The Good Ship Illustration

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

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

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

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,

Help! Posting my illustration work makes me cringe 😬

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

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

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

Do I need loads of followers to get illustration work?

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 p

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

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 fi

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

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 h

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

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

"Nobody can hire you if they can't see you". An interview with Mollie off of @ShortSupplyMCR

"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

RIP Hockney & (Art) school's out for summer 🤘 🌴 🍦🩲

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 illustrat

No, you *don't* have imposter syndrome - an interview with Lauren Currie OBE

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

Help, I’ve forgotten how to draw 🫠

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

"I spent ages on the detailed stuff...but they liked the quick sketch." An interview with the brilliant Alice Bowsher

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 cute

And the award for Best Stand at Bologna Children's Book Fair goes to...

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

"Help! I love my rough illustrations and panic on the final piece. How do I get out of my own way?"

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

⚠️ Illustration scams to watch out for

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

'They keep asking me to tone it down.' Flying your freak flag in their faces 🚩

This week we're answering a brilliant voice message from @shanaramadesigns. Shana asks about Russian illustrator Victoria Semikina: how does someone learn to draw i

"I used to cry in the toilets before every job (and then I'd go draw)" - a live illustration chat with Katie

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

You don't have to pick just one thing - an interview with illustrator-astrologer Nicola Allan

This week, our Katie is chatting to Nicola Allan, an artist, writer and consulting astrologer based in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. After 12 years working as a lawyer, Nicola

This illustrator got a book deal lead on DAY ONE of Bologna… 😳 (part 2)

Here's part two of our Bologna interviews. Thank you so much for listening, and if you managed to come and find us at Bologna Children’s Book Fair, thank you. We had