Learn How to Make Good Work AND Please Your Clients — Take The Six Stages of Illustration: https://skl.sh/4cCTxEH — Use this link to get 30 days of free membership on Skillshare. What makes otherwise good people such bad clients? How do you deal with them — and how can you avoid them in the first place? In this episode, I explain why there almost never truly bad clients. In my 10+ year career, I've had very few bad clients. Most of them were in the beginning, when I didn't have enough...

Learn how to illustrate ideas in Sweet Spots: Expressing Big Ideas in Small Illustrations — https://skl.sh/3e8Wl33 — Use my links to get 30 days free on Skillshare. So you know how to illustrate — now, how do you start your career as an illustrator? In this episode, I'll share 10 key strategies that helped kickstart my illustration career. These personal yet practical tips offer valuable insights for aspiring illustrators looking to advance in the industry. Whether you're seeking a reminder...

Learn how to win more creative battles. Take The Six Stages of Illustration on Skillshare today. Use this link to get 30 days free access to every class on Skillshare — https://skl.sh/4cCTxEH In today's episode, we'll dive into the delicate balance of navigating conflicts and compromises with our illustration clients and art directors. As artists, we often have strong opinions about our work, making compromise a challenging but necessary part of our creative process. Illustration, or...

Discover Your Illustration Voice in The Style Class - https://skl.sh/3S6PCF1 — Use this link to get 30 days free on Skillshare Is the AI Illustration Apocalypse Here, and is it going to take all our jobs away? In this episode, I'm going to share my thoughts on how AI is affecting the illustration industry today and how it might affect us in the future. I go a bit dark in this one but stick with me, in end I share 3 reasons I’m holding on to hope as an illustrator. In the very end, I offer...

Andy J. Pizza is a New York Times best-selling illustrator and author, and host of the Creative Pep Talk podcast. Today he joins me for a deep-dishy dive into all things illustration and creativity, especially where he and I share a lot of common ground. Along the way, we talk about such topics as the myth of the Inspired Artist, his message of adopting a more positive self-psychology, the balance of inspiration and craft in creative work, and even why he thinks full-blown therapy should be a...

This is Part 2/2 of my conversation with Kyle T. Webster, which we started in the previous episode (Episode 27). Today we pick up where we left off, with Kyle’s advice for those asking if they should have one style or many, how his background in traditional art skills informs his digital brushes, and he even has a word for artists who might be afraid of how AI will affect the value of their work.

I'm excited to share with you part 1 of a 2-part conversation I had with illustrator and pioneering digital brush-maker, Kyle T. Webster. Kyle is the guy behind the many, many digital illustration brushes (2,400 and counting) that come bundled with Adobe Photoshop and Fresco. In this episode we talk about his beginnings as an aspiring illustrator many years ago, and how he slowly but steadily built up a small empire around his digital brushes — which have no doubt shaped the world of digital...

Support the Thoughts on Illustration Podcast at http://patreon.com/tomfroese In this first official interview episode on Thoughts on Illustration, Adam Ming shares his thoughts on becoming a successful kids book illustrator in his late thirties and early 40s. Adam is quickly becoming an accomplished picture book illustrator, and along the way, he's sharing his insights and inspiration on his Substack, apty called The Ten Minute illustrator. He's also a co-founder of ILLOGUILD, a community of...

Support the Thoughts on Illustration Podcast at http://patreon.com/tomfroese Have you hit a dead end with your work? Are you bored of your style? Or maybe, like me, you feel even worse about the art you've been making lately? This past year has brought a few blows to my professional and personal creativity, and at the end of 2023, I was feeling pretty crappy about my own work. I've come to this point many times in my career, and usually I just shrug it off and keep going. But this time was...

Support the Thoughts on Illustration Podcast at http://patreon.com/tomfroese Paul Rand is one of my biggest influences and a huge inspiration for this podcast. In this Special Anniversary Episode, I'm going to share with you a little bit about the pioneering American graphic designer, ad man and (in my opinion) illustrator. By listening to this episode you will learn about a legendary figure in graphic design and illustration history. You will also learn valuable insights from Paul about...

REPLAY: As I struggle to get my next class published before the end of the year, this episode (originally published as Episode 14) is particularly relevant. Whether you're listening for the first time or you're hearing it again, I truly believe it's worth hearing this message. Do you ever feel like everything takes YOU longer than everyone else? In this episode, talk about what it’s been like for me as a slow worker. What kinds of things have slowed me down, and how have I been able to...

Do you ever share something on social media, and it doesn't get the appreciation you hoped for? If you're discouraged by how few people seem to pay attention to what you share, this episode is for you.

Where do ideas come from? How do illustrators, artists and designers get their best ideas? Is it in a stroke of inspiration like a bolt of lightning? Do they mediate for as long as it takes until the perfect idea to appear in their heads? In this episode, we explore how ideas find their into our heads and onto the page and beyond. In Chapter 1 we look into what it means to "get" an idea. Then in Chapter 2, I share my 6 stage process for how to come up with ideas whether or not lighting...

In this episode we continue our deep dive into the world of Copyright for Illustrators! In this series, we talk about what copyright is, how it relates to licensing and pricing our work, and ultimately, the right to use our work for self-promotion. I also share the results of that project I mentioned in the last episode: did it get selected or not? Will you ever get to see this work, that I'm so proud of? This is Part 2 of 2. Be sure to start with Episode 19 if you haven't already!

December marks the 1 year anniversary of the TOI podcast! I’d like to celebrate by sharing YOUR stories in my upcoming Special Anniversary Episode, Episode 22. See full Episode Notes or just listen to this short announcement for details.

In this episode we dive into the exciting world of Copyright for Illustrators! I swear, it's not as boring as it sounds — and in fact, I will explain why it's way more important for independent illustrators and artists than you might imagine. This is Part 1 of 2. We'll pick up with the rest in Episode 20.

In this episode, we'll go through 8 ways to alleviate stress as a working illustrator. Making art for a living, often under tight deadlines and high expectations, can be very stressful. But if we're stressed out all the time, we'll end up burning out. So how do we avoid stress in our work, even as we perform on a deadline? How can we manage multiple projects and give each one of them our best? And how can we do all this without burning out? Join me as I share the surprisingly simple ways that...

In this episode, I'm going to give you 10 tips for being more productive as an illustrator. These are tips that I personally use and NEED to stay on top of my game. Along the way, I'll share my own challenges in being productive, which will help you understand why I've chosen these particular tips for you. In the intro, I share some updates from my family situation.

With Social Media, we simply can't do it all. There are too many platforms and too many different content types, and if we tried to consistently do all of them, or even a handful of them, we'd have no time to do our actual job! But the fear of missed opportunities (by not participating on all the popular apps) is real! So how do we balance the need to share on social media (yes, we do need to use it!) with staying productive and even staying sane? Please join me as I explore the topic of...

After a summer of pulling back, we'll be back at it starting September 12, 2023. Thoughts on Illustration doesn't have seasons, but if it did, this would be the trailer for Season 2. This is just me checking in with you all about where I'm at and how I think things will go moving forward.

How Do You Know When to Go Full Time as an Illustrator? This is a free preview and the first mini-episode of the Summer Shorts series of the Thoughts on Illustration Podcast. For the rest of the summer, these will be available only to my Patreon supporters. Join in at patreon.com/tomfroese! Otherwise, I’ll see you in September!

When we have big dreams, we have to lean into them hard and really go for it. But sometimes what we thought we wanted doesn't turn out. Maybe it's too hard or maybe we just don't enjoy it anymore. The question is, do we double down and commit, knowing that payoff is just around the corner, or do we allow ourselves to quit, knowing that it's the only way to make room for something better?

Do you ever feel like everything takes YOU longer than everyone else? In this episode, talk about what it’s been like for me as a slow worker. What kinds of things have slowed me down, and how have I been able to thrive as a successful illustrator in spite of them. So if you’re a slowpoke trying to figure out why it just takes so long to get things done, this one is for you. I’m going talk about why I think there are two kinds of slow — good slow and bad slow — and why we should embrace...

In this SPECIAL episode, I share an interview that Andres Palacios (BFA Illustration student at SCAD) did with me for a class project. I really enjoyed talking to him, and I think you'll enjoy our conversation. We'll be back next week with Episode 14! Thanks to Andres Palacios for letting me share this interview! Check out his work at https://www.andrespalacios.me/