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 Medal (and shortlisted six more times!), Catherine also paints, runs a greetings card and b...

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 her lifeline, why perfectionism is joy’s worst enemy, and how she’s learned to quiet the “blobbity...

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 be finalists. So for six of them to be Good Shippers is SO exciting. Now that the fair’s finished,...

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: an enormous chunk of charcoal. If you'd like a gentle kick up the butt to do some drawing from ...

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 Question: “How do you make time for personal artwork?”01:00 Why deadlines are easier than sel...

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 episode 🤓 Copyright = you own the work. Licence = permission your client buys to use the w...

🌎✏️ 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 Course, given it a fresh lick of paint, and made it eeeeven more fun. It's now called Illustration Busines...

🌎✏️ 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 alone (almost all the time) This week we got a good question from an anonymous listener 'how do I dea...

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 put illustrators off. When we asked our students though, the answer was a big NO. That wor...

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. It’s the final week of our pretend Good Ship Summer Camp. This week's topic is panic. Mmmm...

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? Hiyaaa this week's episode is for you. PLAY!! It’s not optional. It can trick you into making ...

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? You’re not alone. In fact, you’re very much in the club. In today’s episode, we’re talking abou...

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 hanging off your leg? Perfect. You’re in exactly the right place. 😆 This week's episode is all abo...

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't one you actually like? 😬 In today’s episode, we’re chatting about that awkward bit of figuring out y...

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 then… we go deep on AI. Copyright, ethics, government policy, and what we illustrators can actua...

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 brilliantly wonky career path from graphic design to editorial, picture books and his latest deep dive...

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 cuppas and chats… and accidentally became illustration agony aunts. Now we record those chats for you!...

Emily asked us why backgrounds can be so overwhelming. So in this episode, we share lots of low-pressure ideas to make them doable (maybeee even fun). Please enjoy Tania nearly falling asleep under a weighted blanket 🤣 Podcast Episode Highlights: How to stop overthinking itColour tips and some good stuff Chris Haughton taught us NO ZOOMING IN ALLOWED 😠 John BurninghamOld Lady Baby (rough) Timestamps: 00:00 – Emily’s question: “Backgrounds scare me – help!” 01:00 – The Chris Haugh...

“Can you just do it for free?” NO. In this week’s episode, we’re talking about working for free, how to say no without guilt, and why having nice strong boundaries won't ruin your career (we promise). Tania shares a BRILLIANT script for saying no to unpaid work. Thank you Taniasan, we luv ya. Other good bits of note: How to stop feeling bad about saying no to cheeky requestsHow charity auctions can be a smarter way to give backFree pitching: where to draw the lineThat time Katie back...

When your project goes a bit pear-shaped you might wonder if that’s just how the illustration industry is. Well, this week we’re talking all about what's good, bad, and normal... and whether there are red flags you should look out for in your illustrator-publisher relationship. Highlights: Why it's never okay to get feedback on a Friday and be asked for a full redraw by Monday 🙃What’s typical in the picture book process (roughs, colour roughs, final art, etc)When changes are fine… and when ...