Club: https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/business

   The Good Ship on Instagram (for Art Club): https://www.instagram.com/thegoodshipillustration/

   Introvert-friendly marketing workshop: https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/shy

   Byeeee for now!

   x The Good Ship Illustration (Helen, Katie & Tania)

   p.s. The Illustration Business Club doors are open now! Join by midday on Wednesday 30th September and you're an …

9. "Your old sketchbook drawings could be earning you money" - An illustration licensing chat with Margo Tantau

   18 september 2026 · 50 min

   Afspelen
   This week our Tania is speaking to the one and only Margo Tantau (the licensing whisperer). Lees meer

   Margo is a good ship Pal, founder of Tantau Studio and you might have heard her on her brilliant podcast Windowsill Chats. Here's a link: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/windowsill-chats/id1529045232

   In this chat, Tania and Margo talk about all the important stuff liiiike:

   What is licensing? How do you get paid? Can you REALLY license work you've already made? Margo even shares her secret weapen for getting art directors to fall in love with your work.

   Some very good bits too: AI slop is NOT getting in the way of artists with real human hands. Hoorayyyy. That's good news for all of us, eh?

   Timestamps, for the timestamp fans:

   00:00 – Intro to Margo Tantau and her 360-degree licensing career
   02:30 – Welcome back to the licensing whisperer
   04:00 – Artist, shop owner, buyer, product developer, agent: Margo's done it all
   06:00 – How Lilla Rogers passed the agency baton to Margo
   10:30 – Why relationships are the real gold in licensing
   12:00 – What licensing actually is (from spice labels to Nike)
   13:00 – How you get paid: advances, royalties and typical percentages
   16:00 – Can you licence work you've already made? Yes!
   17:00 – Margo's secret weapon: show your art ON the product
   20:30 – You don't need perfect mock-ups (a drawn teacup works too)
   21:00 – A creative challenge: turn one piece into a mini collection
   23:00 – Is AI hurting licensing? Why Margo's clients say no to AI art
   25:30 – Tania's shock at the AI souvenir flood in Hong Kong
   28:00 – The hand of the artist, texture, and quality signalling
   30:30 – The UK licensing landscape, life after Surtex
   32:30 – A London licensing expo
   36:00 – People buy what they see: Margo's plates, fabrics and jacket stand
   38:00 – The Licensing Lab at Spring Fair
   39:00 – A sneaky tip for finding which exhibitors licence art
   40:30 – Should licensing-curious illustrators go to Spring Fair?
   41:30 – What does a stand actually cost?
   44:30…

10. "You really don't have to go to art school!" An interview with Carly Kuhn

    11 september 2026 · 53 min

    Afspelen
    This week our Katie is chatting to Carly Kuhn, a US-based illustrator, artist and author who ended up in illustration kindofbyaccident. She grew up in New York wanting to do TV comedy, worked at a Hollywood talent agency, took improv classes at The Groundlings, and started drawing on printer paper nicked from the office, just as something creative to do after work. Then Sarah Jessica Parker reposted one of her drawings (!!) and - you'll have to listen to the episode to find out what happens next 🤪 Lees meer

    Carly has had NO formal art or illustration training, which is exactly why we wanted to speak to her. We chat about finding your style by making loads of wonky work, why she wasn't ready for an agent for ages, and some pricing stuff about usage/contracts/licensing an' that.

    There's also chat about wallpaper, multiple creative income streams, and how becoming a mum did not end her career (woohoo!)

    Timestamps, for the timestamp fans:

    00:00 – Intro to Carly and her very wiggly path
    02:00 – TV comedy, improv, and how the drawing started
    06:30 – Improv
    08:00 – Sarah Jessica Parker reposts a drawing
    10:30 – Going full-time - pricing is completely made up
    14:30 – No art school
    16:00 – Naivety as a superpower, and posting every day
    19:00 – Live illustration, fancy parties, and the first wallpaper job
    23:30 – Lockdown portraits, moving cities, becoming a mum
    26:00 – Getting an agent
    31:00 – Pricing, usage, and being a people-pleaser who has to negotiate
    38:00 – Accidentally building lots of income streams
    42:00 – How motherhood focused her career
    49:00 – Character Study, and how bonkers publishing timelines are
    52:00 – You really don't have to go to art school!

    Links mentioned:

    • Carly's website: https://www.carlykuhn.com/
    • Carly on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carlykuhn/
    • Carly's Substack, The Cartelier: https://carlykuhn.substack.com/
    • Carly's new book, Character Study: Observations from a Very Curious Artist: https://www.carlykuhn.com/books

    Byeeee for now!

    x …

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