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130 afleveringen, van nieuw naar oud
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How do I get my work featured? With Creative Boom's Katy Cowan
30 oktober 2026 · 29 min
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 enoughLinks 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.comByeeee for now!
x The Good Ship Illustration (Helen, Katie & Tania)
Come and say hello!
✏️ @thegoodshipillustration
🌏 www.thegoodshipillustration.comp.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question for The Good Ship Illustration Podcast 🎙
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How to stay in touch with your illustration clients without being annoying - part 2 of our @MadebyJames interview
23 oktober 2026 · 39 min
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 workLinks 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… -
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
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… -
Lessons from our 'failures' + Illustration Business Club doors close tonight!
9 oktober 2026 · 25 min
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 BooksLinks 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.comp.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question for The Good Ship Illustration Podcast 🎙
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Help! Posting my illustration work makes me cringe 😬
2 oktober 2026 · 23 min
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 villageLinks 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.comp.s. We…
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"I hadn't drawn for 21 years" an interview with Jo Overend 🐥
30 september 2026 · 27 min
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… -
Do I need loads of followers to get illustration work?
26 september 2026 · 44 min
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
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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… -
Marketing *without* social media as an illustrator. Is it possible? (Illustration Business Club doors now open!) 🎉🎉🎉
25 september 2026 · 26 min
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 TaniaLinks 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 …
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"Your old sketchbook drawings could be earning you money" - An illustration licensing chat with Margo Tantau
18 september 2026 · 50 min
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… -
"You really don't have to go to art school!" An interview with Carly Kuhn
11 september 2026 · 53 min
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/booksByeeee for now!
x …
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"Nobody can hire you if they can't see you". An interview with Mollie off of @ShortSupplyMCR
4 september 2026 · 43 min
"Why does promoting my own work feel so cringe?" Lees meer
HIYA WELCOME BACK! We missed you!
Summer holidays are all done here in the UK. Hope you had a good rest too.This week our Katie's chatting to Mollie Balshaw, one half of Short Supply:
Short Supply is an artist-led creative practice founded by Mollie and Rebekah Balshaw. Since 2019, they have helped artists navigate creative careers through exhibitions, publishing, workshops, mentoring and public conversations. Their work makes the hidden structures of the art world more visible, while encouraging artists to take their ideas seriously without waiting for perfect conditions. Their current projects include 100 Ideas and Step One, a series of conversations taking place at Edinburgh Fringe.
Short Supply posed this cracker of a question over on Instagram: why is visibility treated like ego, when artists need it to survive?
There's chat about snobbery re; wanting to earn money from your work, the bits of being visible online that you're not warned about, aaaand the boundaries Mollie and Rebekah have built to keep themselves safe.
Then there's the can-you-have-a-successful-creative-career-outside-London question, and why "it's local so it must be rubbish" can get into our heads.
Unfortunately, the Edinburgh Fringe is finished now 😭 but Step One was Short Supply's project and you can read all about it here: https://www.shortsupply.org/step-one
Timestamps, for the timestamp fans:
00:00 – Intro to Mollie, Rebekah and Short Supply
01:20 – Why is visibility treated like ego?
02:30 – Being talented is admirable, wanting to be seen is embarrassing. Whyyy?
03:30 – Starting Short Supply out of frustration (and wanting an excuse to collaborate)
04:30 – Who the art world isn't built for
05:30 – Snobbery about "commercial", snobbery about social media
06:20 – "Do I have to show my face?"
07:30 – Algorithms, platform politics, visibility
09:20 – Energy and capacity
10:20 – The flip side of a post going big
11:20 – When visibili… -
RIP Hockney & (Art) school's out for summer 🤘 🌴 🍦🩲
10 juli 2026 · 29 min
What're you doing this summer? Are you having a little rest? Lees meer
This episode is all about taking breaks and we have a wee look at our plans:
Helen is in her illustrator hermit cave for July to get the next Salty Dog book finished before the deadline, with a nice August off as her reward.
Tania is working on a museum commission for a 'Gossip Wall' in Berwick Museum, with plans to experiment with texture and line for the first time in ages. (Phwoarrrrr.)
And Katie's about to have her first proper 6-week term-time break now that E's in school full time.Whatever your plans are, have a good one! We'll be back in September.
Rough Timestamps, for you timestamp enthusiasts:
00:00 – Recording remotely, wheee
01:00 – Camping memories in France (TVs in tents)
03:00 – What does everyone's idea of a summer break look like?
04:00 – Helen's July hermit cave
05:00 – Tania's loose-deadline project
06:00 – the Gossip Wall
09:00 – Working four-hour afternoons
10:00 – Berwick Open Studios, and the Pith Sketchbook Studios workshops on 3rd & 4th October
11:00 – Walk to See, Instagram's Add Yours feature
13:00 – Sketchbooking at the Alan Carr castle auction viewing day
14:00 – Katie's first proper term-time summer break now E's in school
15:00 – Freelance guilt, privilege, trying to "do it all" rarely works
17:00 – Trying and failing to switching your email off
20:00 – RIP David Hockney
24:00 – Planning a Hockney-themed summer party
27:00 – Good luck to Helen with the Salty Dog drawings, and a peek ahead Illustration Business Club returning this autumn!Links mentioned:
Byeeee for now!
x The Good Ship Illustration (Helen, Katie & Tania)
p.s. Illustration Business Club is coming back into the chat this autumn, join the waiting list here and keep an eye out.
https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/business
Come and say hello!
✏️ @thegoodshipillustration
🌏 www.thegoodshipillustration.comp.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question for Th…
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No, you *don't* have imposter syndrome - an interview with Lauren Currie OBE
3 juli 2026 · 40 min
What's the point in making all this gorgeous work if you don't have the confidence to share it, eh? EH!? Lees meer
Who better to grill on this subject than Lauren Currie, OBE.
Lets gooo:
Timestamps, for the timestamp fans:
00:00 – Intro
01:00 – Confidence = the elephant in the room for creatives
02:00 – Lauren on why confidence matters so much, especially for women and marginalised people
05:00 – The shite UN statistic
07:00 – "What would a mediocre middle-aged man do?"
09:00 – Confidence is a team sport, not a solo endeavour
11:00 – Carrying responsibility for how everyone else feels
12:00 – 10 people whose opinions actually matter (and why it's not Jeanie from school's mum's dentist)
14:00 – Imposter syndrome
16:00 – The 1970s research that labelled women with a "syndrome" instead of looking at the system
19:00 – Why self-doubt is healthy
21:00 – Confidence is a muscle
22:00 – Lauren's art
25:00 – Old lady faces
27:00 – Should you have a separate art Instagram?
28:00 – The Barcelona art show story
32:00 – Why 'just' 20 people seeing your work is a LOT of people
33:00 – Lauren's advice for illustrators who are scared to share their work
36:00 – On hiding
38:00 – We need your art!!Links and books etc. mentioned:
Lauren's website: https://www.laurencurrie.co/art
Upfront: https://www.weareupfront.com
Be Upfront by Lauren Currie
We Need Your Art by Amy McNee https://www.amiemcnee.com/order-we-need-your-art-book-amie-mcnee
The Good Ship Illustration: https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com
Find Your Creative Voice, Fly Your Freak Flag course: https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/freakflag
Come and say hello!
✏️ @thegoodshipillustration
🌏 www.thegoodshipillustration.comp.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question for The Good Ship Illustration Podcast 🎙
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Help, I’ve forgotten how to draw 🫠
26 juni 2026 · 41 min
This week's podcast is a sneaky peek into the live Q&A calls we do for our Find Your Creative Voice; Fly Your Freak Flag students. (They happen monthly at the moment.) Lees meer
WHADDA CHAT.
In this episode, we talk about:
Pursuing boredom
The Artists' Way
Why finding your style doesn’t always feel fun and easy and natural (Instagram's lying to yooou)
What to do when you have hundreds of project ideas and no clue which one to choose
How to handle agent/client feedback without immediately throwing your laptop into the sea
Galleries are better when you don’t try to “eat all the paintings”
Pens, colour, sketchbooks and abandoning black linework
Quentin Blake, Mr Bingo and free flapjacks. Just a normal day, really.
If you'd like to join us, go for it! Enrolment is open right now, and our next live call is happening on Thursday the 16th of July at 7pm UK time.
Timestamps
00:00 Art block
00:55 Morning pages
02:00 Wide margins
04:30 Boredom
06:00 Creative sparks
08:15 Creative identity
10:20 Comparison
11:30 Constraints
13:30 Page layouts
15:15 Deadlines
17:15 Oblique Strategies
18:30 Slow looking
21:00 Drawing from home
22:30 Quentin Blake Centre
26:45 Too many ideas
31:10 Feedback
37:30 Coloured linework
39:45 Closing thoughtsStuff we mentioned & links (so many this week, woah)
The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron
Make Every Day Creative by Marion Deuchars
David Hockney (RIP)
Brian Eno’s Oblique Strategies
Quentin Blake Centre - Thank you for inviting us to the preview day, team QB!
Derwent Pencil Museum
Picture Hooks https://www.picturehooks.org.uk/
The Catchpole Agency http://www.thecatchpoleagency.co.uk/
Muji fine liners
Emma Carlisle / Sarah Dyer
https://www.emmacarlisle.com/
https://www.sarahdyer.com/The Good Ship Illustration Art Club
https://www.instagram.com/thegoodshipillustration/?hl=enFly Your Freak Flag
https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/freakflagThe Good Ship Illustration colour workshop
https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/colour
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"I spent ages on the detailed stuff...but they liked the quick sketch." An interview with the brilliant Alice Bowsher
19 juni 2026 · 28 min
This week our Katie is chatting to Alice Bowsher, who's work she would like to bite (In a good way. The same way you want to bite very cute babies. Is it called cuteness aggression?) Lees meer
Anyways, there's chat about creative career paths, Glastonbury bags, cardboard bedrooms, Walker Books, baby board books, and the very very important role of biscuits. Mmmm.
Timestamps, for the timestamp fans:
00:00 – Intro to Alice
02:00 – From fine art to graphics to illustration
04:00 – The YCN internship, signing with an agent, and learning how the industry works
06:00 – Grand Matter, how commissions work "I'm definitely an agent person"
09:00 – Pricing and getting over the guilt of making it look easy
11:00 – Social media, Instagram vs Substack - Substack feels like old school Tumblr
14:00 – What happens when a brief comes in?
17:00 – Alice's cardboard bedroom
19:00 – Sketchbooking
21:00 – The Glastonbury Guardian bags and seeing your work out in the world
22:30 – Hobbies, exercise, biscuits, and the new-parent juggle
24:30 – Baby board books for WalkerLinks mentioned:
Alice's website: https://www.alicebowsher.co.uk/
Alice on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alicebowsher
Alice's Substack, Easypeeler: https://alicebowsher.substack.com/
Grand Matter, Alice's illustration agency: https://grandmatter.com/
Fold out guinea pig birthday cards for Wrap: https://wrapmagazine.com/products/guinea-pig-surprise-fold-out-card
We briefly mentioned Find Your Creative Voice, Fly Your Freak Flag so here's the link to that too in case you want to bask in your weirdness and make your best work ever: https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/freakflag
Come and say hello!
✏️ @thegoodshipillustration
🌏 www.thegoodshipillustration.comp.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question for The Good Ship Illustration Podcast 🎙
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And the award for Best Stand at Bologna Children's Book Fair goes to...
12 juni 2026 · 35 min
This week, we're STIIIIIILL talking about Bologna Children's Book Fair (for the last time, we promise 😅) - this episode was supposed to come out as soon as we got home, but the technology gremlins have been fighting with us every step of the way. BACK OFF, GREMLINS. Lees meer
You'll hear at the very end that we went on talking for three whole blimmin' episodes before we realised the microphones had conked out.
We chat about having a stand and exhibiting for the very first time, our Best-Stand award, given to us by the one and only Chloe Savage (sponsored by ham™️), meeting the most brilliant people, and...Mega Duck!
Timestamps, for the timestamp fans:
00:00 – Back from Bologna! The brain dump begins
01:00 – What it was like having a stand for the first time
02:30 – The Best Stand Award wot we won
04:00 – 1,500 stripy bags, tattoos, and the ham situation
06:30 – Meeting podcast listeners in real life
07:00 – A lovely chat with Steve Anthony (Mr. Panda!) and his route into illustration 09:00 – The Cambridge School of Art stand and Good Ship grads
10:00 – Katie interviewing people on the stand with mega microphones
11:30 – Holly's observation about illustrators
13:00 – Why picture book people are the best
15:00 – The Illustrators' Survival Corner
16:30 – Meeting new people and being mistaken for a publisher
18:00 – Jo Overend and the Mega Duck story / Walker Books
22:00 – Lisa Loffredo, the Nami Concours shortlist, and a very good group photo
24:00 – The Good Ship Illustration as a showcase for talent (a big idea brewing...)
26:00 – Our Bolognese Palace
28:00 – Tania on nonfiction illustration
31:00 – How to research publishers from home
33:30 – Whoops, the microphones weren't recording. Goodbye Bologna!Links & people mentioned:
🎨 Steve Antony (Mr. Panda author-illustrator): https://www.steveantony.com/
🎨 Cambridge School of Art MA in Children's Book Illustration: https://www.aru.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/childrens-book-illustration
🎨 Jo Overend on Instagram: https://www.… -
"Help! I love my rough illustrations and panic on the final piece. How do I get out of my own way?"
5 juni 2026 · 34 min
It's all fun and games until someone mentions FINAL ARTWORK. (Arghhhh) Lees meer
Sound familiar? Thought so.
So we get stuck into Inky's question: how do you get out of your own way and switch off the overthinking brains?
All three of us wrestle with this in different ways.
Also mentioned: expensive paper + a shared fantasy about buying a tiny round Father Ted caravan to draw in. Pour yourself a decaf tea and get comfy. 🫖
Timestamps, for the timestamp fans:
00:00 – The question from "Inky"
02:00 – Why your best work happens when you're distracted
03:00 – Helen's voice coach revelation
05:00 – The "kiss of death" of the final piece
06:00 – First violin nerves and propranolol
07:00 – Why Katie does live illustration
08:00 – ADHD, body doubling and visual timers
09:00 – Tania's surprise panic attack
10:00 – The fear of expensive paper
11:00 – Cheap sketchbooks, and never stretching paper
12:00 – Working on five versions at once
13:00 – Pia Bramley's drawings in the New York Times
14:00 – The dim light box trick
15:00 – Gluing over mistakes
16:00 – Why scaling up kills a drawing
17:00 – The blobby technique, and INCUP
19:00 – Tania loses her portfolio on the bus
20:00 – Katie's secret competitive streak
22:00 – Are illustration competitions worth it?
24:00 – Getting into the zone
25:00 – Rain, gas fires and working audios
27:00 – The dream caravan studio
29:00 – Dressing gowns, woolly hats and working caves
31:00 – Working around kids, and burnout
33:00 – Larks vs owlsLinks mentioned:
Pia Bramley on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/piabramley/
Picture Hooks (mentoring and competitions for picture book makers): https://www.picturehooks.org.uk/
The Blindboy Podcast: https://theblindboypodcast.ie/
Byeeee for now!
x The Good Ship Illustration (Helen, Katie & Tania)
p.s. You're v welcome to make your best work ever and come and bask in your weirdness with us here: https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/freakflag
Come and say hello!
✏️ @thegoodshipillustration
🌏 w… -
⚠️ Illustration scams to watch out for
29 mei 2026 · 25 min
Ooft, this is a good one. This week we're discussing illustration scams Lees meer
We've all had them land in our inboxes, we see 'em in the Good Ship community (too) regularly, and TBH you need to know what to look out for. 👀
Plus: Salty Dog is in actual bookshops and the Waterstones staff read it and couldn't stop laughing. Weyyy! 🎉
Timestamps, if you like that sort of thing:
00:00 – Why we're talking about scams (community posts, industry warnings, and everyone's inbox)
01:30 – The Mr. Takeshi email - the famous one doing the rounds right now
03:00 – Copy and paste a paragraph into Google. Reddit will know.
04:00 – The overpayment scam
04:30 – "I'm deaf, so please only email me"
05:00 – Katie's hacked email story
06:00 – Tania's mysterious hotel chain job
08:30 – Vanity publishers
10:30 – Real publishers don't advertise for illustrators on their homepage
12:00 – Rebecca Green and legitimate self-publishing (not the same thing!)
14:00 – "Dear Helen, I've written a book, please illustrate it" ...not a scam, but still a no
16:00 – AI emails from Francis. Every single daaaay. Still can't unsubscribe.
18:00 – "I'd like to buy three pieces of your artwork".
20:00 – 🎉 Salty Dog is in Waterstones! And the staff loved it!
21:30 – The terrible/brilliant fake Photoshop of Helen and Katie in the bookshop
23:00 – Could Salty Dog become a Yoto card? (We think yes, and yes we are biased)Links mentioned:
📚 Salty Dog by Helen Stephens and Katie Chappell - find it in all good bookshops: https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/salty-dog-and-pals-the-storm-other-stories
🖼️ The AOI (Association of Illustrators) — good source of scam warnings: https://theaoi.com
Byeeee for now!
x The Good Ship Illustration (Helen, Katie & Tania)
Come and say hello!
✏️ @thegoodshipillustration
🌏 www.thegoodshipillustration.comp.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question for The Good Ship Illustration Podcast 🎙
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'They keep asking me to tone it down.' Flying your freak flag in their faces 🚩
22 mei 2026 · 20 min
This week we're answering a brilliant voice message from @shanaramadesigns. Lees meer
Shana asks about Russian illustrator Victoria Semikina: how does someone learn to draw in that gloriously exaggerated, expressive way? And why, when she does it, does everyone love it, but when Shana tries it, art directors ask her to tone it down?
NO FAIR.
Happy listening :) And hellooo to Victoria - we've been chatting this week and there *might* be a special video coming to the Freak Flag course from her. EEEE!
Watch this space! https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/freakflag
Timestamps, for the timestamp fans:
00:00 – Crying over Christian Robinson's new book 'Dad' (it needs a warning label)
01:30 – Shana Rama's question: how do you learn to draw in an exaggerated, expressive way?
03:30 – Victoria Semikina: fine art, printmaking, jazz parties, and accidentally becoming an illustrator
05:30 – Why drawing from life filters through your personality, and why that matters
07:30 – "Just be yourself even harder"
09:00 – Finding publishers who love you as you are
10:00 – British art education, the A-level folio problem, and Frieda's story
15:30 – The exam board vs actual creativity, and feeling for students without artist parents
17:00 – Victoria's sketchbooks the gap between rough and final is tiny (mmmm)
18:00 – Embodying a pose while you draw: Tania channeling Tudor barmaid energyLinks mentioned:
🎨 Victoria Semykina on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/victoria_semykina/
📚 Christian Robinson's book 'Dad': https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/christian-robinson/dad/9781035088393
Byeeee for now!
x The Good Ship Illustration (Helen, Katie & Tania)
p.s. Doors to the Live Illustration Course are now open for enrolment! This live round kicks off on 1st June. See you in there :) https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/lic
Come and say hello!
✏️ @thegoodshipillustration
🌏 www.thegoodshipillustration.comp.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit you…
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"I used to cry in the toilets before every job (and then I'd go draw)" - a live illustration chat with Katie
15 mei 2026 · 34 min
This week, our Katie's chatting with Helen and Tania about her favouritest thing and specialism/niche: live illustration. Lees meer
What's it like to arrive at a fancy corporate event with an iPad (or a board and some paint), when someone says "ok, draw everything"?
It's a proper deep-dive into the live illustration world, from the adrenalinny (new word) thrill of drawing in real time, including the crying-in-toilets. Is AI a threat to graphic recorders? Spoiler: being a human is, somehow, now a USP. 😂
There's also a crackin' question from Joanna about being asked to work for free for a live illustration agency, and we have Thoughts.
Timestamps, for the timestamp fans:
00:00 – Intro and is live illustration under threat from AI? Katie's honest take
02:00 – Being a human = a selling point
04:00 – Hand-drawn work is more exciting to clients
05:00 – Infographics, AI, and the kinds of work that aren't worth worrying about
08:00 – Why Katie loves working live
09:00 – Helen on the same feeling during school visits and drawing on stage
11:00 – The different flavours of live illustration: corporate, fashion, wedding, events...
12:00 – Joanna's question: should I work for free for a live illustration agency?
14:00 – How to build your portfolio without getting trapped in the free-work loop
15:00 – SEO for live illustrators
17:00 – Helen's local museum project: well-paid, rooted in place, in the collection for 20 years
21:00 – What Katie teaches in her course: synthesising information, calming your brain, and knowing what to leave out
23:00 – How to turn corporate speak into images without just drawing a lightbulb 💡
25:00 – Katie's favourite technique: using the page as a visual timer
27:00 – The early fear vs the hard-won confidence (and yes, the toilet crying 😅)
31:00 – You'll never feel ready, so just start charging anyway
32:00 – The live illustration course opens on 15th May!Links mentioned:
The Live Illustration Course: https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/lic
Byeeee …
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You don't have to pick just one thing - an interview with illustrator-astrologer Nicola Allan
8 mei 2026 · 34 min
This week, our Katie is chatting to Nicola Allan, an artist, writer and consulting astrologer based in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. After 12 years working as a lawyer, Nicola pivoted to illustration and has since built a brand that weaves together everything she loves: The Wild Way. Lees meer
Nicola's a brilliant example of what happens when you stop trying to choose between the things you're drawn to and just bring them aaaall along for the ride. We chat about slowly switching from a regular job to illustration, why crowdfunding is such a powerful way to test if your idea has legs before you make all the things, and how to weave your obsessions (in Nicola's case: astrology) into work that's unmistakably yours.
Plus the maths of email lists vs. social media, why you should start promoting WAY earlier than feels comfortable, decans and scribes, trusting your gut, and the idea that ideas themselves will find someone else if you don't act on them. Mmmm.
Timestamps, for the timestamp fans:
00:00 – Nicola's wiggly path from law to illustration to astrology
01:00 – Early days of greetings cards and Not On The High Street
02:00 – Why a slow transition beats quitting cold turkey
03:00 – Remote lawyering from Mexico
04:00 – Pandemic, dogs, and the chance encounter that became Nicola's first tarot deck
05:00 – Why Nicola walked away from a publisher to crowdfund instead
06:00 – The Kickstarter campaign that ended up on their front page!
08:00 – Coming back to Scotland on a whim and never leaving
09:00 – The Wild Way oracle deck and the 36 decans
12:00 – Katie's reading and the literal scribe in her chart
13:00 – More years studying astrology than law, apparently
15:00 – Recurrence transits and creative breakthroughs in the birth chart
16:00 – Why 2026 and 2027 are big collective years
19:00 – Everyone's wired differently (phew)
20:00 – Self-publishing the Wild Way
22:00 – Coming up: a 78-card Wild Way tarot deck on Kickstarter in June
23:00 – Top tips for first-time crowdfunders
26:00… -
This illustrator got a book deal lead on DAY ONE of Bologna… 😳 (part 2)
1 mei 2026 · 10 min
Here's part two of our Bologna interviews. Thank you so much for listening, and if you managed to come and find us at Bologna Children’s Book Fair, thank you. We had so much fun meeting everybody, and we’re hoping to do that again one day because it was cool. Okay, see you soon. Enjoy listening to these brave people Lees meer
🚢🚢🚢
⏱️ Timestamps for our timestamp fans
Lauren
00:00 – Part 2 hiya
00:40 – Lauren: flew in from Chicago for her first Bologna
01:20 – Corporate job, layoff, creative reset
02:00 – Why she chose The Picture Book Course over a Masters in illustration
03:00 – Actually doing the work (not just watching 👀)
03:40 – Approaching a publisher…
04:20 – “Can you send me this book?” (!!!)
05:00 – Bravery > having it all figured out
05:40 – No agent, just going for it :)Yves
06:20 – Yves and his genius portfolio move
06:45 – Printing your portfolio as a book 📚
07:30 – How he uses it in reviews
08:00 – Printing panic
08:40 – New style feedback
09:10 – Feeling excited to create again (!!)
09:40 – “You just have to keep going”Links an' that wot we mentioned:
Yves Kervoelen on Instagram: @yveskervoelen/
Lauren Cox on Instagram: @kareuoneart/
Courses:
The Picture Book Course (the one Lauren mentioned)
Find Your Creative Voice: Fly Your Freak Flag
Come and say hello!
✏️ @thegoodshipillustration
🌏 www.thegoodshipillustration.comp.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question for The Good Ship Illustration Podcast 🎙
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Brave Good Shippers at Bologna - we shoved a microphone in these illustrators faces 😆 (part 1!)
24 april 2026 · 16 min
Interview #1 is with Paulina Zawiska and Kate Osmond. Lees meer
Interview #2 is with Lorna Burt (begins at 05:30)
Bon apetit!
We just announced the winners of our iPad giveaway and art supply shop vouchers - come and celebrate the winners with us over on Instagram! https://www.instagram.com/thegoodshipillustration/
Timestamps:
00:00 – Welcome to Bologna (the audio isn't perfect but neither are we 🤪)
00:30 – Paulina’s third time… still overwhelmed
01:30 – The illustrator wall and comparisonitis
02:00 – Kate’s first time and top tips for arriving
02:30 – Portfolio reviews: exciting or terrifying?
03:15 – Should you approach publishers at the fair?
04:00 – First Bologna experiences: sensory overload
04:45 – Making a plan (being brave)
05:00 – Good Shippers in the wild 🥹05:30 – Lorna’s story
06:30 – “You need bears”
07:00 – The work that felt most you = the work that landed
08:00 – Not all feedback is equal
09:00 – Researching portfolio reviewers before you listen to them
10:00 – The danger of trying to fit the mould
11:00 – Letting your “weird” lead the way
12:00 – Using courses to reset when you wobble
13:00 – From fashion designer to children’s book illustrator
14:30 – Fast-tracking your learning vs figuring it out alone
15:00 – Pitching storiesIn these interviews we talked about the Find Your Creative Voice course, fly your freak flag! As well as the Picture Book course and last, but not least: Illustration Business Club.
(Doors to illustration business club will open again in September/October so get your name on the waiting list if you want to join in next time.
Come and say hello!
✏️ @thegoodshipillustration
🌏 www.thegoodshipillustration.comp.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question for The Good Ship Illustration Podcast 🎙
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Helen Stephens chats to Prof. Martin Salisbury - Is your illustration style really yours? When influence turns into imitation 👀✏️
13 april 2026 · 46 min
Ever worried your work looks a bit too much like somebody else’s? 😬 This one’s for youuuu. Lees meer
In this episode, our Helen chats with the brilliant Martin Salisbury about plagiarism. The temptation to borrow a bit too heavily when you’re surrounded by endless beautiful work online is real. Hopefully this conversation helps you fly your own freak flag :)
Timestamps:
00:00 Hello Martin Salisbury
01:00 Instagram has changed creative influence
03:00 Art school before the internet
04:00 Drawing from life and finding your voice
06:00 Start with drawing
07:00 Materials, experimentation and “botching it”
09:00 How publishers and agents fuel sameness
10:00 Confidence, privilege and access
12:00 Competitions rewarding over-influenced work
14:00 Imitation and lack of awareness
16:00 Copycat styles
18:00 Learning from artists without copying
19:00 Taste, culture and creative voice
20:00 Everyday life and visual language
21:00 Sketchbooks and what’s behind polished work
23:00 School art and loss of originality
26:00 Finding your voice matters
29:00 Awkward work feels more alive
30:00 Writing and drawing from your own ideas
31:00 Trends and short-lived careers
33:00 What publishers want
35:00 Ambition
38:00 Helen’s journey and taking time out
43:00 Place and lived experience in your work
44:00 Moving on from imitation
45:00 Martin’s upcoming bookMartin Salisbury is Professor of Illustration at the Cambridge School of Art, where he leads the renowned MA Children's Book Illustration Programme. He has previously chaired the International Jury at the Bologna Children's Book Fair, and been a member of the jury at the Global Illustration Awards in China. Mr Salisbury is the author of a number of books on the practice and theory of illustration, which have been published in numerous languages around the world.
Links mentioned in this episode:
Martin Salisbury on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/profmartinsalisbury/
Cambridge School of Art MA in Children’s Book Illustration: http…
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Guide to the Bologna Children's Book Fair 2026 - The Good Ship Illustration
10 april 2026 · 32 min
Absolutely knackered just thinking about Bologna? Same 😅 Lees meer
Here are our Bologna Children’s Book Fair survival tips. Whether it's your first time or you're a seasoned Bologna Book Fair-er.
Exciting news: The Good Ship Illustration is exhibiting this year in Hall 25, and we’d love to see you there!
This episode:
What even IS the Bologna Children’s Book Fair?
Whether you reeeally need to go
The biggest benefits of visiting
What to pack, what samples to take, and how to prepare well
How to manage your expectations / social battery / overwhelm
The best bits beyond the fair itself, including food, bookshops and wandering round Bologna
Following up afterwards and making the most of the contacts you make
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro, replay announcement, and come find us in Hall 25!
01:00 What is the Bologna Children’s Book Fair?
03:00 Should you go?
05:00 Benefits of visiting the fair
06:00 Talks, workshops and folio reviews
07:00 Bologna itself, food, sunshine and bookshops
08:00 The illustrator’s wall and what to stick on it
09:00 Accommodation tips and booking early
11:00 Tickets, discounts and Good Ship lanyards
12:00 Managing expectations and not turning it into a military operation
16:00 What to prepare and what samples to take
19:00 Dummy books, sketchbooks and standing out
20:00 The Bologna Illustrators Exhibition
22:00 Feeling overwhelmed, comparitis and pacing yourself
25:00 Practical survival tips, from snacks to spare batteries
28:00 Why the last day can be surprisingly good
29:00 Rest, museums, gelato and giving yourself permission not to do it all
30:00 Following up after the fair
31:00 Final tips, meetups and lanyard spotting
Links mentioned in this episode:
Download and print your Bologna lanyard here!!
Bologna Children’s Book Fair website
Illustrator Survival Corner
Inuit bookshop, Bologna
Byeeee for now!
x The Good Ship Illustration (Helen, Katie & Tania)Come and say hello!
✏️ @thegoodshipillustration
🌏 www.thegoodshipillu… -
It’s not too late, you’re not behind, and yessss, you should still start - an interview with illustrator Carys Wright
3 april 2026 · 38 min
This week, our Katie is chatting to Carys Wright - a London-based writer and illustrator, hardcore Good Shipper, and all-round excellent example of what can happen when you follow the creative thread, even if your path looks a bit wiggly. Lees meer
Carys went from acting and theatre into illustration, and we chat about how sketchbooking helped her find her creative voice, and what it’s looked like to keep building an illustration career alongside marketing work and baby. (No mean feat!)
There’s chat about markets, picture books, digital vs traditional materials and finding your way back to your own weirdness. Mmmm.
Timestamps, for the timestamp fans:
00:00 – Intro to Carys Wright and her creative journey so far
02:00 – Sketchbooks, childhood drawing, and getting back into a regular practice
04:30 – From acting and theatre to illustration
07:30 – Lockdown, Fly Your Freak Flag, and following the drawing thread properly
09:00 – Early illustration jobs, theatre clients, and picture book ambitions
10:30 – Mentoring, competitions, and building confidence through deadlines
11:30 – Illustrating her first book for the Lord Mayor of London
12:30 – Motherhood, maternity leave, and drawing with a baby in the background
16:00 – Portfolios, perfectionism, and letting things evolve
18:00 – Staying connected to your weirdness while doing client work
19:30 – Digital tools, Procreate, and not panicking about how you make the work
23:00 – Opening an online shop, doing markets, and live portraits
26:00 – Other ways illustrators can work, from events to corporate projects
28:00 – AI, humanity, and why weird human imagination still matters
30:30 – Wearing lots of creative hats and letting your interests overlap
33:00 – Coming to illustration later can actually be a strength
35:00 – It’s not too late, you’re not behind, and yes, you should still startLinks mentioned:
Carys’ website: https://www.caryswright.com/
Carys on Instagram: @carys_adventures_with_a_pen
Carys’ Substack, Adventures w…
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The 7 email rule: Pitching your work to illustration clients - Kira Matthews
27 maart 2026 · 38 min
Nobody is born knowing how to pitch. Lees meer
(Katie here) I've been known to pitch once, hear nothing, and decide 'Oh well. Never mind.' Then never reach out ever again. 😅
So you can imagine my SHOCK and INCREDULITY (is that a word?) when Kira told me that she will reach out 7 times to a brand before giving up. Whaaaaaat!?
Kira Matthews (aka Kira the Bold), is like confidence in a bottle. She's mastered pitching and landing work with names like Squarespace, Ganni, and lots more.
If contacting publishers and/or potential clients makes you do a little bit of sick in your mouth, this episode will definitely help! At the very least you'll feel inspired to send more than one follow up email.
In this episode, we chat about:
What to do when the work… just stops coming in
Why pitching can feel so scary
The real reason people don’t hear back. (And nooo, it’s not because they hate you)
Why one email is basically just saying hello
How to follow up without being annoying (or feeling like you are)
Timestamps:
00:00 Meet Kira (Queen of Pitching 👑)
01:00 From fashion styling to building a business
02:00 When the work disappeared… and what she did next
03:00 Learning to pitch (while still being terrified)
05:00 Fear doesn’t go away. You just get used to it
06:00 The 3-year journey to landing Squarespace
08:00 Why most people give up after one email
09:00 The stories we tell ourselves about rejection
10:00 Why you need to follow up (a lot more than you think)
11:00 How to make each email actually count
12:00 Applying this to illustration and getting your work seen
13:00 Inside Kira’s talent agency experiment
15:00 Why smaller creatives need to pitch more, not less
17:00 Agents, money, and what’s really going on behind the scenes
19:00 Why agents aren’t a magic solution
20:00 Sales: the bit everyone wants to avoid
23:00 Why follow-up feels rude (but isn’t)
24:00 Rejection challenges and building resilience
26:00 Rejection = start of the conversation
28:00 Momentum, energy, and c… -
How Salty (our Picture Book mascot) became a 2-book deal
20 maart 2026 · 29 min
This week we're pulling up a chair at Helen's kitchen table to finally spill the beans on Salty. Salty Dog and Pals is the book that started as The Picture Book Course branding and somehow ended up as a 2-book deal with Walker Books. Lees meer
The big question: How do you write a zillion short stories with your pal in 10 sessions flat?
We chat about the origins of Salty (and which printmaker Bernard the duck is named after), the brilliant questions from the editors at Walker Books, why Kitty is basically Tania 😆, and the Nissen Hut story that didn't make it into the final draft no matter how hard we trieeed!
p.s. Salty Dog & Pals (Helen & Katie's new picture book) is now available to pre-order and will be in shops from May. To say thank you, all pre-orders get access to a picture book MASTERCLASS.
You can sign up for your free picture book masterclass here:
https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/salty-dog-and-pals-the-storm-other-stories
It's instant access, so no need to wait.
(And if you've already pre-ordered, thank you!)
Rough timestamps for our timestamp-fans:
00:00 – Where did Salty Dog come from?
01:00 – From course mascot to Walker Books character
03:00 – Bernard the duck, and colour palette chat
05:00 – The thumbnail template that started it all
07:00 – The Jarvis format: not a picture book, not a chapter book
09:00 – Writing at the kitchen table: how it worked
11:00 – The Walker Books character questionnaire (we read it out)
13:00 – Who is Bernard, really? (William Hanson + Cameron)
15:00 – Kitty is Tania (reckless, chaotic, beloved)
17:00 – Lindisfarne, upturned boats + Helen's grandparents' Nissan Hut
20:00 – The story that was too violent to make it in
22:00 – Titles first, stories second
24:00 – What the editors actually did (magic, basically)
26:00 – Procreate vs paper + the cover saga
28:00 – Pre-order Salty Dog and Pals + free masterclass! (You can sign up for your free picture book masterclass here.)
Come and say hello!
✏️ @thegood…
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Identity + rejection: when your illustration work *is* you 🥲
13 maart 2026 · 26 min
This week we're dragging ourselves away from our hypothetical gardens and custom urn businesses (lol) to have a proper sofa-chat about the big question: what would you do if you weren't an illustrator? Lees meer
Specifically: Is your identity too wrapped up in your work? What happens when things go quiet on the work front?
COMMUNITY IS MAGIC.
That is all.
Happy listening.
p.s. Salty Dog & Pals (Helen & Katie's new picture book) is now available to pre-order and will be in shops from May. To say thank you, all pre-orders get access to a picture book MASTERCLASS.
You can sign up for your free picture book masterclass here:
https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/salty-dog-and-pals-the-storm-other-stories
It's instant access, so no need to wait.
(And if you've already pre-ordered, thank you!)
Rough timestamps for our timestamp-fans:
00:00 – What would you do if you weren't an illustrator?
01:00 – Tania's custom urn business plan (trademark pending)
03:00 – Katie's nanny agency pivot
05:00 – The famine panic spiral ("day three with no enquiries: my life is over")
06:00 – Identity and rejection: when your work IS you
08:00 – Service illustration vs the author-illustrator beast
10:00 – Picture book advances, royalties + why multiple income streams matter
12:00 – Artist dates and keeping your ideas fed
15:00 – The real deal: what makes author-illustration different
16:00 – Katie & Helen's picture book Salty Dog & Pals (!!!) + the Walker Books Irish jig
18:00 – Live illustration: when the job you loved becomes just a job
20:00 – Community as salvation
22:00 – Good Ship origin story + the Christmas fair era
24:00 – Isolation is corrosive (and what to do about it)
25:00 – Finding your people: local groups, Instagram communities + Pencils on Toast
Come and say hello!
✏️ @thegoodshipillustration
🌏 www.thegoodshipillustration.comp.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question for The Good Ship Illustration Podcast 🎙
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Instagram Is Not Your Portfolio (PHEW!)
6 maart 2026 · 21 min
This week we’re wrapped up in some blankets havin' a proper sofa-chat about Instagram. Lees meer
Specificallyyyy:
Should your Instagram be your portfolio?What's the difference between a snazzy website folio and the mad addictive world of social media?
We also get into showing your human face, illustrators following illustrators, AI-era credibility, and why you absolutely do not owe the algorithm/tech bros your nervous system.
Rough timestamps for our timestamp-fans:
00:00 – Blankets
01:00 – Instagram as a folio: should it be?
03:00 – The golden algorithm years (remember those?)
05:00 – You don’t own Instagram
06:30 – Portfolio pressure vs social sharing
08:00 – The 360° artist: personality, process + presence
10:00 – AI, visibility + being human
12:00 – Showing your face. Do it!
14:00 – Content creator burnout (no fanks)
16:00 – “Held hostage by consistency” rebellion
18:00 – Who is Instagram actually for?
20:00 – Community vs clients
22:00 – Annuals, competitions + the old-school ways
24:00 – Bologna Book Fair chat
26:00 – Books as permanent portfolios
28:00 – Sales pages vs old-school static folios
30:00 – Final takeaway: use Instagram, don’t let it use youCome and say hello!
✏️ @thegoodshipillustration
🌏 www.thegoodshipillustration.comp.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question for The Good Ship Illustration Podcast 🎙
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🍎 Elephantasia (aphantasia) - can you see an apple in your mind?
27 februari 2026 · 30 min
This week we roll headfirst into the interestin' world of aphantasia. Lees meer
It all started with conversations inside Find Your Creative Voice and The Picture Book Course - when Good Shippers were telling us, “I can’t see ANYTHING in my head.” Which sent us down a rabbit hole of aphantasia, imagination. And does everyone experience it the same way?
Nope.
In this episode, we chat about:
What aphantasia is
The “apple test” 🍎
Emotional memory vs visual memory
Why some creatives need reference and others work 100% from imagination
Whether Google has made our “mind palace” lazy
Not being able to picture things can be a creative advantage. We promise.
Smells, textures, music and sensory imagination
Synesthesia (colours for days of the week?)
Why your wobbly memory-bike drawing might be better than a perfect diagram
How imagination changes from childhood to adulthood
Blind drawing experiments we neeeeed to try at Art Club
Timestamps for our timestamp fans
00:00 – Elephantasia? Aphantasia? However you say it…
02:00 – The apple spectrum and vivid vs blank imagery
03:00 – Reading fiction without mental pictures
05:00 – Emotional memory and creepy seaside steps
07:00 – Mental collage vs drawing from scratch
10:00 – Drawing bikes from memory
11:00 – Why aphantasia might make you a better designer
14:00 – Idioms, haystacks and giant bears
16:00 – Smells, lemons and sensory imagination
17:30 – Synesthesia and coloured weekdays
20:00 – Wolves, dreams and Google as reference
23:00 – Teenage bedrooms and peak memory moments
25:00 – Is creativity in your head or your hands?
28:00 – Blind Art Club challenge incoming 👀What about you?
Can you see the shiny apple? Or is it more of a murky apple-shaped idea?
We’d genuinely love to know. Come over to Instagram and tell us how your brain works. We're nosy.
Come and say hello!
✏️ @thegoodshipillustration
🌏 www.thegoodshipillustration.comp.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question f…
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Anna Mac on finding her creative voice (after years designing for retail)
20 februari 2026 · 34 min
Permission to play can change EVERYTHING! Lees meer
This week we’re chatting to Anna Mac - artist, printmaker, illustrator, product designer, sleep counsellor, mum of twins, and hardcore Good Shipper who's been sailing with us since 2020.
In this episode, we talk about scenic creative routes, why permission to play can change everything, creative voice vs paying the bills, and why sometimes felting a jumper is juuuust what your brain needs.
Rough timestamps for our timestamp-fans:
00:00 – Intro + course news
01:00 – Anna’s background: fine art, printmaking + retail product design
03:00 – Social work → creative rediscovery
05:00 – Sweden influence + graphic print inspiration
06:00 – Lockdown pivot + 100 day project energy
07:00 – Finding creative voice even when you’re already “successful”
09:00 – Taste is everywhere (home, clothes, environment)
11:00 – Confidence, feedback and trusting your own eye
13:00 – Agent life + picture book submissions
14:00 – Balancing creativity, family life and part-time sleep counselling
16:00 – Creative hobbies that are just for you
17:00 – Creativity as a way of being (Rick Rubin chat)
19:00 – Personal manifestos vs New Year’s resolutions
21:00 – Listening to your gut when making work
23:00 – Journalling + morning pages (ish, not perfectly)
25:00 – Visual diaries and recording life through drawing
27:00 – Stories we tell ourselves about who gets to be creative
28:00 – Rejection collections + persistence mindset
30:00 – Rejection rituals (tea, brownie, gallery trip recommended)
31:00 – Creative voice is never “finished”
32:00 – Lifetime access + coming back to learning later in lifeStuff mentioned:
Anna's website - www.annamacstudio.com
Anna's Instagram - @annamacstudio
Find Your Creative Voice: Fly Your Freak Flag course
The Artist’s Way – Julia Cameron
The Creative Act – Rick RubinGood Ship Illustration Monthly Numbers Tracker (freebie) - To help you keep on top of your monthly numbers and track progress in your creative career.
By…
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Are illustrators doomed… or is this our time to shiiiiiine? [AI workshop replay]
13 februari 2026 · 37 min
Here's the audio replay from our AI workshop last week. There are slides too - the full replay with slides is available to watch HERE (but it goes away today. We're putting the workshop inside Find Your Creative Voice: Fly Your Freak Flag.) There's a PDF handout to download there too. Go grab it before it disappears! Lees meer
https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/aiworkshop
The audio isn't perfect, but neither are we 😅
🚢 In this episode we cover:
Why brands are craving human-made work more than ever
The weird, wonky human stuff AI can’t copy
Copyright, licensing, and why clients still need real illustrators
How your life experiences = your creative advantage
Prompts to help you find your “brain treasure” ideas
What you *can* control
Timestamps
00:00 Workshop intro + why everyone is panicking about AI
01:00 The good news
04:00 Why companies still need human illustrators
07:00 The “AI ick” and why audiences can feel it too
10:00 The power of personal voice and life experience
12:00 Human prompts to help you mine your own ideas
15:00 Anti-AI backlash in branding and marketing
17:00 Obsessions, hobbies, and niche interests = creative gold
20:00 Why we don’t teach “house style” illustration
23:00 Copyright, campaigns, and protecting creators
26:00 How AI is (and isn’t) affecting different illustration fields
29:00 Advice for grads and early career illustrators
32:00 Radical incrementalism and not fixing everything at once
35:00 Finding community without spending loadsLinks & things mentioned
Justice for Creators campaign (their AI report is on there too)
Association of Illustrators resources
Creative Lives in Progress
Good Ship Art Club + freebies
Our full AI workshop replay
Aaand last but not least... Find your creative voice!
Find Your Creative Voice, Fly Your Freak Flag - a shiny new live round begins on Monday the 16th Feb.
When you join on or before Valentine's Day, our gift to you = an instant download of our mock briefs PDF so you can start your por…
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Tara Tayyebi Fard on finding her creative voice (and illustration career) after 10 years of being an architect
6 februari 2026 · 31 min
Pssst, while you're here... On Tuesday 10th February 2026 we're running a live workshop! https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/aiworkshop Lees meer
Standing out in a sea of robots: being an illustrator when AI is everywhere
This workshop's perfect for you if you:
Call yourself an illustrator, image-maker (or want to)
Feel a bit wobbly about AI and what it means for your style and creative work
Want to stand out in a sea of slop
Know you're brilliant, but struggle to articulate what makes you different
Are ready to stop worrying and start being more unapologetically YOU.
Let’s get weirder, eh? 🤖
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OK! On with the show(notes)!
"Unfortunately, I was good at maths."
-Tara Tayyebi FardTara is a Persian illustrator, humorist, architect and violinist currently based in Belgium.
She grew up reading stories, playing music, keeping a stack of diaries, and offending people by drawing them all fat.
Tara spent most of her adult life studying and working in architecture, and has been whining about it ever since. She now holds a masters degree from Amsterdam School of Art, which she happily keeps in the depths of her wardrobe.
In 2023, Tara jumped aboard the Good Ship Illustration, rediscovered her love for drawing and gradually started her career as an illustrator. Two years later, she signed with her agent, Lucie at Luddington Creative; working on picture books, doing commissions, live event illustration and making personal work.Tara pivoted to a career in illustration after 10 years of being an architect.
In this episode, we chat to Good Shipper Tara about finding her creative voice, why being properly herself is what led to her dream clients, why being unsuccessful can be weirdly freeing, aaaaand **deep breath** how consistency and creative jealousy can be big flashing neon signs to help you figure out what you DO want to do.
Rough timestamps for our timestamp-fans:
00:00 – Intro + free workshop mention
02:00 – Architecture → illus… -
Want to know what February’s #WalkToSee prompt is?
30 januari 2026 · 11 min
Are you joining in with #WalktoSee? Lees meer
In this episode, we chat about how our Helen's hashtag Walk to See started, how it works, (there are basically no rules 😆), and why monthly prompts are muuch gentler on the brain/energy levels than daily prompts.
In this episode:
00:00 What Walk to See is
01:30 The only “rule”
02:30 Why the format changed
03:30 How often you actually need to draw
04:30 January’s prompt
05:30 Interpreting “wet”
06:30 Why daily challenges can be a bit much
07:30 Community stuff
08:30 Being seen on Instagram
09:30 Sharing / being shared
10:30 Drawing in the rain
11:30 Drawing in the dark
13:30 Walk to See GIFs
14:30 How to get a gold star
15:30 Imperfect drawingsHow to join in:
Draw something from life <-- that's the only rule!
Take a photo.
Share it on Instagram using #WalkToSeeWet to join in with February's walk to see!Byeeee for now!
x The Good Ship Illustration (Helen, Katie & Tania) 🚢✨Come and say hello!
✏️ @thegoodshipillustration
🌏 www.thegoodshipillustration.comp.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question for The Good Ship Illustration Podcast 🎙
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When you want to work but can’t seem to start
23 januari 2026 · 19 min
Ahhh this ol' chestnut. You know it. We've aaall been there. You sit down...you need to work. But you get absolutely nowt done. Instead, you do absolutely everything else... then panic-work at the last minute, or just never get round to it. Lees meer
You're not alone!
Most illustrators we speak to will have their own weird and wonderful tricks to get into work mode.
In this episode, we talk about fear, procrastination, perfectionism, and all the daft (+ useful) ways we trick ourselves into starting anyhoo.
Rough timestamps for our timestamp-fans:
00:00 – Bribery
02:00 – Fear & perfectionism
03:00 – The 20-minute rule
04:00 – Drip drip drip
05:00 – Warming up still counts!
06:30 – Calling it “the bad version”
07:30 – Drafts & sleeping on it
08:30 – Why big projects feel terrifying
09:30 – HAVE FUN OR ELSE
11:00 – Tell the logical bit of your brain to shhhhh
12:30 – Tricks for focus that work
14:00 – You like drawing, remember? 😅
15:00 – Keeping the life in your work
16:30 – Spread yourself aboot (don't put too much pressure on one bit of work)
17:30 – Your tricks - please share what helps YOU!We are nosy. We want to hear what helps you concentrate and get some creative work done.
Byeeee for now!
x The Good Ship Illustration (Helen, Katie & Tania) 🚢✨Come and say hello!
✏️ @thegoodshipillustration
🌏 www.thegoodshipillustration.comp.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question for The Good Ship Illustration Podcast 🎙
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Is copying ever OK in illustration? When does inspiration turn into plagiarism? 👀✏️
16 januari 2026 · 17 min
Let’s talk about the big hairy thing that no one really wants to talk about… copying. Lees meer
In this episode, we discuss inspiration, and how social media has changed things so much for illustrators. Trying on someone else’s illustration hat for too long can derail your creative career.
This one’s especially for you if you’ve ever felt like someone's getting a bit toooo inspired by your work, or you've though
“Ach, easy peasy. I could do that style!”
(And then felt a bit weird about it.)We talk about:
Why illustrators now mostly look at other illustrators for inspiration (and why that’s tricky)
How social media has changed taste, trends, and originality
The danger of trend-based work and being easily replaceable
What actually makes a personal creative voice memorable
Why copying someone’s style can feel successful… until it doesn’t
Rebecca Green, ethics
Being inspired vs copying and where that line really is
Don't sand off all of your personality!
Typos, wonkiness, we luv 'em
A human made the work
What to do if you think you’ve been copied (or fear you have)
Authenticity 4eva
Byeeee for now!
x The Good Ship Illustration (Helen, Katie & Tania) 🚢✨Come and say hello!
✏️ @thegoodshipillustration
🌏 www.thegoodshipillustration.comp.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question for The Good Ship Illustration Podcast 🎙
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You're invited! Plan your creative year with The Good Ship Illustration
9 januari 2026 · 25 min
Sign up for the 2026 planning party HERE: https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/planningparty Lees meer
This is a wee replay from last year (with a new intro to tell you the new dates for our planning party)
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Are you raring to set goals, or are you feeling more “no plans, just let me lie down” this year?
We chat about:
Why some years are for sprinting, and others are for walking.
The power of visual goal-setting.
How to make goals human-sized, doable, and fun, without freaking yourself out.
Here's a Good Ship permission slip to do your 2026 goal-setting in a way that works for your brain/energy-levels/life.
Get your space on the 2026 planning party HERE: https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/planningparty
Come and say hello!
✏️ @thegoodshipillustration
🌏 www.thegoodshipillustration.comp.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question for The Good Ship Illustration Podcast 🎙
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You’ll Never Feel Ready. Do It Anyway. An interview with Good Shipper Amber Au.
12 december 2025 · 24 min
What a treat of an episode! Today we’re chatting with Good Shipper and picture book author–illustrator Amber Au. Lees meer
Amber talks about how drawing became part of her recovery from an eating disorder and how her therapist encouraged her to send her illustration work to her first ever client. Aaand how - in two whirlwind months - she was suddenly winning awards, signing a three-book deal, and being invited to meet editors at Bologna. Whaaa!?
What a blimmin' brilliant reminder to do the things. Even when you don't feel "ready".
In this episode we cover:
How Amber rediscovered drawing through her food diary
Why starting with your local community can snowball into big opportunities
How to survive mixed feedback
Competitions, and finding your people
Being a self-taught illustrator
Discipline, rest, and cultural expectations
Picture books, packaging, and branching out into multiple income streams
Amber's Bologna experience… including editors fangirling over her work (!)
Rough Timestamps
00:00 – Introducing Amber and her illustration journey
01:00 – Awards, exhibitions, and feeling overwhelmed
02:00 – From nutritionist → illustrator → private tutor → illustrator again
03:00 – Using a food diary as a creative lifeline
04:00 – Getting encouraged to approach her first client
05:00 – Community, grassroots beginnings, and early work in Hong Kong
06:00 – Entering competitions and the door-opening magic that followed
07:00 – The leap from self-taught to picture book maker
08:00 – Finding a clear voice without formal training
09:00 – Discipline, rest, and the cultural pressure to always “do more”
10:00 – Blue Tomato beginnings
11:00 – Mixed reviews, conflicting opinions, and staying true to your vision
13:00 – Bologna meetings and signing with Little Tiger
15:00 – Knowing which advice is actually useful
17:00 – Copying as learning vs developing your own voice
18:00 – Style influences: Hong Kong comics, European picture books, texture, mark-making
19:00 – Procreate, iPad l… -
An interview with Lisa Congdon - consistency and finding your creative voice
5 december 2025 · 28 min
If you're an illustrator with access to the internet and you have eyeballs, you might've seen Lisa Congdon's work. Lisa started blogging her collections and illustrations back in the good ol' days, and even remembers Instagram back when it was good. (Remember that? It was nice, wasn't it?) Lees meer
In this episode, Katie asks Lisa about consistency and how to keep on keepin' on when the world is the way it is. We also meander through topics like ADHD, collections, comparison, agents - whether or not she has one - and last but not least, daily projects that change everythinggg.
In this episode we cover:
Ceramic mushroom collection 👀
The “messy middle” bit of being an illustrator
How consistency has served her well
Surviving financially in the early years
Why not being a perfectionist was her secret super power
Instagram in 2025
How to know when to work with an agent
The magical domino effect of following excitement
Squishing comparison and staying in your own lane
Very rough timestamps in case you want to skip to a certain bit
00:00 – Welcoming Lisa! How a decade of calendars sparked the consistency conversation
01:00 – Hyperfocus, collecting tigers, cycling five times a week, and going “all in”
02:30 – Early days: Etsy, commissions, pet portraits, and figuring out a style
04:00 – Most illustrators quit
05:30 – ADHD, Capricorn energy, and learning to be organised
07:00 – Posting imperfect work online and why it mattered
08:30 – Sharing finances, getting an agent, and diversifying income streams
10:00 – “A Collection A Day” and the power of daily projects
11:00 – Agents: when they help, when they don’t, and how pricing works
13:00 – The hardest job she’s ever done and how her agent stepped in
14:00 – Instagram then vs. Instagram now
16:00 – Why video doesn’t light her up
18:00 – The comparison trap (yes, even Lisa feels it!)
20:00 – Following your gut over the algorithm
21:00 – The daily project that led to a bestselling book
24:00 – Chronicle Books, chance encou… -
How illustrator Jill Calder built a long-lasting creative career (without losing her voice)
28 november 2025 · 38 min
In this episode, our Tania chats with multi award-winning illustrator Jill Calder about 30+ years of illustration, and how she’s explored pretty much the entire “illustration atlas” without losing herself along the way. Lees meer
Stuff we cover:
Staying recognisably Jill across 30+ years of illustration
Moving from editorial to corporate to heritage work
Building a career with both illustration and hand lettering
Big, bonkers corporate jobs (including handwriting as other people!)
Making the leap into children’s books later in her career
The reality of nonfiction vs fiction picture books (time, fees, and headspace)
Colour palettes, maps and Google Earth “walks” for picture atlases
Working with Jackie Kay on Coorie Doon and handling deeply emotional text
Bringing wild, playful colour to I Love You Every Color
Keeping energy and looseness in final artwork
What Jill’s working on now – including a brand new picture book with Gecko Press
Rough Timestamps
00:00 – Tania introduces Jill and why she’s a Good Ship favourite
02:30 – Early days: art school, editorial work and the 90s newspaper scene
05:00 – “By chance, someone took a risk on me…” – moving into design & corporate jobs
07:30 – Becoming “the handwriting person”
11:30 – The wildest job ever
15:00 – Champagne, iPads and the very fancy side of ad agency work
16:30 – Exhibition days, analogue work and why looseness matters
18:00 – Stumbling into children’s nonfiction with Robert the Bruce
21:00 – Picture atlases, strict colour palettes and Google Earth walks
22:30 – Nonfiction vs fiction picture books – fees, length and workload
26:00 – Collaborating with Jackie Kay on Coorie Doon and illustrating big feelings
29:30 – I Love You Every Colour – an illustrator’s dream text
31:30 – Two very different books in one year: soft dreamland vs riot of colour
33:30 – Handling emotion, light and character across spreads
34:30 – New project: Cass and the Beast for Gecko Press
35:30 – Keeping rough energy in final artwork (and… -
How to stop your illustration style looking generic & blah
21 november 2025 · 22 min
Y'know when you feel like your work is neeearly there… but it's missing a lil something-something? This podcast episode is all about that. Overcoming that. Lees meer
How the heck do you put more humanness into your work?
🧠 What we talk about in this one
“Accomplished” isn’t the same as “alive”
How generic styles can creep in without us noticing
The danger of trying to look like “a picture book illustrator”
Why you need to make work that freaks you out a tiny bit 🤪
The power of real memories and emotions
Ideas that stick: why some stories stay with us
How character, tension, and contradiction shape good storytelling
Letting your real obsessions lead the way 🐌
Yessss, research in bookshops is absolutely definitely part of the job
🕰️ Timestamps
00:00 – Aaccomplished work with no heart
01:00 – “Picture book style” stereotypes and why they’re dangerous
02:00 – Generic vs personal: how to tell the difference
03:00 – Making work that stops an art director mid-scroll
04:00 – Emotion in drawings (and penguins)
05:00 – True stories - using your real life
06:00 – The Nissen Hut
07:30 – Sticky ideas
09:00 – Plots built on tiny universal moments
10:00 – A “Smile in the Mind”
11:00 – Writing craft: thesis / antithesis / synthesis
13:00 – Character dynamics and why Bernard is… Bernard 🦆
14:00 – Films to study (hello, Groundhog Day)
15:00 – How Helen learned to write
16:00 – Why sitting in a bookshop absolutely counts as work
17:00 – Picture books now vs the 90s
18:00 – Jill Calder, Libby VanderPloeg, and holding onto your voice
20:00 – Don’t perform
21:00 – Honesty wins🔗 Stuff & People Wot We Mentioned
A Smile in the Mind - Tania's design book recommendation by Beryl McAlhone & David Stuart
Made to Stick (the kidney-harvesting myth book Katie mentioned!) - Chip & Dan Heath
Groundhog Day - film
Jill Calder: https://jillcalder.com
Libby VanderPloeg: https://libbyvanderploeg.com
Emily Howorth-Booth’s writing workshops that Helen loves
Good Ship Illustration courses: http…
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We’re good at failing (and you can be too) 🤣 the power of experiments
14 november 2025 · 22 min
This week on The Good Ship Illustration Podcast, we’re chatting all things experiments - we get particularly excited about FAILED experiments. In the words of that there Bob Ross, "we don't make mistakes, we just have happy accidents". 😆 Lees meer
Behind the scenes, Helen gave Tania a haircut just before we recorded this episode. Can you hear Tania's new hair?
Timestamps for our timestamp fans:
00:00 – Mmmm new ideas
01:00 – Katie’s “scaling the business” experiment that didn’t work
02:00 – Undoing things that aren’t fun anymore
03:00 – Helen’s new plan
05:00 – Tania’s in the boot of the car
06:00 – Helen’s failed online school visits experiment
08:00 – Moving from digital art back to paper
09:00 – Helen’s Substack paywall experiment (inspired by Blindboy)
12:00 – The birth of The Good Ship Illustration 🚢
13:00 – Haircuts
14:00 – Art Club’s accidental success
15:00 – Why experiments matter (and how to run one properly)
18:00 – Creative defiance and why being told what to do ruins everything 😂
20:00 – From accidental experiments to a whole careerLinks & Stuff We Mentioned:
The Good Ship Illustration on Instagram (the Art Club replays are here!)
The Picture Book Course
Sticker snail mail bonus ends 21st November 🎟️Byeeee for now!
x The Good Ship Illustration (Helen, Katie & Tania)Come and say hello!
✏️ @thegoodshipillustration
🌏 www.thegoodshipillustration.comp.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question for The Good Ship Illustration Podcast 🎙
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What publishers reeeeally want to see in your picture book pitch
7 november 2025 · 17 min
First, before we jump into the show notes, here's the link to sign up to the Picture Book Pitching Masterclass we've got happening soon! Lees meer
🗓️ When: 17th of November at 1 pm UK time
💰 Cost: Freeeee
🚢 RSVP here: https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/pbpm
How do illustrators actually get their picture books published? And what really goes on at Bologna Children’s Book Fair?
This episode is all about pitching, portfolios, publishers, and… how we each pronounce the word plaster? 😅
Here’s what we cover:
Bologna Book Fair! ✈️
How to submit to the Bologna Illustrator Exhibition (deadline alert! They extended it to the 6th November! Sorry, we said the wrong date in this episode, but do let us know if you managed to submit something so we can high-five you.)
The Picture Book Pitching Masterclass with Helen and Jane Porter 🎓 https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/pbpm
How to pitch your book ideas
Overcoming the terror of sharing your work 😬
Building resilience to rejection
The “myth of being discovered”
Our excitin' Bologna Book Fair plans...
🕑 Timestamps
00:00 – Bologna excitement (and confusion)
01:00 – What really happens at the fair
02:00 – Snail mail sticker packs & upcoming Picture Book Masterclass
03:00 – Helen’s no-rules pitching philosophy
06:00 – Regional accent chaos: “masterclass” vs “plaster”
07:00 – Getting seen by publishers (and why Instagram still matters)
08:00 – Facing the fear of rejection
10:00 – Mindset hacks: why what others think is none of your business
12:00 – Myths about being “discovered”
13:00 – Good Ship’s Bologna stand & plans for 2026
15:00 – Why every illustrator should go at least once
16:00 – Global publishing inspiration 🌍
17:00 – Dreaming up a “Gone Fishing” Good Ship stallLinks we mentioned:
The Picture Book Course
Free Picture Book Pitching Masterclass – 17 November, 1pm UK time
Bologna Children’s Book Fair
Byeeee for now!
x The Good Ship Illustration (Helen, Katie & Tania)Come and say hello!
✏️ @thegoodshipillus…
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'If it looks awful, keep going. It’ll work out' - an interview with illustrator Catherine Rayner
31 oktober 2025 · 39 min
This week we’re interviewing another creative for the podcast. Hooray! Lees meer
Catherine Rayner is an award-winning author and illustrator based in Edinburgh, whose books have sold over two million copies and been translated into 35 languages. She’s written and illustrated 25 picture books and collaborated with legends like Julia Donaldson, Michael Morpurgo, and Michael Bond.
Winner of the Kate Greenaway Medal (and shortlisted six more times!), Catherine also paints, runs a greetings card and babywear range, and can usually be found in her studio surrounded by ink, animals, and Post-it notes.
Phew.
In this chat, Katie asks Catherine about:
What an average week in the studio looks like
Planning everything using a wall calendar and Post-it notes
Working with Julia Donaldson
Short deadlines and thriving on a wee bit of panic
Being a mum and illustrator at the same time
Instagram, rejection, keeping your creative confidence alive
A pep talk for newer illustrators
Rough timestamps for our timestamp fans:
00:00 – Meet Catherine!
03:00 – Post-it notes, assistants, and studio life in Edinburgh
10:00 – Julia Donaldson, ear-cleaning(!?) + friendship
17:00 – Jason Donovan and creative boldness
20:00 – 100 rejections, persistence, and finding your people
23:00 – Instagram tips and why numbers don’t matter
29:00 – Motherhood, burnout, and how it really gets easier
36:00 – Catherine’s parting wordsLinks mentioned
Catherine Rayner’s website
Follow Catherine on InstagramByeeee for now!
x The Good Ship Illustration (Helen, Katie & Tania)Come and say hello!
✏️ @thegoodshipillustration
🌏 www.thegoodshipillustration.comp.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question for The Good Ship Illustration Podcast 🎙
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'If you keep showing up, you can't NOT get better' - an interview with Sandi Hester
24 oktober 2025 · 36 min
We've decided to play around a bit and do some INTERVIEWS. Ooooh. Lees meer
First up is artist and YouTuber Sandi Hester, who recently moved from the US into a 100-year-old fixer-upper house in the UK.
Katie (gently) grills Sandi about what it’s been like moving country and keeping her creative practice alive through chaos, health challenges, and renovation dust.
Sandi shares how painting has become her lifeline, why perfectionism is joy’s worst enemy, and how she’s learned to quiet the “blobbity blob” of negative self-talk that plagues so many creatives.
Nice.
💬 In this episode, we talk about:
The big move from America to England
How painting became Sandi’s release and restful place during years of illness
Building the “muscles of creativity” to keep making art no matter what’s going on
The “blobbity blob” of self-talk and why you can’t judge your art in the moment
Going back to her older, more figurative painting style after moving to the UK
Running a YouTube channel as a full-time job and how it replaced the gallery route
Why being messy and human built more trust with her audience than a polished version ever could
The unseen workload behind one 20-minute YouTube video (and why she can’t start a Patreon!)
How perfectionism stops us from creating and why “the best you can do today” is always enough
Why creatives should enjoy the journey instead of chasing the destination
Learning to separate your self-worth from likes, follows, and algorithm robots 🤖
Her advice to artists: stop stressing, stop comparing, and just enjoy the paint sliding across the page
🕰️ Episode Timestamps
00:00 – Introducing Sandi Hester and her big move
02:00 – Creating through renovation chaos and hard seasons
05:00 – The “blobbity blob” of mental chatter
07:00 – Letting go of perfection and learning to just play
09:00 – Returning to figurative painting (and why everyone thinks England “transformed” her work)
10:00 – Choosing YouTube over galleries and showing real life online
12:00… -
A Bologna Book Fair special: 6 Good Shippers were finalists in the Illustrators Exhibition!
17 oktober 2025 · 42 min
Hi there, Helen here. Lees meer
This is a special episode of the podcast because we had six of our Good Shippers - that’s people who’ve done our courses - selected as finalists in the Bologna Book Fair Illustrators Exhibition!
Which is pretty amazing news. It’s really difficult to be a finalist because the competition is so high. Last year there were 4,374 people who entered, and only 324 were selected to be finalists. So for six of them to be Good Shippers is SO exciting.
Now that the fair’s finished, I thought it would be lovely to catch up with them and hear how it all went. In this episode, you’ll hear from Emma Simpson, Lisa Loffredo, Amber Au, Sam Jones and Kate Leiper.
A special mention to Charlotte Durrance, who was also a finalist but couldn’t make it to the recording.
Congratulations to all of you!
V Rough timestamps in case you like that sort of thing:
[00:00] Helen introduces the six Good Shippers who made it to Bologna 🎉
[00:02] Emma Simpson
[00:11] Lisa Loffredo
[00:18] Amber Au
[00:25] Sam Jones
[00:37] Kate LeiperOther links mentioned
Find Your Creative Voice, Fly Your Freak Flag course
The Picture Book course
DPictus Showcase
Bologna Book Fair Illustrators Exhibition info on how to take part
– Entries usually open in July and close in NovemberTiffany Leeson
– Creative Director at Farshore BooksKen Max Wilson
– Writer, illustrator and publisherPicture Hooks
– Helping illustrators access the world of children’s publishing (based in Edinburgh, open to all emerging illustrators)🎉 If you’d like to apply for the Bologna Book Fair Illustrators Exhibition, the doors are usually open from July until November.
Get your work ready and go for it!
We're cheering you on.
Taraa!
x The Good Ship Illustration (Helen, Katie & Tania)Come and say hello!
✏️ @thegoodshipillustration
🌏 www.thegoodshipillustration.comp.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question for The Good Ship Illustration Podcast 🎙
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#WalkToSee is baaack! The hashtag responsible for over 120,000 drawings (join in!)
10 oktober 2025 · 22 min
Our Helen’s #WalkToSee hashtag on Instagram is baaaack with a new monthly prompt. After seven years of #walktosee there are now over 120,000 drawings on there and counting! Lees meer
In this episode, we chat about Helen’s relaunch of #WalkToSee (with new monthly prompts), drawing from life vs. photos, why small sketchbooks are weirdly hard, aaand rediscovering messy materials and carbon paper.
Special guest: an enormous chunk of charcoal.
If you'd like a gentle kick up the butt to do some drawing from life, then join in!
In this episode:
The story behind #WalkToSee and why Helen's relaunched it
How to join this month’s prompt: #WalkToSeeWeather ☁️🌧️
Why drawing from life feels more “alive”
Sketching in public = good panic
Small sketchbooks or massive sketchbooks... which camp are you in?
Materials that make drawing fun again (paint sticks! Sharpies! toilet roll!)
The autumn urge to make something just for fun
Apple presses, lino cuts, carbon paper and whisky samples
Timestamps:
00:00 – Helen on starting #WalkToSee back in 2018
02:00 – Why hashtags stopped working and how she brought it back
04:00 – October’s prompt: #WalkToSeeWeather
06:00 – Drawing tiny and feeling rusty
08:00 – Sharpies, paint sticks and rediscovering fun materials
10:00 – Drawing in public (and how to avoid chatty strangers)
12:00 – The “panic” energy in real-life drawing
15:00 – Autumn creative urges and sneaky side projects
17:00 – The joy of carbon paper and slow stationery
19:00 – Studio updates, new neighbours and collaboration
20:00 – Katie’s apple obsession 🍎
21:00 – Tiny whisky bottlesLinks & things mentioned:
Join in on Instagram: #WalkToSeeWeather
Helen’s Instagram: @helenstephenslion
and ours @thegoodshipillustration
The Good Ship Illustration: www.thegoodshipillustration.com
Byeeee for now!
x The Good Ship Illustration (Helen, Katie & Tania) 🚢Come and say hello!
✏️ @thegoodshipillustration
🌏 www.thegoodshipillustration.comp.s. We love answering your illustration questi…
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Remember drawing for...fun? 😅 what is that?
3 oktober 2025 · 21 min
Deadlines... yeah yeah yeahhh, but what about doing illustration stuff just for YOU!?
This week we chat about squishing in personal projects when client work always feels much more urgent. Lees meerWe are gathering ourselves after a very exciting Illustration Business Club launch.
Phew! Definitely time for fun non-worky projects around here.
(Rough) Timestamps if you want to skip to a certain bit
00:00 Question: “How do you make time for personal artwork?”
01:00 Why deadlines are easier than self-led projects
02:00 Fine art drive vs. illustration mindset
03:00 Projects we have managed to finish (and why)
05:00 Creativity that doesn’t look like ‘work’
07:00 You’re probably doing more than you realise
08:00 The power of art clubs + sketching friends
09:00 Big projects that turn into ‘scratch records’
10:00 Permission to make things simple (or stop entirely)
12:00 Sorting hat trick for choosing ideas
14:00 Productivity
16:00 Parking ideas and bullet journaling
18:00 Craft supplies, hoarding, and deferring projects
20:00 New paints, new studios, more art clubs
21:00 Psssst...you’re probably already doing more than you think
Byeeee for now!
x The Good Ship Illustration (Helen, Katie & Tania)Come and say hello!
✏️ @thegoodshipillustration
🌏 www.thegoodshipillustration.comp.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question for The Good Ship Illustration Podcast 🎙
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"Double your fee without drawing more" say whaaat!?
26 september 2025 · 23 min
First things first, DOORS CLOSE TONIGHT! We start on Monday. Lees meer
https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/business
Be lovely to see you in there.
Psssst, this is the lowest the price will ever be, and we're not opening the doors again until September 2026.
🚢🚢🚢
Right. Podcast shownotes.
Yes. Where were we?
Here's a very quick lesson on copyright and licensing before you listen to this episode 🤓
Copyright = you own the work.
Licence = permission your client buys to use the work in specific ways (where, how long, which media, exclusive or not).Ok, lesson's over. Thanks for coming.
If you'd like to earn more without drawing more, then keep your copyright, license the usage, and price it properly.
It's juicy, not boring. We promise!
Timestamps, if you want to skip ahead to a certain bit
00:00 Why giving away copyright is a no-go
01:00 Licence basics you can actually use
02:30 Picture books: advances, royalties, reversions
04:30 Foreign rights & special sales (how the money flows)
06:30 Trust, statements, and chasing missing royalties
07:30 Licensing agents & exclusivity windows
09:00 Advertising uses: above/below the line (cost jumps)
10:30 Building a simple “menu” clients can pick from
12:00 Case study: the map that earned double via licensing
14:00 Live illustration: online use vs print/murals
16:30 Excluding branding/merch in your standard licence
18:00 Merch options: flat fee vs % royalty
20:00 Originals, ownership, and cautionary tales
22:00 Why this stuff makes your work pay better
Come and say hello!
✏️ @thegoodshipillustration
🌏 www.thegoodshipillustration.comp.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question for The Good Ship Illustration Podcast 🎙