Still lIfe with Tulips

"Still Life with Tulips", 11" X 16", watercolor on paper

Still Life with Sunflowers

"Still Life with Sunflowers", 11" X 16", watercolor on paper 

©Kathleen Rietz

sunflowers WIP

Sunday work in progress.

fresh tulips

SOLD

"Fresh Tulips", 9" X 13", watercolor on paper. © Kathleen Rietz

Dances with Pears

"Dances with Pears" (detail), 9" X 13", watercolor on paper

green apples on pink hawaiian

I thought I would try something different.  I love this print wrap I brought back from Hawaii a few years ago.  I tried to salvage this old apple painting by adding the pattern in the background.  I think it looks pretty, although apples are not typically found in Hawaii the way they are on the mainland.  What do you think?  It's available in my Etsy shop.

red tulips in a green bottle

"Red Tulips in a Green Bottle"is available in my Etsy shop!

Watercolor on paper, 8 3/8" X 10 1/4". 

Signed, and shipped in protective sleeve.

Beautiful paintings available for Mother's Day.

Have a question?  Contact me.

Anne's Bowl

"Anne's Bowl", 7 3/4" X 10".  This original watercolor painting is one of many available in my online Etsy shop.

late night quick sketch

red lily with lemon

feels like springtime

Refreshing

lemon and limes

heirloom tomatoes

"Heirloom Tomatoes", watercolor on paper, 7x8 ©Kathleen Rietz

Pears in a White Bowl

First painting of 2013.  Happy New Year!

"Pears in a White Bowl", 10" x 14", Watercolor on paper. ©Kathleen Rietz

green pear, green apple

red fresno peppers

Pear Quartet

Scanned.

Photographed.

Autumn Pears

SOLD

The latest painting in my series of pears.  I love pears.

4 pears

uncropped...

or cropped?

a cheerful bunch

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Radishes

new pears

I painted this as a wedding gift for friends.

pears

The pears are big, beautiful and inspiring this time of year.

new items listed in my shop!

Check out the sale going on now in my ETSY shop.  FREE SHIPPING on ALL orders until October 31, 2012.  Here are some of my recent paintings...  CLICK HERE to shop online.

Sunflower

SOLD

tomatoes

autumn in my studio

I had a relaxing weekend of painting autumn leaves.

inspired by autumn

Here are some more paintings I have been working on this week.  I hope to get them in the shop soon.

granny smith apples

my first autumn leaf painting of the season

making progress

apple break

My current contract work leaves me little time and energy to pursue my own art these days.  After 4 months, I found some inspiration over the Labor Day weekend to set up a small palette of watercolors and create a painting.  Nothing compares to the peace and contentment I receive from painting and drawing.  The top photo is the finished still life of green apples.  The bottom one is a close-up that I flipped in Photoshop to check for balance in my composition.

red peppers & garlic

SOLD

winter squash

watercolor on paper 6" x 9"

leaf dance

Like leaves floating on cool water....

autumn is crisp, green apples

SOLD

it's autumn!

I think that if you are an artist, autumn is a magical time of year, especially if you live in the midwest.

a trio of pears

While illustrating children's books, I like to balance out my creative life with some "adult" work in watercolor or graphite or charcoal.  So the other night, I stayed up late and did a quicky watercolor sketch of a bowl of pears.  Looking at it now, however, the trio of pears feels rather playful to me, perhaps like a nest of little birds singing for their next meal.

loosening up

Watercolor is something I have always wanted to master, but eluded me.  Lately I have ben trying to loosen up and allow the paint and paper to work in harmony, patiently waiting to see what comes together, instead of trying to control the outcome.  Hey, I think that is a good rule for life in general!

I used the same palette as described in the previous post, which is essentially my palette of choice.

watercolor salt demo

Last weekend I had the pleasure of hosting a demo for a group of women from Windy Brushes, the IL chapter of the Society of Decorative Painters.  Because autumn in IL is such a beautiful and colorful time of year, but also short-lived, I wanted to take advantage of the changing colors in the autumn leaves for the project I was demonstrating.  Each student left that day with a set of 4 watercolor cards with matching envelopes.  I selected Canson Monvant 140 lb. 5" x 7"cards, which come with matching envelopes.  Below is a tutorial I put together for students who paid for the class, but could not stay.  I thought I would share it with you here.

As short as autumn is, I suggest you go out and gather up some beautiful autumn leaves and try this technique now.  These cards can also make beautiful place cards for guests at your Thanksgiving table.

Salt Textures for Watercolor Painting

This simple technique is easy
to do, but can produce stunning effects.

Here is your palette:

Students collected autumn

colored leaves prior to class.
Leaves are sketched lightly with
a pencil on watercolor card, or you may trace an outline of the leaf if you do
not have good drawing skills.  You
may choose either a vertical or a horizontal format.

Next, use a brush to wet the
paper inside the drawing of the leaf.
I mainly used size 3 and size 5 round sable brushes for painting.  Next, loosely apply watercolor directly
into the wet areas of the leaf, and allow the colors to blend into each other
on the paper.  The beauty of watercolor
is that it can be unpredictable, so do not try to control or overwork the
colors in your leaf.  You may put
down a light base of color, and apply more colors as you work.  Applying transparent layers of color
over other transparent layers is called “glazing”.  This is the best way to keep your colors looking fresh.

While the paint is still
damp, sprinkle a little salt (kosher or regular) into random areas of the
leaf.  Allow the paint to dry
completely, then brush off the salt.
You may keep adding glazes of color and work with more salt until you
achieve the values and hues you desire.
Once your leaf is dry, you may decide to add a drop shadow, or
completely paint in a background around the leaf.  I have included several examples.

(card with matching envelope)

(card with painted background)

(card with drop shadow instead of painted background)

 As you can see from the

examples, we also applied the technique to the edge of the envelope to make a
matching card and envelope set.

You may also want to check
out this video I found on YouTube, where an artist demonstrates the technique: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyYI0cEN5jA&feature=related

I thought these leaves turned out so nicely, I decided to stick them in my Etsy shop.  Click here to browse.