The Good Ship Illustration

Latest Episodes:

Help, I’ve forgotten how to draw 🫠 Jun 26, 2026

Show notes

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

"I spent ages on the detailed stuff...but they liked the quick sketch." An interview with the brilliant Alice Bowsher Jun 19, 2026

Show notes

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

And the award for Best Stand at Bologna Children's Book Fair goes to... Jun 12, 2026

Show notes

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

"Help! I love my rough illustrations and panic on the final piece. How do I get out of my own way?" Jun 05, 2026

Show notes

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

⚠️ Illustration scams to watch out for May 29, 2026

Show notes

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)

'They keep asking me to tone it down.' Flying your freak flag in their faces 🚩 May 22, 2026

Show notes

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

"I used to cry in the toilets before every job (and then I'd go draw)" - a live illustration chat with Katie May 15, 2026

Show notes

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

You don't have to pick just one thing - an interview with illustrator-astrologer Nicola Allan May 08, 2026

Show notes

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 pivoted to illustration and has since built a brand that weaves together everything she loves: The Wild Way.

Nicola's a brilliant example of what happens when you stop trying to choose between the things you're drawn to and just bring them aaaall along for the ride. We chat about slowly switching from a regular job to illustration, why crowdfunding is such a powerful way to test if your idea has legs before you make all the things, and how to weave your obsessions (in Nicola's case: astrology) into work that's unmistakably yours.

Plus the maths of email lists vs. social media, why you should start promoting WAY earlier than feels comfortable, decans and scribes, trusting your gut, and the idea that ideas themselves will find someone else if you don't act on them. Mmmm.

Timestamps, for the timestamp fans:

00:00 – Nicola's wiggly path from law to illustration to astrology
01:00 – Early days of greetings cards and Not On The High Street
02:00 – Why a slow transition beats quitting cold turkey
03:00 – Remote lawyering from Mexico
04:00 – Pandemic, dogs, and the chance encounter that became Nicola's first tarot deck
05:00 – Why Nicola walked away from a publisher to crowdfund instead
06:00 – The Kickstarter campaign that ended up on their front page!
08:00 – Coming back to Scotland on a whim and never leaving
09:00 – The Wild Way oracle deck and the 36 decans
12:00 – Katie's reading and the literal scribe in her chart
13:00 – More years studying astrology than law, apparently
15:00 – Recurrence transits and creative breakthroughs in the birth chart
16:00 – Why 2026 and 2027 are big collective years
19:00 – Everyone's wired differently (phew)
20:00 – Self-publishing the Wild Way
22:00 – Coming up: a 78-card Wild Way tarot deck on Kickstarter in June
23:00 – Top tips for first-time crowdfunders
26:00 – Start small: a calendar, an enamel pin, anything
28:00 – Email list maths
30:00 – Trusting your gut and listening to the little voices
32:00 – Ideas have a lifespan and will find someone else if you don't act
33:00 – Trust yer gut

Links mentioned:

The Wild Way: https://www.the-wild-way.com/
Find Your Creative Voice: https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/freakflag
The Wild Way on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewildway_
Nicola on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nicola__allan/

Byeeee for now!

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

p.s. If you loved Nicola's "take all your weird interests and weave them into something only you could make" then you'll probs get excited about our Find Your Creative Voice, Fly Your Freak Flag course, a safe little cocoon to figure out what work is properly yours and start basking in your weirdness.

Come and fly your freak flag with us! https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/freakflag

This illustrator got a book deal lead on DAY ONE of Bologna… 😳 (part 2) May 01, 2026

Show notes

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 so much fun meeting everybody, and we’re hoping to do that again one day because it was cool. Okay, see you soon. Enjoy listening to these brave people

🚢🚢🚢

⏱️ Timestamps for our timestamp fans

Lauren

00:00 – Part 2 hiya
00:40 – Lauren: flew in from Chicago for her first Bologna
01:20 – Corporate job, layoff, creative reset
02:00 – Why she chose The Picture Book Course over a Masters in illustration
03:00 – Actually doing the work (not just watching 👀)
03:40 – Approaching a publisher…
04:20 – “Can you send me this book?” (!!!)
05:00 – Bravery > having it all figured out
05:40 – No agent, just going for it :)

Yves

06:20 – Yves and his genius portfolio move
06:45 – Printing your portfolio as a book 📚
07:30 – How he uses it in reviews
08:00 – Printing panic
08:40 – New style feedback
09:10 – Feeling excited to create again (!!)
09:40 – “You just have to keep going”

Links an' that wot we mentioned:

Yves Kervoelen on Instagram: @yveskervoelen/

Lauren Cox on Instagram: @kareuoneart/

Courses:

The Picture Book Course (the one Lauren mentioned)

Find Your Creative Voice: Fly Your Freak Flag

Brave Good Shippers at Bologna - we shoved a microphone in these illustrators faces 😆 (part 1!) Apr 24, 2026

Show notes

Interview #1 is with Paulina Zawiska and Kate Osmond.

Interview #2 is with Lorna Burt (begins at 05:30)

Bon apetit!

We just announced the winners of our iPad giveaway and art supply shop vouchers - come and celebrate the winners with us over on Instagram! https://www.instagram.com/thegoodshipillustration/

Timestamps:

00:00 – Welcome to Bologna (the audio isn't perfect but neither are we 🤪)
00:30 – Paulina’s third time… still overwhelmed
01:30 – The illustrator wall and comparisonitis
02:00 – Kate’s first time and top tips for arriving
02:30 – Portfolio reviews: exciting or terrifying?
03:15 – Should you approach publishers at the fair?
04:00 – First Bologna experiences: sensory overload
04:45 – Making a plan (being brave)
05:00 – Good Shippers in the wild 🥹

05:30 – Lorna’s story
06:30 – “You need bears”
07:00 – The work that felt most you = the work that landed
08:00 – Not all feedback is equal
09:00 – Researching portfolio reviewers before you listen to them
10:00 – The danger of trying to fit the mould
11:00 – Letting your “weird” lead the way
12:00 – Using courses to reset when you wobble
13:00 – From fashion designer to children’s book illustrator
14:30 – Fast-tracking your learning vs figuring it out alone
15:00 – Pitching stories

In these interviews we talked about the Find Your Creative Voice course, fly your freak flag! As well as the Picture Book course and last, but not least: Illustration Business Club.

(Doors to illustration business club will open again in September/October so get your name on the waiting list if you want to join in next time.

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