Sketching this Weekend

Not too much to say about these drawings except that I’m becoming more disciplined about using guidelines and it’s rather fun substituting colors for black pencil.

Studio News for November

Heart Ravenna - the hero of "Privateer Princess" soon to be seen in a novel

I haven't been blogging much lately but I thought it might be time to do some updating today. So here's the scoop. I’m just now finishing up some children's book illustrations for a book coming out on Kindle this weekend. More to follow on that when the book is up on Amazon.

Editing is going well on Book 1 of my new Sci-fi/Romance series. Expect to hear more about that soon too. I have about half of Book 2 written at this point and that’s been distracting me somewhat from the editing of Book 1. I want the first two books to come out pretty close together and now they can. Additional books in the series will be forthcoming coming in 2013. :-)

I’ll be rehabbing the "Privateer Princess" website pretty soon to give it a facelift as an advertising platform for the new book series which, in case you missed the news, is the novelization of the webcomic story. (Although the novel plot is somewhat changed from our original comic plot, my Muse apparently having some new and quite new cool ideas about plot changes.) So now Snow Wolf’s and Heart’s adventures will be continuing in novel form. *squee*

Finally, I’m about to start working on my Christmas/seasonal cards for 2012. Upper Case Books in Snohomish has asked me to make a few exclusive cards for them this year and I’m very excited to do it. For those who find themselves visiting the store, they are also carrying copies of my coloring book, "My Day at the Horse Show." You can find it in the local author section.

I do love that store! It’s so nice to be collaborating with an independent book shop in this day and age.

So that’s about it from here at the studio. I now must run along and start drawing for the day.

Cheers to all!

-Sara

Steamcon IV

Sometimes things work out even when they don’t. Last Sunday, October 28^th, Matt and I happened to be having lunch down the street from the hotel where they were holding the wonderful Steamcon IV. When we realized this we hurried over but were just in time to see people packing up their valises and heading out. However, intrepid girl reporter/artist that I am, I did manage to snap a few photos of some clever costumes and one very handsome airship pirate.

Here’s a sketch I did today in honor of airship pirates everywhere. *swoon* I just love these guys. 

Lekanis Lid – finished at last!

Lekanis Lid, colored pencil

Gosh, it has been quite a while since I’ve worked on this particular piece. Here, at long last, is the Lekanis lid finally finished. (Links to earlier posts are here: part 3, part 2, part 1.) Phew! This piece has been hanging around my studio, being worked on glacially slowly, for several months now. This week I was just so tired of seeing it that I decided I just needed to finish it up and put it away.

This colored pencil piece is 6.5” x 7” and was created on cold press Illustration Board. It’s mainly Derwent Drawing pencils with a bit of Prismacolor highlighting at the end.  My original intention in using the Derwent Drawing pencils was to create a matte finish for the piece that looked similar to the original terracotta. I’m happy with the results as the piece does have the look of an ancient Greek Red Figure terracotta. :-)

Rodney’s Saga Blog Illustrations

http://rodneyssaga.wordpress.com/2012/09/18/that-other-horse/

I’m delighted to report that another of my illustrations has appeared on Katherine Walcott’s Rodney’s Saga blog. Please check out her wonderful articles on barn and horse-life.

Of the entire series of illustrations, this one is my favorite. In it I tried to capture that “lighter than air quality” horses get when they’re being very, very naughty. Even the heaviest steppers somehow turn into balloons at times and launch themselves off the ground. I myself have been launched many times. Fortunately for me, my current horse is a bit too heavy and gentlemanly for sustained launches. All the same, after years of riding Thoroughbreds, I certainly know how it goes. My best advice, from my old eventing days, is to hold on tight and kick for all you’re worth! Cheers everyone!

Finishing Up My Moleskin

Yesterday, I finished up the last page in my current Moleskin sketchbook. Here's lucky sketch that got the last page slot.
 

I saw this cute, red Vespa in the South Lake Union area of Seattle. South Lake Union is a very fun up and coming neighborhood. I used to work in that area a few years ago (way before it was cool!) Back then it was still a pretty downtrodden place. Not so today. It’s now come up quite far in the world! With its hip restaurants, pea patches, trendy apartments, and even a new museum adorning its streets SLU is really a fun place to visit.

Red Vespa (ink, colored pencils, Tombow markers in a Moleskin)

Rodney’s Saga Blog Illustrations - Horse Dreams

http://rodneyssaga.wordpress.com/2012/08/19/horse-dreams/

Oh my it’s been a long time since I’ve posted anything here! I would say that this is a sad turn of events but it actually isn’t. For the past few weeks I’ve been working VERY hard on a new creative project that I am extremely happy about. It’s still all very hush-hush and so no news of it here yet. But I can tell you that when it's revealed later this year, there will be balloons and ice cream. It’ll be a regular party! ;-)

I had good news of another sort when I received word that Katherine Walcott featured another my illustrations in her blog, "Rodney’s Saga" on August 19^th. (Thank you Katherine!) This entry is called “Horse Dreams.” You can see it here: http://rodneyssaga.wordpress.com/2012/08/19/horse-dreams/

She brings up an interesting point, do you think that our pets dream? My opinion on that topic has evolved over time. At one time I would have said yes, of course. But now I’m not so sure. Perhaps to them this world is all they can (or do) contemplate. But if they have lessons to work out then I can well imagine they do dream, as a method of integration and resolution.

But, I suppose we’ll not know as long as we can’t speak with them directly. I look forward to the day when we can. It’d be interesting to follow their opinion on this one. *wink*