Character design is a real job? The first professional job I ever did was a character design for an extremely  large beer company back in the 80’s. As a college student it was a very big deal. They handed me a fat check along with a contract and samples of a beer they hadn’t even released. I had no idea at the time that there were people who actually did this type of work for a living but I knew right away this was the life for me. A few years later I started my own business

The woods were totally dark except for the dim glow of the crackling campfire. The only sound for miles were the crickets and the occasional lonely howl of a distant coyote. The boys had jumped the first time they heard the howling but had managed to convince each other they were totally safe as long as nobody wandered off. Just as they were beginning to calm their unsteady nerves Missy clicked on the little light light illuminating a ghastly haunted version her former self.

Donut Boy smiled and looked up at the bright blue summer sky. The world was filled with possibility. Neither spoke for fear of breaking the magical spell, they simply took in the moment as the ancient city transport shuttle lurched and sputtered its way up the steep gravel road. The young driver searched in vain for a gear that would ease the strain but the hissing rattling engine refused to yield. The transmission complained loudly as the shuttle belched thick black diesel e

Hey Kids, I wanted to share some really cool news with you! Remember that post I wrote a while back about trying to find a new digital watercolor style using Photoshop? You don’t? Well basically I was looking for a way to replicate the look and feel of a watercolor illustration done using a combination of just my iPad Pro and my iMac… 100% digital, no paper, no paint. The New Books are in! Since the time I wrote that post I’ve completed two new books using that very same digi

It's Summer Vacation! I 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 to let up. The sun popped out for about an hour and half so the kids and I grabbed our boogie boards and headed

Character Design From the Blue Sky Folder – Wonder Woman in Adobe Illustrator CC 2014 by Bob Ostrom Studio #illustrator #art #superhero #Illustration #adobe #artist #BobOstrom #childrensbookillustration #cartooning #Cartoon

Illustration Work in Progress Every once and a while it’s fun to post a little illustration work in progress. Here’s quick sneak peak at my latest: #illustrator #art #Illustration #artist #BobOstrom #childrensbookillustration #cartooning #Cartoon