Podcast
Thoughts on Illustration
Hosted by Tom Froese · EN
Thoughts on Illustration is a bi-weekly podcast about Showing Up and Growing Up as a commercial artist. Join award-winning illustrator and top teacher, Mr. Tom Froese, as he shares valuable tips, insights, and reflections from his own experience as an illustrator. Tom wants to encourage his fellow creatives and help them get further on by sharing in a transparent, accessible way. If you are passionate about unlocking professional and personal creative fulfillment, you are invited to follow along as Tom does the same!
73episodes
Episodes
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The ONE THING You Need to Make Better Work
May 8, 202300:33:24Tap to summarizeWhat's your point? So often struggle to know exactly what we want to say and do in our art. But once we find it, everything seems to come together smoothly. So how do we find our point? In this episode, I talk about how the power of focus helps us get there, and how we find this focus in the first place.
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Composition is Everything
Apr 24, 202300:54:22Tap to summarizeIn this episode I explore the questions many of us have as illustrators, where it comes to composition: how do I know what to include in the art, and how do I know where to put it? In Chapter 1 we look into what composition might be, and then in Chapter 2, I offer 5 steps you can take to make more confident decisions in your compositions.
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The Blank Page (Facing Creative Block)
Apr 10, 202300:15:22Tap to summarizeIn this episode, I share the experience of showing up at the blank page and coming up with an idea. While this episode is much shorter than usual, it's packed with insights about how I face creative block head on, and how I find my way through it to find the right idea on the other side!
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How to Loosen Up in Your Art
Mar 27, 202300:53:28Tap to summarizeToday we’re going to talk about how to loosen up in our art. I know a lot of us struggle to have a sense of freshness and energy in our work, especially as we develop a piece from looser sketch to the more finished piece. What often happens is that a sketch starts off feeling loose and promises something better than what we end up with. It’s very common to find that we like our sketches more than the final illustration. Why is that? And how, if at all, can we achieve the same loose feeling of our sketches in our final art? In this episode, I’m going to share my own story of how I wrestled with this question — of having a more spontaneous feeling to my work versus something more planned out — and why, over time, for ME my work has seemed to head more in the scripted, planned out direction — and why I’m okay with that. At the same time, I still try to build in as much looseness as I can, and at the end of the episode I’ll share some tips on how to do that.
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Getting (Critical) Feedback On Your Illustrations
Mar 13, 202300:48:30Tap to summarizeI Now Offer 1-on-1 Illustration Coaching! Book your Coaching Session today at http://www.tomfroese.com/coaching Here we continue our conversation about getting feedback on our work. The last episode was focused on getting positive feedback and how that can be important too, but the best way to grow is by getting CRITICAL feedback, or CRITIQUE. This opens us up to bruised egos and discouragement, but in the end, if we want to grow, we really need it. In this episode I share one experience in getting feedback on my work, and how it both stung and helped me grow. I then give some ways in which we can seek critical feedback on purpose — who can we reach out to for it, and how can we get the most out of it?
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Getting Feedback on Your Illustrations
Feb 27, 202300:19:26Tap to summarizeIn this episode, we start looking into the topic of feedback, as in getting feedback on our illustrations or artwork. What kind of feedback should we be seeking, and where should we look? It all depends on what you are hoping to get from it. It turns out that we don't always need critique — sometimes we just need to know we're on the right track. Sometimes we don't want solutions, we want comfort. This episode begins with some reflections on what it means to seek comfort — that is, positive affirmation about our work.
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How Do You Know if Your Work is Good?
Feb 13, 202300:25:47Tap to summarizeIn today’s episode we'll look at why making "good" work isn't the best goal to have. We'll look at more helpful ways to judge whether our work is WORKING or not. This will help you become better at critiquing your own work, and being more objective about it. Also: what self-taught illustrators miss out on by not going to art school; why open briefs are a nightmare for me, and what happened when a hamburger restaurant asked me to make "some wall art" for them.
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Are You Ready to Call Yourself an Illustrator Yet?
Jan 30, 202300:48:54Tap to summarizeHave you ever felt like a liar when calling yourself the thing you really want to be? Are you already doing the thing — illustration — but still find it hard to own the label — illustrator? In this episode, I share my experience of deep imposter syndrome, and I explain what I believe is the reason. If you struggle with feelings of self-doubt and unworthiness in your art or career, this episode is for you.
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What Should You Learn First as an Illustrator? (Part 2)
Jan 16, 202300:46:14Tap to summarizeWhen you want to become an illustrator, what are the very first things you should start learning? What does the first year of an illustration education look like? We go deep into 10 skills and subjects to learn in this two part series. This is Part 2
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What Should You Learn First as an Illustrator? (Part 1)
Jan 2, 202300:36:31Tap to summarizeWhen you want to become an illustrator, what are the very first things you should start learning? What does the first year of an illustration education look like? We go deep into 10 skills and subjects to learn in this two part series.
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