This week, our Katie is chatting to Carys Wright - a London-based writer and illustrator, hardcore Good Shipper, and all-round excellent example of what can happen when you follow the creative thread, even if your path looks a bit wiggly.

Carys went from acting and theatre into illustration, and we chat about how sketchbooking helped her find her creative voice, and what it’s looked like to keep building an illustration career alongside marketing work and baby. (No mean feat!)

There’s chat about markets, picture books, digital vs traditional materials and finding your way back to your own weirdness. Mmmm.

Timestamps, for the timestamp fans:

00:00 – Intro to Carys Wright and her creative journey so far
02:00 – Sketchbooks, childhood drawing, and getting back into a regular practice
04:30 – From acting and theatre to illustration
07:30 – Lockdown, Fly Your Freak Flag, and following the drawing thread properly
09:00 – Early illustration jobs, theatre clients, and picture book ambitions
10:30 – Mentoring, competitions, and building confidence through deadlines
11:30 – Illustrating her first book for the Lord Mayor of London
12:30 – Motherhood, maternity leave, and drawing with a baby in the background
16:00 – Portfolios, perfectionism, and letting things evolve
18:00 – Staying connected to your weirdness while doing client work
19:30 – Digital tools, Procreate, and not panicking about how you make the work
23:00 – Opening an online shop, doing markets, and live portraits
26:00 – Other ways illustrators can work, from events to corporate projects
28:00 – AI, humanity, and why weird human imagination still matters
30:30 – Wearing lots of creative hats and letting your interests overlap
33:00 – Coming to illustration later can actually be a strength
35:00 – It’s not too late, you’re not behind, and yes, you should still start

Links mentioned:

• Carys’ website: https://www.caryswright.com/
• Carys on Instagram: @carys_adventures_with_a_pen
• Carys’ Substack, Adventures with a Pen: https://adventureswithapen.substack.com/

Byeeee for now!

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

p.s. Want to find your creative voice too? Come and fly your freak flag with Good Ship. We'd love to have you sailing with us!

Read all about the course here.

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 🎙

Nobody is born knowing how to pitch.

(Katie here) I've been known to pitch once, hear nothing, and decide 'Oh well. Never mind.' Then never reach out ever again. 😅

So you can imagine my SHOCK and INCREDULITY (is that a word?) when Kira told me that she will reach out 7 times to a brand before giving up. Whaaaaaat!?

Kira Matthews (aka Kira the Bold), is like confidence in a bottle. She's mastered pitching and landing work with names like Squarespace, Ganni, and lots more.

If contacting publishers and/or potential clients makes you do a little bit of sick in your mouth, this episode will definitely help! At the very least you'll feel inspired to send more than one follow up email.

In this episode, we chat about:

• What to do when the work… just stops coming in
• Why pitching can feel so scary
• The real reason people don’t hear back. (And nooo, it’s not because they hate you)
• Why one email is basically just saying hello
• How to follow up without being annoying (or feeling like you are)

Timestamps:

00:00 Meet Kira (Queen of Pitching 👑)
01:00 From fashion styling to building a business
02:00 When the work disappeared… and what she did next
03:00 Learning to pitch (while still being terrified)
05:00 Fear doesn’t go away. You just get used to it
06:00 The 3-year journey to landing Squarespace
08:00 Why most people give up after one email
09:00 The stories we tell ourselves about rejection
10:00 Why you need to follow up (a lot more than you think)
11:00 How to make each email actually count
12:00 Applying this to illustration and getting your work seen
13:00 Inside Kira’s talent agency experiment
15:00 Why smaller creatives need to pitch more, not less
17:00 Agents, money, and what’s really going on behind the scenes
19:00 Why agents aren’t a magic solution
20:00 Sales: the bit everyone wants to avoid
23:00 Why follow-up feels rude (but isn’t)
24:00 Rejection challenges and building resilience
26:00 Rejection = start of the conversation
28:00 Momentum, energy, and creating your own opportunities
30:00 The actions that actually lead to results
31:00 Telling people what you do (important!!)
32:00 Katie’s rejection challenge story
34:00 Auditing your time and what’s worth it
35:00 Kira’s final pep talk

Links & stuff wot we mentioned

• Kira’s website: https://www.kiramatthews.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kirathebold/
• Weekly pitch tips newsletter: https://kirathebold.myflodesk.com/m0elc4qip7
• The Good Ship Illustration https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/freebies

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 🎙

This week we're pulling up a chair at Helen's kitchen table to finally spill the beans on Salty. Salty Dog and Pals is the book that started as The Picture Book Course branding and somehow ended up as a 2-book deal with Walker Books.

The big question: How do you write a zillion short stories with your pal in 10 sessions flat?

We chat about the origins of Salty (and which printmaker Bernard the duck is named after), the brilliant questions from the editors at Walker Books, why Kitty is basically Tania 😆, and the Nissen Hut story that didn't make it into the final draft no matter how hard we trieeed!

p.s. Salty Dog & Pals (Helen & Katie's new picture book) is now available to pre-order and will be in shops from May. To say thank you, all pre-orders get access to a picture book MASTERCLASS.

You can sign up for your free picture book masterclass here:

https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/salty-dog-and-pals-the-storm-other-stories

It's instant access, so no need to wait.

(And if you've already pre-ordered, thank you!)

Rough timestamps for our timestamp-fans:

00:00 – Where did Salty Dog come from?

01:00 – From course mascot to Walker Books character

03:00 – Bernard the duck, and colour palette chat

05:00 – The thumbnail template that started it all

07:00 – The Jarvis format: not a picture book, not a chapter book

09:00 – Writing at the kitchen table: how it worked

11:00 – The Walker Books character questionnaire (we read it out)

13:00 – Who is Bernard, really? (William Hanson + Cameron)

15:00 – Kitty is Tania (reckless, chaotic, beloved)

17:00 – Lindisfarne, upturned boats + Helen's grandparents' Nissan Hut

20:00 – The story that was too violent to make it in

22:00 – Titles first, stories second

24:00 – What the editors actually did (magic, basically)

26:00 – Procreate vs paper + the cover saga

28:00 – Pre-order Salty Dog and Pals + free masterclass! (You can sign up for your free picture book masterclass here.)

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 🎙

This week we're dragging ourselves away from our hypothetical gardens and custom urn businesses (lol) to have a proper sofa-chat about the big question: what would you do if you weren't an illustrator?

Specifically: Is your identity too wrapped up in your work? What happens when things go quiet on the work front?

COMMUNITY IS MAGIC.

That is all.

Happy listening.

p.s. Salty Dog & Pals (Helen & Katie's new picture book) is now available to pre-order and will be in shops from May. To say thank you, all pre-orders get access to a picture book MASTERCLASS.

You can sign up for your free picture book masterclass here:

https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/salty-dog-and-pals-the-storm-other-stories

It's instant access, so no need to wait.

(And if you've already pre-ordered, thank you!)

Rough timestamps for our timestamp-fans:

00:00 – What would you do if you weren't an illustrator?

01:00 – Tania's custom urn business plan (trademark pending)

03:00 – Katie's nanny agency pivot

05:00 – The famine panic spiral ("day three with no enquiries: my life is over")

06:00 – Identity and rejection: when your work IS you

08:00 – Service illustration vs the author-illustrator beast

10:00 – Picture book advances, royalties + why multiple income streams matter

12:00 – Artist dates and keeping your ideas fed

15:00 – The real deal: what makes author-illustration different

16:00 – Katie & Helen's picture book Salty Dog & Pals (!!!) + the Walker Books Irish jig

18:00 – Live illustration: when the job you loved becomes just a job

20:00 – Community as salvation

22:00 – Good Ship origin story + the Christmas fair era

24:00 – Isolation is corrosive (and what to do about it)

25:00 – Finding your people: local groups, Instagram communities + Pencils on Toast

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 🎙

This week we’re wrapped up in some blankets havin' a proper sofa-chat about Instagram.

Specificallyyyy:
Should your Instagram be your portfolio?

What's the difference between a snazzy website folio and the mad addictive world of social media?

We also get into showing your human face, illustrators following illustrators, AI-era credibility, and why you absolutely do not owe the algorithm/tech bros your nervous system.

Rough timestamps for our timestamp-fans:

00:00 – Blankets
01:00 – Instagram as a folio: should it be?
03:00 – The golden algorithm years (remember those?)
05:00 – You don’t own Instagram
06:30 – Portfolio pressure vs social sharing
08:00 – The 360° artist: personality, process + presence
10:00 – AI, visibility + being human
12:00 – Showing your face. Do it!
14:00 – Content creator burnout (no fanks)
16:00 – “Held hostage by consistency” rebellion
18:00 – Who is Instagram actually for?
20:00 – Community vs clients
22:00 – Annuals, competitions + the old-school ways
24:00 – Bologna Book Fair chat
26:00 – Books as permanent portfolios
28:00 – Sales pages vs old-school static folios
30:00 – Final takeaway: use Instagram, don’t let it use you

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 🎙

This week we roll headfirst into the interestin' world of aphantasia.

It all started with conversations inside Find Your Creative Voice and The Picture Book Course - when Good Shippers were telling us, “I can’t see ANYTHING in my head.” Which sent us down a rabbit hole of aphantasia, imagination. And does everyone experience it the same way?

Nope.

In this episode, we chat about:

• What aphantasia is
• The “apple test” 🍎
• Emotional memory vs visual memory
• Why some creatives need reference and others work 100% from imagination
• Whether Google has made our “mind palace” lazy
• Not being able to picture things can be a creative advantage. We promise.
• Smells, textures, music and sensory imagination
• Synesthesia (colours for days of the week?)
• Why your wobbly memory-bike drawing might be better than a perfect diagram
• How imagination changes from childhood to adulthood
• Blind drawing experiments we neeeeed to try at Art Club

Timestamps for our timestamp fans

00:00 – Elephantasia? Aphantasia? However you say it…
02:00 – The apple spectrum and vivid vs blank imagery
03:00 – Reading fiction without mental pictures
05:00 – Emotional memory and creepy seaside steps
07:00 – Mental collage vs drawing from scratch
10:00 – Drawing bikes from memory
11:00 – Why aphantasia might make you a better designer
14:00 – Idioms, haystacks and giant bears
16:00 – Smells, lemons and sensory imagination
17:30 – Synesthesia and coloured weekdays
20:00 – Wolves, dreams and Google as reference
23:00 – Teenage bedrooms and peak memory moments
25:00 – Is creativity in your head or your hands?
28:00 – Blind Art Club challenge incoming 👀

What about you?

Can you see the shiny apple? Or is it more of a murky apple-shaped idea?

We’d genuinely love to know. Come over to Instagram and tell us how your brain works. We're nosy.

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 🎙

Permission to play can change EVERYTHING!

This week we’re chatting to Anna Mac - artist, printmaker, illustrator, product designer, sleep counsellor, mum of twins, and hardcore Good Shipper who's been sailing with us since 2020.

In this episode, we talk about scenic creative routes, why permission to play can change everything, creative voice vs paying the bills, and why sometimes felting a jumper is juuuust what your brain needs.

Rough timestamps for our timestamp-fans:

00:00 – Intro + course news
01:00 – Anna’s background: fine art, printmaking + retail product design
03:00 – Social work → creative rediscovery
05:00 – Sweden influence + graphic print inspiration
06:00 – Lockdown pivot + 100 day project energy
07:00 – Finding creative voice even when you’re already “successful”
09:00 – Taste is everywhere (home, clothes, environment)
11:00 – Confidence, feedback and trusting your own eye
13:00 – Agent life + picture book submissions
14:00 – Balancing creativity, family life and part-time sleep counselling
16:00 – Creative hobbies that are just for you
17:00 – Creativity as a way of being (Rick Rubin chat)
19:00 – Personal manifestos vs New Year’s resolutions
21:00 – Listening to your gut when making work
23:00 – Journalling + morning pages (ish, not perfectly)
25:00 – Visual diaries and recording life through drawing
27:00 – Stories we tell ourselves about who gets to be creative
28:00 – Rejection collections + persistence mindset
30:00 – Rejection rituals (tea, brownie, gallery trip recommended)
31:00 – Creative voice is never “finished”
32:00 – Lifetime access + coming back to learning later in life

Stuff mentioned:

Anna's website - www.annamacstudio.com

Anna's Instagram - @annamacstudio

Find Your Creative Voice: Fly Your Freak Flag course
The Artist’s Way – Julia Cameron
The Creative Act – Rick Rubin

Good Ship Illustration Monthly Numbers Tracker (freebie) - To help you keep on top of your monthly numbers and track progress in your creative career.

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

Anna is an illustrator who works from her home studio in Perthshire, Scotland.
She has a background in fine art and printmaking and spent several years creating design-led product collections for the retail market. Client commissions included heritage retailers and international buyers, and her work has sold in shops and galleries in the UK and abroad.
Anna combines printmaking techniques, drawing and collage to produce her work, with a focus on children’s illustration. Anna also loves to work with lino, and she uses this approach to create prints and book covers.

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 🎙

Here's the audio replay from our AI workshop last week. There are slides too - the full replay with slides is available to watch HERE (but it goes away today. We're putting the workshop inside Find Your Creative Voice: Fly Your Freak Flag.) There's a PDF handout to download there too. Go grab it before it disappears!

https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/aiworkshop

The audio isn't perfect, but neither are we 😅

🚢 In this episode we cover:

• Why brands are craving human-made work more than ever
• The weird, wonky human stuff AI can’t copy
• Copyright, licensing, and why clients still need real illustrators
• How your life experiences = your creative advantage
• Prompts to help you find your “brain treasure” ideas
• What you *can* control

Timestamps

00:00 Workshop intro + why everyone is panicking about AI
01:00 The good news
04:00 Why companies still need human illustrators
07:00 The “AI ick” and why audiences can feel it too
10:00 The power of personal voice and life experience
12:00 Human prompts to help you mine your own ideas
15:00 Anti-AI backlash in branding and marketing
17:00 Obsessions, hobbies, and niche interests = creative gold
20:00 Why we don’t teach “house style” illustration
23:00 Copyright, campaigns, and protecting creators
26:00 How AI is (and isn’t) affecting different illustration fields
29:00 Advice for grads and early career illustrators
32:00 Radical incrementalism and not fixing everything at once
35:00 Finding community without spending loads

Links & things mentioned

• Justice for Creators campaign (their AI report is on there too)
• Association of Illustrators resources
• Creative Lives in Progress
• Good Ship Art Club + freebies
• Our full AI workshop replay

Aaand last but not least... Find your creative voice!

• Find Your Creative Voice, Fly Your Freak Flag - a shiny new live round begins on Monday the 16th Feb.
• When you join on or before Valentine's Day, our gift to you = an instant download of our mock briefs PDF so you can start your portfolio building straight away, no faffing about and waiting.
• Read all about it here: https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/freakflag

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 🎙