Notes on Illustration

Episode 365: Illustrator, educator, and President of the Society of Illustrators, Leslie Cober

The Illustration Department — Tue, 09 Jun 2026 11:49:34 GMT

Here’s the Extra Credit for Episode 365 of The Illustration Department Podcast—with illustrator, educator, and President of the Society of Illustrators, Leslie Cober.

Leslie talks about her father, the great Alan Cober; how illustrators can wear multiple creative hats; and more.

You can listen to the full episode on your preferred podcast player, or by vi…

Alan Edwin Cober

The Illustration Department — Tue, 09 Jun 2026 01:36:38 GMT

Alan Edwin Cober was born on May 18, 1935, in New York, New York. His father was a criminal lawyer, and his mother was president of “The Sarah Starkman League of Retarded Children.” Their work would forever influence Cober’s focus on injustice.

The Younger Cober is credited with challenging—and breaking—the boundaries of commercial art. He wasn’t a fan of the word “commercial.” “Since when is being paid for interpreting and executing a picture uniquely and personally with expression, feeling, and craft called commercial?”

Episode 364: New York Times best-selling illustrator, Julien Chung

The Illustration Department — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 10:57:15 GMT

Here’s the Extra Credit for Episode 364 of The Illustration Department Podcast—with New York Times best-selling illustrator, Julien Chung.

Julien talks about starting an illustration career later in life; how Lois Ehlert changed children’s publishing; and more.

You can listen to the full episode on your preferred podcast player, or by visiting illustratio…

GenAI is Copyright Infringement… or Whatever

The Illustration Department — Fri, 29 May 2026 12:28:50 GMT

(Updated from its original publication in 2024.)

There are some in the illustration community who think illustrators should “shut up” about Generative AI (GenAI). They’re tired of hearing and reading everyone’s complaints about it. Illustrators should just focus on doing their work, and stop talking about AI already!

Instead of shutting up, I’m going to talk about why GenAI is not the same as the invention of Photoshop; why it’s not the same as finding inspiration on Pinterest; why it isn’t a “democratization” of art; and why illustrators sure as hell shouldn’t “shut up” about GenAI and its copyright infringing ways.

Episode 363: New York Times best-selling and Caldecott Honor award-winning illustrator, Brian Pinkney

The Illustration Department — Tue, 26 May 2026 11:31:52 GMT

Episode 363 of The Illustration Department Podcast is from the archive. Here’s the Extra Credit.

New York Times best-selling and Caldecott Honor award-winning illustrator, Brian Pinkney talks about his father, Jerry Pinkney; why illustrators can work in more than one way; and more.

You can listen to the full episode on your preferred podcast player, or by…

Frederick “Fritz” Siebel

The Illustration Department — Sat, 23 May 2026 12:14:42 GMT

When you hear “dust the furniture,” and your first thought is to literally add dust to furniture, you’re either a fan of Amelia Bedelia, or you will be. Let’s talk about the artist who brought her to life.

Episode 362: School librarian, blogger, podcaster, author, and illustrator, Travis Jonker

The Illustration Department — Tue, 19 May 2026 11:16:01 GMT

Here’s the Extra Credit for Episode 362 of The Illustration Department Podcast—with school librarian, blogger, podcaster, author, and illustrator, .

Travis talks about the surprising trait good picture books share; why writers should perform their picture book manuscript; and more.

You can listen to the full episode on your preferred podcast player, or by…

Get Into Your Comfort Zone

The Illustration Department — Sun, 17 May 2026 11:21:45 GMT

I’ve never really bought into the notion that we all must “get out of our comfort zone”. I suppose it works for some aspects of life: travel, food, entertainment, education, culture. But when it comes to art-making—specifically illustration—the more I think about it, the more I believe that getting out of your comfort zone does more harm than good.

In my discussions with illustrators, the concept of “comfort zone” is a common topic. Stay in? Get out? What is it? Where is it? Illustrators are often told to get out of their comfort zone to expand their creativity and increase their chances for success. Why is it assumed that leaving one’s comfort zone is a requirement for creativity and progress? Why is it assumed that what we have inside our comfort zone isn’t good enough?

What if we reframe “get out of your comfort zone” to “grow your comfort zone”?

Episode 361: Two-time Caldecott Medal-winning illustrator and author, Sophie Blackall

The Illustration Department — Tue, 12 May 2026 10:56:12 GMT

Here’s the Extra Credit for Episode 361 of The Illustration Department Podcast—with two-time Caldecott Medal-winning illustrator and author, .

Sophie talks about what a “sludgy” color palette is; what value art-making has when life is difficult; and more.

You can listen to the full episode on your preferred podcast player, or by visiting illustrationdept.…

John Tenniel

The Illustration Department — Thu, 07 May 2026 10:55:41 GMT

John Tenniel was born on February 28, 1820, in London, England. At the age of 20, he suffered a partial loss of sight in his right eye. It occurred during a fencing match with his father (who was a fencing instructor). As Corryn Kosik, a Walt Reed Distinguished Scholar in 2018, wrote, “A staunchly even-tempered man, Tenniel did not react to the pain of the injury, so his father did not even know he had been harmed by his rapier.”

By the early 1840s, Tenniel had turned his attention to illustration—having grown frustrated with the fine art world. His first known illustrations for a book are seen in Jeremiah How’s 1842 publication, The Book of British Ballads.

Image from collectionscaptured.ncl.ac.uk

In 1850, Tenniel began selling cartoons to Punch (magazine). Fourteen years later, he replaced caricaturist and illustrator, John Leech, as Punch’s principal cartoonist. Tenniel held this position until his retirement in 1901.

Image from vam.ac.uk

Over five decades, more than 2,000 political cartoons by Tenniel graced Punch’s pages. It’s impossible to quantify how many artists, spanning several generations, saw and were inspired by his work. One such artist was Ernest Howard Shepard, illustrator of Alan Alexander Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh series.

Shepard was himself a staff artist for Punch. In 1923, Milne submitted a story to Punch editor, Edward Verrall Lucas. It was inspired by Milne’s explorations of the woods with his son, Christopher. These explorations helped Milne process Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder from his time in the trenches during World War I. Lucas connected Milne with Shepard.⁣ Years later, Shepard said he regretted drawing “that silly old bear,” as it overshadowed his political work for Punch.

Winnie-the-Pooh wasn’t the first time a beloved children’s book grew from a contentious coupling connected to “The London Charivari”.

Tenniel is, of course, most known for illustrating Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865), Through the Looking-Glass (1871), and What Alice Found There (1871). If Alice lived in our world, she would have found that Tenniel and Carroll did not see (left) eye to eye.

Episode 360: Drawer and writer, Luis Mendo

The Illustration Department — Tue, 05 May 2026 11:09:25 GMT

Here’s the Extra Credit for Episode 360 of The Illustration Department Podcast—with drawer and writer, Luis Mendo.

Luis talks about what art directors love hearing from the illustrators they work with; why artists should find sources of joy other than art-making; and more.

You can listen to the full episode on your preferred podcast player, or by visiting

Dream, Wish, Hope, and Love

The Illustration Department — Mon, 04 May 2026 22:22:02 GMT

As an illustrator, you are required to write a lot of emails.

When you’re not drawing and painting, you will likely find yourself emailing art directors, editors, agents, publishers, publicists, bookstore owners, mentors, other illustrators, and so on. The intention behind many of these emails is self-promotion. Hi, I’m an illustrator. Hire me. Rep me. Teach me why don’t you. Or something to that effect.

There is no way around it. You’re going to need to be comfortable with emailing people. And you’re going to need to be good at it. Finding the “right” words to say to potential clients or agents can be difficult—but only if you think in terms of “right” or “wrong”.

Short of impropriety, there aren’t too many words that I would consider “wrong”. Be professional, but casual. Short, but informative. Direct, but respectful. There really isn’t much to it—despite what you hear at literary conferences or read on social media. It’s not as complicated as many believe it to be.

There are, however, four words you should avoid like the plague: dream, wish, hope, and love. Whatever you write, for the love of Pete, don’t ever use those four words. Let me tell you why.

Episode 359: Eisner Award and Caldecott Honor-winning children’s book creator, LeUyen Pham

The Illustration Department — Tue, 28 Apr 2026 11:29:27 GMT

Here’s the Extra Credit for Episode 359 of The Illustration Department Podcast—with Eisner Award and Caldecott Honor-winning children’s book creator, LeUyen Pham.

LeUyen talks about artistic inspiration; how illustrating in multiple styles is not a disadvantage; and more.

You can listen to the full episode on your preferred podcast player, or by visiting …

Adolphe Philippe Millot

The Illustration Department — Wed, 22 Apr 2026 14:33:10 GMT

Adolphe Philippe Millot was born on May 1, 1857, in Paris, France. Very little is known about this illustrator and lithographer. Given that the quality of his work rivals (if not surpasses) his contemporaries and predecessors—including the problematic, disappointing, but far more popular, John James Audubon—you would think we would know more about Millot.

Side note: I’ve been debating writing a biography on Audubon. On one hand, his contributions to scientific illustration, ornithological study, and bird conservation are unparalleled. On the other hand, he was cancelled a few years back for being, among other things, a slave owner, a racist, and possibly a plagiarist.
I’m not one for presentism or psychotic pile-ons—but Audubon appears to have been, what one social media denizen called, “a monster”.
Never meet, or learn about, your heroes, I guess.

Unlike John J. Audubon, a racial reckoning does not appear to be in the cards for Millot (as of this writing).

Episode 358: Michelle Komie, publisher at Princeton University Press, and DB Dowd, author and professor of design at Washington University

The Illustration Department — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 11:02:52 GMT

Here’s the Extra Credit for Episode 358 of The Illustration Department Podcast—with Michelle Komie, publisher at Princeton University Press, and DB Dowd, author and professor of design at Washington University.

They talk about illustration’s past; how they both approached the making of DB’s book, Reading Pictures; and more.

You can listen to the full epis…

Do I Need An Agent?

The Illustration Department — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 11:31:21 GMT

Are there five words in the children’s book world more capable of sparking a debate than “Do I need an agent”?

The answer is simple: Maybe. Maybe not.

Kidding aside, let’s go through the steps of submitting your work to agents, from researching agencies to signing on the dotted line—while having a bit of a heart-to-heart along the way. I also included answers from five well-known agents on questions I often hear from illustrators.

By the end, you may finally have the answer to, “Do I need an agent?”

Episode 357: Award-winning illustrator and author, Greg Pizzoli

The Illustration Department — Tue, 14 Apr 2026 10:47:22 GMT

Here’s the Extra Credit for Episode 357 of The Illustration Department Podcast—with award-winning illustrator and author, .

Greg talks about how his characters reflect his own multitudes; why “for now” are important words for aspiring book creators; and more.

You can listen to the full episode on your preferred podcast player, or by visiting illustrationd…

Bill Charmatz

The Illustration Department — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 14:30:31 GMT

Bill Charmatz (née Adolph Charmatz) was born on November 15, 1925, in Brooklyn, New York. As a teenager, he wasn’t particularly keen on the name his Russian parents gave him—given what a certain German chancellor was doing by the 1930s—so he changed it to William.

After attending the newly founded School of Industrial Arts (High School of Art and Design, today), Charmatz joined the war effort against that chancellor by serving in the graphics department for the United States Navy.

From the end of World War II (1945) to the beginning of podcasts (2005), Charmatz maintained a freelance illustration practice. His clients included The New York Times, Esquire, Life, Macmillan, Ballantine Books, Young and Rubicam, Ogilvy and Mather, Texaco, Exxon, and others in the periodical, publishing, advertising, and corporate fields.

Episode 356: Bookseller and founder of Forage Books, Tamlyn Ancone

The Illustration Department — Tue, 07 Apr 2026 10:51:52 GMT

Here’s the Extra Credit for Episode 356 of The Illustration Department Podcast—with bookseller and founder of Forage Books, Tamlyn Ancone.

Tamlyn talks about how an independent book store isn’t just a place to buy books; what book-buyers are looking for (it’s not AI); and more.

You can listen to the full episode on your preferred podcast player, or by vis…

Baseball and Illustration

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 11:18:07 GMT

I’m a Baltimore Orioles fan. I’ve loved them for as long as I can remember—much to my constant disappointment and dismay.

Beyond the O’s, I’m a fan of the game of baseball. To quote Obi-wan Kenobi, it’s more civilized than most other sports. And I can’t help but notice the parallels and lessons that directly apply to something else I love: illustration.

With outfield assists from fellow baseball fans Sarah Bunting, Tad Carpenter, John Hendrix, Kenard Pak, and Matt Tavares, let’s discuss the parallels and lessons all artists can learn from our national pastime. So pull up your socks and chew on some gum—we’re talkin’ baseball and illustration!