The Illustration Department
@illusdept · Notes on Illustration · Substack profile · Art & Illustration
The Illustration Department has 19,684 followers on Substack as of Nov 1, 2026. On the latest board read, Oct 31, 2026, they were #48 on Substack's Art & Illustration Bestsellers board. 54 publications recommend them, and they recommend 20.
Last read Nov 1, 2026 (UTC). Followers are not email subscribers. Substack lists only the newest 50 recommendations for each publication, so a recommender count of 50 or more is a floor. History starts Oct 31, 2026; Substack publishes nothing earlier.
- Followers
- 19,684
- read Nov 1
- Last 7 days
- first number on Nov 7
- Last 30 days
- first number on Nov 30
- Subscribers
- 9.2K+
- rounded by Substack
- Paid subscribers
- 100+
- bestseller badge 100+
- Recommended by
- 54
- none new in 30 days
- Recommends
- 20
- Bestsellers rank
- #48
- Art & Illustration
Followers by day
Tracking since Oct 31, 2026. 2 days of readings. Substack doesn't publish past follower counts, so history starts the day I first read a writer and grows by one reading every 3 days (daily if it's on your watchlist). The 7-day change appears on Nov 7, the 30-day change on Nov 30. Recommendation dates below go further back: they're Substack's own.
Show as a table
| Date | Followers | Change | Subscribers | Paid band |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 1, 2026 | 19,684 | +9 | 9.2K+ | |
| Oct 31, 2026 | 19,675 | 9.2K+ |
Leaderboard positions
| Board | Rank now | Best on record | Reads on it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art & Illustration Bestsellers | #48 | #48 | 4 of 4 |
Rank on each read
| Writer | Oct 3107:00 | Oct 3113:00 | Oct 3119:47 | Nov 621:50 | Move |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Art & Illustration Bestsellers | 48 | 48 | 48 | 48 | 0 |
I read every board once a day.
Recommendations
54 publications recommend The Illustration Department. The Illustration Department recommends 20, and 4 of those recommend back. Lists read Oct 31.
When the recommendations started
Show as a table
| Month | Started |
|---|---|
| 2024-07 | 1 |
| 2024-10 | 1 |
| 2024-12 | 1 |
| 2025-02 | 3 |
| 2025-03 | 1 |
| 2025-04 | 5 |
| 2025-05 | 5 |
| 2025-06 | 1 |
| 2025-07 | 6 |
| 2025-08 | 4 |
| 2025-09 | 1 |
| 2025-10 | 3 |
| 2025-11 | 2 |
| 2025-12 | 2 |
| 2026-01 | 3 |
| 2026-02 | 2 |
| 2026-03 | 2 |
| 2026-04 | 2 |
| 2026-05 | 3 |
| 2026-06 | 2 |
| 2026-07 | 1 |
| 2026-08 | 1 |
| 2026-09 | 1 |
| 2026-10 | 1 |
Recommended by
Liza Donnelly448k followers · started Jul 2024 · mutual
Beth Spencer50k followers · started Aug 2025 · mutual
Adam Ming25k followers · started Dec 2024 · mutual
Viktoria Åström4.6k followers · started Oct 2024- Mallory Albrightstarted Oct 4, 2026
- Akirastudiostarted Sep 16, 2026
- Le Piratestarted Aug 21, 2026
- Notes from the Fieldstarted Jul 23, 2026
- The Fine Art of Winging Itstarted Jun 29, 2026
- Illustration Peekstarted Jun 24, 2026
- Visual Readersstarted May 5, 2026
- My Adventures as an Illustratorstarted May 4, 2026
- Chris's Substackstarted May 2, 2026
- SamB.Geestarted Apr 25, 2026
- The Bright Magazinestarted Apr 2, 2026
- Sue's Substackstarted Mar 9, 2026
- Kelsey Grassstarted Mar 5, 2026
- Drawn to Growstarted Feb 22, 2026
- Kate W2started Feb 6, 2026
- Katie's Substackstarted Jan 19, 2026
- Hello Hikimistarted Jan 8, 2026
- Illustrator’s Strategy by Kristine.Zstarted Jan 5, 2026
- Daniela's Substackstarted Dec 26, 2025
- Dusostarted Dec 15, 2025
All 54
- PL4S7IK's Substackstarted Nov 30, 2025
- Betsy Birdstarted Nov 29, 2025 · mutual
- John's Substackstarted Oct 2025
- Charlotte Glazestarted Oct 2025
- Patricia’s Substackstarted Oct 2025
- El Substack de Ginstarted Sep 2025
- Ishaa’s Substackstarted Aug 2025
- Open Sketchbookstarted Aug 2025
- Andrea’s Substackstarted Aug 2025
- Studio Vanessa Edwardsstarted Jul 2025
- How to Make a Sandwichstarted Jul 2025
- Julian’s Substackstarted Jul 2025
- Marie Horriestarted Jul 2025
- INK & PENCILstarted Jul 2025
- The Mossy Meadow Chroniclesstarted Jul 2025
- Life Through Green Glassesstarted Jun 2025
- Emma’s Substackstarted May 2025
- Phillip Ginn - Imaginatorstarted May 2025
- Greg’s Substackstarted May 2025
- Comics by Allen Suttonstarted May 2025
- Christian A.started May 2025
- Michelle.Aquilinostarted Apr 2025
- Mini Sketchbook Sessionsstarted Apr 2025
- Joy Manolerosstarted Apr 2025
- *URCA MADOSCA* An illustrated journeystarted Apr 2025
- piešėėėjaistarted Apr 2025
- Carolina Vinaderstarted Mar 2025
- Not Always Creative Clubstarted Feb 2025
- Jo’s Substackstarted Feb 2025
- Stacye’s Substackstarted Feb 2025
Recommends
- Liza Donnelly448k followers · started Oct 2024 · mutual
Austin Kleon385k followers · started Dec 2024
Animation Obsessive Staff91k followers · started Dec 2024
Jason Chatfield79k followers · started Oct 2024
Carson Ellis72k followers · started Oct 2024- Beth Spencer50k followers · started Aug 2025 · mutual
James Gurney36k followers · started Oct 2024
Danielle Krysa34k followers · started Dec 2024- Adam Ming25k followers · started Oct 2024 · mutual
Valerie Parizeault3.1k followers · started Dec 9, 2025- Betsy Birdstarted May 2025 · mutual
- Notes from Beyondstarted Jan 2025
- if-so-then-whatstarted Nov 2024
- Brett Bean's Substackstarted Nov 2024
- Random Orbitstarted Oct 2024
- illoguildstarted Oct 2024
- Drawing a Blankstarted Oct 2024
- Illustration Mattersstarted Oct 2024
- Greg Pizzoli's Fan Mail Cornerstarted Oct 2024
- Incidental Comicsstarted Oct 2024
Substack lists the 50 newest recommenders of each publication. I add every recommendation found in the full lists of the 6,392 publications I read, so writers with many recommenders may still be missing a few small ones. "Started" is Substack's date.
Recommended by the same publications
Writers who share the most recommenders with The Illustration Department. Useful for finding peers, and for sponsors looking for similar audiences.
- 4 shared
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Who recommends writers like this one
Publications that recommend at least two other Art & Illustration writers with 10,000 to 50,000 followers (54 writers in that group), but not The Illustration Department.
- recommends 10 of them
Cool Stories About Art@coolstoriesaboutart - recommends 5 of themJack's Substack
- recommends 5 of themmoussa
- recommends 4 of themSamantha Dion Baker@samanthadionbaker
- recommends 4 of them
Patrick Visser@patrickvisser - recommends 4 of themdonrice.art · sketchy digital renderings
- recommends 4 of themThe Slow Re-membering
- recommends 4 of themJoanna's Substack
- recommends 3 of them
Nishant Jain@sneakyart - recommends 3 of themThe Intellectual Investor
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