In the short time I’ve been working with Carlos I’ve learned an amazing amount of very valuable information. Each of these artists have so much to offer I often feel like I should be taking notes as I interview them. Recently we interviewed artist Aleloop  of Aleloop.com. We began talking with her about her fantastic website and how much fun it was, then toward the end of the interview she mentioned something that really caught my ear. She told me it is important for SEO to keep everything all in one place and make it easier for people to find you. Once the interview was over I took a hard look at what I was doing. How many sites did I even have? I’d lost track. Was I keeping up with them all? Hardly. Was it confusing for people to find me scattered all over the internet? More then likely. Was it time to start consolidating? Yes, without a doubt.

My original intentions in creating all these sites was to try and separate the different parts of my business and eliminate confusion. Wow, really? My idea was that someone who read my blog was not interested in my portfolio nor would they care about my How2Draw site. I figured the more places people could find me the better. Kind of a shotgun approach. The reality was that I’d ended up just creating a big sloppy mess that I couldn’t keep up with. So in an effort to bring things under control I have begun a massive clean up effort to consolidate everything under one roof. It’ll take a little time but efforts are underway. When it’s complete it will all be parked under BobOstromStudio.com. children’s illustrator.

I will keep some of the other sites open for a while but will eventually begin shutting them down as I move them to the new site. That includes this site. So please make a note of it if you enjoy reading my posts. Thanks for sticking with me.

Children's Book Illustrator Bob Ostrom at the Athens Drive Public Library in Raleigh

I had a great time last week visiting the Athens Drive Public Library in Raleigh. We had an enormous turn out with lots of super talented young artists attending. We had a ball drawing Big Foot, a cat, a dog named Jack and lots of other fun things. We also played a few drawing games and I even stumped the crowd with my Guess What We’re Going to Draw game.

If you missed me at Athens Drive don’t worry I will be adding lots more appearances and classes in the coming months. If you would like me to come to your school or library please let me know by filling in the handy form below and I will do my best to add you to the line up. If you are interested in taking one of my classes just check the add me to your mailing list box and I will send you my class schedule.
[contact-form]

It’s amazing the things you learn when you teach. Sitting down and preparing a 3 hour lesson twice a week is a much larger task then I had imagined. Running through my lessons plans I quickly realized that even with my experience I am only using a very small portion of the program. Each of my students had different requirements. Some wanted to learn design, some were interested in illustration, and I even had a few printers who wanted to learn the program. So with all these different needs I was forced to stretch a little and learn new things in order to present lesson plans that would allow each of the students to understand the program in the way they intended to use it. This was great for the students as well and allowed them a much broader view of what CS5 can really do.

Art by Neil Castle - Adobe Illustrator CS5 2 Wake Tech Community College

At the end of each session students are required to hand in a final assignment. I’ve only taught two Illustrator classes so far but I’ve been totally blown away by these projects. Here is an example of what one of my students from my Illustrator 2 class was able to produce using 3D effects and the mesh tool (along with a few other little things). I think you’ll agree that not only is he an amazingly talented artist but that Illustrator CS5 has come a mighty long way since 1996 when I first started to use it.

If you are interested in this class or my Adobe InDesign class please visit the Wake Tech website at http://wechtech.edu or use this link : http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/84e8fcea (My classes are at the Western campus).

First off Keynote is a very intuitive program with lot’s of drag and drop. Which is fantastic because that makes it super speedy. Throwing together a simple presentation takes no time at all. I did this portfolio presentation in a little under an hour. There are some great features which allow me to place audio or video right into my presentation. I love this function and can see it being a big part of an upcoming project.

When it comes to exporting my files I’m able to save as a Quick Time, Power Point, PDF, HTML or iPod document. I can also share my work by sending it to iDVD, iPhoto, iTunes, iWeb, Garage Band or Youtube as a video. If I need to email it I can send it as a Keynote, Power Point or PDF. I haven’t tried all these functions yet but the more I learn the more I realize Keynote will soon be a very valuable part of my business.

So every program has it’s drawbacks right? Here are a few I’ve experienced with Keynote. Keep in mind I’m new to the program and have not fully explored possible solutions so just because it’s listed here doesn’t mean there isn’t a solution (it’s more likely I just haven’t found it yet). My biggest disappointment with Keynote was that in the past it allowed users to export to Flash. As far as I know in Keynote ’09 that function no longer exists.

Some of the other problems I faced were more about appearance. I noticed a slight color shift in intensity when placing art into the program. This was more pronounced when exporting the files to a Quick Time video. I also noticed that when enlarging or reducing the artwork I lost some of the sharpness. The lines weren’t as crisp and tended to look a little soft (I’ve been looking through the forums to see if I can find a solution and will post a link if I do)

Overall I was very pleased with the program and will continue honing my skills until I become a Keynote ninja. In the meantime I’m really looking forward to sharing on Youtube and think Keynote is just the program to breath new life the presentations I’ve been waiting to share for so long. If you have experience with Keynote and would like to share you knowledge or some of your work please leave a comment and or a link to your site in the space below.

Since most of the work I do is for kids, it means keeping things colorful, bright and fun. Working in a cartoony style makes that pretty easy. Producing logos that live primarily on line makes it even easier because my logos can move. The animation is a bit of a new thing for me but so far it’s been well received.

The trick to designing a great logo is that it has to work well in many different situations. So although working in RGB (color mixed with light) allows me to use insanely bright colors I know that designing can’t print is poor design. I also know that as tempting as it may be to design an animated logo that is too over the top might not be the best choice either. Balance is the key to good design. If page content is fighting my logo for attention then I haven’t done my job well. The most important part of any site is content. So although my logo always looks great if it demands too much attention then it can easily become an annoyance rather then well balanced design.

Carlos is also direct response marketing expert, and an expert on Hispanic marketing. He has served as consultant and trainer to ad agencies and graphic arts organizations, has been interviewed by radio news and TV networks including CNN En Español. Above all he is passionate about motivating, inspiring and coaching creative entrepreneurs on how to achieve greater success through their art.

If you’re a Creative Independence listener you will remember Carlos as a reappearing guest and guest host on the show. He is a tremendously inspirational guy and I look forward to working with him in the upcoming year.

Drawn By Success

If you’re not yet familiar with Drawn by Success I strongly recommend swinging by the site and checking it out. The site was created to serve as a valuable resource of proven marketing and positioning strategies to help freelance artists prosper at the creative work they love, while also serving as a source of encouragement and accountability to those bold enough to do the work necessary to attract better clients and higher fee

Here’s the write up. Hope to see you there….

Children’s Book Illustration- For Adults

LOCATION: Jerry’s Artarama
Holly Park Shopping Center
3060 Wake Forest Road
Raleigh, NC 27609

TIME: 10AM-4PM
DATES: January 29th or April 9th.

Sometimes all it takes is just a little push to make great things happen. Sometimes all it takes is a class like this. It’s time to grab that old manuscript, dust off your sketches and breath some life back into that children’s book project you’ve been wanting to get to for so long. This class will focus on getting your project off the ground and leaving you with a step by step plan to help you follow your project through to completion.
MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS: Please have a manuscript to work from.
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS: Please bring in your dream project …(whatever state of completion it’s in)

CLASS CURRICULUM
Part One – Share your dream.

• Introduce yourself and your project
• Show your art/ or discuss your project
• Discuss ideas for improvement

Part Two -Action Steps

• What will it take to get your project ready for presentation
• Create a list of action step to make it happen
• Create a time line

Part Three – Getting to work

• Thumbnail sketches
• Begin work on a dummy

Bio:Bob Ostrom has been illustrating children’s books for the past 20 years. His art has been featured in over 200 children’s books and publications. He has worked with companies like Cartoon Network, Disney, Nickelodeon, Simon and Schuster, Random house to name a few. The only thing Bob enjoys more then illustrating children’s books is inspiring artists to follow their dream of becoming a children’s book illustrator.

Jerry’s Artarama
Holly Park Shopping Center
3060 Wake Forest Road
Raleigh, NC 27609




View Larger Map

If you haven’t heard of START yet you can find more info on them other at the START site. START stands for Stop Thinking Art is Really Tough. It’s a great way to introduce people to art. If you’ve never taken an art class before or would like to learn something new this is the place. The instructors are top notch. The classes are offered in a ton of different locations and best of all they are only 30 bucks … supplies included.

I currently have 3 classes set up in January with more on the way. I will be teaching at Jerry’s Artarama in Raleigh but hope to be adding a few new locations soon.

Here is a list of my classes:

Cartooning for Kids (ages 7-10) (Moms and Dads and invited too)
S.T.A.R.T
Location: Jerry’s Artarama
Holly Park Shopping Center
3060 Wake Forest Road
Raleigh NC, 27609
Time and Date – January 10, 2011 / 3:30pm – 5:30pm

Cartooning for Youngsters (ages 5-8)
S.T.A.R.T
Location: Jerry’s Artarama
Holly Park Shopping Center
3060 Wake Forest Road
Raleigh NC, 27609
Time and Date – January 17, 2011 3:30pm – 5:30pm

Cartooning for Big Kids (ages 12 and up)
S.T.A.R.T
Location: Jerry’s Artarama
Holly Park Shopping Center
3060 Wake Forest Road
Raleigh NC, 27609
Time and Date – January 24, 2011 / 3:30pm – 5:30pm

You may have read about Mary Jane and the Boomer and Halley© – Little Lessons. Big Results.™ series in a few of my previous posts. Mary Jane is an extremely talented, creative and quick-witted writer. We’ve had an absolute ball working on these books. She is truly one of my favorite authors to work with. There are three books in the series so far including the one mentioned in this article, they are: Boomer and Halley Scavenger Hunt, Boomer and Halley Lost and Found and , Boomer and Halley Election Day. “Lost and Found” is the second book in the series, and is the prequel to the first book “Scavenger Hunt”. It highlights pet adoption and explains how Boomer and Halley came to live with their family.

If you have a young reader in the family these books are a must. They are warm, silly, cute and fun. They are sort of like I Love Lucy meets Leave it to Beaver. Each story take place in a little southern town called Shady Pines and center on the main characters, Boomer an Australian Shepherd and Halley a silver tabby cat. The two have been adopted by an older couple named Harold and Edna Sanders. The books focus on core values and a PAWSitive approach to parenting in a unique way. You can read more about it on the Boomer and Halley site. I highly recommend these books and hope you enjoy reading them as much as I did illustrating them.

For more on Mary Jane or Boomer and Halley© – Little Lessons. Big Results.™ please visit the website at http://BoomerandHalley.com.
You can also find a brand new Boomer and Halley fan page on Face Book or read comments by Mary Jane on her blog.