Giuseppe Castellano talks to Karina Granda, Art Director at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, about how she looks for illustrators, and what makes a portfolio stand out; what the downside is to responding to an illustrator’s cold email; how book-making is a team sport; and more.

To learn more about Karina, visit karinagranda.com.

Artists mentioned in this episode include: Brandon Dorman

If you find value in this podcast, consider supporting it via Substack or Patreon. / This podcast is produced by IllustrationDept.com—a global leader in online education for illustrators. / The music for this podcast was created by Oatmello.

If you have any questions or comments about the podcast, you can email Giuseppe.

Giuseppe Castellano talks to award-winning author and multimedia artist, Selina Alko, about why illustrators who say, “I’m not a writer” are almost always wrong; how she approached Otherwise Known as Judy the Great—her poetic ode to Judy Blume; why every creative needs to be their own best friend; and more.

To learn more about Selina and her books, visit selinaalko.com.

You can find Otherwise Known as Judy the Great here, or at your favorite bookseller.

Artists mentioned in this episode include: Lisa Desimini, Matt Mahurin, Mike Curato

Photography by Good Job Photos

If you find value in this podcast, consider supporting it via Substack or Patreon. / This podcast is produced by IllustrationDept.com—a global leader in online education for illustrators. / The music for this podcast was created by Oatmello.

If you have any questions or comments about the podcast, you can email Giuseppe.

Giuseppe Castellano talks to Simone Friend and Beth Johnson, the partners behind Friend + Johnson, about why social media is a double-edged sword for illustrators… and agents; what we must all agree on, no matter what you think about AI; what illustrators should focus on; and more.

To learn more about Friend + Johnson, visit friendandjohnson.com.

Here is the episode with Daniel Abraham that Giuseppe referenced.

Artists mentioned in this episode include: Robert Valentine, Don Sibley, Woody Pirtle, Michael Bierut, Milton Glaser, DJ Stout, Jeff Kern, Peggy Sirota

If you find value in this podcast, consider supporting it via Substack or Patreon. / This podcast is produced by IllustrationDept.com—a global leader in online education for illustrators. / The music for this podcast was created by Oatmello.

If you have any questions or comments about the podcast, you can email Giuseppe.