4th Flower Girl

©Kathleen Rietz
I am so happy with the way she turned out. When I apply color, I will decide whether she is holding daisies, black-eyed susans or pink chrysanthemum....I have to determine what will look best when I see all the drawings as a group in color.

Growing up, I was never a tomboy. I loved the pretty dresses my mom sewed for me, wearing my hair in curls, watching my mom apply her make-up and Chanel no.5 as she readied for a night out with my dad. I was never much into dolls, though, because I was SO into art from an early age. But now drawing these little girls with their pretty dresses and hair brings back memories of what I was like as a little girl.

200

Hello everyone!! Thanks for visiting. Today Sunshine and I are celebrating my 200th blog post! There is lots to share with you, so please read on...

Here I am posting my latest illustration in my Flower Girls series:
I am creating this series to sell as note cards/invitations when I launch my new online shop in July. They will all be printed in color (as the first girl is in the post below), and sold as a set of 6 (or 8..I have not decided yet). I will also be selling full-color prints of many of my other illustrations, including Halloween and Sea Princess.


Now, on to the fun stuff. A couple of months ago, Joan tagged me to list 10 facts about myself. For the sake of saving space (and because I cannot think of that many interesting things), I am adding my own twist to the list! So here are My Five Favorites for June 2008:

1. I love unusual scents, such as wool, silk, rain and lime peel.
2. Robert Reed, the actor who played Mike Brady on the Brady Bunch...well, he was my cousin. He was born John Robert Rietz. I never met him and he died in '92, but he is buried back here in Skokie, IL. I guess that makes me a Brady. Sort of. : )
3. I laugh when I am in pain. No, really. Ask my sister. She thinks it is the funniest thing in the world when I stub a toe or smack my head on a shelf because pain makes me laugh.
4. I love listening to this when I am painting or drawing. You can go to Pandora.com and create a sound track for your drawing session. So cool!
5. I love looking at photos of beautiful food and reading the recipes. In fact, unleash me in Borders and I head straight for the food magazines, grab 2 or 3, and sit for hours reading them from cover to cover. Occasionally, I will even BUY one. But my latest tasty morsel is this website! This photo below makes my mouth water. And chef Russell James even holds classes. So if I am ever in the UK, I will have to look him up.
(photo courtesy of The Raw Chef Blog and chef Russell James) The most amazing part of this Cacao Pistachio Florentine & Mint Ice Cream Sandwich is that is is raw and it is vegan.


I still have news I want to tell you all, but I can't yet. The suspense is killing me! But you never count your chickens before they are hatched, and so I'll wait. I'll wait until it is official and all my ducks are in a row. Hee hee....enough about chickens and ducks, this post is turning fowl. : ) (sorry, couldn't resist)

Thanks to all my peeps (another fowl pun) who have visited my blog on a regular basis and have been kind enough to leave me comments or email me. I am looking forward to the next 200 posts with all of you! Fo' shizzle. : )

Peace Lily Girl

©Kathleen Rietz
A bouquet of Mauna Loa and a polka dotted dress...

Little Flower Girl

©Kathleen Rietz
The colored version of my submission for Illustration Friday.

Illustration Friday - "Hoard"

©Kathleen Rietz
Hoarding flowers, hoarding summer.
This was my uninspired attempt at Illustration Friday this week. I have been very busy with many new projects which I cannot talk about right now....they are TOP SECRET....ssshhhhh...been in the works for months and I do hope to have some news to post soon.
It's hard to break away and do anything for Illustration Friday, but I love summer and all I could think about was how happy I feel when I am surrounded by warm breezes and fragrant flowers. I have been trying to relax more lately, despite all of the new goings-on in my life. I quit my job at the chiropractic clinic. The staff at the clinic drove out to a Korean BBQ restaurant for dinner near my house and I met the new girls. We had a great time, and they gave me a gift card for a massage. I am still going to the clinic for my treatments, but this time it is nice to be the patient instead of taking care of people.
I have one more art class to teach this summer. It has been wonderful, and I think my students are learning so much I wish I had been taught at their age! I will miss teaching and I will miss most of my students.....but maybe I will teach again.
Okay, that's all I can say for now. Happy summer everyone!!! Don't forget to stop and smell the flowers.

EDIT: The color version is right here!

Picture Bookies Blog Update

Hi everyone! Please check out the latest exciting tidbits of news amongst my web group, the Picture Bookies! They are such a solid group of artists, and so encouraging!

She's an "emotional" girl...

©Kathleen Rietz
Trying out more emotions...this time on one character. Not always easy to do.

Oh, For Crying Out Loud!

©Kathleen Rietz
Sketches of sad children. : ( waaaa...

Annie Had Tea With A Kingfisher - color sketch

©Kathleen Rietz
A color sketch....
Color always changes things so much.
You can see the pencil sketch directly under this post.

Annie Had Tea With A Kingfisher

©Kathleen Rietz
Trade a cookie for a fish?

Illustration Friday - "Forgotten"

©Kathleen Rietz
I finally got around to adding color to this sketch I had made during the 21 Day Challenge (scroll down the main page to see my sketch). Many people forget about our soldiers serving in the Middle East and all over the rest of the world. But for little kids who have to endure another summer without their parent, they have not forgotten. This little girl is watching summer fireworks outside her bedroom window and missing her dad. The baseball under her bed symbolizes a time when he was home to play ball with her. Her little kitty keeps her company for times when she needs someone to listen. And the photo on her wall was taken on the day her father was preparing to deploy. She remembers her father telling her to be brave and that he would be home soon. She manages a smile in the photo. But now it has been 18 months.