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” about small businesses with big personalities. 

A lot of her projects were self-initiated. Julia just reaches out to people she wants to work with. She enjoys having a variety of projects at the same time and a lot of them are found by proactively pitching ideas. Many artists may not know this, she says, but she encourages everyone to just take a leap and contact prospective clients. You never know who might need your art. 

Julia likes to maintain a regular drawing practice. She always keeps a sketch pad around and can be found doodling most of the time. Sometimes she draws with friends and other times she just draws to stay busy. If she hasn’t drawn for a while, she feels a certain sense of discomfort. She regularly attends drawing nights, meets up with other artists and has co-founded Women Who Draw, an open directory of female* professional illustrators, artists and cartoonists. 

On this episode we dive deep into how Julia found her way into the illustration world, what teaching at RISD and SVA has taught her, the benefits of starting the year with a More/Less list, and why you shouldn’t be afraid of bad drawings. She even shares the backstory of how she became a professional party motivator. Such a fun and informative conversation with one of the most prolific illustrators of our time! 

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MENTIONED LINKS: 

• Women Who Draw: an open directory of female professional illustrators

• Ladies Drawing Night: a female-only (trans-inclusive) drink and draw

• “Scratch”: Julia Rothman & Shaina Feinberg’s New York Times column

• The Anatomy Series: The Julia Rothman Collection

• “Every Body – An Honest and Open Look at Sex from Every Angle”, Julia Rothman & Shaina Feinberg

• Julia’s wallpapers at Hygge & West

• Skillshare course: “How to Make A Repeat Pattern with Julia Rothman”

• Purchase Julia’s books on Indiebound

• Matt Dorfman: art director of the NYT Book Review

• Lynda Barry’s “Making Comics”

• Vogue article about Julia’s More/Less lists 

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FOLLOW JULIA: 

Instagram: @juliarothman
Website: juliarothman.com
Twitter: x.com/juliarothman
Patreon: patreon.com/juliarothman

HIRE JULIA: [email protected]

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Hosted by Vicky Cichoń and Dave Leutert.

Music by Amanda Deff.

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Berlin Letters Festival: Come to our live interview with Ximena Jiménez on Sunday, July 7th, at ~1:15pm at silent green in Berlin! ✨ There are also various workshops available during Berlin Letters, even for non-ticket holders. You can find a workshop overview right here.