The Pencil Pushers Podcast

The Pencil Pushers Podcast celebrates the art of hand-drawing. Produced by MRC Brand Design Studio, it features interviews with illustrators, animators, comic artists, and other talented individuals. Hosted by Mike Rosado, an artist, musician, and designer, the Podcast aims to showcase artists' work and provide insights into their creative process. Join Mike as he chats with his friends and idols in the world of illustration, animation, and comic art.

The Pencil Pushers Podcast is a arts podcast hosted by MRC Brand Design's Mike Rosado, with 93 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80.

MRC Brand Design's Mike Rosado hosts The Pencil Pushers Podcast, a arts show with 93 episodes published.

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  Episode #26

  Luke Flowers: From Farm Life to NYT Bestselling Illustrator

  Sep 21, 20261h 39mS6

  Welcome folks as we sit down to chat with illustrator-author Luke Flowers, who's illustrated more than 60 children's books, including the million-selling Moby Shinobi series, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood: The Poetry of Mister Rogers , and storybook adaptations of The Muppet Christmas Carol and Jim Henson's Labyrinth . Flowers shares the story of growing up on a Colorado farm, discovering illustration through local illustrator Ron Adair, developing his craft at Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design, and eventually breaking into publishing through a postcard he left at SCBWI New York that caught the attention of Scholastic. We talk process, budgeting, consistency, doubts, burnout, COVID, self-care, evolving styles, AI, and his ambitions for writing and directing. Listen to us Spotify , iTunes , Amazon Watch and subscribe on YouTube Follow us on Instagram Host: Mike Rosado Post Production: Max Trujillo ( instagram.com/trujillomedia ) Sponsors: Musgrave Pencil Company

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  Episode #25

  Michael Doret: Legendary Graphic Designer

  Sep 7, 20261h 27mS6

  We welcome the legendary lettering and graphic design artist Michael Doret, whose 5-decade career includes work for Kiss, the New York Knicks, Disney/Pixar, and Time Magazine covers now in the National Portrait Gallery. He talks about why he wrote Growing Up in Alphabet City, published in late 2024, and his wanting to tell his own story before someone else did. He also gets into how childhood visuals shaped his color and letterforms, often subconsciously, from a Good Humor truck decal to Coney Island signage. The conversation covers his path through tuition-free Cooper Union, mentorship under Ed Benguiat at Photo-Lettering, a formative Push Pin stint with Milton Glaser, his sketch-first process, declining standards in signage, skepticism about AI originality, the origins of the Knicks logo, and his advice to work less and live more. Listen to us Spotify , iTunes , Amazon Watch and subscribe on YouTube Follow us on Instagram Host: Mike Rosado Post Production: Max Trujillo ( instagram.com/trujillomedia ) Sponsors: Musgrave Pencil Company

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  Episode #24

  Letterpress Designer: Daniel Swartz

  Aug 24, 20261h 8mS6

  Welcome folks as we interview letterpress designer, printer, and educator Daniel Swartz, who returned to rural northern Indiana after a 2020 life upheaval, building a new practice in his late grandfather's garage studio. Swartz describes growing up around creativity, studying art at Indiana Wesleyan, shifting from illustration toward design and typography, and teaching starting around 2007–2008. After layoffs in late 2019 and a stalled job search as COVID hit, his wife returned to education while he became a stay-at-home parent, then began carving linoleum type blocks and hand-printing large work that gained traction on Instagram and sold. He explains letterpress setup, inking, proofing, kerning, and manual gradient techniques, notes prints can take about two weeks, and argues hand craft, historical awareness, and imperfection still matter amid digital tools and AI. Follow us: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thepencilpu... MRC Brand Design: https://mrcraleigh.com/ Host: Mike Rosado ( mrcraleigh.com ) ( instagram.com/ekimodasor ) Post Production: Max Trujillo ( instagram.com/trujillomedia ) Sponsors: MRC ( mrcraleigh.com ) and Burny Wild's ( burnywilds.com )

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  Episode #23

  Nathaniel Long: Comic Book Artist and Author

  Aug 14, 202650 minS6

  Host Mike Rosato welcomes illustrator/designer/comic artist Nathaniel Long, a South Carolina-based creator from the Winston-Salem area whose early Spider-Man obsession and grandfather's drawings sparked a lifelong pull toward hand-drawn craft. Long talks about choosing traditional tools for their tactile reality, studying cinema production at Bob Jones University to sharpen visual storytelling, and working full time at BJU Press on motion-graphic illustration projects like an animated "Mask of the Red Death." The conversation digs into how comics are built—outline first, then thumbnails, pencils, inks, and even physically cutting and gluing word balloons—while reflecting on shifting convention culture and the value of process. The episode spotlights Long's Kickstarter for "Moon to Earth," a 24-page, retro-inspired space adventure one-shot he writes, illustrates, and traditionally inks, aiming to raise $3,000 by August 29, with tiers including a $15 comic and a $30 comic-plus-exclusive print. Follow us: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thepencilpu... MRC Brand Design: https://mrcraleigh.com/ Host: Mike Rosado ( mrcraleigh.com ) ( instagram.com/ekimodasor ) Post Production: Max Trujillo ( instagram.com/trujillomedia ) Sponsors: MRC ( mrcraleigh.com ) and Burny Wild's ( burnywilds.com )

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  Episode #22

  Andrew Fairclough: Illustrator & designer

  Jul 27, 20261h 44mS6

  Andrew Fairclough grew up skateboarding on the northeast coast of Australia, copying boards out of Rad Magazine, and winning a drawing contest in a skate publication at 12 years old. He went on to build a career designing for Nike, Billabong, and Rolling Stone before founding True Grit Texture Supply, whose brushes and textures are now used daily by some of the best illustrators in the world. In this episode we cover Andrew's winding path from a beach town in New South Wales through the snowboard industry in Canada, commercial design agencies in Sydney, and eventually into the illustration career and business he runs today. He breaks down how his signature pulp sci-fi and skateboard-influenced style developed, how a Skillshare class with 30 million Facebook views launched True Grit, and why delusion is the most underrated skill a young creative can have. We also get into what it means to build tools that empower artists without replacing them, the balance between running a business and staying creative, and where he sees the hand-drawn arts heading. Plus a Smashing Pumpkins deep cut that perfectly sums up why craftsmanship still matters. This episode is sponsored by Musgrave Pencil Company- use code PENCILPUSHERS at MusgravePencil.com for 10% off! Listen to the full episode: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/08WtvMb... Follow Andrew Fairclough: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kindred_stu... True Grit Texture Supply: https://www.instagram.com/truegrittex... Follow us: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thepencilpu... MRC Brand Design: https://mrcraleigh.com/ Host: Mike Rosado ( mrcraleigh.com ) ( instagram.com/ekimodasor ) Post Production: Max Trujillo ( instagram.com/trujillomedia ) Sponsors: MRC ( mrcraleigh.com ) and Burny Wild's ( burnywilds.com )

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