Illustration Friday - "Memories"

©Kathleen Rietz
(sorry...having to recycle my artwork again this week)

Motherhood

©Kathleen Rietz
Sometimes I wish I were a mom. I am working on an assignment and one of the themes is motherhood. So I am drawing all of these moms holding and caressing their young children, and it creates a yearning inside of me. I wonder what the future will hold...?

Illustration Friday - "Heavy"

©Kathleen Rietz
This week's illustration is dedicated to my friend Joan, who has a sick kitty. Please send your prayers, happy thoughts, well wishes and positive vibes Joan's way.

Preliminary Sketch (work in progress)

©Kathleen Rietz
As you can see from my blog, I have been focusing on my sketchbook a lot lately. I am really trying to develop my style of people and children and animals, and try to convey more emotion in my work. I think really good children's book illustrations are the ones which find a way to adhere you to the characters on an emotional level....maybe it is a scene which jogs a memory from your own childhood, or reminds you of the kids you have now. Or maybe it evokes a memory of a carefree day, a day at the park with your grandparents, your nerves on your first day of school, a childhood crush, winning a spelling bee, or maybe floating on a vacation lake on an innertube on a warm day and looking at shapes in the clouds overhead. This is a sketch I began last night. There is a lot missing, and I want to add more, but wanted to post it before I do. My hope is to fill my sketchbook with lots of these sketches and then work on some finished color illustrations based on some of my sketches.

Sometimes I find that toddlers and infants in my illustrations end up looking like dolls instead of children. Does this look like a person to you, or too much like a doll? I know it is hard to see in this drawing, but the baby is grasping the mother's thumb, as babies like to do. I just don't thnk it reads very well.

I plan on adding an older child to the right side of the composition, and maybe a kitten curled up next to the mother. There is still a lot I want to do and right now I am just doodling and planning.

Illustration Friday - "Little Things"

© Kathleen Rietz
Sometimes great things come in small packages. This is actually an older illustration I did for a story I had floating around in my head about a boy who is given this beautiful little box, and contained in the box are magical powers. I loved the imagery I had envisioned for the story, and decided to paint the cover illustration as a promo piece last year.

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 - "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.)

Sajid's Gift

© kathleen rietz
I have had this story bouncing around in my mind about a sweet little boy in India named Sajid. I love the diversity and richness of culture, and how tangible our world has become through technology. In this book cover illustration, I sought to convey the flavor of the Indian culture through color, design and composition. My goal was to captivate the viewer to want to open the cover of the book and take in the entire story.

"Sketch of the Day"

I drew this composition last night. It took me about 4 hours. The characters are fictional, as most of the characters in my artwork are....but I wanted to show the loving relationship between mother and daughter. I used pencil on cold press illustration board. This was meant to be just a sketch diary drawing, but I think it is strong enough to send out as a new sample.

Sometimes the best pieces of art are done out of pure inspiration, and the sole desire to communicate through pictures what cannot be said with words.© kathleen rietz