Giuseppe Castellano talks to school librarian, blogger, podcaster, author, and illustrator, Travis Jonker about the “shameless” origins of 100 Scope Notes—Travis’s popular children’s literature blog; what surprising common denominator connects most good picture books; why performing a picture book manuscript can help one write it; and more.

To learn more about Travis, visit travisjonker.substack.com.

Blogs and, podcast episodes mentioned in this episode:

• The Yarn
• A Fuse8 Production
• Giuseppe’s chat with Matthew Cordell
• Giuseppe’s popular Substack post, The Thoughtful Illustrator

Artists mentioned in this episode include: Phil Stead, Lee White, Matthew Cordell, Brian Floca, Aaron Becker, Molly Idle, David Wiesner, Catia Chien, Angie Kang

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 two-time Caldecott Medal-winning illustrator and author, Sophie Blackall about what a “sludgy” color palette is, and why it’s okay to use one; what value art-making has during life’s most difficult moments; why all book-makers should take book-making seriously; and more.

To learn more about Sophie and her books, visit sophieblackall.com. To learn more about Milkwood, visit milkwoodfarm.org.

Artists mentioned in this episode include: Selina Alko, Rafael López, Barbara Cooney, Virginia Lee Burton, Rebecca Green, Beatrice Alemagna, Sergio Ruzzier, Laura Carlin, Brian Floca, Dasha Tolstikova, Rowboat Watkins, Doug Salati, John Bemelmans Marciano, Beatrix Potter, Shaun Tan, Carson Ellis, Myo Yim, Victoria Semykina, Raquel Catalina, Jenny Meilihove, Kitty Crowther, Catia Chien, Isabelle Arsenault, Cece Bell, Maira Kalman, May Gibbs, Howard Pyle, Maurice Sendak, LeUyen Pham

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 drawer and writer, Luis Mendo, about what art directors love hearing from illustrators—before and during a project; why artists should find sources of joy other than art-making; why a bad drawing is a good thing; and more.

To learn more about Luis, visit luismendo.com.

To learn more about Mundo Mendo, visit luismendo.com/mundomendo.

Artists mentioned in this episode include: Quentin Blake, Jean-Jacques Sempé, Jean Jullien, Katsuhiro Otomo, John Cuneo, Hokusai

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.