By: Roz Fulcher,
on 4/30/2010
Happy Friday everyone!
This week, I worked up some Santa Illustrations for a potential project. This happens quite a lot . There will be a request from a publisher to see samples reflecting a certain theme and your agent sends samples from his/her stable of artists. I wanted to be included in this submission so I had to get these completed quickly.
They are a bit different from my typical style. I omitted the stitching in hopes that it would help them look a tad older. Plus, it was quicker. =o)
By: Roz Fulcher,
on 3/30/2010
There is a fun blog you need to check out. It's called "they draw and cook" which posts illustrated recipes. Above is my contribution. I hope other illustrators out there will participate too!
By: Roz Fulcher,
on 3/17/2010
Hi all,
I have been working on a couple of things that I'm afraid I can't share yet so here is an illustration I finished recently for a personal project.
His name is Benny.
By: Roz Fulcher,
on 1/5/2010
This is such a fun time of year because everyone is so inspired about pursuing their dreams with gusto! It's infectious. With that in mind, I thought I'd post a recommendation if there is anyone visiting that is interested in freelance illustration.
Holly DeWolf's, Breaking Into Freelance Illustration is chock full of valuable info and encouragement. Definitely a book to add to your arsenal. Holly did a fabulous job of covering all the bases and it was so fun to see interviews in there with fellow illustrator buddies Kathy Weller, Jannie Ho, Holli Conger and Susan Mitchell. I also had the privilege of being one of the contributors which was a lot of fun- thanks Holly!
Anyway, get this book, you won't be disappointed. =o)
By: Roz Fulcher,
on 6/24/2009
HI All!
By: Roz Fulcher,
on 4/9/2009
I'm getting ready to re send my little dummy book out into the world. I wanted to revamp the final art samples to reflect my new style. I mentioned this over at Twitter and said I would share it, so here it is. Click to view larger.
By: Roz Fulcher,
on 10/5/2008
This is crazy I know. I am officially finished with the board books and have a couple of weeks before we move. I'm knee deep in doing things around the house to prepare but I keep taking a break to play with an illustration. I think it's helping me decompress. I'm trying really hard not to get stressed out!
This is very early in the process. Here I'm just blocking in colors before I convert to felt.
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By: Roz Fulcher,
on 3/11/2008
By: Roz Fulcher,
on 1/2/2008
Here we are again, another year has passed and it's time to reflect. And I have been doing a lot of that I can tell you.
Last year, my theme was EXPLORE . I felt strongly that I needed to push myself and experiment more. I did and I learned that I can and want to include more fabrics, papers and embellishments in my illustrations. It gives me a freedom that I didn't have before so for that I'm grateful.
Also, I went to New York for the first time ever..and I flew alone!
That was definitely a form of exploration for me.
But what about this year? I have had such a hard time pinpointing a theme. I thought I had finally decided that it would be, DREAMS COME TRUE, but there's more to it than that for me this year.
I'm a firm believer that dreams do come true but it takes a lot more backbone than wishbone. Dreams don't come true just because we want them to, we have to work at it. And they certainly don't always come true when we want them to. I have accomplished way more than I could ever have imagined when I first started pursuing illustration in 2000. But my journey has been slow and although I had some fun assignments this past year, I didn't advance as much as I had hoped.
Roz "2000" would really be giving Roz "2008" a good kick in the arse if she read this because she'd see her as being ungrateful. But I'm not.
Doors really didn't start opening for me until I started working in felt in 2006. So much happened that first year that I felt like I had finally nailed it! The felt was unique enough to open the doors but because of its uniqueness, the need for it is less. And therein lies the rub.
But lets get to the core of how DREAMS COME TRUE.
TRUST
It's very proactive. When you trust, you're not blocking yourself with self doubt and frustration. I did too much of that last year and I lost my peace. This year I'm going to practice "letting go". If I know that I'm doing everything I can towards making my dreams a reality, then I need to relax. That alone can be very empowering. I drove myself crazy with the wishing, striving and wanting last year. So much wasted mental energy and I'm tired. I want to enjoy the process and trust that I will get there eventually and most importantly believe that I'm where I'm supposed to be right now. Life's too short.
TRUST. That's my theme.
By: Roz Fulcher,
on 11/13/2007
Here's a finished sample from a dummy book I'm working on. Fingers Crossed that it finds a home!
By: Roz Fulcher,
on 10/29/2007
By: Roz Fulcher,
on 10/1/2007
This weekend was the annual Illustrator party hosted by Highlight's Magazine. Boy, I wish I could have gone. Hopefully next year!
Blog buddies, Jannie Ho and Liz Dubois, attended and look at the pictures they snapped.
Thank you so much for taking these. You've made my day!
Be sure to check out all the fun Liz and Jannie had at the event!
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By: Roz Fulcher,
on 9/30/2007
There's only a few hours left to vote for your favorite story over at the ABC book competition. Please head on over and vote. Winners will be announced next week! (If you voted for Spider and Fly -THANK YOU!)
Sheri did an elementary school visit last week to promote "spider and fly". WIth the help of the music teacher and librarian they were able to act out the story for each grade level! What fun! I wish I'd been there.
She asked me to take pictures during the process of making the cover illustration and she shared them with the students. She said the kids loved the fact that I have a nintendo DS and play with it while I wait for the glue to dry. Super Mario Brothers Rules!
By: Roz Fulcher,
on 9/15/2007
I'm trying to post a utube video.
My apologies if you can't see it.
The voting starts today.Check it out and vote for your favorite!
http://www.abcbookcompetition.org/third_comp/index.htm
Utube video courtesy of Sheri Goad.
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By: Roz Fulcher,
on 9/14/2007
This weekend kicks off the annual ABC competition sponsored by Rita Mills. (Voting starts Sept 16)
This year a good friend of mine is one of the finalists. Way to go Sheri!
There is an article about Sheri and the competition in the "Potomac News". That's Sheri with a signed print of the illustration that will be accompanying her story. (Surprise, I'm the illustrator!)
Check out Sheri's blog to see an interview with Rita Mills and learn more about the competition.
Good luck to all the contestants!!!
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By: Roz Fulcher,
on 7/9/2007
This past week I worked on my contribution for the "Robert's Snow" snowflake.
I am terrible at measuring things so I was a bit nervous that my plan to sandwich the wooden flake between two sides of felt wouldn't work. Thankfully it did! I had so much fun with this that I plan on making some more at Christmas for family.
Here is the finished snowflake:
By: Roz Fulcher,
on 7/3/2007
Here is an article I wrote for my local SCBWI a few years ago. It ties in with my post over at the PBJ blog. This weeks theme is "Back To The Drawing Board".
Fifteen Minutes
Roz Fulcher
If you are in the process of trying to build your freelancing career you may be finding it difficult to devote as much time to it as you would like.
No matter who we are, we all lead complex lives that involve more than working on our craft all day. I finally had to accept that I wasn’t always going to have a large chunk of time that I could spend entirely on my art. Instead of waiting until I had some spare time (ha! There’s no such thing with 3 young kids) I began spending 15 minutes at a time on it. Whether you are trying to overcome artist’ block , trying to find more time to create or juggling deadlines, I believe this strategy will benefit you too.
I initially learned this concept when I was researching ways to declutter my home. Devoting 15 MINUTES to each item on my ‘to do’ list worked so well for me that I soon discovered that I could apply it to my freelancing. I began seeing substantial progress.
For example, let’s say you are ready to start submitting to publishers . Prepare a realistic plan and start working on it in 15 minute increments. We all have it somewhere in our schedule. Go through your CWIM book with a red pen (selecting appropriate publishers) while on your lunch break. Address envelopes while watching your favorite tv program. Print samples while the rice is simmering. Spend 15 minutes before bed updating your database. You don’t have to FINISH tasks in that amount of time , just get some of it ‘knocked out’.
Yes, it can be difficult to find the time but we shouldn’t let it stop us physically or mentally. We may have to be more creative with how we get there but in the end we can go to bed knowing we did something toward making our dream a reality.
Get ready, get set, go turn on your timers!
Remember * ANY energy you put toward your goal WILL promote PROGRESS.*
Suggested reading:
* The Power of Focus – Jack Canfield
* Time Management From The Inside Out – Julie Morgenstern
* www.Flylady.net - Organizing strategies
By: Roz Fulcher,
on 6/21/2007
My new best friend... Disappearing Ink!
I am really loving this to help with stitching accuracy. It works great on the felt and if I lived in a more humid environment, I believe the ink would disappear within the hour.
It takes at least 24 hours here in the desert so I've taken to removing it with water. I'm impatient.
Since I'm using felt, I've found the best way is to moisten the ink with a wet brush and then dab with a paper towel. It disappears COMPLETELY. No more crude pencil lines that I have to remove in photoshop!
=O)
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By: Roz Fulcher,
on 6/3/2007
I had a lot of fun with these! I'm going to have to rethink bright yellow fabric for backgrounds in future.
To the naked eye it looked fine after a few rollovers with lint tape. But after it was scanned, Vals hair was all over the place! Serves me right for leaving the bags of fabric on the floor for too long, huh.
By: Roz Fulcher,
on 5/31/2007
Still working on babies for my portfolio. Since I had several illustrations I wanted to finish, it was easier to do some of the steps together on multiple illos. I don't know if it's quicker or not but it feels like it is. These are all at a place where I need to start adding stitches. Now, I'll finish each one by one.
I hope to have these done by Monday.
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By: Roz Fulcher,
on 5/25/2007
