lidded bird jar

(see my demo in previous post to learn how I draw accurate ellipses)

demo - drawing ellipses

I have not posted in a while. My day job is illustrating children's books, and I am deeply involved in my 5th book right now. But....I really miss just drawing! So tonite I took out my Moleskine and sat down with one of my favorite and also most challenging items to draw - ellipses. I thought I'd turn this drawing into a little demo to show you how I begin my process.

I draw my ellipses freehand, starting with a center line and adding cross lines as reference points so that my ellipses are all as they should be. The rest, well, I "eyeball" the entire object as I draw it, measuring it in my mind and on paper. After drawing an ellipse, I turn my paper 180 degrees and recheck the ellipse. I may turn it 90 degrees as well and check it that way. When it comes to drawing, our minds have a tendency to lie to us and tell us everything is okay when it's not. It always pays to spend as much time as necessary checking and rechecking your initial sketch, since way too many mistakes are caught only after a drawing is finished. Mistakes can easily be avoided as long as you are not hasty in moving on to the rendering stage. In the end, it is worth the time taken to make sure your drawing is accurate.

My drawing looks pretty good, so I think I am ready to begin rendering it now.

porcelain box

my final post of 2008...
Thanks everyone who visited my blog this year and left comments. It is much appreciated.

avocado & pear

a study of texture and light

lemon on linen (detail)

jade frog

HB & B graphite pencils.
I bought this jade frog while in Chicago's China Town back in the early 90's.

acorn squash

2H pencil, B pencil and black Prismacolor pencil

red leaf

I forgot how poorly reds scan. Maybe I will try photographing the painting instead. The original painting has a much broader range of pretty reds.

Illustration Friday - "Wise" (kate's leaf)

(in my watercolor Moleskine)

"While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, and day and night shall not cease." - Genesis 8:22

There is wisdom in remembering that there is a purpose for every season in our lives and it is all part of a bigger plan for us.

little brown leaf - november

watercolor study

banana

note: I gave in and ate the banana as I was posting tonite.

autumn's apples

"McIntosh"...the way I prefer my apples and my computer. : )
I used only a 2B pencil. I find it challenging to draw with a natural light source on days like this when the weather is blustery and the sun keeps popping in and out from behind heavy clouds.

Onion

Maybe tomorrow I will add some garlic...

glass bottle

Study of a glass bottle in my watercolor Moleskine. I made this study for a sketchbook class I was teaching this past summer. (Unfortunately, not all of the values were picked up on my rickety little tabletop scanner.)

small box (illustration friday - "vacant")

office supplies

©Kathleen Rietz

autumn oak

The leaf was drying and curling right before my eyes as I was trying to draw it....a real challenge, but one I sort of enjoyed.

golden eggs

an older drawing....a study for one of the art classes I taught last year.

Welcome to my new Moleskine Sketch Blog!

"A Lovely Pair"
"Red Glazed Bowl"
"Leftovers"
quick study of limes
a mosaic coaster I made in 2003 and drew in 2008
loose study of limes and tomato using a wide graphite stick