The Good Ship Illustration

Pssst, while you're here... On Tuesday 10th February 2026 we're running a live workshop! https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/aiworkshop 
Standing out in a sea of robots: being an illustrator when AI is everywhere
This workshop's perfect for you if you:
Call yourself an illustrator, image-maker (or want to)
Feel a bit wobbly about AI and what it means for your style and creative work
Want to stand out in a sea of slop 
Know you're brilliant, but struggle to articulate what makes you different
Are ready to stop worrying and start being more unapologetically YOU.
Let’s get weirder, eh? 🤖
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OK! On with the show(notes)!
"Unfortunately, I was good at maths."
-Tara Tayyebi Fard
Tara is a Persian illustrator, humorist, architect and violinist currently based in Belgium.
She grew up reading stories, playing music, keeping a stack of diaries, and offending people by drawing them all fat.
Tara spent most of her adult life studying and working in architecture, and has been whining about it ever since. She now holds a masters degree from Amsterdam School of Art, which she happily keeps in the depths of her wardrobe.
In 2023, Tara jumped aboard the Good Ship Illustration, rediscovered her love for drawing and gradually started her career as an illustrator. Two years later, she signed with her agent, Lucie at Luddington Creative; working on picture books, doing commissions, live event illustration and making personal work.
Tara pivoted to a career in illustration after 10 years of being an architect.
In this episode, we chat to Good Shipper Tara about finding her creative voice, why being properly herself is what led to her dream clients, why being unsuccessful can be weirdly freeing, aaaaand **deep breath** how consistency and creative jealousy can be big flashing neon signs to help you figure out what you DO want to do.

Rough timestamps for our timestamp-fans:
00:00 – Intro + free workshop mention
02:00 – Architecture → illustration pivot moment
05:00 – Childhood clues + diaries + sketchbooks
08:00 – Being annoyed = excellent character research
09:00 – 60 weeks of Substack and what that builds
10:00 – Illustration loneliness vs illustration community reality
12:00 – Making work when the world feels a bit bleak
14:00 – Commission hamster wheel vs personal work
15:00 – Dream clients happen when you show your actual personality
17:00 – The “what you love / what you’re good at / what pays” overlap
19:00 – Planning for creative brains (menus > rigid schedules)
23:00 – Creative jealousy = useful information, not failure
26:00 – The regret test (8-year-old you vs 80-year-old you)
27:00 – Can illustrators make money? Also: you can be bad at any career 😌
Stuff mentioned:
Tara's Substack: https://substack.com/@tarastimeout
Tara's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tara.tekentafel
Tara's website: https://www.taratayyebifard.com/
Good Ship Illustration Monthly Numbers Tracker (freebie)

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 🎙

Are you joining in with #WalktoSee?
In this episode, we chat about how our Helen's hashtag Walk to See started, how it works, (there are basically no rules 😆), and why monthly prompts are muuch gentler on the brain/energy levels than daily prompts.
In this episode:
00:00 What Walk to See is
01:30 The only “rule”
02:30 Why the format changed
03:30 How often you actually need to draw
04:30 January’s prompt
05:30 Interpreting “wet”
06:30 Why daily challenges can be a bit much
07:30 Community stuff
08:30 Being seen on Instagram
09:30 Sharing / being shared
10:30 Drawing in the rain
11:30 Drawing in the dark
13:30 Walk to See GIFs
14:30 How to get a gold star
15:30 Imperfect drawings

How to join in:
Draw something from life <-- that's the only rule!
Take a photo.
Share it on Instagram using #WalkToSeeWet to join in with February's walk to see!
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 🎙

Ahhh this ol' chestnut. You know it. We've aaall been there. You sit down...you need to work. But you get absolutely nowt done. Instead, you do absolutely everything else... then panic-work at the last minute, or just never get round to it.
You're not alone! 
Most illustrators we speak to will have their own weird and wonderful tricks to get into work mode.
In this episode, we talk about fear, procrastination, perfectionism, and all the daft (+ useful) ways we trick ourselves into starting anyhoo.
Rough timestamps for our timestamp-fans:
00:00 – Bribery
02:00 – Fear & perfectionism
03:00 – The 20-minute rule
04:00 – Drip drip drip
05:00 – Warming up still counts!
06:30 – Calling it “the bad version”
07:30 – Drafts & sleeping on it
08:30 – Why big projects feel terrifying
09:30 – HAVE FUN OR ELSE
11:00 – Tell the logical bit of your brain to shhhhh
12:30 – Tricks for focus that work
14:00 – You like drawing, remember? 😅
15:00 – Keeping the life in your work
16:30 – Spread yourself aboot (don't put too much pressure on one bit of work)
17:30 – Your tricks - please share what helps YOU! 
We are nosy. We want to hear what helps you concentrate and get some creative work done.
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 🎙

Let’s talk about the big hairy thing that no one really wants to talk about… copying.
In this episode, we discuss inspiration, and how social media has changed things so much for illustrators. Trying on someone else’s illustration hat for too long can derail your creative career.
This one’s especially for you if you’ve ever felt like someone's getting a bit toooo inspired by your work, or you've though
“Ach, easy peasy. I could do that style!”
(And then felt a bit weird about it.)
We talk about:
Why illustrators now mostly look at other illustrators for inspiration (and why that’s tricky)
How social media has changed taste, trends, and originality
The danger of trend-based work and being easily replaceable
What actually makes a personal creative voice memorable
Why copying someone’s style can feel successful… until it doesn’t
Rebecca Green, ethics
Being inspired vs copying and where that line really is
Don't sand off all of your personality!
Typos, wonkiness, we luv 'em
A human made the work
What to do if you think you’ve been copied (or fear you have)
Authenticity 4eva
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 🎙

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 🎙