Here are a select few portraits that I did this year for the holidays! Enjoy!
Here is the latest portrait. Her name is Emma, she is turning two soon. This was a portrait commissioned for her father’s birthday.
8×10 – colored pencil
This summer coming to ETC is an original musical The Big Bank by Jacob and Daniel Seligman. Here is my interpretation of the concept of the play:
The play is about a bank that enjoys foreclosing on businesses and taking all of their things. The main character of the play, Stuart, is tasked with the job of foreclosing on a flower shop. Incidentally, he falls in love with the shop keeper, Iris.
I played around with a bunch of different themes for this one, and I got kind of stuck on the bank being an evil empire. So, originally, I came up with this icon, which didn’t really convey the right message. (Since, in the end the bank isn’t so evil.) Although I really like this icon, which is why I’m sharing it with you. 🙂 Ultimately the story is about hope and love and so this image was not the best to convey that.
From this point, I got a little stuck. So I cleared my head and started over. I needed to do something with the flower image as well as have money be a central theme. Then it came to me! He loves me, he loves me not, he loves me, he loves me not, and the petals of the flower are money. So there’s a two-for-one image here. There is the love story, and the uncertainty of that, as well as the bank just take take taking money.
Above is the illustration “in-action”. It’s pen & ink and watercolor. I wanted to keep the lighthearted feeling of it, because after all it is a comedy! The title of the play is also hand drawn to add to that fun feeling of it.
The play will be running in Mystic at the end of July. To read more about the Big Bank, and find out how to get tickets go to EmersonTheaterCollaborative.org.
I was asked to donate a gift certificate for a pet portrait to a fundraiser called “Wet Paint” to benefit the FOCUS fund in Farmington. They had lots of artwork there from many artists around town being auctioned off. They asked to have a portrait there on display… to which I replied: I don’t have one! Of course, I have done many portraits in my career, but they are all for other people! I sell them and many times, never see them again. 😦 BUT this was a great opportunity for me to create a portrait of my own puppy, Maxwell.
We rescued him about a year ago, and he is the best dog I could have asked for! Part German Shepherd and part Basset Hound, he’s got the best of worlds. He’s smart like a shepherd, but easy going and lazy like a basset. He looks like a long, short legged, floppy eared German Shepherd! Yes, a little silly, but utterly adorable! And that’s just the reason why I had to rescue him. He fit in perfectly at our house! So I have many many many pictures of him doing cute things. Lots of options to draw, but no time. I tend to focus on work that pays and put my own projects on hold (this is something that I’m working on changing). So This was the perfect opportunity to MAKE me draw my dog to put on display as an example of a pet portrait.
Here he is! Green is my favorite color and I think he stands out nicely on it. Pastel, 8×10. I have another photo of him that I want to do on black paper and he will just POP right off the page! …hopefully it won’t take me a year to do it. again.
This is Zoe, the newest portrait. In the photo that was provided, Zoe was lying on a baseball hat, but I wasn’t sure exactly what it was. I asked if it was a computer mouse, and the client laughed, and said no. But she thought it was funny, so I asked if she wanted me to draw one in place of the hat, since it was unrecognizable anyway. So that’s exactly what I did!
Pastel on burgundy paper, 8×10
Here is the latest pet portrait. His name is Riley and he’s a very sweet Golden Retriever!
8×10, pastel on blue paper.
It was a success! I was at Petals and Paws in Canton this past weekend, and did many sketches for many happy clients. It was so nice to be able to meet the dogs and their owners and be able to do a sketch for them on the spot.
If you are interested in a pet portrait, please contact me for prices and timeline.
Thanks to Petals and Paws for letting me draw in their store, and thanks to everyone who stopped by!
Petals and Paws is having a customer appreciation weekend, on January 16 & 17, and they have asked me to do a demo for them. Sign up today at the Petals and Paws in Canton to get a pencil sketch done by Sarah for only $10!! Bring your favorite photo of your pet (any kind of pet will do) and I will draw a quick 8″x10″ pencil sketch, while you wait! I’ll be there from noon to 2 pm, so be sharp and don’t forget the photo!!
Along with Sketches By Sarah, Petals & Paws is also providing dog training demos, including rally, games, basic obedience, and canine good citizen testing. There is ice cream making (you have to sign up for that, too), prizes, raffles, and other vendors that will be addressing dog’s and cat’s health and diets.
Petals and Paws is located at 465 Albany Tnpk, Canton, CT 860-693-8760
For over a month now, I’ve been working on portraits for the holidays. I have wanted to post them, but didn’t want to ruin the surprise! Here are a few highlights from this holiday season:
This is Muffin – 8×10, Colored pencil on black paper.
Above is Matteo, 8×10, Colored pencil on black paper.
Above is Abby, 8×10, pastel on green paper.
This is 11×14, pastel on blue paper.
This is 8×10, pencil on white paper.
Thank you all for supporting me this season! I am working on some portraits for January, and you’ll see those when completed. I enjoyed working with each and every one of you. Have a happy and safe New Year!
My latest commission was for a Christmas card. They wanted something different, but personal too. They love their dog, Sparky, and decided to feature him on the card! I also decided to take a few pictures in-progress to show you how I complete a drawing in colored pencils.
They provided me with a few different photos and this is the one I chose to work with:
They wanted me to spice it up and make it look “more Christmasy”. So I did a sketch for them that looked like this:
Which they loved. (Sparky really does like to open presents too!) I figured we could put text on the inside that said, “No peeking” or something along those lines.
Here is the final sketch:
It’s more refined than the initial sketch I gave. That was just to give them an idea of what I was thinking. This final pencil drawing is fully shaded on illustration board and made to the correct size and proportion of the final piece.
Then, I put a thin layer of gesso right on top of the drawing. I usually spray fix the pencil, just so it doesn’t smudge with the weight of the brush. I use a cheap foam brush, so I don’t get any brush marks and it goes on nice and evenly.
As you can see, the drawing underneath the gesso is still visible. The gesso is thinned slightly with water and when it dries it’s slightly transparent. You don’t want to thin it too much because then it defeats the purpose of putting gesso down altogether. …but on the other hand, if you don’t use enough water, it becomes opaque and you lose the drawing you just did. This might take some experimenting to get the right mixture. I use gesso because I like to thin out the first few layers of colored pencils with turpentine to give it a more solid feel. A lot of times with colored pencils you can see the white of the paper through the wax. (sometimes, I use the color of the paper to enhance the colored pencils, such as in this piece) Using a solvent, such as turpentine, with eliminate the white show-through.
As shown in the photo above, the red bow has been thinned with turpentine, and I’ve just laid down the green on the present — see the white of the paper through it? That will be a smooth surface after painting it with a solvent.
This pic is a little smaller than the others, but you can see that I have my reference shot to the left and the present is just about complete. Sparky is sitting patiently waiting his turn to be colored!
And here is the final product!
Original illustration created in colored pencils on gessoed board, approx. 6″ x 6″.
Contact me if you’d like your own custom portrait and/or custom greeting card for the holidays or anytime!
I am drawn to you. 