Rozzie Land

Month Of Softies

I'm excited, this is my first time participating in "a month of softies".  The last book I worked on had a cat as the main character. Next month I hope to make time to make a "real" softie!!

Illo Friday- GLUTTONY

This is the artist,then,life's hungry man, the glutton of eternity, beauty's miser, glory's slave. ~ Thomas Wolfe

Making Progress

Yesterday I made a lot of progress with the spring promo. The sun was shining, all the kids were at school and everything just seemed to flow. Today, it's miserable and rainy, one kiddo home sick and I'm feeling totally uninspired. So I thought I'd play with the digital camera and show you my work in progress. 

This past week I worked on the tracing and making of templates. Yesterday I cut and glued each character together. Here it is but the pieces aren't attached to the background yet.

Next comes the fun part. EMBELLISHING. This will make the characters come to life and add more depth and detail.

You may notice that it's different from the sketch I posted earlier.  =O) 

I received more feedback and as a result reworked it into a piece that I'm much happier with. 

I'll show you the finished piece next week.   Happy illustrating!

Sowing Seeds

I get so antsy during these quiet times. The planting of seed season , hoping to reap a harvest. Will this promotional piece (pet show sketch I posted earlier) reap the harvest I so desire? Is the felt really going to open the doors for me? I hope it is. It’s making me queasy nervous. BUT, when I’m actually sitting and working , I feel a real sense of purpose and satisfaction. That should be my answer, right ? If I wouldn’t waste so much time THINKING, OVER ANALYZING, SPECULATING, I would be alright.

I want guarantees. That is my problem. Stepping out in faith is very difficult for me. Like I’ve said before, it took me two years to listen to that inner voice urging me to explore with the felt. And lo and behold…it opened new doors, very exciting doors!

I have big dreams but I easily get stuck in the moment I guess, not really trusting myself.  Granted, I have been accomplishing things that I never would have dreamed. To take someone like me , a very shy, self conscious soul and to be working now in a field where I have to face rejection daily is a major feat.

But what’s funny is once you’ve accomplished that goal that seemed so hard to attain…here comes another one smiling and urging you on.  That’s what is going on with me right now, I think. 

My desires are changing. I’m wanting more. And because of that, I  am going to have to stretch myself. Try things that are unfamiliar and scary. That’s a vulnerable feeling.

As I sit here typing this I realize that it IS a part of the process , isn’t it?

Our inner selves are slowly revealing its plan to us step by step. We need to embrace that and accept that it’s our tool to get where we’re headed.. It’s our inner selves prompting us to the next level.  It’s okay , not to know what is going to happen next. We just need to go for it and let the rest take care of its self.

What is the point of this ramble? I guess I’m just hoping that you will trust your instincts, go for it and step out a little too. Like I’m reminding myself  today …with every action, there is a reaction. Take that step and see what happens. You may be in the quiet time of your dream but believe that the effort that you make now, however small, will move you forward on your journey. Trust your inner voice even if the dreams you have seem so out of the realm of possibility. They aren’t.

TANDY

In loving memory of "big boy".  Tandy was my mum and dads pride and joy. This past friday he was maliciously taken away from us by some evil soul that gets his/her pleasure from poisoning innocent animals. 

He was the sweetest dog you could ever meet and would twirl and dance whenever it was time to eat. So cute.

I am so grateful that my children and I got to spend time with him this past holiday when mum and dad brought him when they came to visit. Tandy was six years old.

Tandy ,we love you big boy and we are going to miss you so much.

Get motivated

I find that I need continual "pep talks" to keep me motivated while pursuing my dreams.  Here are some great sites that have helped me stay focused. If you know of any that really inspire you , please email them to me and I'll add them to this post.  Happy Illustrating!

The Daily Motivator   (not free but if you bookmark you can check daily)

Motivational Quotes  (free quotes in your email daily)

How Much Joy (free newsletter. Also, go to her "links" page...get ready for some surfing)

Teras Wish   GREAT articles in the archives

Dr. Wayne Dyer  Author , "power of intention"

Simple Abundance  Sarah Ban Breathnach (Author)

Wish Jar Tales - Keri Smith  (thank Holli!)

Illo Friday- SEASONS

Let us not grow weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. ~ Galatians 6:9

2005 Children's Book Awards

Thanks Janee for letting me know the awards were out!
I think I'm going on a fieldtrip today to take a closer look. Here are the winners for Newberry and Caldecott for 2005. See the complete list of awards and honors here: ALA

Newberry award

Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata

Caldecott award

Kitten's First Full Moon , by Kevin Henkes

Illo Friday - BALANCE

  Okay, I've caved. I had promised myself that I would really wait this time 'til Friday to post my illustration but I didn't. 

The theme this week is "balance". This one has two meanings. 1) If you balance just right, you just might get it to say the number that you want.

2) Eating balanced meals help, Roz!!

CURSE YOU PEANUT BUTTER FUDGE AND EGGNOG.

Spring Promo Sketch

Hi all!  Well , it's time to stop procrastinating and get busy with my spring promotional piece.  I thought I'd go ahead and show you the sketches. This will be finished in felt . I shared this sketch with my crit  group (the Pb&j's) and thought I'd post the comments they made along with the revised sketch. In our group, we  use the "sandwich method" . Start with a positive, your suggestions, end with a positive. We've found that works really well for us.  And more importantly, if you're receiving a critique, remember it's only an opinion...if it doesn't feel right to you, stick to your heart. 

Suggestions:

1) vary the size of the kids more, break up the "line".

2) make the girl winning the prize the focal point.

3) can't make out the hat flying off the dog, maybe try it flying off the girl.

4) give that poor little boy near the cat a trunk!  (these weren't the exact words, but after I noticed it, I sure did feel sorry for the little guy)

I need to have it finished by February and at that point I'll have postcards made. I kept that in mind when I came up with the dimensions for this piece. I'll post the final piece when I'm done.

 Thanks Snowbear!

Simple Organization

I came across a fantastic magazine today that I wanted to share with you guys! I had it in my hot little hands, that was until I saw the price. ugh, $15.00.!!?? Back on the shelf it went. But if you're not a cheapskate like me, I would definitely go get it. It's a specialty magazine by "simply scrapbooks" about organization. It's geared to scrapbookers but I saw a lot of neat tips that could definitely be used for storing craft and illustration supplies.   

Why Felt

As I put away the christmas stockings, I'm reminded of how my illustration career has evolved.  I have been illustrating for several years but I didn't begin using felt as my primary medium until Oct. 2004. 
Eventhough I was receiving assignments ,I still felt like I was struggling to find my 'voice', you know what I mean? I'll never forget reading an article in the CWIM by Theresa Smythe about listening to her inner voice which was telling her to try cut paper collage for her illustrations. I was so jealous, "Oh, I wish my inner voice would tell ME something."   Well, it was but I just wasn't listening.

As I read her article , there they were, my stockings beckoning to me, "try this , try this!"   I have always loved creating with my hands. My mum is a craft designer and she has been creating ever since I can remember. One of my most treasured possessions is the christmas stocking that she made me as a child.  

As you can see , it's still in wonderful condition.  Growing up, I worked alot helping her get ready for crafts shows,  or teaching crafts to children.  Working with felt is like second nature to me,very personal.

So as I sat there reading Theresas article and my stockings prompting me (I made these for my hubby and 3 kids), the little seed was planted.  It had never occured to me that I could use felt for illustration! 

It  took 2 years after that lightbulb moment to actually sit and experiment.  Thinking and doing were 2 things altogether!  But when my son had to have major hip surgery , I knew it was the perfect time to slow down and "play" while we got through his recovery.  The picture on my "rozzieland" banner was my first piece. I called it "felt-like spring" and sent it out as my first promo card  6 months later. She has brought me good luck and has been opening doors for me.
Here is my first book that was illustrated with felt. It is still early days yet but I'm very excited with where the felt has taken me so far. 

Is your inner voice telling you something today, feeling a little niggle? Give it a try, you have nothing to lose. Try not to let it take 2 years like it did me. Happy illustrating!

Fly on the wall

Wouldn't you just love to be a fly on the wall and watch how your favorite artist/illustrator works. Yeah,me too! I guess that's why I enjoy watching 'how to' programs so much. Here's something close to that, some links to 'how to' pages of some great illustrators. If you know of any others, please share them with me!

Philomena O'Neill

John Nez

Linda Bronson

Tedd Arnold

Rebecca Thornburgh

Susan Kathleen Hartung

Janet Stevens

Illo Friday- Disaster Relief

This weeks topic for "illustration friday" Is "disaster relief". I wasn't a bit surprised to see this theme pop up.  I think the entire world is devastated by the tsunami disaster. When it came to creating an image though, I'm afraid I took a different route than my fellow illustrators. While they created powerful and moving images , I decided on a picture of me cleaning.  gulp. Why ?  After two weeks of holiday visitors and children being home from school ...the house turned into a disaster area in and of itself. As I pickup , dust, grumble and groan ,I'm reminded of how very fortunate I am to have a home to clean, children to clear up after and a family still alive/safe to come visit. Tragedy does that to you.

For those interested in donating to the tsunami relief, here are some links to some reliable charities:

Unicef

Red Cross via Amazon.com

Oxfam America

New Year & Magazine writing

Happy January 1st! And so it begins , a new year full of potential.

I thought I would tell you about a really cool online magazine geared to children's writers/illustrators. It's called, http://www.kidmagwriters.com/.  If you enjoy writing for kids I would definitely scour this site.  Great resource!

Recently ,Agy Wilson (arts smarts columnist) asked several illustrators about their new years resolutions for 2005.    Here was my contribution:

Roz Fulcher: "2003's was 'balance'-- I needed to work on finding how to balance my freelance life and home life better. I wasn't managing my time well and I was getting very stressed. Last year it was 'Believe in Yourself'-- common sense, but for some reason I wasn't speaking as positively about myself as I should and boy did make a difference. How powerful our words and thoughts are! By simply reworking that, I had such a more productive year!

"This year that neon sign is reading 'No Limits'! I am staying open to the possibilities this year. I'm not going to limit myself as to where my career will go. I'm going to be receptive to opportunities and not say NO even if it scares me to bits! We do that you know... put hurdles in our way without realizing it sometimes. The ones that succeed are the ones that jump those hurdles and soar. I want to SOAR this year!"