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 tell you the new dates for our planning party)

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Are you raring to set goals, or are you feeling more “no plans, just let me lie down” this year?

We chat about:

• Why some years are for sprinting, and others are for walking.
• The power of visual goal-setting.
• How to make goals human-sized, doable, and fun, without freaking yourself out.

Here's a Good Ship permission slip to do your 2026 goal-setting in a way that works for your brain/energy-levels/life.

Get your space on the 2026 planning party HERE: https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/planningparty

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 🎙

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 send her illustration work to her first ever client. Aaand how - in two whirlwind months - she was suddenly winning awards, signing a three-book deal, and being invited to meet editors at Bologna. Whaaa!?

What a blimmin' brilliant reminder to do the things. Even when you don't feel "ready".

In this episode we cover:

• How Amber rediscovered drawing through her food diary
• Why starting with your local community can snowball into big opportunities
• How to survive mixed feedback
• Competitions, and finding your people
• Being a self-taught illustrator
• Discipline, rest, and cultural expectations
• Picture books, packaging, and branching out into multiple income streams
• Amber's Bologna experience… including editors fangirling over her work (!)

Rough Timestamps

00:00 – Introducing Amber and her illustration journey
01:00 – Awards, exhibitions, and feeling overwhelmed
02:00 – From nutritionist → illustrator → private tutor → illustrator again
03:00 – Using a food diary as a creative lifeline
04:00 – Getting encouraged to approach her first client
05:00 – Community, grassroots beginnings, and early work in Hong Kong
06:00 – Entering competitions and the door-opening magic that followed
07:00 – The leap from self-taught to picture book maker
08:00 – Finding a clear voice without formal training
09:00 – Discipline, rest, and the cultural pressure to always “do more”
10:00 – Blue Tomato beginnings
11:00 – Mixed reviews, conflicting opinions, and staying true to your vision
13:00 – Bologna meetings and signing with Little Tiger
15:00 – Knowing which advice is actually useful
17:00 – Copying as learning vs developing your own voice
18:00 – Style influences: Hong Kong comics, European picture books, texture, mark-making
19:00 – Procreate, iPad life, and her work habits
20:00 – Diversifying income: packaging, food illustration, prints
21:00 – New opportunities, restaurants, markets, and thinking strategically
22:00 – Picture books, nonfiction, and future plans
23:00 – Final encouragement: “You’ll never feel ready. Do it anyway.”

Links & things mentioned

• Amber’s blog: The Pencil Bakery
• Bologna Children’s Book Fair (We're going to be there in 2026 - we've booked a stand! Come and say hello if you're visiting Bologna.)
• Inkling Agency
• Little Tiger Press
• Blue Tomato (Amber’s upcoming book)

p.s. We have a little rest at this time of year, so the podcast is having a rest too. We'll be back in January! 🎁

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 🎙

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 good. (Remember that? It was nice, wasn't it?)

In this episode, Katie asks Lisa about consistency and how to keep on keepin' on when the world is the way it is. We also meander through topics like ADHD, collections, comparison, agents - whether or not she has one - and last but not least, daily projects that change everythinggg.

In this episode we cover:

• Ceramic mushroom collection 👀
• The “messy middle” bit of being an illustrator
• How consistency has served her well
• Surviving financially in the early years
• Why not being a perfectionist was her secret super power
• Instagram in 2025
• How to know when to work with an agent
• The magical domino effect of following excitement
• Squishing comparison and staying in your own lane

Very rough timestamps in case you want to skip to a certain bit

00:00 – Welcoming Lisa! How a decade of calendars sparked the consistency conversation
01:00 – Hyperfocus, collecting tigers, cycling five times a week, and going “all in”
02:30 – Early days: Etsy, commissions, pet portraits, and figuring out a style
04:00 – Most illustrators quit
05:30 – ADHD, Capricorn energy, and learning to be organised
07:00 – Posting imperfect work online and why it mattered
08:30 – Sharing finances, getting an agent, and diversifying income streams
10:00 – “A Collection A Day” and the power of daily projects
11:00 – Agents: when they help, when they don’t, and how pricing works
13:00 – The hardest job she’s ever done and how her agent stepped in
14:00 – Instagram then vs. Instagram now
16:00 – Why video doesn’t light her up
18:00 – The comparison trap (yes, even Lisa feels it!)
20:00 – Following your gut over the algorithm
21:00 – The daily project that led to a bestselling book
24:00 – Chronicle Books, chance encounters, and the magic of just...showing up!?
26:00 – The domino effect of doing what excites you
27:00 – Human Design chat 👀
28:00 – Byeee Lisa

Links for this episode:

• Lisa Congdon: https://lisacongdon.com
• Lisa's Books: https://www.chroniclebooks.com
• Follow Lisa on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lisacongdon

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 🎙