Illustration Friday - "Clandestine"

©Kathleen Rietz
I thought at first it might be a stretch, but I keep coming back to the same notion regarding this illustration: As much as I have chosen to be a designer and a children's book illustrator, late at night I revert back to my roots in a clandestine effort to nourish the parts of myself deep within my soul that will always be a fine artist.

You can see more of my work like this one on my Moleskine blog.

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?)

Happy Bloggiversary, Little Blog!

Today marks 2 years that this blog of mine has been in existence! Yay! I wanted to say a big THANK YOU to all who have stopped to visit - even you "lurkers" out there - and especially those of you who come by regularly and leave comments. I have 'virtually' met so many other incredible artists and talented people. You all inspire me and at times encourage me, and it's been a lot of fun. I have even met some of you in person, and have made some friends. So....THANKS!!

Earlier this week I launched another blog, "A Moleskine Journal". Those of you who visit regularly know that I am under contract for 2 children's books at the moment, and now I am negotiating a 3rd contract. As funny as it may sound, I sort of needed a creative escape from the children's book illustrations (read as 'art therapy'), and have found that escape in setting up still lifes (or single objects) in my kitchen or studio and drawing from life. I even added a section of this work to my website. It's been fun to tap into a skill I have not exercised in a while. Here is what I worked on tonite in my kitchen:

Maybe tomorrow I will add some garlic...

Autumn Oak

©Kathleen Rietz
More therapeutic sketching between illustrating my children's books.