Elinor Smith Sketch

Our theme for the Friday Sketch at work was female aviation pilots from old days. I drew Elinor Smith! Just a quick sketch.  Check out my co-worker Erin's great sketch for the theme today!

Sartorialist Sketch

Just a small warm-down sketch from the Sartorialist. Annnnd good night.

Naptime

I don't get to sleep nearly as much as I wish I could. That is all :)

Doodle Time

Just a few more random sketches as I work on bigger projects.

Doodle Boyfriend

In between my current projects I decided to do a doodle of my boyfriend and me looking all puppy dog eyes at each other. We met in college, and he really is my better half (you can check out his work here). The rest of my work wouldn't get finished without his encouragement, critique and motivation. Working hard is important, but having someone to help you along the way even more so. I'll stop being sappy now, I swear!

Apparition

This painting was a complete joy to work on. My wonderful agent Kathleen is having me create a series of new self promotional work and this is the first of many.

I don't really have much else to say about it. I hope you like it!

Two New Friends

Here is my finished piece for the Pokemon Battle Royale show being held in April at the Light Gray Art Gallery in St. Paul, Minnesota. I selected Venomoth and decided to illustrate the moment a young trainer might meet her new companion on a rainy night.

Big things are happening now! I am so thrilled to announce that I am officially represented by Kathleen Ortiz at Nancy Coffey Literary and Media Representation. My profile is set up on their website here. I'm looking forward to the exciting new venture Kathleen and I are beginning together as an agent/illustrator team and the exciting new things to come!

Hope everyone is loving the springtime weather just as much as I am these days!

Doodley Self Portrait

Just a quick self portrait. Gearing up for CTN in a few weeks! I've never been to California (or west of Texas, for that matter), so I'm so excited for this trip! It'll be so great to see friends from college too :)

Larkstorm

It has been too long since I last updated on my blog. I could give an array of excuses. The truth is, graduating from college and the resulting years after has been one of the most difficult experiences of my life. I and so many others graduated in a time when jobs were sparse, hopes were low and the drive to keep going was quickly hindered by the constant rejection after rejection that we have all faced.

It hasn't been easy, and at times downright terrifying. But I do firmly believe that if you somehow keep going, surround yourself with people that want you to succeed and above all believe that you simply can, that anything is possible.

I was contacted by Kathleen Ortiz to work on a possible freelance opportunity last month. I was thrilled at even the consideration and was quickly thrown into one of the best experiences of my life. I was introduced to Dawn Rae Miller and her wonderful world of LARKSTORM, and given the opportunity to do what I could to make her beautiful story shine.

It was most certainly a test in faith, for they took a chance on picking me. While I might have a decent portfolio, I don't have a wealth of experience like so many others. I am humbled by their trust, and forever grateful for their friendship. I know this is just the beginning for me on my quest to make it in this world as an artist, and I am so honored and truly excited to share with you my first book cover for the upcoming YA novel LARKSTORM by the brilliant Dawn Rae Miller.

Quick Sketchy's update

Quick update. Caught a really bad cold at the beginning of the month, had an even worse cold front move in that resulted in hours without power, and then a week later my iMac decided it wanted to fail. I don't really have anything backed up (long story), so it's currently at a data recovery shop. Hopefully I won't lose most of my work from the past year, but you live and you learn.

I have my windows open today: 76° and sunny. I'll take it. Things are looking up for the rest of this month (but they really couldn't have gotten much worse). Hopefully I'll have some more work to show soon once I get my iMac back. Hope everyone enjoyed their Valentine's Day!

Ringmaster

Here's a character design I came up with, partially inspired by reading Water for Elephants recently for the book club Erin and I started with some friends. I had an image of a sleazy old circus ringmaster pop into my head and had to draw him. His teeth are disgusting and I love it!



I've dubbed him Big Louie Curbludgeon, mostly because my friend loved how curmudgeonly and sordid he looked and I wanted to be subtle. But not really, because I can't imagine Big Louie being subtle at all.

Can't wait to explore more of this seamy circus world.

Exploring with some brush and ink

At the weekly figure drawing we have going on, we started experimenting with some sumi ink. It was a lot of fun getting used to using a brush and ink again. These are all around 5-7 minute sketches that were started in a diluted ink and water combo, with the final drawing opaque. Should have more coming over the next couple of weeks!

A new year for more Dr. Sketchy's

Hope everyone had a fantastic holiday and new years! Last week, we had an awesome model at Dr. Sketchy's, so here's some of the drawings from that. Enjoy!

And then there was more figure drawing

I really can't get enough of figure drawing. It's one of my favorite things to do and I'm so thankful to have some great opportunities around Dallas (shout out to Dallas Dr. Sketchy's!)









Should be some good news to report in the future hopefully soon. In the meantime, everyone enjoy the cooler weather and the prospect of good food, friends and family in these coming Holiday weeks. Oh and the upcoming release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 as well as TRON: Legacy (but really, I just want Daft Punk's soundtrack)!

More figure drawing!

One can never have enough figure drawing, am I right? There will be more this weekend at Dallas Dr. Sketchy's so keep your eyes open for another post soon. Hope everyone is enjoying the cooler weather and their Pumpkin Spice Lattes~

Dr. Sketchy's

Just got back from a Dr. Sketchy's session. For those of you that don't know, it's an organized figure drawing club where burlesque models pose in costumes for a couple hours in a local bar. A lot of cities have a Dr. Sketchy's so google it to try to find one in your area! I highly recommend it!

The top I did at today's session and the one below was from a couple of weeks ago. Both are 20 minute studies.



Working on portfolio updates and renovations. I'm looking forward to cooler air coming up in the next couple months; this Texas heat is unreal.

Nothing beats figure drawing

Over the past month or so, I've been doing weekly figure drawing Tuesday mornings. It's been a really great exercise for me and I've finally gotten back in the groove of working the figure. I most certainly have the Illustration Academy to thank for what I know about drawing the figure and how I approach my process for art making in general. Good luck to all the new students this year!

College to real life is quite the transition.

No one really prepares you for what is coming when you graduate. There's a lot of uncertainty. A ton of "Holy crap, what am I going to do NOW." It was one of the most challenging experiences of my entire life. It's amazing to me that in school we feel on top of the world and like anything is possible and in the real world, you have to start all over again. They don't teach overcoming this reality in art school but we all have to figure it out one way or another.

I've been working with Reel FX quite a bit on a couple different projects (which I posted earlier) and can now post part of the work I've done with them given that some of it is now live.

I worked on an online game for kids based on the candy Baby Bottle Pops. I did environments, concepts, user interfaces, and more. The game is now live which you can see at BabyBottlePop.com. Much of the artwork and environments were done by Shane Richardson, Erin McGuire, and myself. It was an interesting and challenging job to work on and definitely an experience that required a lot of collaboration and revisions.








I have some more work to post soon. I wish all the upcoming graduates good luck and congratulations!

Starting fresh

Just a preview of a fun little piece I'm working on. Getting back into the groove of things, figuring out 1, 2, 5, and 10 year goals. Wishing I had a dog to keep me company and warm on days like today. I had a bit of a mid-life crisis at the ripe age of 22, but I suppose that's normal for many people post-graduation. I've done some work with Reel FX on various projects and am working on restructuring my portfolio with new work and a somewhat clearer direction. I've grown accustomed to living in Texas now, though the snow here is unreal.


And that was just this morning! They're anticipating up to a foot of snow in Dallas. Texans are so funny, they have no idea what to do in times of snowfall. It makes me nostalgic for my childhood days in upstate New York.

I updated my website with a new layout and some severe yet necessary editing. Bring on the new decade!

www.sarahmarino.com

Moving to Dallas

So I feel pretty terrible for not updating but I promise things will pick up soon!

I'm officially moving to Dallas in a week and will have the studio space I crave along with amazing friends and talented artists to inspire me. I think this change of pace can only bring good things and I'm looking forward to the weeks, months, and maybe even years to come.

See you soon with new art <3