Shows
Paid 2 Draw – An Illustration Podcast26. YONK Pushes Boundaries In Virtual Reality (Live at Pictoplasma Berlin 2024)YONK is a Dutch 3D animation studio consisting of artistic power couple Victoria Young and Niels van der Donk. Coming from different backgrounds like fine art and graphic design they decided early on to combine their individual skills to create 3D work. Since 2019 they specialize in using Virtual Reality and 3D sculpting tools to create uniquely strange, textured and colorful artworks, animations and character designs for an increasingly international client list such as Google, Sprite, Nike, Amazon and The New York Times, but also just for the sake of creating and having fun experimenting.
I...2025-01-2151 minPaid 2 Draw – An Illustration Podcast25. Martina Paukova Finds Growth in Complexity (Live at Pictoplasma Berlin 2024)Slovak illustrator Martina Paukova has come a long way from originally studying politics to completely switching gears and moving to London — studying at Camberwell College of Arts — to now settling in Berlin. On her path, she developed a distinct style marked by her trademark vector lines, bold color palettes and flat character-driven subject matters, allowing her to accumulate an impressive client list spanning from Google, Apple and The New York Times to IKEA, The Economist, Die Zeit, and many more.
Starting out in the illustration world as a “late bloomer” in her mid 20s, Martina relied on three dif...2025-01-0745 minPaid 2 Draw – An Illustration Podcast24. Julia Rothman’s Drawings Appear On Literally EverythingJulia Rothman is an award-winning illustrator, pattern maker, NYT columnist and party motivator from New York. Her drawings appear on a variety of things, from newspapers and magazines to posters and billboards, wallpapers, bedding, towels, apparel, mugs and other merchandise. Julia has authored and illustrated over twelve books and has an illustrated column in the New York Times called “Scratch” about small businesses with big personalities.
A lot of her projects were self-initiated. Julia just reaches out to people she wants to work with. She enjoys having a variety of projects at the same time...2024-06-201h 11Paid 2 Draw – An Illustration Podcast23. Aliyah Salmon Dismantles Stereotypes About Black Femininity With YarnAliyah Salmon is a tactile artist based out of Brooklyn, NY. Her art explores the intricate crossroads of black femininity and the Afro-Caribbean diaspora in contemporary America. Through textiles and collage, her work challenges and reframes simplistic narratives surrounding Black identity. Using traditional textile methods like hand tufting with an Oxford punch needle and bead embroidery alongside modern materials and collage techniques, Aliyah embraces “slow craft” to construct dream-like compositions.
On this episode, Aliyah talks about how she enjoys exploring techniques and materials through 3 different sketchbooks — writing notes, trying out colors with markers and sampling yarn. She loves t...2024-06-051h 07Paid 2 Draw – An Illustration Podcast22. Aaron Draplin is Grateful As Sh*t To Be A CreativeAaron Draplin is on the show this week, giving us a lesson in gratitude. His advice to listeners: “Be thankful as sh*t that you get to be a creative person.” Showing up and getting the job done builds confidence. Or at the very least, it gives you a better understanding of your own creative process.
Aaron is the founder of DDC, Draplin Design Company. With his signature bold lines and colorful illustration style he’s worked for clients ranging from small indie bands to Nike, Patagonia, Target and USPS. When he’s not working from his backyard...2024-05-211h 36Paid 2 Draw – An Illustration Podcast21. Cymone Wilder’s Perfectly Imperfect Painting ProcessCymone Wilder is a full-time Senior Art Director and lettering artist based in Nashville, TN. Since 2013 she has collaborated with clients like HBO Max, Nickelodeon, and Netflix, creating custom lettering artwork for established brands, books, apparel, and more. She is fiercely passionate about producing meaningful and long-lasting work, drawing inspiration from the black experience.
On this episode, Cymone generously shares her wealth of knowledge with the P2D community. She just wants to show people: It’s not as hard as it seems. And she’s no longer bothered by copy cats, because they could never replicate the h...2024-04-231h 00Paid 2 Draw – An Illustration Podcast20. Marte on the Power of Being Your Own UnionMartina Galarza, aka Marte, is an Argentinian graphic designer and lettering artist based in New York. Inspired by cartoons, graffiti and psychedelia, she’s all about infusing fun and vibrancy into her designs—creating a perfect blend of nostalgia and contemporary cool. In this very personal conversation, Marte opens up about how she had to change her life to avoid burnout and made a point to enjoy weekends and vacations in order to be happy.
Her favorite medium to design for is the poster. She loves how it interacts with the environment, how it changes it, fades and g...2024-04-091h 18Paid 2 Draw – An Illustration Podcast19. Florian Schommer: From Touring With Bands to Drawing For BrandsFlorian Schommer is an art director and designer working within branding, illustration, editorial design, packaging and contemporary art. Dividing his time between personal projects and collaborating with international clients like Pepsi, Nike, Penguin, Sony Music, Columbia Records and The Guardian, Florian now lives and works in Berlin.
Growing up in the skate and punk scene of the ‘90s, he later attended art college in Düsseldorf while constantly touring the world with a variety of bands. Doing design work for bands during his studies gave him a reason to show his work and make a name for hims...2024-03-271h 23Paid 2 Draw – An Illustration Podcast18. Ju Mu is Inspired by the Creative Genius of Indigenous CommunitiesJurena Munõz Lagunas, aka Ju Mu, is a multi-faceted artist based in Berlin with Peruvian-Chilean roots. Born in Hannover, Germany, she studied Fashion Design in Palma de Mallorca where she developed a fascination for surreal creatures and monsters. The cult of shamanism and the connections between humanity, the spirit world and nature are perennial features of her work and serve as inspiration for her colorful masks, canvases and murals.
Deeply impressed by the creative genius of indigenous communities, Ju Mu implements influences from diverse cultures and creates her very own surreal worlds through patterns, colors and wh...2024-03-1245 minPaid 2 Draw – An Illustration Podcast17. Anna Rupprecht on the Struggle of Running Your Own Commercial Art BusinessPaid 2 Draw is back with an all-new season! On the first episode, we get to talk to Anna Rupprecht who is an artist and freelance illustrator based in Berlin. Her art reflects the current zeitgeist through clear contours and interesting image dynamics with diverse protagonists of her generation. Since going freelance after graduating from the University of Applied Sciences in Berlin, she has worked with a wide range of international clients like Adidas, Apple, Netflix, the New Yorker, NY Times and Pinterest.
Anna’s hyper-detailed work stands out with bright colors, unusual perspectives, political themes and bizarre fas...2024-02-271h 09Paid 2 Draw – An Illustration Podcast16. Josephine Rais on the Perks and Pitfalls of FreelancingJosephine Rais is an artist based in Berlin with a main focus on digital illustration. Having a background in product design and a Master’s degree in strategic design, Josephine’s broad skill set allows for a multidisciplinary approach to her illustration work. Being forced to go freelance after not landing an agency job led to her working for clients like Adidas, Apple, Coca-Cola, Samsung and Die Zeit.
Josephine’s favorite subject to draw is people. She loves capturing the raw emotions and unique energy that Berlin has to offer in her dynamic portraits. Playing with distorted perspec...2023-06-151h 33Paid 2 Draw – An Illustration Podcast15. Dan Christofferson’s Journey from BeeTeeth to Young JerksDan Christofferson is an illustrator and designer from Salt Lake City, currently based in Philadelphia. He’s a partner and creative director at Young Jerks—an independent brand and packaging studio. Growing up out West, Dan’s work has been informed by the religious heritage of his upbringing and the DIY ethos of Utah’s straight-edge hardcore scene.
On this week’s episode, he explains why illustrators and designers should know their worth and acknowledge the value they’re adding to a client’s product. Dan also gives crucial advice on how artists should run their online shops in 2023...2023-05-301h 34Paid 2 Draw – An Illustration Podcast14. Clémence Gouy About How Personal Pieces Pay OffClémence Gouy is a French illustrator and graphic designer currently based in Amsterdam. She specialises in creating visual identities and illustrated content for various brands and media. After working as an art director in agencies across the world and getting a Master’s degree, she started building an illustration portfolio and ended up getting hired by clients like Apple, Nike, Google and Netflix.
On an all-new episode of P2D, Clémence explains the role of an agent and clears up people’s misconceptions of what representation entails. Agents might be able to help you with outreac...2023-05-161h 04Paid 2 Draw – An Illustration Podcast13. Mary Kate McDevitt Invents Stuff Every DayMary Kate McDevitt is a Vermont-based illustrator and lettering artist with a love of color, texture and humor. Since 2010 she’s written several books, hosted lettering workshops, taught five Skillshare courses and worked for clients like Nike, Nintendo, Target, Sephora and The New York Times.
She loves trying new things. Because personal projects provide a value that commercial ones sometimes can’t. Living by her mantra “This didn’t exist yesterday,” Mary Kate invents beautiful new illustration work every day. Recently she’s been exploring frame-by-frame animation. Like this cute duck character dancing to Wu-Tang.
On the newest...2023-05-021h 22Paid 2 Draw – An Illustration Podcast12. Kati Szilágyi is Intrigued by ImperfectionsKati Szilágyi talks to us about how much she loves her job despite having a crisis every once in a while. During her studies her style was inspired by graphic and poster design, which she translated into whimsical characters in colorful dreamscapes. Her process is to welcome little mistakes on paper and to find abstract shapes while drawing humans.
On this episode, we chat with Kati about how it’s necessary to take breaks from drawing to get inspired and how it’s normal to sometimes not be interested in illustration at all. She opens up about...2023-04-181h 06Paid 2 Draw – An Illustration Podcast11. Bene Rohlmann Found His Style by Making MistakesBene Rohlmann is an award-winning artist and illustrator based in Berlin. His work combines a vintage aesthetic with bold vibrant colors, geometric patterns and a love for detail. Born in Münster, he was always doodling as a kid—fuelled by comic books and his grandpa’s fairytales. Vicky and Dave have an honest conversation with Bene about how he finds inspiration in vintage advertising, old matchbooks and traveling. And how he discovered his style in South Korea.
On this brand-new episode of Paid 2 Draw, Bene talks about how he got to work for clients like The New Yo...2023-04-041h 19Paid 2 Draw – An Illustration Podcast10. Giulia Hartz is the Queen of Authentic Personal BrandingOn the first in-person recording in Paid 2 Draw history, Vicky and Dave chat with illustrator and designer Giulia Hartz about her client work, personal projects and her online community.
Giulia opens up about how she copes with uncomfortable feelings by customizing her living space with encouraging words and witty jokes. Turning dark thoughts into funny art, the physical act of painting calms her down in times of uncertainty.
To connect with her audience, Giulia mixes nostalgic toys from her childhood with unexpected ironic messages to create tension, comedic relief and an almost meme-like quality in he...2023-03-211h 20Paid 2 Draw – An Illustration Podcast9. Dave Arcade on How to Create Surrealist Isometric Cartoon WorldsPaid 2 Draw is back with an all-new season! On the first episode, Vicky and Dave get to talk to the almighty Dave Arcade—a cartoon surrealist and visual storyteller from Salt Lake City, Utah.
Dave explains how he found his hyper-intricate isometric style and shares his approach to creating uniquely personal work by simply drawing what you think is cool. He talks shop about his background in advertising, early cartoon influences, his passion for music, why VectorMagic is better than Image Trace, and what exactly ruined NFTs for him.
Will AI art replace illustrators? Despite th...2023-03-071h 33Paid 2 Draw – An Illustration Podcast8. Abraham Lule is a Master of Hand-Crafted BrandingAbraham Lule is a Mexican designer, typographer and art director based in New York. He describes his hand-crafted packaging and branding work as “design with a human touch.” With an unparalleled work ethic, Abraham is eager to learn new tools and techniques whenever he gets the chance. He always makes time for personal projects to improve upon his brush lettering skills.
His background in dancing and choreography has informed the way he approaches his design work today. Wearing many different hats as an independent designer, Abraham is all about getting things done. He doesn’t want to waste h...2022-07-261h 03Paid 2 Draw – An Illustration Podcast7. Diana Beltrán Herrera Creates Her Own Worlds With PaperDiana Beltrán Herrera is a Colombian artist and designer who uses paper to create and transform things. With a sharp eye for detail she is a living example of why it pays off to take the time to specialize in one thing.
From Bristol, UK, Diana talks to Vicky & Dave about why she stuck with paper as a medium, how she connects with nature and what her pristine lab-like studio means to her — all while dropping inspirational quotes every 10 seconds.
On this hour-long group therapy session she tells listeners about the importance of play and w...2022-07-121h 09
Paid 2 Draw – An Illustration Podcast6. Monique Aimee is All About Self-Care & Community WorkMonique Aimee is a multidisciplinary artist based out of Boston. Her work ranges from digital illustrations to hand-painted murals to chain-stitch patches — all with themes of empowerment and self-care. She studied illustration in Boston and typography in Melbourne. On this episode of Paid 2 Draw, she explains how she went from being a sign maker in a basement for Whole Foods to becoming a super-successful freelance illustrator, working for clients like Disney, Netflix, Snapchat, Coca-Cola, Patagonia and Chronicle Books.
Monique shares her journey from Massachusetts to Australia and Japan, and now back to Boston. She talks to Vicky and...2022-07-0550 minPaid 2 Draw – An Illustration Podcast5. Scott Biersack Brings Fire to Everything He DoesScott Biersack aka @youbringfire is a freelance designer specializing in lettering and type design based in Phoenix, AZ. He’s worked for clients like Adobe, Bacardi, BuzzFeed, Netflix, Snapchat, Starbucks, and Target. Living by the mantra “No Work, All Play”, Scott brings his fire for creating to every new creative challenge.
In episode 5, Vicky and Dave have an honest conversation with Scott about mental health, burnout and the pressure of social media. But also less depressing stuff like collaboration, sustainability or trying new things. They talk about ways for designers to make a difference and affect meaningful change...2022-06-2859 minPaid 2 Draw – An Illustration Podcast4. Helen Li — Fun and Failure As an Illustrator and TattooerHelen Li is an Australian illustrator and tattoo artist living in Poland. She has worked for clients like Nike, Google, Adobe, Dropbox and Snapchat, and has illustrated the book “The Art of Drag” for Nobrow. Her work is full of joy and personality. On the 4th episode of P2D, Helen talks about her journey from Sydney to New York and Warsaw. And how her path led her from finance to graphic design to ultimately her dream gigs — full-time illustration and tattooing. She gives listeners a deep-dive into how she developed her signature style, the importance of humor in her wo...2022-06-211h 14Paid 2 Draw – An Illustration Podcast3. Martina Flor: “The Future of Lettering is Just Beginning”Martina Flor is a lettering artist, author and educator. Based in Berlin, she runs one of the world’s leading studios in lettering design and custom typography. On this episode Vicky & Dave talk to Martina about her journey from Argentina to the Netherlands and to Germany. How she found a sense of belonging in the type community, what teaching has taught her about her own process, and how her background in acting has helped her become a great public speaker.
By asking “How can we help people with what we do?”, Martina and her team have impacted the wor...2022-06-141h 11Paid 2 Draw – An Illustration Podcast2. Eugenia Mello on How to Draw Rhythm & MotionOn the second episode of Paid 2 Draw, Argentinian illustrator and graphic designer Eugenia Mello talks to Vicky and Dave about how to dance with a pencil. Her beautiful work is full of movement, emotions and vibrant colors. She talks about how growing up in the Caribbean has informed her style and what an impact dancing and ballet have had on her approach to image-making and visual storytelling.
Eugenia tells listeners about the importance of understanding your process, being centered (during a proverbial pirouette) and finding something that feels true. The conversation addresses both dealing with imposter syndrome a...2022-06-071h 23Paid 2 Draw – An Illustration Podcast1. Nicole Rifkin About the Importance of CommunityNicole Rifkin talks about the importance of giving back to the community that made you and how the DIY punk scene influenced her career path. She talks about how working hard all the time was her choice and how lucky she has been to have so much support.
On the very first episode of Paid 2 Draw, Vicky and Dave have a heart-felt discussion with Nicole about kindness, competition, pro bono work, dying alone, and of course, Cheese Wednesdays — the ultimate perk of being freelance.
Don’t miss out on this inspiring conversation between three illustrators! And...2022-05-311h 10Paid 2 Draw – An Illustration PodcastTrailer: Paid 2 DrawPaid 2 Draw is a new illustration podcast hosted by David Leutert and Viktoria Cichoń, two illustrators and lettering artists from Berlin. In the first season they interview 8 inspiring creatives about how they manage to get paid doing what they love. Episode 1 airs May 31st, 2022.
Featuring Nicole Rifkin, Eugenia Mello, Martina Flor, Helen Li, Scott Biersack, Monique Aimee, Diana Beltrán Herrera and Abraham Lule.2022-05-2701 min