More Sketches From The Park

I am finding that sketching people in everyday poses very helpful as I begin a series of 60 illustrations for 5 scholastic books I am illustrating. Most (if not all) scenes will contain people engaging in everyday situations and of various ethnicities, and all illustrations will be done in graphite on board. I am also trying to sharpen my basic drawing skills as I prepare for my first teaching job this autumn.© Kathleen Rietz

Illustration Friday - "Camouflage"

This illustration for this week's theme was inspired by the photo I posted below it. I was taking photos in my garden and nearly overlooked the daddy-long-legs chilling out on a boxwood shrub. It blended in pretty well with some of the colors in the branches. © Kathleen Rietz© Kathleen Rietz I have also been inspired lately by the beautiful illustrations of nature on biologist/botanist Joan Yoshioka's blog. You can see her blog here http://drawingonnature.blogspot.com

Sunday Afternoon In The Park

Sometmes it's just good to get back to the fundamentals of drawing. These are sketches from Memorial Day weekend in Chicago. My favorite is the sketch of the mother and daughter at the top left. I just like the way their figures look together. The mother looks solid and firmly planted, while the girl has a more playful posture and balances on one foot.© Kathleen Rietz

Life Is Beautiful...

I have been unable to draw or paint this week as I heal from a back injury. I have recently discovered photography as a creative venue.
The recent heatwave in Chicago has passed, and for the past 2 days the weather has been wonderful.
I love the way the sun has been filtering through the trees, creating a spotlight effect on an otherwise shady area of my yard. The result is these 2 dramatic photos of day lilies. These photos are "raw", unretouched and fresh from my camera.
And an old weathered fence...
My sister brought me flowers last week, which lifted my spirit. I decided to photograph the flowers in a way that would convery how they made me feel. I feel loved. : )
All photos © Kathleen Rietz. Please do not use without permission.

Dad

Happy Father's Day!Here is a drawing of my father I made when I was 5. In the drawing my dad is whistling, and his desk is in the background, and he is dressed for work. I knew my dad for 22 years, but never really knew him because he worked all the time. I wish I could have lunch with him today. I wonder what we would talk about today.
© Kathleen Rietz

Bored

Leon left for his annual training with the military last weekend, and I've been suffering through a horrible back injury now since Tuesday. I'm tremendously bored, actually, which is not like me. I can't sit up for any decent length of time, can't drive, and the pain is exhausting enough that I am taking 3 hour naps in the afternoon. It's the weekend, and I saw absolutely no one today. Most days have consisted of ice packs, doses of Ibuprofen, being driven to the chiropractor, and mindless television. I finally got out my camera today and took some photos:
A spider in my bathroom (Do you feel sorry for me yet? I do. This monster has hairy legs.)
I wish I were motivated to make a stirfry (I'm getting tired of pretzels. And sliced cheese.)
My camera did this very strange thing with the colors when I tried to take a picture of my garden today. (Looks cool, I guess. Right?)
All images © Kathleen Rietz
) : ) : ) : ) : ) : ) : ) : yes I'm bored... boo hoo hoo... : ( : ( : ( : ( : ( : ( : (

Illustration Friday - "Suit"

© Kathleen Rietz
***I am pretty happy with this one...it's worth clicking on the image to enlarge it so you can better see the details.*** Thanks for visiting, my cyber friends! -kate : )

More Drawings From My Childhood....

"Ducks" - age 4, 1972 ©Kathleen Rietz
"Dancing Girl" - age 5, 1973 ©Kathleen Rietz
" Raquel" - age 6, 1973 ©Kathleen Rietz
Thanks again to my mom, who saved so many of my drawings. These are some of my favorites.

Illustration Friday "My Paradise"

© Kathleen Rietz 2007
In my idea of paradise, I have wings like a butterfly and live in a beautiful garden filled with flowers and creatures who come alive through my artwork.
This collage is a mix of my original artwork, my photos and a background texture I created with watercolor and coarse salt.

My Sunday Best

More photos from my backyard...Did I tell you...I never get bored.

It's A Great Day To Go Barefoot..

If your pedicure matches your garden...

..And even if it doesn't....
There is beauty all around....
...If you just look for it.

How Unusual!

Debbie Egizio at Seven Ten Lounge in Chicago.I was tagged by my friend Debbie Egizio to blog 7 things that are weird about myself, and then tag some other friends. I don't know if these things really make me weird, but they may be unusual to you, and they make me ME. I can think of other things, but here is my list of 7:
1.) I wear my socks and undies turned inside-out because I hate the feel of seams. (photo courtesy of joyofsocks.com)
2.) I love the smell of silk. Silk...the fabric, not the soy milk. Silk has a warm, earthy scent and nothing else smells like it on warm a summer day.
3.) I met Richard Simmons in 1983. Did you know he is going to be 60 next year?? (photo courtesy of richardsimmons.com)
4.) I cannot whistle. : (
5.) Typos annoy me. When I see typos on a menu or in a newspaper or official document, it drives me crazy. Mainly bad punctuation more than spelling errors, especially when people use a possessive when they should use a plural. (You KNOW who you are!)
6.) I rarely go to bed before 2 a.m. Most nights my bedtime is between 3 and 4:30 a.m. Even as a little girl, I had a hard time going to bed.
7.) I love sushi and sometimes I crave it for breakfast.
I now tag Gingerpixels, Jen Seals and Rrramone!

Illustration Friday - "Signs"

© Kathleen Rietz
I won't have time to do a full-detailed illustration for IF this week. I am going to the Surtex and Stationary shows in NYC Monday, new project due mid-week, waiting to hear back from a publisher about a book deal. But I had this idea in my head, so I figured I'd put it on paper.
One time, about 8 years ago, a girlfriend and I were driving out to Iowa, stopping for antiques on our way to a charming bed & breakfast for the summer holiday weekend. We stopped several times, and ended up running out of daylight in the middle of the country. With no city lights to illuminate the sky, it was black as ink. Suddenly, right in front of out borrowed SUV, appeared 3 dancing, shimmering triangles. They hovered and disappeared. My friend and I stared straight ahead, and she asked, "Did you see that?". "Yes", I said, and felt the hairs on my arms stand straight up. We never spoke of it again. I am sitting at my computer, and as I type this story to you, the hairs on my arms are once again standing straight up. I still remember it so clearly, and i find no way to explain what we saw.
Hope you like the illo.

Illustration Friday - "Citrus" & Happy Mother's Day

©KathleenRietz
I missed you all last week! Here is my contribution for Illustration Friday. I saw so many colorful, graphic images of citrus posted..I wanted to do something different. Hope you like..

Here is a little Mother's Day dedication I put together today in honor of my mom...a drawing I made of her when I was 6 1/2, and a photo of her holding me as a wiggling, giggling baby. She was a very loving mom and I will always love and miss her. Happy Mother's Day.

The babies have left home...

A while back, I posted a photo of a squirrel who had chosen to give birth in one of the birdhouses in my backyard. Sunday, one by one, the mother groomed each baby squirrel and they left the birdhouse house for the first and last time. And why not? Spring is in full bloom in Chicago now, and it's beautiful!

Illustration Friday - "Remember" Charles Schulz, 1922-2000

I am so busy with work right now, so I thought I would dig up something from the past since I probably won't have time to do new art for IF this week.. I actually did this illustration in an Illustration class at art school in 1989. We did not have computers to make art back then, so the lettering is hand drawn and painted on a vellum overlay.

Besides, it's good to remember the simpler times. I grew up on Snoopy and Peanuts cartoons, and I am pretty sure they inspired my art since I recall drawing a lot of Snoopies.. One of my cherished gifts from childhood was a Snoopy wrist watch, which I think I still own. It was the one with Snoopy holding a tennis racquet and the tennis ball travels around the face of the watch as the seconds tick by.

"American Dreams" Scrapbook Page

Here is a mock-up scrapbook page I created last night from my upcoming digital scrapbook kit "American Dreams". Each kit will include 8 virtual sheets of paper, ribbon or trim and an assortment of coordinating embellishments. I am thinking this is a great time to start thinking about starting a digital scrapbook of your own for yourself, kids, friends...or whomever. Time to plan your summer projects!
© Kathleen Rietz

Illustration Friday - "Polar"

©Kathleen Rietz

Coming Soon!!

This is a mock-up of a page I made from one of the digital scrapbook kits I have been designing. Watch for my kits to be sold on a website set to launch in a few weeks - Scraphead.com. The kits are totally digital, so all papers and elements can be used and reused. I have had tons of fun creating them. I hope my customers will have the same kind of fun creating their own pages and albums!

Also watch for my new digital scrapbooking blog coming soon.

Thanks to my brother Pat and his daughter Alice for the photos.
©Kathleen Rietz

Just for fun..."Turtle"

This is a drawing of a turtle I made when I was 3, back in 1971. Thanks to my mom, for saving this drawing.
© Kathleen Rietz

Illustration Friday - "Fortune"

I wish life was still so simple..
© Kathleen Rietz

Illustration Friday - "Green"

This is a linoleum block print I made, and then applied color digitally. I am happy with how the greens and purples work together. I have always liked printmaking, and occasionally I create prints to give to friends as gifts or box them as greeting card sets. This is one of my favorites.
© Kathleen Rietz

Illustration Friday - "SNAP!" #2

© kathleen rietz

Illustration Friday - "SNAP!"

© kathleen rietz
Don't worry...in any good story the protagonists always come out on top!

Chilled Bliss!

After living without refrigeration for nearly a week, my new fridge arrived at 7am sharp this morning. That was a little rough, since I generally go to bed around 4am, but..some things are worth getting out of bed for. Sort of like Christmas morning when you are a kid. I can now go to Valli and stock my shiny new Frigidaire. I have never felt so giddy about a visit to the grocery store! But as you can see from the inside picture, not much could be saved excpet grains, nuts, a few odd condiments and some sad looking veggies.

Coming Soon!

© kathleen rietz
My latest pursuit, aside from my children's book art, is designing and creating digital scrapbook kits. Watch for the launch of Scraphead.com coming later this spring. Here is a sneak peek at one of my designs. Watch for more to be posted here, and a link to my kits on the site when it has launched! This is a design from my Romantic Cottage Collection.

Illustration Friday - "I Spy"

© kathleen rietz
I spy Orion! Orion is my favorite constellation.
(Illustration dedicated to Ginger, who loves her Beagle)

Happy Spring!!!

© kathleen rietz
Today is the first official day of spring, but I saw my first robins in the yard yesterday. I am celebrating by posting this drawing I made of a robin when I was 4. The first robin sighting of the spring was a big deal in my house growing up. I hope you are enjoying the thaw...wherever you live.

Illustration Friday - "Total"

© kathleen rietz
This is actually a sketchbook drawing I did in the autumn of last year. I like to create new works for Illustration Friday, but I do not know if I will have time in my schedule tonite.

I have always liked this drawing. In it, I tried to convey the total love and connection between a daughter and her mother, and in return the love and connection the mother feels for her daughter. I guess it would also have been a good entry for the topic of "communication" a couple weeks back, since I think you can just feel the language between these 2 people in their unspoken words.

Sometimes the things we need to say to each other have no words at all.
© kathleen rietz
Here is another drawing from my childhood. I drew this picture when I was 5. It is a drawing of my mom picking up my baby sister out of her playpen. Note the love between them and how I accentuated thier smiles. That's what I'm talkin' 'bout! (click to view larger...it is worth a closer look.)