The Good Ship Illustration

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.

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

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

Timestamps, for the timestamp fans:

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

Links mentioned:

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

Byeeee for now!

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

Come and say hello!

✏️ @thegoodshipillustration
🌏 https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com

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

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.

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

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

Timestamps, for the timestamp fans:

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

Links mentioned:

• Part one of our chat with James was last week (we'll add the link here when we have it)
• James's Substack: https://madebyjames.substack.com
• James's free Super Duper Mentorship for emerging creatives: https://madebyjames.substack.com/p/join-my-free-mentorship-program
• James on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/made_by_james
• James's new book, No Bullsh*t Branding: https://www.quarto.com/books/9781577159452/no-bullsh-t-branding
• Obvious Adams by Robert R. Updegraff
• Hype Yourself by Lucy Werner: https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/hype-yourself-a-no-nonsense-pr-toolkit-for-small-businesses-lucy-werner/b3b30df91155c107?ean=9781788601238&next=t&affiliate=11858&ref=hypeyourself.com
• Our episode with Kira Matthews (the seven email rule): https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/the-7-email-rule-pitching-your-work-to-illustration/id1526470404?i=1000757654276

Byeeee for now!

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

Come and say hello!

✏️ @thegoodshipillustration
🌏 https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com

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

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.

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 from the scar, not the open wound
52:24 – Gary V, 500 pieces of content a week, and the performance trap
53:11 – James's mission, his three-step plan, and eating your own dog food
56:10 – Round two is coming!

Links mentioned:

• 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.instagram.com/made_by_james
• James's new book, No Bullsh*t Branding: https://www.quarto.com/books/9781577159452/no-bullsh-t-branding

Byeeee for now!

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

Come and say hello!

✏️ @thegoodshipillustration
🌏 https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com

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

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!)

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

Timestamps, for the timestamp fans:

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

Links mentioned:

• Illustration Business Club: https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/business
• Find Your Creative Voice: Fly Your Freak Flag (with Helen's video about her year out): https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/freak-flag
• Helen's free online school visit: https://www.helenstephens.com/virtual-school-visit
• Walker Books: https://www.walker.co.uk

Byeeee for now!

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

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

Come and say hello!

✏️ @thegoodshipillustration
🌏 https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com

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

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.)

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

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

Plus SLOTH FACTS. You're welcome.

Timestamps, for the timestamp fans:

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

Links mentioned:

• Illustration Business Club: https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/business
• The Association of Illustrators: https://theaoi.com
• SCBWI British Isles: https://britishisles.scbwi.org
• Northumberland Zoo: https://www.northumberlandzoo.co.uk/

Byeeee for now!

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

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

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

Come and say hello!

✏️ @thegoodshipillustration
🌏 https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com

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

Jo Overend is in da house (ship?)

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 March, and Megaduck 2 on the way
23:07 – Trying all the little things: kids' workshops, wholesale and more
24:40 – Keep your radar open
25:16 – Where to find Jo, plus her Substack and Patreon plans

Links mentioned:

• Jo's website: https://www.jooverendillustration.com/
• Jo on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joverendillustration/
• Jo's Substack: https://jooverendillustration.substack.com/
• Megaduck (US edition): https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/835922/megaduck-by-jo-overend-illustrated-by-jo-overend/
• Picture Hooks: https://www.picturehooks.org.uk/

Byeeee for now!
x The Good Ship Illustration (Helen, Katie & Tania)

p.s. Soooo much of what Jo talks about here ties in v well with what's inside Illustration Business Club. The doors are open right now and we'd love to have you in there with us! https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/business

Come and say hello!

✏️ @thegoodshipillustration
🌏 https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com

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

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

///

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 your days, Helen's birthday card trick and not doing a Father Ted
43:15 – Do the fun thing first (an idiot with momentum always wins)

Links mentioned:

• Illustration Business Club: https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/business
• Tania's Good Ship Illustration podcast episode with Margo Tantau on licensing from 2 weeks ago: https://pod.link/1526470404/episode/QnV6enNwcm91dC0xOTgxNTM1Nw
• Anchoring Your Ideas So They Don't Fizzle Out (We looked into this and it's inside the Picture Book Course, not a freebie sorry!) https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/PB
• Good Ship freebies for picture book makers and illustrators: https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/freebies
• Louise Lockhart, The Printed Peanut: https://theprintedpeanut.co.uk/
• Jonny Hannah: https://www.instagram.com/darktownresident/
• Catherine Rayner: https://www.catherinerayner.co.uk/
• Jessica Hische's "Should I Work For Free?" flowchart: https://www.creativebloq.com/news/should-you-work-for-free-jessica-hische

Byeeee for now!
x The Good Ship Illustration (Helen, Katie & Tania)

Come and say hello!

✏️ @thegoodshipillustration
🌏 https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com

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

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

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

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

Timestamps, for the timestamp fans:

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

Links mentioned:

• Illustration Business Club: https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/business
• The Good Ship on Instagram (for Art Club): https://www.instagram.com/thegoodshipillustration/
• Introvert-friendly marketing workshop: https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/shy

Byeeee for now!

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

p.s. The Illustration Business Club doors are open now! Join by midday on Wednesday 30th September and you're an early bird, which means you get a seat at our live pricing workshop with all three of us at 1pm that day (it's recorded too). There's a new option to pay in 10 smaller instalments, and the doors close on Friday 9th October at 10pm UK time.

We'd love to see you in there!

https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/business

p.p.s. A few dates for your diary:
✏️ Monday 28th September, 12.30pm UK: Art Club, #walktoseeprepare (more page prep, then drawing over the top)
✏️ Monday 5th October, 12.30pm UK: Art Club, starting a brand new #walktosee challenge for October
💌 Wednesday 7th October, 1pm UK: free introvert-friendly marketing workshop, camera off allowed: [NEEDS SIGNUP LINK]
https://www.instagram.com/thegoodshipillustration/

Come and say hello!

✏️ @thegoodshipillustration
🌏 https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com

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

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

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 – Why walking a trade fair beats a day of LinkedIn research
45:30 – Fancy matchboxes, candles, and buying things just for the art
46:30 – The big takeaway: people still want real art
48:30 – Community, Bologna, and the gold at the bottom of the rainbow

Links mentioned:

• Margo's website: https://margotantau.com/
• Tantau Studio: https://www.tantaustudio.com/
• Windowsill Chats podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/windowsill-chats/id1529045232
• Windowsill Chats on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/windowsillchats
• Spring Fair (NEC Birmingham, 7th to 10th February 2027): https://www.springfair.com

Byeeee for now!

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

p.s. Want Margo's full licensing class? It's waiting for you inside Illustration Business Club, along with aaall the other money-and-business bits art school forgot to teach you.

Doors open on 25th of September 2026! https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/business

Come and say hello!

✏️ @thegoodshipillustration
🌏 https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com

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

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 🤪

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

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

Timestamps, for the timestamp fans:

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

Links mentioned:

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

Byeeee for now!

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

p.s. If the pricing and usage chat made your ears prick up, we are planning a v exciting early-bird bonus for Illustration Business Club joiners. Doors open on Friday 25th September. Pop it on your calendar! 🥳

Come and say hello!

✏️ @thegoodshipillustration
🌏 https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com

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

"Why does promoting my own work feel so cringe?"

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 visibility isn't safe: queer, disabled and racialised artists
12:30 – Boundaries
14:00 – Would you mind a stranger saving it?
15:20 – You don't *need* to be on social media to promote your creative work
16:00 – Edinburgh Fringe as the best word-of-mouth machine in the country
16:40 – Step One: the Fringe show
17:40 – "I'm not telling you my idea in case you nick it"
18:20 – You can't benefit from an idea that stays in your head
20:20 – Smooth peanut butter vs crunchy
21:00 – Manchester
23:00 – Building a creative career outside London.
24:20 – proximity to London still counts for a lot
25:40 – "Manchester's caught up" or has it?
28:40 – Contradicting yourself out loud is just thinking. Allowed.
30:40 – Who are the David Hockneys of Salford right now?
33:00 – Local snobbery, and galleries that don't invite their neighbours
35:00 – Growing up somewhere small and assuming everything local is rubbish
36:30 – You have more choices than you think (a story about Mollie's nan)
38:00 – The joy of a part-time job/everyone else's secret pile of money
39:20 – AI, and being glad it didn't exist at uni
40:40 – "They may have been rubbish, but they were mine"

Links mentioned:

• Short Supply's website: https://www.shortsupply.org
• Short Supply on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shortsupplymcr
• The Scottish Storytelling Centre, home of Step One: https://www.scottishstorytellingcentre.com

Byeeee for now!

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

p.s. If you'd like more options for being-visible-without-being-sick-in-your-mouth, that's exactly what we get stuck into in Illustration Business Club! Doors are opening in October and you can read up on it here: https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/business

Come and say hello!

✏️ @thegoodshipillustration
🌏 https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com

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

What're you doing this summer? Are you having a little rest?

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
🌏 https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com

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

What's the point in making all this gorgeous work if you don't have the confidence to share it, eh? EH!?

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
🌏 https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com

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

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.)

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 thoughts

Stuff 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=en
• Fly Your Freak Flag
https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/freakflag
• The Good Ship Illustration colour workshop
https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/colour

Come and say hello!

✏️ @thegoodshipillustration
🌏 https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com

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

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?)

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 Walker

Links 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
🌏 https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com

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

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.

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.instagram.com/joverendillustration/
🎨 Lisa Loffredo on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lisaloffredo_/
🎨 The Bologna Children's Book Fair: https://www.bolognachildrensbookfair.com/ 🎨 The Bookseller (check out the April issue, useful for agents and publishers list): https://www.thebookseller.com/

Byeeee for now!

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

p.s. Heard Jo's story and feelin' a bit inspired? Good! If you want to find your own creative voice and start putting yourself out there, come and fly your freak flag with us. https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/freakflag

Come and say hello!

✏️ @thegoodshipillustration
🌏 https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com

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

It's all fun and games until someone mentions FINAL ARTWORK. (Arghhhh)

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 owls

Links 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
🌏 https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com

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

Ooft, this is a good one. This week we're discussing illustration scams

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
🌏 https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com

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

This week we're answering a brilliant voice message from @shanaramadesigns.

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 energy

Links 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
🌏 https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com

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

This week, our Katie's chatting with Helen and Tania about her favouritest thing and specialism/niche: live illustration.

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 for now!

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

p.s. Curious about live illustration but not 100% sure if it's for you? Come and join Katie for a free Live Illustration Masterclass, it's a good place to start! https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/LIM

Come and say hello!

✏️ @thegoodshipillustration
🌏 https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com

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