Thoughts on Illustration
Episodes
Just Add Line with Brandon Campbell
10 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
📗 Pre-order Drawing Is Important: tomfroese.com/bookBrandon Campbell (known online as @brandcamp) is a professional illustrator and former designer...
Why Making Your Work Look Easy is So Hard | FREE PREVIEW
02 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Pre-order Drawing is Important — http://tomfroese.com/bookIn this episode, I take on the "myth of artistic looseness." We often envy the &...
Getting Paid to Draw with Mike Lowery
10 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Pre-order Drawing is Important: https://geni.us/DrawingisImportantMike Lowery is an internationally recognized picture book illustrator and a...
Are Your Side Projects Sabotaging Your Goals?
30 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Get your FREE Illustration Training Plan Worksheet (PDF) — tomfroese.com/freetrainingplan"It’s a marathon, not a sprint"—but what does...
Standing Out and Surviving as an Illustrator Today with Tom Froese | Guest Episode
13 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Pre-order Drawing is Important: https://geni.us/DrawingisImportantWhat does it actually take to build a sustainable life in illustration—without bur...
The One Big Shift I'm Making with Social Media in 2026
30 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Become a paid supporter on Patreon— https://patreon.com/tomfroeseWhat if social media isn’t actually social anymore—and what if that chan...
The State of Illustration Report with Darren Di Lieto
16 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The State of Illustration Report with Darren Di Lieto | Episode 65What does the illustration industry really look like right now — beyond highlight ...
Should You Be Embarrassed About Using AI? | FREE PREVIEW
02 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, I get honest about the tension so many of us feel around AI: the uneasiness of using it while also distrusting it. I talk about why t...
How You Can Protect Yourself From Being Ripped Off | Interview with Raymond Biesinger
18 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Interview with Raymond BiesingerHow do you defend your creative work when clients underpay, misuse your images, or ignore copyright entirely?In this e...
How Do You Make an Illustration Cohesive? | FREE PREVIEW
04 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What is the secret to making cohesive illustrations? Also known as unity and harmony, this is the elusive quality that makes your illustration feel &q...
Being a Cartoonist for the New Yorker | Interview with Tom Toro
21 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
How does one become a professional cartoonist? In this episode, I talk with New Yorker cartoonist Tom Toro, whose sharp wit clever drawings have kept ...
The Illustrator’s (Smarter) Starter Pack | FREE PREVIEW
07 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Looking to Get Into Illustration? Here’s How to Begin.NEW—I am now offering free previews of Monologue episodes. This will help you decide if subs...
Focusing on the Kids Market | Interview with Suzy Ultman
23 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What happens when you bravely create from what matters most to you—even when you’re not sure others will understand? In this episode, I talk with ...
Season 4 Preview: Big Changes are Coming!
04 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to a special preview episode of Thoughts on Illustration. At the end of last season, I wasn’t sure if this podcast would continue — but he...
Is This Still Working? A Look Back at Season 3
28 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, I reflect on the journey of the podcast so far and the evolution of my illustration process. From overcoming burnout in the early sea...
What I Got Wrong About Going Analog
10 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, I share my thoughts on the evolving meaning of “rewilding” my illustration process. Originally, rewilding meant bringing analog e...
6 Challenges of Rewilding My Illustration Process (And What I'm Doing About Them)
27 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, I share my thoughts on the difficult but exciting journey of rewilding my illustration process—bringing back more analog, handmade ...
A 100% Analogue Illustration Process with Roberts Rurans
13 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, I share my conversation with Roberts Rurans, a Latvia-based illustrator who creates all his work using traditional materials — lite...
How to Make Your Digital Art Look More Natural
28 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode I talk about why it’s so hard to make digital art look more natural. For many of us, we work digitally out of convenience but really...
Re-wilding Your Digital Illustration Process
15 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode I share my recent thoughts on what it means to "Re-wild" my illustration process. Inevitably, this means my continued quest to bring m...
Overcoming Decision Paralysis in your Life and Work
06 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Eliminate time-wasting decisions by discovering your style! Learn more in The Style Class on Skillshare. https://skl.sh/4cFnIej — Use my link to get...
Episode 51 Coming Soon
01 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
With apologies! Stay tuned for Episode 51 — coming no later than April 8, 2025.
Working with Editorial Art Directors with Mike Schnaidt
18 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Working with Editorial Art Directors with Mike SchnaidtLearn how to make Clever Conceptual Illustrations in my new Skillshare class, Drawing Ideas —...
5 Ways to Survive in 2025 as an Illustrator
03 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Take Composition for Illustrators on Skillshare. Learn how composition works on last year’s 2nd most-watched class! Use my link to get 30 days of fr...
How I Found My First Agent and Editorial Clients
18 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Take "Drawing Ideas: Create Conceptual Illustrations for Editorial and Beyond " on Skillshare! - https://skl.sh/40dk9rK (Use my link to g...
Jess Miller on Losing Everything in the LA Fires
04 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Take "Drawing Ideas: Create Conceptual Illustrations for Editorial and Beyond " on Skillshare! - https://skl.sh/40dk9rK (Use my link t...
Can you earn a living from illustration alone in 2025?
21 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Take "Drawing Ideas: Create Conceptual Illustrations for Editorial and Beyond " on Skillshare! - https://skl.sh/40dk9rK (Use my link to get ...
Reflections on 2024. Predictions for 2025.
07 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Take "Drawing Ideas: Create Conceptual Illustrations for Editorial and Beyond " on Skillshare! - https://skl.sh/40dk9rK (Use my link to get 30 days fr...
Moving from Adobe to Procreate with Kyle T. Webster
24 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Kyle Webster is arguably the most influential person in digital illustration brushes, period. He started making Photoshop brushes a long time ago, lea...
How Do You Know When an Illustration is Done?
10 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
"An artwork is never finished, only abandoned." This is apparently a quote from Leonardo Da Vinci. If one of the greatest artists of all time had trou...
Embracing Hand-made in Your Work
26 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In the age of AI, it's time to double down on being a human. That means things like bringing more hand-influenced spontaneity into, and embracing anal...
Consistency is The Key to Success
12 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Learn how to be more consistent in your client work — Take The Six Stages of Illustration on Skillshare today: https://www.tomfroese.com/teaching/th...
Episode 41 Postponed - November 5, 2024
05 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Today's scheduled epsiode (Episode 41) will be postponed until next week. Stay kind!
The Illustrator's Guide with James Hughes
22 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode I chat with James Hughes about his new book, The Illustrator's Guide, a comprehensive, motivational handbook for artists trying to bre...
Listen to This if You're Bored With Your Style
08 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Develop a Drawing Habit in 30 Days. Take my class, Drawing Is Important – https://www.tomfroese.com/teaching/drawing-is-important. Use my links to ...
Making the Big Leap with Martina Flor
24 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Skillshare class promo link In this episode I talk with lettering artist Martina Flor. Martina started as a designer in Argentina, but she soon disc...
Let Your Ideas Gain Interest Over Time
10 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Take Drawing is Important on Skillshare — https://skl.sh/3UWWY00 — Use my link to get 30 free days on the platform! Just like saving money in the...
Midsummer Update (August 2024)
07 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Take Inky Maps (Procreate Edition): Illustrate an Analog-inspired Map on Your iPad — Use my link to get 30 days free! — https://skl.sh/3Swd9SK I...
Lisa Bardot, Procreate Artist and Brush Designer
18 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Take Lisa's class, Imaginative Map-Making in Procreate on Skillshare — Use this link to get 30 days free! — https://skl.sh/3z8zI9a Join in on my...
Illustration is Not Dead with Chris Piascik
04 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Learn how to make better art! Take Composition for Illustrators on Skillshare — Use my link to get 30 days free! — https://skl.sh/3TLdkeh Today I ...
Should You Work for Friends and Family?
21 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we tackle a question many creatives grapple with: should you work for your friends (and family)? Combining personal and professional ...
Bad Clients: How to Turn Them Before They Burn You
07 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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 o...
10 Tips for Launching Your Illustration Career
23 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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 f...
Should You Suck it Up or Stick to Your Guns? Navigating Client Feedback
09 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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 cla...
Surviving the AI Illustration Apocalypse
26 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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 Illustrat...
Andy J. Pizza
12 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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 d...
Becoming an Accidental Expert with Kyle T. Webster (Part 2 of 2)
27 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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, w...
Becoming an Accidental Expert with Kyle T. Webster (Part 1 of 2)
13 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Becoming a Successful Illustrator at 40 with Adam Ming
30 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Support the Thoughts on Illustration Podcast at http://patreon.com/tomfroese In this first official interview episode on Thoughts on Illustration, Ad...
How to Love Your Work Again
16 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
6 Things I Learned from Paul Rand About Illustration
03 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Support the Thoughts on Illustration Podcast at http://patreon.com/tomfroese Paul Rand is one of my biggest influences and a huge inspiration for thi...
REPLAY: Good News for Slow Workers
19 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 rel...
Why Bother (Sharing When Nobody Seems to Care)?
05 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 at...
How do illustrators find their ideas?
21 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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? ...
Copyright, Licensing, and Self-Promotion (Part 2)
07 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 relate...
Copyright, Licensing, and Self-Promotion (Part 1)
24 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 explai...
Stressed out? 8 Ways to Alleviate Stress as a Professional Illustrator
10 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 e...
10 Productivity Tips for Illustrators
26 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 t...
You're Not Crazy — It's Social Media (Summer Shorts Rerun)
12 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 al...
Thoughts on Illustration Returns This September
30 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 wo...
Is it the Right Time to Go Full Time as an Illustrator? | Summer Shorts 01
10 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
To Quit or Commit: Should You Let Go of Your Big Dream?
26 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Good News for Slow Workers
12 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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...
SPECIAL: Illustration Student Interviews Me for Class Project
05 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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 enjoye...
Why Constraints Make You More Creative
22 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
CAN THERE BE TOO MUCH CREATIVE FREEDOM? In this episode we're going to talk about why your creativity NEEDS constraints! Even though they seem like se...
The ONE THING You Need to Make Better Work
08 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
What's your point? So often struggle to know exactly what we want to say and do in our art. But once we find it, everything seems to come together smo...
Composition is Everything
24 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode I explore the questions many of us have as illustrators, where it comes to composition: how do I know what to include in the art, and ...
The Blank Page (Facing Creative Block)
10 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, I share the experience of showing up at the blank page and coming up with an idea. While this episode is much shorter than usual, it'...
How to Loosen Up in Your Art
27 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Today we’re going to talk about how to loosen up in our art. I know a lot of us struggle to have a sense of freshness and energy in our work, especi...
Getting (Critical) Feedback On Your Illustrations
13 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
I Now Offer 1-on-1 Illustration Coaching! Book your Coaching Session today at http://www.tomfroese.com/coaching Here we continue our conversation ab...
Getting Feedback on Your Illustrations
27 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we start looking into the topic of feedback, as in getting feedback on our illustrations or artwork. What kind of feedback should we ...
How Do You Know if Your Work is Good?
13 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In today’s episode we'll look at why making "good" work isn't the best goal to have. We'll look at more helpful ways to judge whether our work is WO...
Are You Ready to Call Yourself an Illustrator Yet?
30 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Have you ever felt like a liar when calling yourself the thing you really want to be? Are you already doing the thing — illustration — but still f...
What Should You Learn First as an Illustrator? (Part 2)
16 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
When you want to become an illustrator, what are the very first things you should start learning? What does the first year of an illustration educatio...
What Should You Learn First as an Illustrator? (Part 1)
02 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
When you want to become an illustrator, what are the very first things you should start learning? What does the first year of an illustration educatio...
Want to Be an Illustrator? 5 Things You Need to do Before Lifting a Pencil
19 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Do you want to be an illustrator? In this episode, I give you 5 things you need to do before lifting a pencil! Between your spark moment and actually ...
I Want To Do That
05 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, I talk about the very beginning of our journey into becoming illustrators, the moment we discover illustration and say to ourselves, ...
I Am Now a Podcast
24 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to Thoughts on Design, a Podcast about Showing Up and Growing Up as a Commercial Illustrator. In this introductory episode, I talk about why I...