The Good Ship Illustration

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...

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...

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 invi...

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' o...

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 let...

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 i...

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 timest...

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 episod...

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...

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 h...

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 b...

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...

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 Qu...

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 e...

🌎✏️ 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 Cou...

🌎✏️ 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 🤓 Why we secretly love working...

Which course should I do? 🎨📚 We get asked this aaall the time: “Do I start with the Picture Book Course, Fly Your Freak Flag, or the Business Course?” There is no wrong order. Right now the Business Course isn’t open, but…  ✨ The Illustration Business Club (our shiny new name for it) opens for enrolment on the  19th of September! We almost dropped the word “business” because we thought it might...

Pssst, this episode was originally published in 2023 and we’re sharing it again as part of our Good Ship Summer Camp series. It’s one of five episodes to help you fly your freak flag this summer. If you’d like to join in properly, there’s a free workbook an' everything! You can download the workbook here: https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/workbook  Riiiight, pack up your art supplies. I...

Pssst, this episode was originally published in 2023 and we’re sharing it again as part of our Good Ship Summer Camp series. It’s one of five episodes to help you fly your freak flag this summer. If you’d like to join in properly, there’s a free workbook an' everything! You can download the workbook here: https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/workbook  Feeling stuck? Procrastinating wildly?...

Pssst, this episode was originally published in 2023 and we’re sharing it again as part of our Good Ship Summer Camp series. It’s one of five episodes to help you fly your freak flag this summer. If you’d like to join in properly, there’s a free workbook an' everything! You can download the workbook here: https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/workbook  Feeling a bit wobbly about your work?...

Pssst, this episode was originally published in 2023 and we’re sharing it again as part of our Good Ship Summer Camp series. It’s one of five episodes to help you fly your freak flag this summer. If you’d like to join in properly, there’s a free workbook an' everything! You can download the workbook here: https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/workbook  Got limited time to draw? Children han...

Pssst, this episode was originally published in 2023 and we’re sharing it again as part of our Good Ship Summer Camp series. It’s one of 5 episodes to help you fly your freak flag this summer. If you’d like to join in properly, there’s a free workbook an' everything! You can download the workbook here: https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/workbook  🚢🚢🚢 What if your creative voice isn&ap...

This week, we’re back with part 2 of our conversation with the brilliant Chris Haughton – illustrator, author, and passionate copyright advocate. Here's a link to part 1 in case you need to catch up! In this half of our Chris Haughton special, Chris shares how his first picture book came about, and we also chat about confidence, creative doubt, and why showing up again and again matters. And...

How do you make picture books if you secretly hate writing? Can you REALLY just punch holes in a bit of paper and call it a finished illustration?! 👀 This week we’ve got a proper treat for you.  This is part 1 of our chat with illustrator and picture book maker Chris Haughton! (Katie wasn’t there, but Helen and Tania held the fort and asked him all the juicy questions.) Chris shares his brilliant...

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 cuppa...