NEW! Personalized Ballerina Print in my Etsy Shop!

Every little girl dreams of being a ballerina.  Choose your ballerina's nationality, hair and eye color, and personalize this print with her name.  Made to order, now in my Etsy shop.

Illustration Friday: "Stay"

True friends stay with you through life's ups and downs.

We all need encouragement to stay the course at times.  Find out how Champ's friends encourage her during her battle with cancer in the book I illustrated, Champ's Story: Dogs Get Cancer Too!, written by Sherry North and published by Sylvan Dell.  And watch for my latest book, Prairie Storms, to be released in August.  To see previews of the book, check out my website.

New Print in my Etsy Shop

I just added this sweet new print to the Licoricegirl Shop on Etsy.

Become a fan of "Champ's Story" on Facebook!

You can now join the "Champ's Story: Dogs Get Cancer Too!" fan page on Facebook.  Just click HERE, and the click the "Like" button at the top of the fan page.  Post your stories about the book, photos of your child reading the book, your own stories about how cancer has touched the life of you, your child or a pet.  I hope you enjoy this new way to interact with the publisher, author Sherry North, illustrator (me), and other fans of the book.

Free SIGNED Book Plates for Gift-Giving!

Buy a copy of my children's book "Champ's Story: Dogs Get Cancer Too!" or "The ABCs of Yoga for Kids" from Amazon and I will send you a FREE SIGNED book plate that you can affix inside the book for gift-giving.  Just leave me a comment or send me a message, including the address you want the book plate sent to, and I will sign and send the book plate right out to you!

Something New...

Only 4 more spreads to complete for "Champ's Story: Dogs Get Cancer Too!".


I promise, the book has a happy "twist" at the end! Get the book, and you'll see what I mean!

See more of my artwork for the book by visiting my website. Thanks!

Illustration Friday - "Unfold"

©KathleenRietz

Book Signing in Pacific Palisades

Book author Teresa Anne Power and me at the John Thomas Dye school in Pacific Palisades. It went very well! We sold lots of books and the kids had a blast!

so very unimpressive...

©KathleenRietz
Whenever prompted by certain blogger groups to post photos of our studios, I cringe. Mine is nothing all that impressive, really. Sure, I'd love to have a beautiful expensive easel, hardwood floors, a skylight, track lighting and an awe-inspiring sound system. But I don't. Truthfully, I can't even afford an iPod these days. My easel is cheap...I bought one of the cheapest ones Blick carries and used a 40% off coupon. My rickety old metal closet doors (circa 1972) have been replaced by beige drapes from Wal-Mart. My computer desk (unpictured) has a broken leg and is supported by a thick old book. But this is where I paint and draw and write. Sunshine is happy with the arrangement, and I am glad to have her here to keep me company.

Illustration Friday - "Voices" #2

© Kathleen Rietz
Sometimes it's hard to get the voices out of your head when you find yourself engrossed in a scary story!

During the 21 Day Challenge I participated in with other blogger artists last March, I created a page of sketches based on Millie and her loyal little Chihuahua, Bobo. I then created this illustration (available as a print in my shop). And tonite I took some time to work on the second illustration from my page of sketches, and decided it fit the theme for Illustration Friday.

illustration Friday - "Repair"

©Kathleen Rietz
Sometimes the best way to repair a broken heart is with a smile and a hug.

Check out the Picture Bookies Group!

Hey everyone! If you haven't checked this "group" lately, go there now! The Picture Bookies are an online group of very talented children's book illustrators, of which I am so happy to be a member. The other members include Ginger Nielson, Sherry Rogers, Amy C. Moreno, Paige Keiser, Bron Smith, Gina Pfleegor and Kristi Valiant. You can even link to their individual websites and blogs from the "Picture Bookies" group blog.

Sherry Rogers just designed this spiffy new blog header for us! Yay Sherry!

(PS...can you pick out which character in the header is mine?)

Wanna Trade Treasures?

Today I received my shipment of "Annie Had Tea With A Kingfisher" note cards. I am thrilled! Vistaprint does an incredible job every time I have them print anything for me. These cards are available at my online shop, but seriously, I think I may have to order more because now I want to give them away in sets to friends this holiday season. They are just that cute!


So now I am feeling like having some fun with the cards. Do you have something you want to trade? If you have a printed note card featuring your art, an ATC, or even a handmade Etsy item you want to trade, leave me a comment. At the end of the day on Friday, I will randomly draw 5 names from all of the posted comments, and will trade you a notecard for your treasure of choice. (notecards measure approx. 4 1/8" X 5 1/2" and come with a white envelope)

Cheers!

UPDATE: Winners...ValGal, Alicia Padron, Joan Y., Diana Evans and Senta! Congrats ladies! Don't forget to email me with your mailing info.

Sketch Buddies

One of the last warm afternoons of September, my friend Joan and I took our sketchbooks to Starbucks and spent a couple of hours sketching and getting caffienated. Later that night I bought my first Moleskine, and what a difference (as you can see here)! Joan's drawing convinced me to give one a try. My sketchbook paper had too much "tooth". I was not very happy with my sketches during this session.


The pencil sharpeners are actually ones I still had from when I was in gradeschool!


Joan drew my purse. You can see more of her drawings here.

Aloha from Chicago!

Happy Friday everyone! Here is a little pic of my blogger buddy and fellow artist Joan Yoshioka and me in the city last week. In just a few hours I will be driving Joan back to the airport and she will be heading back to Hawaii. We are both sad to say good-bye. It was so fun to have her come and stay with me at my house. These past 2 weeks was like a mini vacation for the both of us because we got to go exploring like a couple of tourists in my very own city. I'll be posting more photos soon. For now we just wanted to say "Aloha"!

The Moleskine

©Kathleen Rietz
©Kathleen Rietz
©Kathleen Rietz

Fellow blogger and good friend Joan Yoshioka has been visiting from Hawaii and staying at my home in Chicagoland. We have so much to post about...it has been a vacation of sorts for us both. But tonite I am finishing up some sketches for the children's yoga book I am illustrating, so we are taking a little break from our adventures.

Today was grey and cold...the first real nip of autumn in the air. I bought this Moleskine sketchbook last night while we were out, and today we decided to have an afternoon of sketching at my kitchen table. Now I understand why artists become obsessed with their Moleskines....they are just so "different" from any other sketchbooks out there. It was nice just to do some sketching, free of deadlines and pressure. I guess there is still this fine artist living inside of me, set free on the pages of her new Moleskine.

Illustration Friday - "Clique" & "Little Black Ant" book cover!!!

Here are examples of "cliques"....these 3 pencil illustrations were educational illustrations I did for a publisher earlier this year.

Please also take a look at the last illustration...I just recieved this catalog image sample of the book cover I illustrated for the Soundprints book "Little Black Ant on Park Street"!!! This is the book that will be sold through the Smithsonian Institution. I am thrilled. I worked all weekend on the thumbnails for the inside illustrations. I am trying to get a file of the entire cover layout, since the illustration actually wraps around the front and back cover.

All of these illustrations showcase my "soft realistic" style. I am also working on a book in my "whimsical" style, which many of you are probably more familiar with. I will post illustratiosn from that upcoming book, too, as soon as I am able.





"Little Black Ant on Park Street" will be released in the spring of 2009, published by Soundprints.

Illustration Friday - "Memories"

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

Illustration Friday - "Sail"

©Kathleen Rietz
I had to recycle another past Illustration Friday piece... Hope everyone has a good week.
Update: A print of this illustration tited "Morning Visit" is available in my shop .

Illustration Friday - "Poof!"

©Kathleen Rietz
->POOF!<- Bugsy was ready for a big date with that special ladybug in his life, thanks to the help of his loyal friends!

With my current workload taking up all of my time, I thought I would pull out an oldie, which is one of my favorite illustrations actually. I have never missed so many weeks of Illustration Friday...it feels good to have something to post and share with you.

Update: Look! It's a photo of Bugsy's lady friend...