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On the inaugural episode of The Retouch Ryan talks with Mario, Steve and Josh about the upcoming PhilaMrkt, December 16th from 11am–5pm at Kismet, Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia.

Artist and illustrator Loveis Wise is inspired by playfulness and reimagining futures. Born and raised in Washington DC and currently based in Los Angeles, Loveis' work is centered around liberation and queer/gender-expansive communities. Their constant world-making of playful dreamscapes has allowed them to create a distinctly recognizable style and palette, offering the ability for narrative storytelling through digital and traditional art making. Loveis joins the show for the final episode of the season to talk about bringing meditation into their work, making connections with other people and creating a new podcast. Plus, Martha Rich joins the show to discuss her new show, "It's Wild Here."

Jake Dombroski is an artist and designer living in Philadelphia. He is currently an Art Director at Agency M. Nowadays when he's not spending time with his wife and daughter, he can be found in the studio making art, including his collage work for his show this past spring, Legacy, an exploration in what we leave behind. The show explored the cycle of life and the traces we leave behind as human beings. He's currently organizing and curating events with Collage Philadelphia, who will be having a show at Paradigm starting November 4th. Jake joins the show to discuss early career lessons, finding time to focus on his art and his entrepreneurial approach to Collage Philadelphia. Plus, Brian Box Brown joins the show to discuss his Kickstarter campaign to create a Legalization Nation Hardcover Book, collecting the first three years of his comic.

Annica Lydenberg and Samantha Schutz created You Are Not Alone, a public art project that inspires artists to create work in their communities, sparking hope, connection, and conversations about mental health. The goals of the project is to reduce stigma and shame around discussing mental health challenges by fostering connection through story-sharing as well as to inspire artists from around the world to join the project as they create work in their communities. The project was born out of Annica's experience with creating murals and reader responses to Samantha's memoir "I Don't Want To Be Crazy." They join the podcast for a conversation about the power of messaging on walls, how the project has been embraced by the artistic community across the world and how the message became even more important post-pandemic. Plus, fellow YANA muralist and friend of the show Rodney Ibarra returns to catch up with Ryan at the top of the show.

Corey Brickley is an illustrator working primarily in publishing based in Philadelphia, PA. They graduated from the University of the Arts in 2015 where they have also taught illustration courses. Corey has been published in American Scientist, the Atlantic, the New York Times, the New Yorker, Playboy Magazine and more. They've produced book covers for Folio Society, HarperCollins, Penguin, Hodderscape, Disney Publishing, Algonquin Young Readers and Macmillan. They were also the lead animator for the hit Netflix documentary "Wild, Wild Country". They've won awards from 3x3 magazine, American Illustration, Communication Arts and Society of Illustrators. Corey joins the show for a conversation about A.I., spanning genres with their work and their go-to horror movies for the season. Plus, Eric Kenney joins the show to talk about the opening of his show "See-Thru" on October 6th at Space 1026.

Dan Hughes was a prolific illustrator and screen printing artist who was a staple of the Philadelphia music and arts scenes. His work included screen-printed posters, t-shirts, album art and much more. He worked with Philly bands like Japanese Breakfast and Mannequin Pussy as well as other national touring acts passing through town, playing venues like the Fillmore, the TLA and more. He was a founding member of the Kensington warehouse artist collective and music venue The Ox. He died last year unexpectedly at 36 years old. Recorded during the opening of the show "Dan Hughes – Gig Posters" at the Fairmount House on September 8th, Ryan sits down with family and friends of Dan's as they share their memories of his life and work.

Steve Weinik is a Philadelphia-based photographer, researcher, and writer. He is the staff photographer for Mural Arts Philadelphia, documenting the murals around the city. His work, both on and off screen on the documentary Resurrect Dead, helped earn the movie a trip to the Sundance film festival, where it won the directing award in the United States Documentary category. His photos have been published in the New York Times, The Washington Post, National Geographic and many more. Steve joins the show for a conversation about birding, his relationship with the city and photographing the beautiful things in the world. Plus, Frank Baseman joins the show as co-host to talk about his show at Huddle this October.

Jen Borror is an illustrator and designer and the principal of Hoot Design Studio, out of York Pennsylvania. She specializes in pen and ink artwork, brewery branding and beverage packaging design, especially craft beer labels which has become her raison d'etre since the pandemic. She was recently awarded the Gold Crushie for best hard seltzer label design at the Craft Beer Marketing Awards and she went on to collaborate with the awards show for the Make Peace Not War beer label, a customizable beer label design that any craft brewery can adopt for use with their own beverages while raising funds for Ukraine relief efforts. Jen joins the show for a conversation about breaking out of the thinking that "art is a hobby," how success shouldn't be based on how much you accomplish or check off the list and how important interacting with people on social media is to her. Plus, Kevin Kernan from GD Loft joins the show as our first co-host for the season to chat about GD Loft's 20th anniversary as a studio.

By day Douglas Ethan is an Aerial Sensor Operator Manager, but by night he has become known for his work combining his calligraphy with found canvases. His work was featured recently in a show with Germantown Art and Sound and he had his own solo show this past spring at Brotherly Love gallery in Philadelphia called The Best is Nyet to Come. Ryan and Doug discuss horror movies, creating unfamiliarity with his lettering and introducing digital tools into his process.

Matthew Zaremba is a multidisciplinary artist best known for his illustrated musings on the human condition. His creative work spans a myriad of mediums from print works to paintings to public murals. His illustrated messages are intimate, sometimes heartbreakingly poignant, glimpses into his life. Matthew joins the show for the season finale to discuss processing how people interpret his work, AI art and toxic positivity.