Ever worried your work looks a bit too much like somebody else’s? 😬 This one’s for youuuu.

In this episode, our Helen chats with the brilliant Martin Salisbury about plagiarism. The temptation to borrow a bit too heavily when you’re surrounded by endless beautiful work online is real. Hopefully this conversation helps you fly your own freak flag :)

Timestamps:

00:00 Hello Martin Salisbury
01:00 Instagram has changed creative influence
03:00 Art school before the internet
04:00 Drawing from life and finding your voice
06:00 Start with drawing
07:00 Materials, experimentation and “botching it”
09:00 How publishers and agents fuel sameness
10:00 Confidence, privilege and access
12:00 Competitions rewarding over-influenced work
14:00 Imitation and lack of awareness
16:00 Copycat styles
18:00 Learning from artists without copying
19:00 Taste, culture and creative voice
20:00 Everyday life and visual language
21:00 Sketchbooks and what’s behind polished work
23:00 School art and loss of originality
26:00 Finding your voice matters
29:00 Awkward work feels more alive
30:00 Writing and drawing from your own ideas
31:00 Trends and short-lived careers
33:00 What publishers want
35:00 Ambition
38:00 Helen’s journey and taking time out
43:00 Place and lived experience in your work
44:00 Moving on from imitation
45:00 Martin’s upcoming book

Martin Salisbury is Professor of Illustration at the Cambridge School of Art, where he leads the renowned MA Children's Book Illustration Programme. He has previously chaired the International Jury at the Bologna Children's Book Fair, and been a member of the jury at the Global Illustration Awards in China. Mr Salisbury is the author of a number of books on the practice and theory of illustration, which have been published in numerous languages around the world.

Links mentioned in this episode:

Martin Salisbury on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/profmartinsalisbury/

Cambridge School of Art MA in Children’s Book Illustration

Martin’s book Illustrator Sketchbooks

Martin’s books Children’s Picturebooks and Play Pen

Find Your Creative Voice: Fly Your Freak Flag with The Good Ship Illustration

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 🎙

Absolutely knackered just thinking about Bologna? Same 😅

Here are our Bologna Children’s Book Fair survival tips. Whether it's your first time or you're a seasoned Bologna Book Fair-er.

Exciting news: The Good Ship Illustration is exhibiting this year in Hall 25, and we’d love to see you there!

This episode:

• What even IS the Bologna Children’s Book Fair?
• Whether you reeeally need to go
• The biggest benefits of visiting
• What to pack, what samples to take, and how to prepare well
• How to manage your expectations / social battery / overwhelm
• The best bits beyond the fair itself, including food, bookshops and wandering round Bologna
• Following up afterwards and making the most of the contacts you make

Timestamps:

• 00:00 Intro, replay announcement, and come find us in Hall 25!
• 01:00 What is the Bologna Children’s Book Fair?
• 03:00 Should you go?
• 05:00 Benefits of visiting the fair
• 06:00 Talks, workshops and folio reviews
• 07:00 Bologna itself, food, sunshine and bookshops
• 08:00 The illustrator’s wall and what to stick on it
• 09:00 Accommodation tips and booking early
• 11:00 Tickets, discounts and Good Ship lanyards
• 12:00 Managing expectations and not turning it into a military operation
• 16:00 What to prepare and what samples to take
• 19:00 Dummy books, sketchbooks and standing out
• 20:00 The Bologna Illustrators Exhibition
• 22:00 Feeling overwhelmed, comparitis and pacing yourself
• 25:00 Practical survival tips, from snacks to spare batteries
• 28:00 Why the last day can be surprisingly good
• 29:00 Rest, museums, gelato and giving yourself permission not to do it all
• 30:00 Following up after the fair
• 31:00 Final tips, meetups and lanyard spotting

Links mentioned in this episode:

• Download and print your Bologna lanyard here!!
• Bologna Children’s Book Fair website
• Illustrator Survival Corner
• Inuit bookshop, Bologna

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, 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 🎙