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.
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I’ve been doing children’s art for over 20 years now. It took some trial and error to find my style. It’s something that is constantly evolving. A big part of that comes from not being afraid to try new things. Some work well, some take time to perfect and others just fall into to the “what was I thinking” category. I’m sure every artist has a few pieces that make them cringe but the point is we learn as much if not more from our mistakes then we do from our successes.

Here are a few other things I’ve learned over the years about developing a new style. As I mentioned earlier it takes time and some trial and error. Making art is a learning process. Sometimes we learn quickly and other times we slog through knee deep mud for miles. Early attempts often fail but don’t be discouraged most artists don’t get it right the first time…or the second…. or the third… As you push yourself you will learn new techniques. Those techniques are valuable. Be fearless and step out side your comfort zone, that is when you’ll learn the most. Even if your first attempt falls flat on it’s face you can still use those techniques for other projects. In other words it’s not wasted time. Learning new things rarely is.

Lastly don’t create in a vacuum. It’s important to get feedback and show your work to other people, which is actually part of the reason I’m writing this article. Sometimes we, as artists, get too close to our work. Getting input from others can help us see things we’re missing and help us solve some of the problems we might not be seeing. So here are a few things I’ve been working on. I’d love it if you would leave a comment and let me know what you think. Is it working? Does it need something I’m not seeing? Do you love it, hate it, think it’s great or think it stinks, let me know. I appreciate your feedback.

If you have a project you’re working on and would like some feedback from me or the readers of this blog please post a link to your work in the comment section of this blog post and let us know what type of feedback you’d like.

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Can’t wait to get them up on the site. I hope you guys will enjoy them and send me pics of your drawings when they come out. I’ll update you here, on Twitter and over on the How 2 Draw site when they are released.

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That's me at the desk putting in another late night.

It’s that promo time of year again and I’ve been working on this year’s submissions.  Most of them are in production now and will soon be on their way to the printer.

Here’s a piece that didn’t quite make the cut. You might remember it from an earlier post. I had hoped to use it in this years promo line up but the concept didn’t quite fit the bill. I liked the way it come out though so I’ll probably use it for something else later in the year.

If you were (or are) an art student what topics would interest you most?

Trading cards make great holiday gifts

So have you seen these artist trading cards that have become quite the rage. All the kids are talking about them. If you’re not familiar with the  concept, here’s the idea… they are basically just a  2  1/2″ X 3  1/2″ piece of paper or board that an artist uses to create an original piece of art. Some artist sell them, others create them to trade or give away. They have become very popular lately.

Srathmore has really stepped up to the plate by offering all kinds of accessories to go with them. First of all the make the 2  1/2″ X 3  1/2″ cards in just about any kind of paper or board you can think of. They also make polypropylene sleeves you can use to protect your original art with. They make pre-cut matted frames to show off the finished cards as well as archival boxes for storage. My accessory is the 2  3/4″ by 3  3/4″ envelopes they make so you can mail them to your buds.

Since these have become so popular lately I thought I’d ask the kind folks at Jerry’s Artarama in Raleigh if I could offer a free art demo in the store featuring the cards. They agreed and so we put together a fun little demo where folks could come in, sit down with me and make their own cards . We scheduled it for November 21. The turn out was great, I met a bunch of terrific artists of all ages and we all had a blast. Here are a few of the cards by me and some of the fantastic artists who stopped by.

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If you think these cards are as cool as I do please be sure to come check out the Super official Bob Ostrom Studio Art Card Making class. It starts December 15th from 4-6pm  at Jerry’s Artarama in Raleigh where we will create a bunch more trading cards. This class is for students 5 and up. For more details please check out the Jerry’s site.

…Don’t forget artist trading cards make great holiday gifts too.

So last week I busted out the old sketchbook and started working on a new one. Once I had a sketch I liked I dragged it into Illustrator to clean up the line art. I use CS4. It’s a great program and you can’t beat the brush tool for nice clean lines and strokes.

Here’s what I’ve got so far. I’ll probably end up cropping in a little tighter on the portrait part of the drawing but so far I kind of like what’s going on here. What do you think?

Do you have self promo piece you’d like to share?  If so pop up a link in the comment space below. I’d love to see what you’re up to. I’ll feature a few of the best ones in a future article so don’t be shy.