The Good Ship Illustration

The Good Ship Illustration

By The Good Ship IllustrationArtsDesign
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The Good Ship Illustration episodes

  • How do I get my work featured? With Creative Boom's Katy Cowan

    This week our Katie chats to Katy Cowan, founding editor of Creative Boom, the independent platform that's been cheering on creatives of every background for 17 years. It started as a side project dreamed up on a sun lounger on her honeymoon (true story!) and now reaches over 300,000 readers a month.

    If you've ever wondered how illustrators get picked up by Creative Boom, Katy tells us everythiiiiing: keep sharing your work, keep your Instagram active, and make your website a nice 'n' friendly place for journalists/art directors to land. 

    Grab a notebook, this one's full of amazin' tips 💛

    Timestamps, for the timestamp fans:

    00:00 – Meet Katy
    01:00 – Gatekeeping
    03:00 – Goody gatekeepers
    04:00 – "You're not in trouble"
    05:00 – Marketing when you're shy
    06:30 – Hiding behind the brand
    07:00 – 2024
    10:30 – A new brainstorming buddy
    11:30 – AI, the nuanced bit
    14:30 – Where the work is
    15:30 – The perfect storm
    16:30 – The tightrope
    17:30 – The future is human
    19:30 – The courage to be disliked
    20:30 – Getting featured
    23:30 – Press-ready websites
    25:00 – GEO
    25:30 – Honeymoon ideas
    26:30 – Slipped Disc
    27:00 – Being enough

    Links mentioned:

    🌟 Creative Boom: https://www.creativeboom.com
    🎧 The Creative Boom Podcast: https://www.creativeboom.com/podcast/
    📸 Creative Boom on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/creativeboom/
    🎶 Katy's personal Instagram (for the Slipped Disc DJ videos): https://www.instagram.com/katylcowan/
    🎨 Sarah Martinon, the illustrator behind the Hermès campaign Katy mentions: https://www.instagram.com/sarahmartinon/
    🚢 The Good Ship Illustration: https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com

    Byeeee for now!

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

    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 🎙

    29 min
  • How to stay in touch with your illustration clients without being annoying - part 2 of our @MadebyJames interview

    James Martin (aka @MadebyJames) is baaack! Part one was your starter, and this week is the chonky main course. James did promise to come back with something v useful, and he kept his word.

    Buckle in for a step-by-step formula to help you build relationships with the people you'd love to work with. 

    There is absolutely NO cold emailing or cheesey self-promotion involved. 

    Timestamps, for the timestamp fans:

    00:00 – Welcome back James, and why part two is all about the practical stuff
     01:00 – A brand is really just a way of getting more opportunity
     02:00 – What James means by "opportunity design"
     02:45 – The book Obvious Adams
     04:00 – Why you should ask your clients for feedback, not other creatives
     06:00 – Why complicated marketing advice makes us feel silly
     07:30 – Good business relationships take time (you can't skip straight to "here's my work, give me money")
     09:00 – Sandboxes: pressure-free 20-minute conversations
     10:45 – Introvert? Start your first sandbox with a friend
     11:50 – Everything good in your life started with one conversation
     13:30 – Physical mailers and the "effort heuristic"
     15:45 – The 5-3-1 framework: five existing clients, three strategic relationships, one aspirational one
     19:00 – Focusing on just nine people, and starting a relationship journal
     21:30 – The time exchange library
     23:30 – What to send when you're following the seven email rule
     26:30 – Asking for a sandbox
     28:00 – The "second portfolio": gifting a scrappy idea that solves their problem
     30:45 – Reciprocity
     33:30 – Getting ready for when they look you up: your bio, profile pic and a "how to work with me" PDF
     37:00 – Cold emails are gross and they don't even work

    Links mentioned:

    • Part one of our chat with James was last week (we'll add the link here when we have it)
     • James's Substack: https://madebyjames.substack.com
     • James's free Super Duper Mentorship for emerging creatives: https://madebyjames.substack.com/p/join-my-free-mentorship-program
     • James on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/made_by_james
     • James's new book, No Bullsh*t Branding: https://www.quarto.com/books/9781577159452/no-bullsh-t-branding
     • Obvious Adams by Robert R. Updegraff
     • Hype Yourself by Lucy Werner: https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/hype-yourself-a-no-nonsense-pr-toolkit-for-small-businesses-lucy-werner/b3b30df91155c107?ean=9781788601238&next=t&affiliate=11858&ref=hypeyourself.com
     • Our episode with Kira Matthews (the seven email rule): https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/the-7-email-rule-pitching-your-work-to-illustration/id1526470404?i=1000757654276 

    Byeeee for now!

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

    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 🎙

    40 min
  • Is there any point becoming an illustrator now that AI is here? An interview with James Martin @madebyjames PART 1!

    Trigger warning: In this episode, James talks openly about his experience of childhood sexual abuse, as well as addiction (drugs and alcohol). It's mentioned briefly in the 06:52 to 11:00 section and discussed again from 45:23. There's also plenty of strong language throughout. Look after yourself and skip this episode/seek support if you need it.

    This week our Katie is chatting to James Martin, AKA @MadebyJames. He's a designer, author, Canva design advisory board member & creative partner at Lincoln Design Co.

    James is nice an' honest about the wiggly creative career road that got him to where he is today.

    We chat about the "gravity of average" and why everyone's starting to look and sound the same, an economist with two ice cream sellers on a beach 🍦, whether there's any point becoming an illustrator now AI is here aaaand why your weirdness is more valuable than ever. 😎 FLY YOUR FREAK FLAG!!

    ALSO, this is part one of two - next instalment is coming next week.

    Timestamps, for the timestamp fans:

    00:00 – Welcome James Martin, aka Made by James, and a quick intro to who he is and what he does
     02:43 – The world has never been more distracting
     06:29 – James's journey: school, trauma, addiction, and finding his way to an art foundation
     11:00 – Falling forward into graphic design
     15:03 – Following your gut and doing more of what lights you up
     18:09 – Writing No Bullsh*t Branding
     21:11 – Ddopamine
     25:06 – Is there any point becoming an illustrator now that AI is here?
     29:54 – The "gravity of average" and how systems pull everyone towards the middle
     32:53 – Hotelling's Law, ice cream sellers on a beach, and why opportunity lives at the edges
     38:08 – Time, the long game, and "automate the predictable, humanise the meaningful"
     41:44 – Bring back dilly dallying!
     42:04 – Your weirdness as your difference: taste, story and point of view
     45:23 – Feeling scared to be yourself, and why James chose to share his story
     49:29 – Being real online vs oversharing, and sharing from the scar, not the open wound
     52:24 – Gary V, 500 pieces of content a week, and the performance trap
     53:11 – James's mission, his three-step plan, and eating your own dog food
     56:10 – Round two is coming!

    Links mentioned:

    • James's Substack: https://madebyjames.substack.com
    • James's free Super Duper Mentorship for emerging creatives: https://madebyjames.substack.com/p/join-my-free-mentorship-program
    • James on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/made_by_james
    • James's new book, No Bullsh*t Branding: https://www.quarto.com/books/9781577159452/no-bullsh-t-branding

    Byeeee for now!

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


    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 🎙

    58 min
  • Lessons from our 'failures' + Illustration Business Club doors close tonight!

    This week, you're stuck with Katie and Helen again, answering more of your businessy questions (Tania's back next week! Don't cry! She's coming back, really!)

    RIP to our dear friend and editor Deirdre McDermott of Walker Books, who died recently. Dee was a legend. We don't have the words to do her justice here, but we miss her very very much. 💛  And of course, Smelly Peggy too.

    Timestamps, for the timestamp fans:

    00:00 – Helen and Katie are back
     00:45 – Any consistency hacks? Katie's summer of posting every day
     01:45 – Reposting old posts
     02:45 – When your illustration work 'flops'
     03:30 – Stop when the fun runs out
     04:30 – Illustrator's boob
     06:15 – 2012 washing powder
     08:00 – The rise and pause of Katie's jobs board
     10:45 – Being misunderstood online
     11:45 – "Get over yourself"
     13:00 – Helen's online school visit that didn't quite work
     15:45 – Lessons
     17:00 – Helen's year out
     18:45 – Finding Your Creative Voice
     19:30 – Remembering Deirdre McDermott of Walker Books

    Links mentioned:

    • Illustration Business Club: https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/business
    • Find Your Creative Voice: Fly Your Freak Flag (with Helen's video about her year out): https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/freak-flag
    • Helen's free online school visit: https://www.helenstephens.com/virtual-school-visit
    • Walker Books: https://www.walker.co.uk

    Byeeee for now!

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

    p.s. It's the last day! The Illustration Business Club doors close TONIGHT, Friday 9th October, at 10pm UK time. There's an option to pay in 10 smaller instalments, and we'd love to see you in there before they shut. https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/business

    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 🎙

    26 min
  • Help! Posting my illustration work makes me cringe 😬

    This week it's just Helen and Katie here (helloo - Tania was off in Naples eating pizza for us. We were living vicariously through her.)

    Let's get stuck in and answer your excellent questions about marketing your illustration work. 

    "I just don't know where to begin!" and overcoming our arch nemesis: cringe. 

    Plus SLOTH FACTS. You're welcome.

    Timestamps, for the timestamp fans:

    00:00 – Time off is good for you, and good for business
     01:00 – Helen's short, intense work bursts on the latest Salty book
     02:00 – Take the bus
     03:00 – "Where do I start with marketing?"
     04:00 – Trying on hats (and taking them back off)
     04:45 – The creative car and the business car
     06:00 – Brilliant work nobody sees vs brilliant marketing that needs more art car time
     07:00 – Seven ways to get your work in front of picture book publishers
     08:30 – Low-pressure Instagram and the overflowing camera roll
     09:30 – If we were starting again: website, portfolio etc.
     11:00 – Ditch the "aspiring", "wannabe" and "itty bitty" labels
     11:30 – Cringe
     12:45 – Caveman brains
     15:00 – It's not meant to be easy
     16:15 – "How do I get over myself?"
     17:15 – Seeking validation vs showing up to share your goodies
     18:00 – Illustration Business Club doors are open, plus the new 10-pay option
     19:45 – Art Club, sloth ribs and a guinea pig Wild West village

    Links mentioned:

    • Illustration Business Club: https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/business
    • The Association of Illustrators: https://theaoi.com
    • SCBWI British Isles: https://britishisles.scbwi.org
    • Northumberland Zoo: https://www.northumberlandzoo.co.uk/

    Byeeee for now!

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

    p.s. Get your illustration business ducks in a row. 🐥 🐥 🐥 The Illustration Business Club doors are open now, with a new option to pay in 10 smaller instalments. 

    We'd love to have you sailing with us! https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/business

    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 🎙

    23 min
  • "I hadn't drawn for 21 years" an interview with Jo Overend 🐥

    Jo Overend is in da house (ship?)

    But first, Illustration Business Club is finally OPEN! It's been over a year since we last flung the doors open and we'd love to have you sailing with us! https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/business

    Jo is an author-illustrator, an OG Good Shipper, and the author and illustrator of Megaduck (her debut picture book with Walker Books) 🐥

    When Jo started out, she hadn't drawn for 21 years. She posted her drawings anyway, eeeeven the ones she didn't like, and sometimes three to five Instagram posts a day (!!!)

    Timestamps:

    00:00 – Hello Jo (and Megaduck, in giant cardboard cutout form)
     00:23 – Megaduck's final artwork is done and handed over to Walker Books
     01:03 – Getting final artwork finished alongside full-on childcare
     01:56 – Setting the goal of a full colour dummy for Bologna
     02:57 – Walking into shops with your prints (terrifying!) and taking the wholesale leap
     03:37 – Why rejection is almost never about you
     05:46 – Katie's human design corner: give people something to say yes or no to
     06:10 – Sending Walker seven more book ideas without waiting for a meeting
     07:01 – Posting real things to agents and publishers, and the "is it worth the stamp?" wobble
     09:13 – Why genuine, thoughtful post gets remembered
     10:10 – Agents and publishers actually WANT your follow-up email
     11:42 – Jo's Illustration Business Club experience
     12:23 – Getting stocked in her favourite shop, and growing into wholesale
     13:12 – Community, competitions, and winning the Picture Hooks mentorship (plus a book deal the same week!)
     14:34 – Tania's "friendly stalking" method for finding art directors
     15:50 – "Have we met?" How Jo's postcards got there before she did
     16:57 – Helen's broccoli theory of being seen
     17:25 – The anonymous egg problem, and why a face (or a logo) builds trust
     18:29 – Jo's advice for scared, shy, overwhelmed illustrators
     19:04 – Not drawing for 21 years, then posting 3 to 5 doodles a day
     22:02 – Megaduck news: US in February, UK in March, and Megaduck 2 on the way
     23:07 – Trying all the little things: kids' workshops, wholesale and more
     24:40 – Keep your radar open
     25:16 – Where to find Jo, plus her Substack and Patreon plans


    Links mentioned:

    • Jo's website: https://www.jooverendillustration.com/
    • Jo on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joverendillustration/
    • Jo's Substack: https://jooverendillustration.substack.com/
    • Megaduck (US edition): https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/835922/megaduck-by-jo-overend-illustrated-by-jo-overend/
    • Picture Hooks: https://www.picturehooks.org.uk/

    Byeeee for now!
     x The Good Ship Illustration (Helen, Katie & Tania)

     p.s. Soooo much of what Jo talks about here ties in v well with what's inside Illustration Business Club. The doors are open right now and we'd love to have you in there with us! https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/business

    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 🎙

    28 min
  • Do I need loads of followers to get illustration work?

    Fancy getting into your business car for a bit? Illustration Business Club doors are open until 9th October 2026, and you get lifetime access, so you can go at your own pace (pudding first, broccoli later). We'd love to have you sailing with us https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/business

    ///

    We recorded this podcast LIVE on Instagram on Friday! (So please excuse the audio if it doesn't sound 100%) Anyways, here's the replay. Katie and Helen had a nice 'n' friendly illustration business Q&A, answering your questions as they came flying in. If we missed your question, it's nothing personal! We're doing another live Q&A next Friday too over on our Instagram @thegoodshipillustration so do come along and ask your question again :)  https://www.instagram.com/thegoodshipillustration/

    Half-arse is better than no-arse.

    Timestamps, for the timestamp fans:

    00:00 – Welcome to our live Q&A podcast
     01:50 – Should you keep your children's and grown-up work on separate Instagram accounts?
     03:15 – Illustration Business Club doors, early birds and payment plans
     04:30 – Organising your website when you've got lots of income streams
     05:30 – SEO, long-tail keywords and lying down in the middle of the road
     08:45 – What are publishers looking for in a portfolio?
     12:00 – Do you need a big social media following to get started?
     14:00 – Where to start with licensing
     17:30 – How to say no when friends want you to illustrate their book
     21:45 – Should you approach an agent or go straight to publishers?
     23:30 – Instagram is not your portfolio (and half-arse is better than no arse)
     25:30 – Does business stuff apply to fine art too?
     27:15 – Your creative car and your business car
     30:00 – Working for free, "exposure" and being paid in lobsters
     30:45 – How do you stay invested in a picture book idea all the way through?
     34:00 – Pricey website hosting vs the cheaper option
     35:45 – Dealing with the newbie beginner scaries
     38:00 – When getting paid makes you tighten up
     40:00 – Structuring your days, Helen's birthday card trick and not doing a Father Ted
     43:15 – Do the fun thing first (an idiot with momentum always wins)

    Links mentioned:

    • Illustration Business Club: https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/business
    • Tania's Good Ship Illustration podcast episode with Margo Tantau on licensing from 2 weeks ago: https://pod.link/1526470404/episode/QnV6enNwcm91dC0xOTgxNTM1Nw
    • Anchoring Your Ideas So They Don't Fizzle Out (We looked into this and it's inside the Picture Book Course, not a freebie sorry!) https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/PB
    • Good Ship freebies for picture book makers and illustrators: https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/freebies
    • Louise Lockhart, The Printed Peanut: https://theprintedpeanut.co.uk/
    • Jonny Hannah: https://www.instagram.com/darktownresident/
    • Catherine Rayner: https://www.catherinerayner.co.uk/
    • Jessica Hische's "Should I Work For Free?" flowchart: https://www.creativebloq.com/news/should-you-work-for-free-jessica-hische

    Byeeee for now!
     x The Good Ship Illustration (Helen, Katie & Tania)

    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 🎙

    44 min
  • Marketing *without* social media as an illustrator. Is it possible? (Illustration Business Club doors now open!) 🎉🎉🎉

    This week, we're back at the kitchen table after the summer holidays, and the doors to Illustration Business Club are officially OPEN! Wahoooo 🎉

    A quick catch-up first: Katie trying to not-work for six whole weeks, and Tania's summer spent changing her work on a big museum project. 

    Then there's a nice big juicy question from a listener: can you market yourself without social media if you really hate filming yourself? 

    Timestamps, for the timestamp fans:

    00:00 – Doors are open! IBC, the new 10-pay option and the early bird pricing workshop
     01:15 – Back for autumn: summer holidays, Berlin playgrounds and trying not to work
     02:45 – Tania's summer project and changing her work
     04:15 – Keeping an eye on creative funding locally
     05:30 – Why the Business Course became Illustration Business Club
     06:45 – Key dates: early birds, the introvert-friendly marketing workshop and the 12th October kick-off
     08:00 – What's inside: licensing, rights, extra income streams and expert guests
     09:15 – "What even is live illustration?" and illustration as a business
     11:00 – Listener question: can you market yourself without social media?
     11:45 – Life before Instagram
     13:30 – Tweeting your work vs trudging round art directors
     15:00 – Physical mailers
     16:30 – Why niching down makes marketing (and SEO) soooo much easier
     17:45 – Social media is not a work-getter
     18:45 – Tania's maps: letting the work do the marketing
     20:30 – Good work first, then word of mouth
     22:30 – Speaking your clients' language
     23:30 – SEO for beginners, starring Tania

    Links mentioned:

    • Illustration Business Club: https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/business
    • The Good Ship on Instagram (for Art Club): https://www.instagram.com/thegoodshipillustration/
    • Introvert-friendly marketing workshop: https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/shy

    Byeeee for now!

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

    p.s. The Illustration Business Club doors are open now! Join by midday on Wednesday 30th September and you're an early bird, which means you get a seat at our live pricing workshop with all three of us at 1pm that day (it's recorded too). There's a new option to pay in 10 smaller instalments, and the doors close on Friday 9th October at 10pm UK time. 

    We'd love to see you in there! 

    https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/business

    p.p.s. A few dates for your diary:
    ✏️ Monday 28th September, 12.30pm UK: Art Club, #walktoseeprepare (more page prep, then drawing over the top)
    ✏️ Monday 5th October, 12.30pm UK: Art Club, starting a brand new #walktosee challenge for October
    💌 Wednesday 7th October, 1pm UK: free introvert-friendly marketing workshop, camera off allowed: [NEEDS SIGNUP LINK]
    https://www.instagram.com/thegoodshipillustration/

    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 🎙

    26 min
  • "Your old sketchbook drawings could be earning you money" - An illustration licensing chat with Margo Tantau

    This week our Tania is speaking to the one and only Margo Tantau (the licensing whisperer).

    Margo is a good ship Pal, founder of Tantau Studio and you might have heard her on her brilliant podcast Windowsill Chats. Here's a link: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/windowsill-chats/id1529045232 

    In this chat, Tania and Margo talk about all the important stuff liiiike:

    What is licensing? How do you get paid? Can you REALLY license work you've already made? Margo even shares her secret weapen for getting art directors to fall in love with your work.

    Some very good bits too: AI slop is NOT getting in the way of artists with real human hands. Hoorayyyy. That's good news for all of us, eh?

    Timestamps, for the timestamp fans:

    00:00 – Intro to Margo Tantau and her 360-degree licensing career
     02:30 – Welcome back to the licensing whisperer
     04:00 – Artist, shop owner, buyer, product developer, agent: Margo's done it all
     06:00 – How Lilla Rogers passed the agency baton to Margo
     10:30 – Why relationships are the real gold in licensing
     12:00 – What licensing actually is (from spice labels to Nike)
     13:00 – How you get paid: advances, royalties and typical percentages
     16:00 – Can you licence work you've already made? Yes!
     17:00 – Margo's secret weapon: show your art ON the product
     20:30 – You don't need perfect mock-ups (a drawn teacup works too)
     21:00 – A creative challenge: turn one piece into a mini collection
     23:00 – Is AI hurting licensing? Why Margo's clients say no to AI art
     25:30 – Tania's shock at the AI souvenir flood in Hong Kong
     28:00 – The hand of the artist, texture, and quality signalling
     30:30 – The UK licensing landscape, life after Surtex
     32:30 – A London licensing expo
     36:00 – People buy what they see: Margo's plates, fabrics and jacket stand
     38:00 – The Licensing Lab at Spring Fair
     39:00 – A sneaky tip for finding which exhibitors licence art
     40:30 – Should licensing-curious illustrators go to Spring Fair?
     41:30 – What does a stand actually cost?
     44:30 – Why walking a trade fair beats a day of LinkedIn research
     45:30 – Fancy matchboxes, candles, and buying things just for the art
     46:30 – The big takeaway: people still want real art
     48:30 – Community, Bologna, and the gold at the bottom of the rainbow


    Links mentioned:

    • Margo's website: https://margotantau.com/
    • Tantau Studio: https://www.tantaustudio.com/
    • Windowsill Chats podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/windowsill-chats/id1529045232
    • Windowsill Chats on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/windowsillchats
    • Spring Fair (NEC Birmingham, 7th to 10th February 2027): https://www.springfair.com


    Byeeee for now!

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

    p.s. Want Margo's full licensing class? It's waiting for you inside Illustration Business Club, along with aaall the other money-and-business bits art school forgot to teach you. 

    Doors open on 25th of September 2026! https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/business

    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 🎙

    51 min
  • "You really don't have to go to art school!" An interview with Carly Kuhn

    This week our Katie is chatting to Carly Kuhn, a US-based illustrator, artist and author who ended up in illustration kindofbyaccident. She grew up in New York wanting to do TV comedy, worked at a Hollywood talent agency, took improv classes at The Groundlings, and started drawing on printer paper nicked from the office, just as something creative to do after work. Then Sarah Jessica Parker reposted one of her drawings (!!) and - you'll have to listen to the episode to find out what happens next 🤪

    Carly has had NO formal art or illustration training, which is exactly why we wanted to speak to her. We chat about finding your style by making loads of wonky work, why she wasn't ready for an agent for ages, and some pricing stuff about usage/contracts/licensing an' that.

    There's also chat about wallpaper, multiple creative income streams, and how becoming a mum did not end her career (woohoo!) 

    Timestamps, for the timestamp fans:

    00:00 – Intro to Carly and her very wiggly path 
    02:00 – TV comedy, improv, and how the drawing started 
    06:30 – Improv 
    08:00 – Sarah Jessica Parker reposts a drawing 
    10:30 – Going full-time - pricing is completely made up 
    14:30 – No art school
    16:00 – Naivety as a superpower, and posting every day 
    19:00 – Live illustration, fancy parties, and the first wallpaper job 
    23:30 – Lockdown portraits, moving cities, becoming a mum 
    26:00 – Getting an agent
    31:00 – Pricing, usage, and being a people-pleaser who has to negotiate 
    38:00 – Accidentally building lots of income streams 
    42:00 – How motherhood focused her career 
    49:00 – Character Study, and how bonkers publishing timelines are 
    52:00 – You really don't have to go to art school!

    Links mentioned:

    • Carly's website: https://www.carlykuhn.com/
    • Carly on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carlykuhn/
    • Carly's Substack, The Cartelier: https://carlykuhn.substack.com/
    • Carly's new book, Character Study: Observations from a Very Curious Artist: https://www.carlykuhn.com/books

    Byeeee for now!

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

    p.s. If the pricing and usage chat made your ears prick up, we are planning a v exciting early-bird bonus for Illustration Business Club joiners. Doors open on Friday 25th September. Pop it on your calendar! 🥳

    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 🎙

    54 min

About The Good Ship Illustration

From the publisher's feed

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…

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