Paid 2 Draw – An Illustration Podcast

This week we talk to two of the three founders of Studio MUTI , a Cape Town-based creative studio. Miné Day and Brad Hodgskiss share their journey from starting a small illustration studio in 2011 to now managing a vibrant team of 18 creatives with a diverse range of styles and skills — from animation and lettering to icons and digital painting.  Versatility is one of MUTI’s strongest assets. By s...

Based in Glasgow, Angela Kirkwood is an illustrator and animator known for her whimsical, topsy-turvy worlds filled with expressive characters that inspire joy and curiosity. Having worked for clients like Adult Swim, Nike and The New York Times, her work is characterized by a unique DIY aesthetic that evokes nostalgia for childhood cartoons. Angela transitioned from a career in graphic design dur...

By popular demand, we finally talked to Brett Stenson from Portland, Oregon. Brett is a multi-disciplinary artist, illustrator and Senior Art Director at Young Jerks. Heavily influenced by forgotten ephemera from bygone eras, Brett’s work reflects a deep connection to the natural world and explores the delicate balance between nature and human existence.  In this episode, Brett tells us how the ab...

Raman Djafari is a Berlin-based illustrator, animator and filmmaker who has created visuals for some of the biggest musicians and brands, including Elton John, Dua Lipa, Coldplay, Adult Swim, The New Yorker and Spotify. Their award-winning “Cold Heart” music video was beamed across the world during Elton John’s Glastonbury performance and has been viewed over 600 million times on YouTube. Currentl...

In this episode, we talk to award-winning Japanese illustrator Yuko Shimizu (清水裕子) about her journey from quitting a career in corporate PR to becoming a successful artist and educator—highlighting all the challenges and triumphs along the way. Our conversation touches on the importance of self-promotion, how to deal with imposter syndrome, and the role of art education in shaping an artist’s...

Carina Lindmeier is an award-winning illustrator from Austria with a unique style blending playful and figurative elements, rich with textures, colors and patterns. Drawing inspiration from everyday life, pop culture and the culinary world, her goal is to uplift and evoke emotions through her art. Her passion for drawing food and still lives has enabled her to work with the likes of Adobe, Bombay...

Lisa Tegtmeier is a Hamburg-based illustrator who’s known for bold characters, vibrant colors and energetic compositions. Inspired by nostalgic color palettes from the 60s to the 90s, Lisa creates worlds filled with optimism and empowerment. What her characters are lacking in eyes and noses, they wholly make up for in personality. “Emotion comes through movement,” she says “You can express so much...

For the season 4 premiere we talk to lettering legend and muralist Ximena Jiménez . Born in Cali, Colombia, she moved to Argentina in 2014 to study graphic design in Buenos Aires where she fell in love with hand-lettering. Today she creates lettering for brands, paints murals for cafés and restaurants, gives workshops across the globe, and live-paints on jackets at festivals. Her lettering work is...

YONK is a Dutch 3D animation studio consisting of artistic power couple Victoria Young and Niels van der Donk. Coming from different backgrounds like fine art and graphic design they decided early on to combine their individual skills to create 3D work. Since 2019 they specialize in using Virtual Reality and 3D sculpting tools to create uniquely strange, textured and colorful artworks, animations...

Slovak illustrator Martina Paukova has come a long way from originally studying politics to completely switching gears and moving to London — studying at Camberwell College of Arts — to now settling in Berlin. On her path, she developed a distinct style marked by her trademark vector lines, bold color palettes and flat character-driven subject matters, allowing her to accumulate an impressive clie...

Julia Rothman is an award-winning illustrator, pattern maker, NYT columnist and party motivator from New York. Her drawings appear on a variety of things, from newspapers and magazines to posters and billboards, wallpapers, bedding, towels, apparel, mugs and other merchandise. Julia has authored and illustrated over twelve books and has an illustrated column in the New York Times called “Scratch”...

Aliyah Salmon is a tactile artist based out of Brooklyn, NY. Her art explores the intricate crossroads of black femininity and the Afro-Caribbean diaspora in contemporary America. Through textiles and collage, her work challenges and reframes simplistic narratives surrounding Black identity. Using traditional textile methods like hand tufting with an Oxford punch needle and bead embroidery alongsi...

Aaron Draplin is on the show this week, giving us a lesson in gratitude. His advice to listeners: “Be thankful as sh*t that you get to be a creative person.” Showing up and getting the job done builds confidence. Or at the very least, it gives you a better understanding of your own creative process.  Aaron is the founder of DDC, Draplin Design Company. With his signature bold lines and colorful il...

Cymone Wilder is a full-time Senior Art Director and lettering artist based in Nashville, TN. Since 2013 she has collaborated with clients like HBO Max, Nickelodeon, and Netflix, creating custom lettering artwork for established brands, books, apparel, and more. She is fiercely passionate about producing meaningful and long-lasting work, drawing inspiration from the black experience.  On this epis...

Martina Galarza, aka Marte , is an Argentinian graphic designer and lettering artist based in New York. Inspired by cartoons, graffiti and psychedelia, she’s all about infusing fun and vibrancy into her designs—creating a perfect blend of nostalgia and contemporary cool. In this very personal conversation, Marte opens up about how she had to change her life to avoid burnout and made a point to enj...

Florian Schommer is an art director and designer working within branding, illustration, editorial design, packaging and contemporary art. Dividing his time between personal projects and collaborating with international clients like Pepsi, Nike, Penguin, Sony Music, Columbia Records and The Guardian, Florian now lives and works in Berlin.  Growing up in the skate and punk scene of the ‘90s, he late...

Jurena Munõz Lagunas, aka Ju Mu , is a multi-faceted artist based in Berlin with Peruvian-Chilean roots. Born in Hannover, Germany, she studied Fashion Design in Palma de Mallorca where she developed a fascination for surreal creatures and monsters. The cult of shamanism and the connections between humanity, the spirit world and nature are perennial features of her work and serve as inspiration fo...

Paid 2 Draw is back with an all-new season! On the first episode, we get to talk to Anna Rupprecht who is an artist and freelance illustrator based in Berlin. Her art reflects the current zeitgeist through clear contours and interesting image dynamics with diverse protagonists of her generation. Since going freelance after graduating from the University of Applied Sciences in Berlin, she has worke...

Josephine Rais is an artist based in Berlin with a main focus on digital illustration. Having a background in product design and a Master’s degree in strategic design, Josephine’s broad skill set allows for a multidisciplinary approach to her illustration work. Being forced to go freelance after not landing an agency job led to her working for clients like Adidas, Apple, Coca-Cola, Samsung and Die...

Dan Christofferson is an illustrator and designer from Salt Lake City, currently based in Philadelphia. He’s a partner and creative director at Young Jerks— an independent brand and packaging studio. Growing up out West, Dan’s work has been informed by the religious heritage of his upbringing and the DIY ethos of Utah’s straight-edge hardcore scene.  On this week’s episode, he explains why illustr...

Clémence Gouy is a French illustrator and graphic designer currently based in Amsterdam. She specialises in creating visual identities and illustrated content for various brands and media. After working as an art director in agencies across the world and getting a Master’s degree, she started building an illustration portfolio and ended up getting hired by clients like Apple, Nike, Google and Netf...

Mary Kate McDevitt is a Vermont-based illustrator and lettering artist with a love of color, texture and humor. Since 2010 she’s written several books, hosted lettering workshops, taught five Skillshare courses and worked for clients like Nike, Nintendo, Target, Sephora and The New York Times .  She loves trying new things. Because personal projects provide a value that commercial ones sometimes c...

Kati Szilágyi talks to us about how much she loves her job despite having a crisis every once in a while. During her studies her style was inspired by graphic and poster design, which she translated into whimsical characters in colorful dreamscapes. Her process is to welcome little mistakes on paper and to find abstract shapes while drawing humans.  On this episode, we chat with Kati about how it’...

Bene Rohlmann is an award-winning artist and illustrator based in Berlin. His work combines a vintage aesthetic with bold vibrant colors, geometric patterns and a love for detail. Born in Münster, he was always doodling as a kid—fuelled by comic books and his grandpa’s fairytales. Vicky and Dave have an honest conversation with Bene about how he finds inspiration in vintage advertising, old matchb...

On the first in-person recording in Paid 2 Draw history, Vicky and Dave chat with illustrator and designer Giulia Hartz about her client work, personal projects and her online community.  Giulia opens up about how she copes with uncomfortable feelings by customizing her living space with encouraging words and witty jokes. Turning dark thoughts into funny art, the physical act of painting calm...