Have you ever looked at your own work and thought… egh? When you work so hard to find your style* it can feel rubbish to realise you don't even LIKE IT 😅.

*We're not big fans of the word style...but we have to use it so you know what we're on about. We have a WHOLE ENTIRE COURSE about finding your creative voice & flying your freak flag.

This episode is allll about not-holding-the-bar-of-soap-too-tight.

It's also about:

• What to do when your style feels a bit too safe or mainstream
• Why being too “good at drawing” can trap you
• How to bring more you into your work
• Whether you need to know colour theory to be a proper illustrator

⏱️ Timestamps

00:00 – Lisa's brilliant question: “What if I don’t like my style?”
01:00 – Mainstream, safe, and not-quite-right: spotting the signs
03:00 – Flying your freak flag vs. pleasing the market
05:00 – Chris Haughton’s unusual route into publishing
07:00 – Why being “good at drawing” isn’t always helpful
09:00 – Getting stuck in the gun-for-hire trap
11:00 – Why clients want you, not your many styles
12:00 – Freya asks: do you need to know the colour wheel?
14:00 – Digital colour vs. painty messes
17:00 – How limitations can make your colour sing
20:00 – Create a family of colours (and avoid shouty guests)
21:00 – Final thoughts: soap metaphors & colour play

🔗 Links mentioned:

• 🎨 Our free genius colour workshop – grab it here!
• 🐘 Emma Tripolone’s fab work (Emma was one of our 1:1 mentoring winners from...
• 🚢 The Freak Flag course!
• 📚 Chris Haughton – Good Ship pal, designer and children’s book author-illustrator. We love 'im.

Plus, coming soon we have a Chris-Haughton-treat for your ears. Stay tuned for that.

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 🎙

Quick note before we start:
In this episode we use the words "women" and "creative women" but we know these things don’t just affect women, and not everyone relates to binary gender labels. This chat is based on our lived experience and isn’t meant to exclude anyone. You’re always welcome aboard, however you identify. WE LUV YA.

xx Good Ship

How many unfinished online courses have you signed up for and then abandoned or forgotten about them?

👀

Yep, us too.

Oh well.

In this episode, we’re talking about why creative women often don’t finish - or even start - the online courses they sign up for.

Before you run away, please know this: it’s not laziness. It’s ✨life✨. And maybe the course still helped by osmosis, even if you only managed to watch one video.

• The guilt of not finishing courses (and why it’s rubbish)
• How art courses can still be useful EVEN if you just skim them
• Community, confidence, and cheerleaders
• Why we’ve never ever chased people to “complete” our Good Ship courses
• Our 1:1 mentoring competition winners (congratulatioooons Rachael, Emma, Jacqui & Catiebell!)
• Bias in picture books
• Thoughts on why creative women sign up more than men

Timestamps:

• 00:00 – Soooo… do you finish your art courses?
• 01:30 – Skimming, skipping, and still getting value
• 03:00 – Courses as permission slips and energy boosts
• 04:00 – Lifetime access = a soft place to land
• 05:30 – The joy of community (and a few sneaky sales mentions)
• 07:00 – Meet the new picture book mentees!
• 08:00 – Why women take more courses (and don’t finish them)
• 10:00 – Editorial vs picture book world: who gets seen?
• 13:00 – AI, weird shall illustrations, and missing credits
• 14:00 – Where are all the obvious places illustrators get seen now?

See you soon!

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 🎙

BE MORE WONKY

In this episode:

• Why quick sketches usually have more life in 'em than polished pieces
• How perfectionism kills creativity
• Beware of the pause button (when you're doing graphic recording / live illustration)
• What to do when you're scared your work isn’t “worth the money”
• Tips for keeping final artwork fresh and loose
• Human vs AI: what if the secret is just… being wonky?

Timestamps, if you're into that kind of thing

• 00:00 – Can sketches be “the” illustration?
• 01:00 – The gap between sketch and final art
• 02:00 – Helen’s owls
• 05:00 – What kills good work
• 06:00 – The hourly rate mindset
• 07:00 – Simple marks 4eva
• 08:00 – Sketchy = human (and that’s a good thing)
• 09:00 – Tips for keeping your work feeling fresh
• 10:00 – Live illustration = brave, imperfect, magic
• 11:00 – Be more human, more wonky

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 🎙