The Good Ship Illustration
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! We answer your questions about confidence, tricky clients, pricing your work, creative block, picture books, publishing, and everything in between.
✨ New episodes every Friday. ✨
Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, and do send us your questions!
P.s. Fancy some freebies? Head to thegoodshipillustration.com for colour workshops, picture book templates, and other treats.
Byeeee for now!
x The Good Ship Illustration (Helen, Katie & Tania)
🚢🚢🚢
Episodes
97 episodes
Tara Tayyebi Fard on finding her creative voice (and illustration career) after 10 years of being an architect
Pssst, while you're here... On Tuesday 10th February 2026 we're running a live workshop! https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/aiworkshop Standing out in a sea of...
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Season 13
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Episode 4
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30:38
Want to know what February’s #WalkToSee prompt is?
Are you joining in with #WalktoSee?In this episode, we chat about how our Helen's hashtag Walk to See started, how it works, (there are basically no rules 😆), and why monthly prompts are muuch gentler on the brain/energy levels than dail...
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Season 13
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Episode 3
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11:26
When you want to work but can’t seem to start
Ahhh this ol' chestnut. You know it. We've aaall been there. You sit down...you need to work. But you get absolutely nowt done. Instead, you do absolutely everything else... then panic-work at the last minute, or just never get round t...
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Season 13
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Episode 2
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18:32
Is copying ever OK in illustration? When does inspiration turn into plagiarism? 👀✏️
Let’s talk about the big hairy thing that no one really wants to talk about… copying.In this episode, we discuss inspiration, and how social media has changed things so much for illustrators. Trying on someone else’s illustration hat for...
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Season 13
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Episode 1
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17:09
You're invited! Plan your creative year with The Good Ship Illustration
Sign up for the 2026 planning party HERE: https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/planningparty This is a wee replay from last year (with a new intro to...
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Season 12
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Episode 14
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24:49
You’ll Never Feel Ready. Do It Anyway. An interview with Good Shipper Amber Au.
What a treat of an episode! Today we’re chatting with Good Shipper and picture book author–illustrator Amber Au.Amber talks about how drawing became part of her recovery from an eating disorder and how her therapist encouraged her to sen...
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Season 12
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Episode 13
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23:56
An interview with Lisa Congdon - consistency and finding your creative voice
If you're an illustrator with access to the internet and you have eyeballs, you might've seen Lisa Congdon's work. Lisa started blogging her collections and illustrations back in the good ol' days, and even remembers Instagram back when it was ...
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Season 12
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Episode 12
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28:15
How illustrator Jill Calder built a long-lasting creative career (without losing her voice)
In this episode, our Tania chats with multi award-winning illustrator Jill Calder about 30+ years of illustration, and how she’s explored pretty much the entire “illustration atlas” without losing herself along the way.Stuff we...
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Season 12
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Episode 11
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38:07
How to stop your illustration style looking generic & blah
Y'know when you feel like your work is neeearly there… but it's missing a lil something-something? This podcast episode is all about that. Overcoming that.How the heck do you put more humanness into your work?...
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Season 12
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Episode 9
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21:44
We’re good at failing (and you can be too) 🤣 the power of experiments
This week on The Good Ship Illustration Podcast, we’re chatting all things experiments - we get particularly excited about FAILED experiments. In the words of that there Bob Ross, "we don't make mistakes, we just have happy accid...
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Season 12
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Episode 10
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21:43
What publishers reeeeally want to see in your picture book pitch
First, before we jump into the show notes, here's the link to sign up to the Picture Book Pitching Masterclass we've got happening soon! 🗓️ When: 17th of November at 1 pm UK time💰 Cost: Freeeee🚢 RSVP h...
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Season 12
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Episode 9
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17:20
'If it looks awful, keep going. It’ll work out' - an interview with illustrator Catherine Rayner
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. Sh...
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Season 12
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Episode 8
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38:34
'If you keep showing up, you can't NOT get better' - an interview with Sandi Hester
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 ...
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Season 12
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Episode 7
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36:09
A Bologna Book Fair special: 6 Good Shippers were finalists in the Illustrators Exhibition!
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...
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Season 12
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Episode 6
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41:30
#WalkToSee is baaack! The hashtag responsible for over 120,000 drawings (join in!)
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 #Walk...
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Season 12
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Episode 5
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22:23
Remember drawing for...fun? 😅 what is that?
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 ver...
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Season 12
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Episode 4
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21:05
"Double your fee without drawing more" say whaaat!?
First things first, DOORS CLOSE TONIGHT! We start on Monday.https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/business Be lovely to see you in there. Psssst, th...
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Season 12
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Episode 3
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23:25
The bit art school forgot to teach you 😅
🌎✏️ The Illustrator’s Income Atlas - exciting free workshop announcement!🗓️ 24th Sept | ⏰ 1pm UK | 📍 OnlineLet's sit down together and map out your illustration income. You'll leave with a plan (a map, woohooo) you can stick on y...
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Season 12
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Episode 2
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10:44
Nice illustrator loneliness & working from home
🌎✏️ 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...
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Season 12
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Episode 1
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21:51
Picture Book, Freak Flag, or Business… which one is calling yoooou?
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’...
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Season 11
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Episode 6
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9:15
PANIIIIC! (or don’t...) 😅 | Summer camp sketchbook week 5
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 fre...
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Season 11
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Episode 5
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9:39
Play, OR ELSE 🎲 | Summer camp sketchbook week 4
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 fre...
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Season 11
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Episode 4
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10:55
Finding Creative Confidence 🚢 | Summer camp sketchbook week 3
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 fre...
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Season 11
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Episode 3
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21:22
Draw draw draw! ✏️ | Summer camp sketchbook week 2
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 fre...
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Season 11
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Episode 2
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8:55
Bask in your weirdness ☀️ | Summer camp sketchbook week 1
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...
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Season 11
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Episode 1
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11:32