Sarah’s Creative Journey

Today, I had a few hours between my two jobs.  So while I ate my lunch, I began to look at the people around me (not that creepily however) and make up stories for them.  I would interpret how they were eating and sitting and try to figure out their personality and figure out what they were doing with their day.   So for example, there was a young man, probably in his mid-twenties, wearing a suit and tie, and sitting near the window looking out between bites of his sandwich. In my mind he became a young entrepreneur, still learning about his new job that he got.  Was trying to relax and get away on his lunch break while wishing he could just go home to see his friends/not wanting to be here working in this crappy weather.  He doesn't have a girlfriend yet, but does like a girl he has been hanging out with recently.  Etc, etc...  Even just by doing this with the few people I saw at lunch today, I think it opened my awareness to others' composure and body language.  Maybe it

About a week until I can post pictures of everything I have been working on!!! Get excited!

Flogging Molly in Columbus So awesome.  I have many more pictures, but these are some of the best. 

Opening band to Flogging Molly.  SO EXCITING.  Plus, notice the three different guitars Rev. Peyton has.  One is a homemade cigar box guitar.  He also plays fingerpicking style-meaning that his thumb plays bass, and his fingers play the melody.   Breezy plays washboard, and after the show she set it on fire and then smashed it into the stage. They play Blues/Rock Country style of music.  And it is wonderful.  Recommend checking them out for sure: http://www.bigdamnband.com/ They have quite a few CD's out already too.

"I dream a lot.  I do more painting when I'm not painting. It's in the subconscious." -Andrew Wyeth This is probably way too true for me.  Meaning, that I haven't gotten around to painting as much... hoping to change that soon. 

So you may be asking, where is all of the art?  Where are the pictures and relevant posts?  Well, they are on their way.  I know I keep saying that, but I am working very hard to figure things out and get stuff done.  Plus, with most of them being Christmas presents, I don't want to put pictures up.  As for art related posts, the days come and go.  And my ideas run thin sometimes...   On the bright side, I am starting to follow the schedule of updating every other day!  So while I am here coming up with excuses for why I'm not posting art stuff, you should be out Christmas shopping, spreading good cheer, and getting together with family and friends!

One of my favorite days of the year.  And it has been continually expanding.   Every year, my family and I get together for one whole day and just bake all of our Christmas cookies.   From what I can remember, it started with me and sometimes my mom going to my grandma's house and helping her bake cookies.  A few years down the road, after one particularly full with overflowing dessert Christmas, we decided we should cut back on some of our cookies.  Each family was making about the same ones, but we were eating less and less of them.   So we decided that next year we would just make them altogether.   Next year rolls around: my grandma, my mom, my aunt, two of my cousins, and I baked many dozens of cookies, stored them in tins, and we were finished for the holiday season!  It was so much fun.  We played Christmas music and tasted cookie dough all day.   This year it was our fifth year doing it I believe.  This time, for about the third year, my sister-in-law was there too!

http://www.booksofadam.com/2012/12/drawn-to-life-black-friday.html Another GREAT blog.  It is not updated regularly, but when he does update, it is always guaranteed that you will be lol-ing for real.  He always knows how to take real life and make it into a greater story, or to say what everyone is usually thinking, and illustrate it to a higher and more extreme scale.  That is true talent.  I also want to try this more often whenever I go people watching now.  And yes, all artists go people watching.  We like to observe.  And while I am doing another shout out, I thought I should include a post from Muddy Colors again.  Muddy Colors is probably my favorite blog to get art updates and to learn many new things.  It serves as my art class of the day kind of blog. http://muddycolors.blogspot.com/2012/12/about-curves-and-lines.html I hope you fully enjoy both of these.  Now go out and read more webcomics! (Or any comics really)

To stray a little to vocals and music... The Voice is now going into the final four singers/artists starting next Monday.  I am sad to say that this week, I lost 2 of my favorites on the show this season:  Amanda and Melanie.  BUT that does not mean it is over yet.  I encourage you to watch the rest of the season just to see how amazing these people are.  For now... http://www.nbc.com/the-voice/video/amanda-brown-natural-woman/1425827/ http://www.nbc.com/the-voice/video/melanie-martinez-the-show/1425882/

Did you know that Norman Rockwell divorced his first wife in January 1930, and married his second wife in April 1930 ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJNR2EpS0jw You might have already seen this video.  But it is very catchy with some good and colorful animation!

I have finally got the chance to catch up on comics, and Dr. McNinja was the first one I went to of course.  It is not everyday that one runs into a webcomic about ninjas, dinosaurs, and King Radical, and also has a good story to tie them altogether.  I do not remember exactly when I ran into this comic, but it was probably about 3-4 years ago.   Since then it has been on my RSS feed.   http://drmcninja.com/ I also cannot forget about Clark's own comic-Nedroid Picture Diary.  About the wonderful Reginald and Beartato and their relationship.  (Has also been on my RSS feed for quite some time).   http://nedroid.com/ So if you are looking for even more webcomics to add to your list, be sure to add these!  It is well worth the reading, and looking at the styles of artwork. 

I am guilty of this.  For my "Thanksgiving" post, I talked about Christmas gifts.  Oops.   Thanksgiving should be looked forward to and just as celebrated as Christmas.  'Cause frankly, if it had the gifts with the food, well it would become the new Christmas.  Only slightly kidding.  There are way too many Catholics out there that would probably die if that happened.    But anyway,  hope you had a wonderful and thankful Thanksgiving with lots of food, family, and friends.  Here's a Peanut's wallpaper for you! http://images.fanpop.com/images/image_uploads/Thanksgiving-peanuts-452774_1280_960.jpg  

http://www.happletea.com/2012/11/27/self-improvement/ This is exactly how I feel. Also, if you haven't read the comic or heard of it, but you're in to mythology and laughing, then you will love Happletea.  So go read it! There is also an awesome store where you can buy stuff.  I haven't bought anything yet, but believe me, if I had the money, I would be paying so many artists for their artwork.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sA1e1fWS7AI Wonderful clip that I thought would be entertaining.

Happy Thanksgiving!!! Since I forgot to post yesterday, here is a short one for today.. Plans for Christmas: Finish the map 2 gifts for family 3 or more gifts for friends  I already finished 1 family gift, and 1 friend gift. So that adds up to 8 gifts for the Christmas season.  Let's hope I can get all of them done!  Meanwhile, go eat some food!  (But not too much).  And if you're going shopping, be safe.

As far as getting PayPal set up here, it won't be until after the new year.  I want to try and buy a custom domain and set up something that will hopefully be a lot easier for everyone to view and purchase my art.  But that doesn't mean I won't post up some more pictures/prices for people to see!  I also may have purchased some artwork myself this past month. :)  But as always, I will be keeping you on your toes to find out what it looks like. 

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/making_things http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86x-u-tz0MA First, I am posting early because I couldn't wait to post these.  They are wonderful and amazing! Second, I don't know when I will be able to post in the next couple days, so I figured I could get a head start at least.   So, if you are at all interested in laughing or coming to a realization about your major, then you should follow these links.  I promise you will not be disappointed.

What I have been listening to lately... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Evq8zgyBxeQ

Two movies that have given me inspirations recently.  I think the explanation is pretty easy to come by. Quotes and animation. Talk about amazing actors.

The rehearsal dinner at TAP Gastropub, the wedding, the photobooth, and downtown Atlanta. Couldn't have asked for a better weekend. It was great despite the fact that I couldn't take pictures with my camera because I forgot to put the battery in the camera after actually remembering to charge it...  Everything was beautiful.

Remember this? Remember the 5th of November? Yeah, now it's the 7th and I'm behind on blogging, only to be leaving for my cousin's wedding tomorrow.  Soo, how about we forget that I forgot to remember, and I'll make it up when I come back? Yeah. Sounds good.  Here's some entertainment to make up for it shortly.  http://lizclimo.tumblr.com/

My portfolio is 98% done!!!  The only thing left to do is finish my commission, take a picture, upload it to my computer, and put it in my portfolio.  Then BAM!  I can print out my portfolio and make it fancy, and start putting up prices here for YOU! I can't give you a preview of pictures, but some fun facts:          It's 116 pages long (including all of the tabbed pages and image list).                         It will feature 'new' artwork that I do not believe I have included on here before. And I will probably include the price list soon so everyone can get an idea on prices and spread any       interest in buying around.                I might include some free give-a-ways at some point after the New Year as well.   So many new and exciting things coming up!  Be sure to keep a look out!

You know those times when you've been listening to a song for a couple of years, but then all of a sudden, the lyrics mean something to you?  Well that happened to me while I was driving yesterday.  I was listening to Florez-one of the best bands I have on CD-and the song was Good Man. The lyrics were "I used to fantasize about gettin' big, but I'm grown and I'm still just a restless kid."  Graduating college, taking on new responsibilities, and becoming independent, I truly feel that way.  I always remember looking up to the people or 'adults' I admired, and now that I seem like an adult to kids, I understand.

Do It Anyway http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uLtyzRgmyI To everyone fighting Hurricane Sandy to everyone fighting cancer to everyone fighting day to day life

I have, and I think many others have realized that if we do a little bit of a project each day, results will show after a certain period of time.  But there lies the problem.  In almost everything we do today, we want every result to be instant.  When, in reality, that rarely happens.  So when we don't see the results of our own work every day, we can easily be discouraged.   The past 6-7 years I have been stretching [almost] every night before going to bed.  Just this past year have I added doing push-ups or sit-ups as well as stretches.  It is not until now (years and months later), that I am seeing results.  Though they are small results, I get feelings of big accomplishments.  When I started this, my goals were low.  I really just wanted to do something small everyday to maintain my flexibility and start muscle strengthening.   So what have I gained?                   Not only have I maintained flexibility, I've increased my flexibility                  My arms and sto

I've noticed that I have to clean my room or the area I am working in before I can really sit down to work.  I think doing this is telling my brain that I have a kind of "clean slate" where I can start fresh.  Plus, it also gives me time to think some and organize my thoughts before I begin my usual long list of things to do.

Three great pictures that I own.  I feel like when I look at these I have a piece of Disney with me.  A real, geniune piece.  Granted they are basically mass sold, but the pictures are sometimes more real and inspirational.  An instant inspiration if you will!  I wish I could tell you exactly who did the artwork for these, but I cannot.  I can only say that it was probably a combined effort for both Bambi and The Lion King.  As for Ariel, it is signed, but I cannot read the signature.  I plan on getting these framed in the near future (and get a mat for Ariel), so they should look even better after that!

Setting a goal for myself to blog every other day is turning out to be harder than I thought.  Not only do I have to remember, but I have to come up with things to blog about.  Some days are easy, others I am at a loss.  But I will try to catch up/stay on schedule!   Right now, I am working on my portfolio still, as well as pricing some artwork.   And maybe some day you will be able to purchase any artwork you see here online!  But for now, please contact me with thoughts or inquiries of any kind!  I will be happy to help, or even create something for you if you would like!  I believe all you have to do is comment on a post, or email me through blogger and I will get back to you.  

http://www.shauntan.net/books/the-arrival.html        The first book I picked up from the library one afternoon happened to change my life forever.  ...Well maybe not exactly like that, but it's damn good.  I had never heard of Shaun Tan until I read this book of his.  Turns out he is actually pretty famous.  Some of his known works besides these two books are as a theatre designer and a concept artist for Horton Hears a Who and Wall-E.  Since I have found out about Tan, he has been an inspiration for me to keep drawing and to maybe even create my own books later on in life. http://www.shauntan.net/books/suburbia.html         Basically I am just introducing you to a great Illustrator and story teller; I'm not telling you anything about these books.  That's for you to check out.  They will take you about 10-30 minutes to read tops.  Or about an hour depending upon how long you like to look at pictures.  Feel free to visit his website for more information!  http:/

What you've all been waiting for I'm sure!  I'm still in the process of painting, but the drawing is done and sold, and since I'm in the spirit of processes, I thought I might as well post this!  Plus, I'm catching up on updates, since I've been busy lately.  

Illustration process is a little bit different than painting process for me.  At least for now.  Illustrating is and can be a very finite process. Attention to detail is a must.  When creating characters, you're creating a story.  That's what I love about it.