Hey guys,

This week is going to have to be a short post. Lots of deadlines to take care of and not a lot of time for writing. I did want to mention one thing however and that was that last Friday on the Drawn by Success Friday Hangouts, Carlos and I got together with licensing expert Tara Reed. It was a great interview where Tara shared a little bit about the new program she’s starting. If you’ve ever thought about licensing your art then this program is for you.

I should mention that the link below is an affiliate link and as you know I hardly ever do affiliates. Please keep in mind that I only stand behind what I think will benefit my readers. My philosophy on learning and teaching is if you want to learn something always seek out the best you can possibly afford. I believe teachers who are also working professionals with a proven track record in their chosen field are the best to learn from after all, they are successful for a reason. Tara Reed is one of those people. She is an excellent teacher and a wealth of knowledge. If you are not subscribed to her blog stop what you are doing right now, head over there and check it out you’ll be happy you did.

The post Art Licensing Academy Course with Artist Tara Reed appeared first on Bob Ostrom Studio - 919-809-6178.

Hey guys,

This week is going to have to be a short post. Lots of deadlines to take care of and not a lot of time for writing. I did want to mention one thing however and that was that last Friday on the Drawn by Success Friday Hangouts, Carlos and I got together with licensing expert Tara Reed. It was a great interview where Tara shared a little bit about the new program she’s starting. If you’ve ever thought about licensing your art then this program is for you.

I should mention that the link below is an affiliate link and as you know I hardly ever do affiliates. Please keep in mind that I only stand behind what I think will benefit my readers. My philosophy on learning and teaching is if you want to learn something always seek out the best you can possibly afford. I believe teachers who are also working professionals with a proven track record in their chosen field are the best to learn from after all, they are successful for a reason. Tara Reed is one of those people. She is an excellent teacher and a wealth of knowledge. If you are not subscribed to her blog stop what you are doing right now, head over there and check it out you’ll be happy you did.

The post Art Licensing Academy Course with Artist Tara Reed appeared first on Bob Ostrom Studio - 919-809-6178.

Dinosaur facts brought to you by award winning illustrator, amateur archeologist and all around good guy Bob Ostrom

The post Important but Lesser Known Dinosaur Facts appeared first on Bob Ostrom Studio - 919-809-6178.

Dinosaur facts brought to you by award winning illustrator, amateur archeologist and all around good guy Bob Ostrom

The post Important but Lesser Known Dinosaur Facts appeared first on Bob Ostrom Studio - 919-809-6178.

Getting to Charlotte

Note to self…Charlotte North Carolina  is not 2 1/2 hours from Cary North Carolina its actually closer to 3 and the best time to figure that out is not 3 hours before you are due at an event. Luckily the sun was shining down on me and Siri guided me to my destination, arriving at a crisp 1:55. Just in time to walk in, grab a faculty badge and sit down at my table to review portfolios. And so it went through almost the entire weekend from one event to another until the late hours of the night. I had no idea what a jam packed weekend I was in for. 

It was super cool getting to meet everyone, after months of preparation, and to finally put some names to faces. Our breakout session came late in Friday. It seemed like the hour went by too quickly and we just barely had a chance to scratch the surface. Luckily Deb, Vanessa and I had a handout that went into much more detail than we were able to cover. I believe the pdf version will be available online soon for members to download. 

The WIN Group

We were finally able to announce our new WIN group which will be available to members soon. WIN of course stands for working illustrators network. If you are an illustrator and a member (or are considering becoming a member) of SCBWI than this group is for you. I will be writing more about the group in the weeks to come so stay tuned for some really great stuff you are not going to want to miss this.

I’ve got some crazy deadlines to catch up on this week so here are just a few more quick thoughts on the event before I sign off.

• Met some great new friends
• The accommodations were excellent 
• Everyone was super friendly and super helpful 
• The days were filled with activity starting at 7:30am and continuing until 10pm (and a little bit later for the the crew of friendly illustrators I had traded laughs with at the hotel bar)
• I am looking into starting a new art group here in the Raleigh area for those who are interested. (More on that at a later date)
• The Tom Carvell impression still kills at parties and events
• I’m very happy and thankful for being invited to participate as a faculty member this year and hope to see everyone again next year.
• Thank you so much to everyone who went out of their way to make me feel welcome and help me navigate my first ever SCBWI event.

Oh one more quick reminder. My adobe Illustrator class starts this week at Wake Tech so if you are interested in learning this program hop on over to the wake tech website and do what all the super cool. kids are doing sign up for my class. You only have one more day so hurry!!!!

The post SCBWI Carolina’s Annual Event appeared first on Bob Ostrom Studio - 919-809-6178.

Getting to Charlotte

Note to self…Charlotte North Carolina  is not 2 1/2 hours from Cary North Carolina its actually closer to 3 and the best time to figure that out is not 3 hours before you are due at an event. Luckily the sun was shining down on me and Siri guided me to my destination, arriving at a crisp 1:55. Just in time to walk in, grab a faculty badge and sit down at my table to review portfolios. And so it went through almost the entire weekend from one event to another until the late hours of the night. I had no idea what a jam packed weekend I was in for. 

It was super cool getting to meet everyone, after months of preparation, and to finally put some names to faces. Our breakout session came late in Friday. It seemed like the hour went by too quickly and we just barely had a chance to scratch the surface. Luckily Deb, Vanessa and I had a handout that went into much more detail than we were able to cover. I believe the pdf version will be available online soon for members to download. 

The WIN Group

We were finally able to announce our new WIN group which will be available to members soon. WIN of course stands for working illustrators network. If you are an illustrator and a member (or are considering becoming a member) of SCBWI than this group is for you. I will be writing more about the group in the weeks to come so stay tuned for some really great stuff you are not going to want to miss this.

I’ve got some crazy deadlines to catch up on this week so here are just a few more quick thoughts on the event before I sign off.

• Met some great new friends
• The accommodations were excellent 
• Everyone was super friendly and super helpful 
• The days were filled with activity starting at 7:30am and continuing until 10pm (and a little bit later for the the crew of friendly illustrators I had traded laughs with at the hotel bar)
• I am looking into starting a new art group here in the Raleigh area for those who are interested. (More on that at a later date)
• The Tom Carvell impression still kills at parties and events
• I’m very happy and thankful for being invited to participate as a faculty member this year and hope to see everyone again next year.
• Thank you so much to everyone who went out of their way to make me feel welcome and help me navigate my first ever SCBWI event.

Oh one more quick reminder. My adobe Illustrator class starts this week at Wake Tech so if you are interested in learning this program hop on over to the wake tech website and do what all the super cool kids are doing, sign up for my class. You only have one more day so hurry!!!!

The post SCBWI Carolina’s Annual Event appeared first on Bob Ostrom Studio - 919-809-6178.

Portfolio.

Well this week is all about the SCBWI portfolio. I’ve got the printer inked up and ready to roll. I have to admit I feel like I’m stepping back in time a little with an actual printed portfolio, its been so long since I’ve shown one I almost feel like a kid again. Twenty three skidoo!!! 

Getting all this stuff ready is a lot of work so I decided to use InDesign to help make the process a little easier. If you’ve never used the program you’d be amazed at how well it streamlines a task like printing out a portfolio. As I was  working it occurred to me that this would be a great opportunity to share how easy this program makes something like putting together a portfolio. So, as soon as I get back home next week I’m going to put together a little demo and pop it up over on BobTeachesArt.com. Those of you who have used the program know exactly what I’m talking about. Those of you who haven’t are in for a treat.

Zazzle Quality Question

Before I sign off just wanted to ask all my readers a quick question. Has anyone here ever ordered anything through Zazzle? Particularly a dark colored T-shirt. I got mine back in the mail Saturday and the quality on that thing is very poor. I’m really hoping they were just having a bad day and we can get this straightened out because if this is the quality they produce on a consistent basis I would be very disappointed and very surprised. If you’ve had a similar experience please leave a comment and let me know how you resolved it and or if you were able to find a better solution. 
Thanks and see you in Charlotte!!!

The post SCBWI Carolina’s Week appeared first on Bob Ostrom Studio - 919-809-6178.

Portfolio.

Well this week is all about the SCBWI portfolio. I’ve got the printer inked up and ready to roll. I have to admit I feel like I’m stepping back in time a little with an actual printed portfolio, its been so long since I’ve shown one I almost feel like a kid again. Twenty three skidoo!!! 

Getting all this stuff ready is a lot of work so I decided to use InDesign to help make the process a little easier. If you’ve never used the program you’d be amazed at how well it streamlines a task like printing out a portfolio. As I was  working it occurred to me that this would be a great opportunity to share how easy this program makes something like putting together a portfolio. So, as soon as I get back home next week I’m going to put together a little demo and pop it up over on BobTeachesArt.com. Those of you who have used the program know exactly what I’m talking about. Those of you who haven’t are in for a treat.

Zazzle Quality Question

Before I sign off just wanted to ask all my readers a quick question. Has anyone here ever ordered anything through Zazzle? Particularly a dark colored T-shirt. I got mine back in the mail Saturday and the quality on that thing is very poor. I’m really hoping they were just having a bad day and we can get this straightened out because if this is the quality they produce on a consistent basis I would be very disappointed and very surprised. If you’ve had a similar experience please leave a comment and let me know how you resolved it and or if you were able to find a better solution. 
Thanks and see you in Charlotte!!!

The post SCBWI Carolina’s Week appeared first on Bob Ostrom Studio - 919-809-6178.

Yes Readers, we are officially entering Keee-runch time for the SCBWI fall event and that means anything that needs to get printed or shipped has to happen this week or it starts costing extra. I’ve steadily been checking items off the list all weekend. 

• Postcards
• Connections requests sent out on LinkedIn
• Big Giant Handout for breakout group

Only a couple more items and I’m good to go. If you can believe it I’m actually ahead of schedule on most of my check list items with the exception of announcing the wrong date on The Friday Hangouts show over at Drawn By Success. Not sure what I was thinking, this thing has only been in the works for the last 4 months. Must have had my wires crossed for a second there. I’m sure anyone who caught the episode is probably thinking that I’ll be that guy standing in the lobby of the hotel on the wrong date wondering where everyone is, or worse yet that guy getting the panicky phone call from my co-presenters 15 minutes before the event wondering where I am. Don’t worry guys, I know the date and I’ll be there ready to go if my name isn’t
Cornelius VonBlatenshcnuoozen… the third.

The post SCBWI – Crunch Time appeared first on Bob Ostrom Studio - 919-809-6178.

Yes Readers, we are officially entering Keee-runch time for the SCBWI fall event and that means anything that needs to get printed or shipped has to happen this week or it starts costing extra. I’ve steadily been checking items off the list all weekend. 

• Postcards
• Connections requests sent out on LinkedIn
• Big Giant Handout for breakout group

Only a couple more items and I’m good to go. If you can believe it I’m actually ahead of schedule on most of my check list items with the exception of announcing the wrong date on The Friday Hangouts show over at Drawn By Success. Not sure what I was thinking, this thing has only been in the works for the last 4 months. Must have had my wires crossed for a second there. I’m sure anyone who caught the episode is probably thinking that I’ll be that guy standing in the lobby of the hotel on the wrong date wondering where everyone is, or worse yet that guy getting the panicky phone call from my co-presenters 15 minutes before the event wondering where I am. Don’t worry guys, I know the date and I’ll be there ready to go if my name isn’t
Cornelius VonBlatenshcnuoozen… the third.

The post SCBWI – Crunch Time appeared first on Bob Ostrom Studio - 919-809-6178.

Great write up Bob! Can’t wait to see everyone in a few weeks! Glad you found your way back out!

Bob! You have got me so excited I can’t stand it!! I am so looking forward to meeting up with you and Deb and the other illustrators at this conference. I am also proud of you for getting up and moving. I know how hard it is for me, but I was about to do one of those marathons myself and I got my butt up and started cleaning and moving around. It’s so important. Thanks so much for sharing that!

 Vanessa, Deb and I have come up with an amazing handout we will be presenting to all the illustrators who join us at the SCBWI fall conference in Charlotte. This thing has turned into quite a large project. It’s basically a guide to running your own art business. Working with Deb and Vanessa has been so much fun. I always look forward to our Wednesday meetings. Since we’re almost at crunch time this weekend was dedicated to getting the layout together. I’ve been capitalizing on all my mad InDesign skills to come up with a rocking layout for you guys. Can’t wait to share it with you.

Saturday as I was working on the design I came to a section where we focus on health, handling stress and taking care of yourself. Part of staying healthy means not spending marathon sessions at the desk without a break or exercise. That’s when I realized I had been sitting at my desk for a marathon InDesign session. I decided I should take my own advice and get outside for a run to enjoy the beautiful afternoon.

My favorite kind of running is on a trail in the woods where I can be alone and decompress. There are some great trails near my house at a huge park called Umstead. These trails go for miles. I planned to run for about a half hour…easy-peasy in and out then back to work. I love is to run trails I haven’t run before so I picked a new one that I hadn’t tried yet. I’ve only run at Umstead a handful of times so most of the trails are new to me. This one was amazing and started out by following a deep wide stream. Umstead is quickly becoming a favorite place to run.

Work in progress for the SCBWI fall conference.

Anyway to make a long story short I got a little turned around as I made my way along some very long unfamiliar paths. Not knowing exactly where I was I ended up running pretty deep into the woods and spending much more time there than I had intended. MUCH more time. In fact let’s just put it thus way if I had been in there any longer, I probably would have made the evening news as one of those, old guy lost in the woods search and rescue stories. It was a humbling experience but yes, I made it out alive and am all the better for it. By my best estimate I probably ended up running for about 3 or 4 miles and then walking around 63 miles. You would think I’d be discouraged but honestly I can’t wait to go back and run it again. Well, not the exact same trail but this time however I think I’ll print out a map before I go… and maybe pack a flare gun just in case.

Here is a little piece I’ve been working on to help promote Bob Ostrom Studio at the event. Once this campaign is complete I’ll post it here on the site for those of you who aren’t able to attend this year.

The post Part 4 – SCBWI and Getting Lost in the Woods appeared first on Bob Ostrom Studio - 919-809-6178.

 Vanessa, Deb and I have come up with an amazing handout we will be presenting to all the illustrators who join us at the SCBWI fall conference in Charlotte. This thing has turned into quite a large project. It’s basically a guide to running your own art business. Working with Deb and Vanessa has been so much fun. I always look forward to our Wednesday meetings. Since we’re almost at crunch time this weekend was dedicated to getting the layout together. I’ve been capitalizing on all my mad InDesign skills to come up with a rocking layout for you guys. Can’t wait to share it with you.

Saturday as I was working on the design I came to a section where we focus on health, handling stress and taking care of yourself. Part of staying healthy means not spending marathon sessions at the desk without a break or exercise. That’s when I realized I had been sitting at my desk for a marathon InDesign session. I decided I should take my own advice and get outside for a run to enjoy the beautiful afternoon.

My favorite kind of running is on a trail in the woods where I can be alone and decompress. There are some great trails near my house at a huge park called Umstead. These trails go for miles. I planned to run for about a half hour…easy-peasy in and out then back to work. I love is to run trails I haven’t run before so I picked a new one that I hadn’t tried yet. I’ve only run at Umstead a handful of times so most of the trails are new to me. This one was amazing and started out by following a deep wide stream. Umstead is quickly becoming a favorite place to run.

Work in progress for the SCBWI fall conference.

Anyway to make a long story short I got a little turned around as I made my way along some very long unfamiliar paths. Not knowing exactly where I was I ended up running pretty deep into the woods and spending much more time there than I had intended. MUCH more time. In fact let’s just put it thus way if I had been in there any longer, I probably would have made the evening news as one of those, old guy lost in the woods search and rescue stories. It was a humbling experience but yes, I made it out alive and am all the better for it. By my best estimate I probably ended up running for about 3 or 4 miles and then walking around 63 miles. You would think I’d be discouraged but honestly I can’t wait to go back and run it again. Well, not the exact same trail but this time however I think I’ll print out a map before I go… and maybe pack a flare gun just in case.

Here is a little piece I’ve been working on to help promote Bob Ostrom Studio at the event. Once this campaign is complete I’ll post it here on the site for those of you who aren’t able to attend this year.

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Hey Readers,

Two things I wanted to cover this week. First was to introduce my new intern Charlie and the second was to talk a little more about my continuing plans for the SCBWI fall conference. Charlie is joining me from the AOIT (Academy of Information Technology) program at Apex High School. He will be helping me with the day to day tasks here at the studio as well as doing a little illustration work with me. Charlie is no stranger to Bob Ostrom Studio and has helped with several illustration jobs in the past. He is a very talented young artist who is excellent with Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator as well as having great technical skills. You may have noticed a few changes to this website and also to BobTeachesArt.com thanks to Charlies and his behind the scenes modifications.

Last week I had put together a little check list of items I wanted to get done for the fall SCBWI conference this year.  It seems the conference date is creeping up quickly and things are starting to pick up at Bob Ostrom Studio with fall right around the corner. I’ve been making steady progress with my list but it looks like I’m going to need to pick up the pace a little since I plan to add a few additional tasks this week.

• Make new business cards… the real kind, not the cheap-out inkjet card stock kind
  
• Get shirts printed
• Begin printing out new pieces for the portfolio 
• Design a rocking new postcard
• Think of super cool affordable giveaway item
• Take a nap
• Continue working with my co-hosts on the business of art presentation

This weeks mission is to reach out to some of the other presenters and introduce myself. I’ve found it’s always helpful before an event if you can make a few connections ahead of time. That way when you get down there you can always find a few friendly faces and say hello in person. My plan is to see if I can find a few of the other faculty members I don’t know yet and introduce myself on LinkedIn.

So as many of you know I don’t do a lot of traveling for the business and speaking at this conference is a little bit a stretch for me. The way I see it though is if you never stretch you never grow and it’s time to do a little growing. What are you guys doing to stretch yourselves? Do you have any events planned this year to get you out and meeting people? I hope any of you who prefer to hibernate, like I do,  are pushing just a little bit harder to step outside your comfort zones and do a little growing. Well that’s all I have time for today. Lots of deadlines looming and lots of extra work to do for the conference. I feel like I’m in pretty good shape wit the check list and with the help of my new intern Charlie I’ve got things well in hand. 

The post The 22nd Fall SCBWI Carolinas Conference – Part 3 and Charlie the Intern appeared first on Bob Ostrom Studio - 919-809-6178.

LOL! Love that you actually added “take a nap”!

Does anyone out there still have a printed portfolio? I think the last time I showed mine I was wearing a leisure suit and a pair of earth shoes (sorry kids, you have to be over 40 to get that joke). Turns out a printed portfolio is one of those things that come in really handy at an event like an SCBWI conference. Who knew? Looks like I’m gong to have to add it to the list. I’m also guessing only a fool would show up without some kind of handout or giveaway so I’m also adding business cards and postcards to the list as well. Whoa, all of the sudden a month doesn’t sound like a lot of time. If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the years though it’s how to get things done quickly. So here’s my “to do” list for the week.

• Make new business cards… the real kind, not the cheap-out inkjet card stock kind
  
• Get shirts printed
• Begin printing out new pieces for the portfolio 
• Design a rocking new postcard
• Think of super cool affordable giveaway item
• Take a nap
• Continue working with my co-hosts on the business of art presentation

There you have it readers. That’s my list and I’m sticking to it. I’m going to have to ask you guys for a little favor or two, if you’re up for it. First if any of you guys catch me slacking off or straying from the list feel free to call me out on it.

Second, if you’ve ever attended one of these shindigs and would like to write a little guest post or share some advice on my blog please get in touch with me and let me know. It doesn’t have to be the Carolina’s event. Any SCBWI annual would be cool.

Okay, all for now gentle readers. Updates soon….
Bob

The post The 22nd Fall SCBWI Carolinas Conference – Part 2 appeared first on Bob Ostrom Studio - 919-809-6178.

Cartoon Logo Design by Bob Ostrom Studio

Here is a quick look at a little cartoon logo project I did for my good friends at Rock and Lou’s Pizza. If you happen to live in southern California keep a look out for this truck and be sure to tell them that Bob sent you. Happy motoring!!!

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SCBWI Fall Conference

Hey did I tell you guys I’m going to be at the 22nd annual SCBWI fall conference of the Carolina’s this year? Yup, I’m gearing up to step out of the office and spend a couple of days down in Charlotte this September. Not only am I attending the event but I’ll be speaking and reviewing portfolios as well. How’s that for following up on my pledge to get out of the office and attend more events this year?
This is a first for me so I thought it might be fun to chronicle the experience and talk a little bit about my take on things as a rookie SCBWI attendee/speaker. Let me just preface by saying I have never been to a SCBWI event before and I have absolutely no idea what to expect. I will be speaking along side two very talented artists. Vanessa Brantley and Deb Johnson about the business side of art. I also will be reviewing portfolios as I mentioned earlier. Both of which are super cool because as any of you follow me on the vid-cast I co-host Drawn By Success know this is right up my alley. 

I’ll be updating you with posts about the event in the coming weeks including how I do with my speaking engagement. It should be quite an adventure and I’m really looking forward to it. If any of you are planning to attend the event please let me know and maybe we can plan a meet up. I always look forward to meeting new friends and saying hello to old ones.

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Summer Vacation!

Hope everyone is having a great summer! Last week I headed down to the beach here in North Carolina for a short little summer vacation. Unfortunately it rained harder than I’ve ever seen it rain. It was one of those rains where you think it can’t possibly rain any harder but then it does….all day. Just as we checked into the hotel it started let up. The sun popped out for about an hour and half so the kids and I grabbed our boogie boards and headed down to the ocean. Right about the time we decided to to get out of the water the rain came back. And so it went the following day. Two hours of sun at the beach in the morning (with the darkest storm cloud I’ve ever seen on the horizon) followed by a torrential down pour. Since we don’t live too far we decided enough was enough, jumped in the car and headed back home. All in all everyone had a pretty great time. I think maybe we’ll head down another time before the summer is done and see if we can’t get a little better weather.

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From the Blue Sky Folder – Wonder Woman in Adobe Illustrator CC 2014 by Bob Ostrom Studio

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I had an Intous 5 and it was great but there’s a disconnect between drawing on the tablet VS the Cintiq for me. I could trace things just fine but I never felt comfortable drawing with it. The Cintiq feels much more natural. More like painting with a brush.

It looks great, Bob. I love your style

Didn’t you have another Wacom before your Cintiq? Don’t get me wrong, I live my Cintiq, but my workflow hasn’t changed, other than I can now have youtube podcasts or some series from Netflix running on my iMac while I draw, and actually look over on the other screen once in a while. And I’m not sure that’s doing anything good for my speed

I have always felt right at home when working on my old Intuos 2, but I expected a better and faster workflow when I got my Cintiq in 2012, but that didn’t make any difference to me. But I love it, and my cats love it too, since it gets very warm

The Blue Sky Folder

Deep in the archives of my computer there is a small beacon of light that shines brightly through the darkness. It’s called the Blue Sky Folder. Inside is a collection of sketches, experiments, new styles, new techniques, story concepts and a bunch of projects in various stages of completion. This folder is basically a resting place for all the ideas that rattle around inside my head long enough for me to get them down on paper or into various stages of digital completion. Like many other artists I’m always restless to try new things and this is my outlet. 

This is a Blue Sky piece I began almost 3 years ago. I wasn’t quite sure where I was headed with it at the time so I put it in hold to work on other things. I had totally forgotten about it until I was leafing through the the folder recently and it caught my eye. One of the main reasons I had put this one on hold was that the techniques I’d used to create it were very time consuming and a bit unrefined. Looking at the piece again I realized that the solution was sitting right in front of me. I didn’t have my Cintiq tablet when I started so any digital freehand drawing was pretty much out of the question? As I popped the file up on my screen I realized that was no longer an obstacle. It only took me a few hours to finish the piece and I’m psyched because now I finally have a great way to save time and paint right on the computer.

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Johnny Appleseed Childrens Book Illustration.

This one was from a recent series of books I worked on last year. I’ve tried this look before once or twice using traditional art and a scanner but it was always a tedious process to get the lines bold enough. The Cintiq has helped make creating bold pencil lines very easy. My next goal is to start working on a more natural watercolor look.

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