The Good Ship Illustration

Welcome to The Good Ship Illustration - the podcast for illustrators who are quietly working away in their sketchbooks thinking… “is it just me?”

…it’s not just you!

We’re Helen Stephens, Katie Chappell and Tania Willis - three full-time illustrators from three different corners of the industry (and three different age brackets ). We live in the same seaside town in the UK and started having cuppas and chats… and accidentally became illustration agony aunts.

Now we record those chats for you! We answer your questions about confidence, tricky clients, pricing your work, creative block, picture books, publishing, and everything in between.

✨ New episodes every Friday. ✨

Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, and do send us your questions!

P.s. Fancy some freebies? Head to thegoodshipillustration.com for colour workshops, picture book templates, and other treats.

Byeeee for now!

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

🚢🚢🚢

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119 episodes
Updated July 10

Episodes119

Newest first

February 20 · 33 min
Anna Mac on finding her creative voice (after years designing for retail)
Permission to play can change EVERYTHING! 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 life Stuff 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 Rubin Good Ship Illustration Monthly Numbers Tracker (freebie) - To help you keep on top of your monthly numbers and track progress in your creative career. Byeeee for now! x The Good Ship Illustration (Helen, Katie & Tania) Anna is an illustrator who works from her home studio in Perthshire, Scotland. She has a background in fine art and printmaking and spent several years creating design-led product collections for the retail market. Client commissions included heritage retailers and international buyers, and her work has sold in shops and galleries in the UK and abroad. Anna combines printmaking techniques, drawing and collage to produce her work, with a focus on children’s illustration. Anna also loves to work with lino, and she uses this approach to create prints and book covers. Come and say hello! ✏️ @thegoodshipillustration 🌏 www.thegoodshipillustration.com p.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question for The Good Ship Illustration Podcast 🎙
February 13 · 36 min
Are illustrators doomed… or is this our time to shiiiiiine? [AI workshop replay]
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! 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 loads Links & 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 portfolio building straight away, no faffing about and waiting. Read all about it here: https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/freakflag Come and say hello! ✏️ @thegoodshipillustration 🌏 www.thegoodshipillustration.com p.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question for The Good Ship Illustration Podcast 🎙
February 6 · 30 min
Tara Tayyebi Fard on finding her creative voice (and illustration career) after 10 years of being an architect
Pssst, while you're here... On Tuesday 10th February 2026 we're running a live workshop! https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/aiworkshop 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? 🤖 ------------------------------------ OK! On with the show(notes)! "Unfortunately, I was good at maths." -Tara Tayyebi Fard Tara 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 → illustration pivot moment 05:00 – Childhood clues + diaries + sketchbooks 08:00 – Being annoyed = excellent character research 09:00 – 60 weeks of Substack and what that builds 10:00 – Illustration loneliness vs illustration community reality 12:00 – Making work when the world feels a bit bleak 14:00 – Commission hamster wheel vs personal work 15:00 – Dream clients happen when you show your actual personality 17:00 – The “what you love / what you’re good at / what pays” overlap 19:00 – Planning for creative brains (menus > rigid schedules) 23:00 – Creative jealousy = useful information, not failure 26:00 – The regret test (8-year-old you vs 80-year-old you) 27:00 – Can illustrators make money? Also: you can be bad at any career 😌 Stuff mentioned: Tara's Substack: https://substack.com/@tarastimeout Tara's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tara.tekentafel Tara's website: https://www.taratayyebifard.com/ Good Ship Illustration Monthly Numbers Tracker (freebie) https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/numbers Come fly your freak flag with us! We're MEGA EXCITED to get started on a shiny new live round and shower you in brand new bonuses, including co-working every 2 weeks, and monthly live Q&A calls: FIND YOUR CREATIVE VOICE: https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/freakflag Come and say hello! ✏️ @thegoodshipillustration 🌏 www.thegoodshipillustration.com p.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question for The Good Ship Illustration Podcast 🎙
January 30 · 11 min
Want to know what February’s #WalkToSee prompt is?
Are you joining in with #WalktoSee? 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 drawings How 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.com p.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question for The Good Ship Illustration Podcast 🎙
January 23 · 18 min
When you want to work but can’t seem to start
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. 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.com p.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question for The Good Ship Illustration Podcast 🎙
January 16 · 17 min
Is copying ever OK in illustration? When does inspiration turn into plagiarism? 👀✏️
Let’s talk about the big hairy thing that no one really wants to talk about… copying. 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.com p.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question for The Good Ship Illustration Podcast 🎙
January 9 · 24 min
You're invited! Plan your creative year with The Good Ship Illustration
Sign up for the 2026 planning party HERE: https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/planningparty This is a wee replay from last year (with a new intro to tell you the new dates for our planning party) ------------------- 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.com p.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question for The Good Ship Illustration Podcast 🎙
Dec 12, 2025 · 23 min
You’ll Never Feel Ready. Do It Anyway. An interview with Good Shipper Amber Au.
What a treat of an episode! Today we’re chatting with Good Shipper and picture book author–illustrator Amber Au. 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 life, and her work habits 20:00 – Diversifying income: packaging, food illustration, prints 21:00 – New opportunities, restaurants, markets, and thinking strategically 22:00 – Picture books, nonfiction, and future plans 23:00 – Final encouragement: “You’ll never feel ready. Do it anyway.” Links & things mentioned Amber’s blog: The Pencil Bakery Bologna Children’s Book Fair (We're going to be there in 2026 - we've booked a stand! Come and say hello if you're visiting Bologna.) Inkling Agency Little Tiger Press Blue Tomato (Amber’s upcoming book) p.s. We have a little rest at this time of year, so the podcast is having a rest too. We'll be back in January! 🎁 Come and say hello! ✏️ @thegoodshipillustration 🌏 www.thegoodshipillustration.com p.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question for The Good Ship Illustration Podcast 🎙
Dec 5, 2025 · 28 min
An interview with Lisa Congdon - consistency and finding your creative voice
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?) 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 encounters, and the magic of just...showing up!? 26:00 – The domino effect of doing what excites you 27:00 – Human Design chat 👀 28:00 – Byeee Lisa Links for this episode: Lisa Congdon: https://lisacongdon.com Lisa's Books: https://www.chroniclebooks.com Follow Lisa on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lisacongdon Come and say hello! ✏️ @thegoodshipillustration 🌏 www.thegoodshipillustration.com p.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question for The Good Ship Illustration Podcast 🎙
Nov 28, 2025 · 38 min
How illustrator Jill Calder built a long-lasting creative career (without losing her voice)
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. 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 managing the stress of it!) 37:00 – Where Jill pops up inside Good Ship courses and Facebook groups Stuff we mentioned Jill Calder – illustration, lettering and books Find Your Creative Voice – Fly Your Freak Flag (Good Ship course) The Picture Book Course (Good Ship course) Robert the Bruce – nonfiction picture book Coorie Doon – written by Jackie Kay, illustrated by Jill Calder I Love You Every Colour – written by Carolyn Rose, illustrated by Jill Calder Upcoming: Cass and the Beast – written by Clare Mabey, illustrated by Jill Calder (Gecko Press) Byeeee for now! x The Good Ship Illustration (Helen, Katie & Tania) Come and say hello! ✏️ @thegoodshipillustration 🌏 www.thegoodshipillustration.com p.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question for The Good Ship Illustration Podcast 🎙
Nov 21, 2025 · 21 min
How to stop your illustration style looking generic & blah
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. 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: https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com Come and say hello! ✏️ @thegoodshipillustration 🌏 www.thegoodshipillustration.com p.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question for The Good Ship Illustration Podcast 🎙
Nov 14, 2025 · 21 min
We’re good at failing (and you can be too) 🤣 the power of experiments
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". 😆 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 career Links & 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.com p.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question for The Good Ship Illustration Podcast 🎙
Nov 7, 2025 · 17 min
What publishers reeeeally want to see in your picture book pitch
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! 🗓️ 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 stall Links 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! ✏️ @thegoodshipillustration 🌏 www.thegoodshipillustration.com p.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question for The Good Ship Illustration Podcast 🎙
Oct 31, 2025 · 38 min
'If it looks awful, keep going. It’ll work out' - an interview with illustrator Catherine Rayner
This week we’re interviewing another creative for the podcast. Hooray! 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 words Links mentioned Catherine Rayner’s website Follow Catherine on Instagram Byeeee for now! x The Good Ship Illustration (Helen, Katie & Tania) Come and say hello! ✏️ @thegoodshipillustration 🌏 www.thegoodshipillustration.com p.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question for The Good Ship Illustration Podcast 🎙
Oct 24, 2025 · 36 min
'If you keep showing up, you can't NOT get better' - an interview with Sandi Hester
We've decided to play around a bit and do some INTERVIEWS. Ooooh. 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 – Filming through health struggles and letting people see the messy truth 15:00 – The hidden full-time workload behind one short video 17:00 – Lowering the bar so you can actually make things 19:00 – Teaching thought process over technique 21:00 – How the YouTube algorithm punishes missed uploads (“Feed the beast!”) 24:00 – Doing good work without being salesy 27:00 – Staying the course even when you feel like bubblegum under a chair 29:00 – Why the journey is the fun part 33:00 – Re-training your inner critic 35:00 – Final encouragements and gratitude 🌈 Links mentioned Bits of an Artist’s Life – Sandi’s YouTube Channel sandihester.com @sandihesterart on Instagram Bits of an Artist’s Life on Substack Byeeee for now! x The Good Ship Illustration (Helen, Katie & Tania) 🚢🎨 Come and say hello! ✏️ @thegoodshipillustration 🌏 www.thegoodshipillustration.com p.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question for The Good Ship Illustration Podcast 🎙
Oct 17, 2025 · 41 min
A Bologna Book Fair special: 6 Good Shippers were finalists in the Illustrators Exhibition!
Hi there, Helen here. 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 Leiper Other 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 November Tiffany Leeson – Creative Director at Farshore Books Ken Max Wilson – Writer, illustrator and publisher Picture 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.com p.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question for The Good Ship Illustration Podcast 🎙
Oct 10, 2025 · 22 min
#WalkToSee is baaack! The hashtag responsible for over 120,000 drawings (join in!)
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! 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 bottles Links & 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.com p.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question for The Good Ship Illustration Podcast 🎙
Oct 3, 2025 · 21 min
Remember drawing for...fun? 😅 what is that?
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. We 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.com p.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question for The Good Ship Illustration Podcast 🎙
Sep 26, 2025 · 23 min
"Double your fee without drawing more" say whaaat!?
First things first, DOORS CLOSE TONIGHT! We start on Monday. 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.com p.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question for The Good Ship Illustration Podcast 🎙
Sep 19, 2025 · 10 min
The bit art school forgot to teach you 😅
🌎✏️ The Illustrator’s Income Atlas - exciting free workshop announcement! 🗓️ 24th Sept | ⏰ 1pm UK | 📍 Online Let's sit down together and map out your illustration income. You'll leave with a plan (a map, woohooo) you can stick on your wall and use. Save your spot and SIGN UP HERE! https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/atlas Ok, on with the shownotes 🤓 We’ve taken our Business Course, given it a fresh lick of paint, and made it eeeeven more fun. It's now called Illustration Business Club... And the doors open tonight! (19th September 2025). You don't need your shoulderpads. Just bring yourself and a bit of an open mind to learn how the money-and-business side of illustration works. In this episode, we talk a bit about why we’re saying goodbye to the word “course” and what this shiny new Illustration Business Club is gonna look like. You're in for a treat - it’s eeeven better. By the way, if you're already in the Business Course, you don't need to do anything. You'll be inside Illustration Business Club automagically. Phew! Lifetime access Community perks: private Facebook group + co-working every 2 weeks Nice open chats about pricing, clients, and fees It'd be lovely to see you in there! Timestamps, for our timestamp fans. 00:00 Big news: the Business Course has changed 01:00 Why “club” feels right (and way more fun) 02:00 All modules unlocked: learn at your pace 03:00 Community: private group + live calls 04:00 What art school didn’t teach you 05:00 Honest conversations about money + fees 06:00 Adding new income streams 07:00 Pricing insights: Katie & Helen’s two perspectives 08:00 Guest interviews + insider knowledge 08:30 Bonus: live Q&A with copyright lawyers 09:00 How to join the Illustration Business Club Links mentioned Join the Illustration Business Club HERE Sign up for our free income workshop HERE Come and be our Instagram pals HERE Byeeee for now! x The Good Ship Illustration (Helen, Katie & Tania) Come and say hello! ✏️ @thegoodshipillustration 🌏 www.thegoodshipillustration.com p.s. We love answering your illustration questions. Click here to submit your question for The Good Ship Illustration Podcast 🎙