Illustration

Super Inspired Illustrated Diary Entry

After a "dry" spell where I don't paint for months, it sometimes feels like I will never paint again. And then something, such as a bird's shadow or a word someone whispers in passing, will open my flood gates of inspiration. Here is my illustrated diary entry about being inspired.

The Supreme Judge (Inner Critic) - Illustration from diary

My inner critic sometimes gets the better of me. And in terms of letting my inner critic have its say, I even have judgement about having judgement. Here is a page from my illustrated diary about my Supreme Judge:

Sara's New Comics in the Press

In November 2012, I unveiled my new project, Unearthed Comics: a cartoon resource of craziness and weirdness about our life here on Earth, doused in a bucket of chocolate-flavored hilarity. Unearthed Comics are internet cartoons inspired from observing the world around us, which include:

• business comics and work humor
• technology humor and marketing cartoons
• internet cartoons about art, music, sports and the outdoors
• parenting and relationship cartoons/ marriage cartoons
• health humor and yoga humor
• and internet comics about just plain ol’ life.

In December, the local paper, the Sierra Sun, featured an article about Unearthed Comics. You can read the full article here or visit Unearthed Comics on Facebook for some more up-to-date information.

Here's one of my newest ones:

How I spend New Year's Now

My illustrated diary page about how I used to spend New Year's Eve compared to how I spend it now. See it larger on my illustration portfolio.

Hand drawn logos

Hand drawn logos are not only unique, but also can be used for extraordinary products and brand awareness. These logos are fun, memorable, and stand out among competitors.

Here are two of my hand drawn logos that I created using my own font and graphics:

Create Possibilities Unearthed Comics

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! Have a spooky, yet safe day!

(Please feel free to share this Halloween eCard with your friends on your social networks by clicking on the share icons below).

Teeny Scribbles: New Line Illustration

This is a fun line illustration of weird squiggles, twists and turns done on a pocket-sized notepad. Once complete, I scanned it and brought the image into Photoshop where I could clean up the smudges, reverse the line color to white, and add a teal background. See more of my hand-drawn illustrations here.

Funky Squaw Valley Illustration

Just because you can paint or draw realism, doesn't mean you should. Here is a funky illustration of Squaw Valley, with a little more silliness, zest, and life than a traditional, realistic image of this great ski resort:

Pen and Ink Sample Sheet - Explorations in Illustration

When I was in college taking science illustration courses, I was introduced to pen and ink. [And when I say "pen and ink," I do not mean normal, run-of-the-mill pens; I am talking about pens with nibs that you dip into an inkwell (really old school!)]. My initial reaction upon introduction to the pen nib and ink well made me think about the Declaration of Independence. Once I started clogging up the ends of my nibs and dripping large blots of ink everywhere, I realized what a feat creating an error-free document truly was.

The goal of using this new medium was to test multiple pen nibs to create different sized lines and alternating stroke widths in each line. This is useful when you would like an illustration that has an interesting line, with a hand-drawn feel, yet is concise and interesting.

After I tired from my explorations of ink blobs and the new curse-words I invented during this process, my professor recommended I create a sample sheet of lines. How boring, I thought to myself. A sheet of lines? Ugh! But after I started, I realized that this indeed was a great exercise that was far from dull. It inspired me to see how many different strokes or lines I could create.

I created hatchmarks from different nibs, with different pressures, different strokes, different directions, etc. The result is this sheet that I can use as a reference point for future inking projects.

Design Inspiration - Hand-painted poster

Hand-drawn and hand-painted elements really make designs pop and stand out from the rest.

Here is a painting I created for the primary use of being a main element in this fundraising poster (left, below):

First I painted the painting. Then scanned it in and cleaned up the image. Next I started the design of the poster. I isolated the main image using a layer mask, and continued to build up the rest of the poster design (above, right). The result is this fun, colorful poster that will hopefully stand out and attract support for this great cause.