As before in the last post, much has changed. This time, it is not really with this website (though I did change it a little bit here and there), but mainly with me personally. I started working on a painting a while ago. And then I needed to pause on it so I could also work on a logo that had to be completed as soon as possible. Some time after finishing the logo, I felt I needed to just take care of myself, inside. I’d been avoiding it for a very long time, because it involved terrible memories for me, and I wished to avoid, accept and move on from it. But it was most always in the back of my mind. I grew tired of fighting back and so I felt I was finally ready to just sit and confront the situation head on, without anyone around for me to wonder “what do they think?” I needed to know how exactly I felt, without influence from others’  thoughts and perceptions. I’ve had a nasty habit in the past of forming how I felt through how others felt, but deep down inside feeling differently. And now, I know. Well, I’m certain at least, how I feel about it all… I am not ready to tell the whole world about it quite yet, though my family and some friends know. But when the time comes,  I may share some personal news and stories with you.

Until then, I share with you some art news. As I mentioned earlier, I was requested to create a logo within about a week. It was for my older brothers’ new insurance company. A lion is the crest symbol for Leone, thus why the lion was chosen. I did the logo entirely in Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop.

Click to view larger image

You can find more information about this awesome new

and thriving insurance company at: Leone Insurance Agency

Lastly, I have recently completed the biggest commissioned painting I’ve ever done so far. It is framed, but I do not yet have a photo of it in the frame. But as soon as I do, I will post it for all to see.  In the meantime, here is the final result without the frame:

Click to view larger image

The Eastern Rising

Pastel Chalk with some pastel pencils on pastel grey board

24 by 36 inches

27 hours of painting

This painting was a great challenge because I do not usually do seascapes. I’m not certain I have really actively and seriously ever done seascapes before. But I enjoyed it, because it was another challenge for me to puzzle out and learn from. It went through a great many changes. I plan on making a video progress of it some time so be on the lookout for that!

I will be selling prints of this. It can be in pretty much any size you want, so just let me know what size prints you would like and I will let you know the prices some time next week.

I am also open to doing more paintings, so feel free to look around my site and email me for more info.

Let me know what you guys think!

…Among other things… Such as my web site! Yes I have finally made drastic changes to it at last! I’ve been wanting to change it since last year, but was still figuring out what to use, and, mostly, wanting to build up my portfolio and experience a bit more before redoing my site. I hope I succeeded!

Allow me to show you around a little bit

Beforehand, when clicking on a picture to zoom into, it brought you to a separate plain window or tab. Then you would need to exit out of it or click return to previous page to get back to my site. Now you don’t need to leave my site at all in order to zoom in! Just click on a picture when you see a Magnifier and watch it load to a bigger size. You can even click and drag the zoomed picture/photo around the screen if you’d like.

I have officially put my online store back on cyberspace! Previously, I felt my store was rather clunky and disorganized. Now, you can see a 3D image of the product with my design on it and preview your customized greeting card up front right on my store. Now… There’s not much on it right nowwww. But when creating the product, it takes much customizing and configuring out before publishing to sell. So I will continue to add more products to my store. You will be able to see the recent products added directly on my site as well, so you can easily tell when I’ve added something new to the store.

I also have an official Subscription sign-up form which will make it easier for everyone to receive updates and emails from me about my website and art life. So if you would like to keep up to date, feel free to sign up!

Oh yes and I’ve also added more security features when sending an email in any of my web pages or comments on my blog. Getting too many Spammers is no fun! So I had to take action and fight back at them! They have since scaled back their attacks…. Hmm….. Seems to be working quite well! Ü

I  think the rest is pretty self-explanatory.

If you have any questions, let me know. Or if you have a design you would like, or painting you would like done, check out the links above or on the Homepage for more information.

So let me know what you think of my new layout and design! I will probably start posting more artsy stuff soon to share with you so be on the lookout! For now…. Enjoy the new website!

Two weeks to start it. Three weeks to prepare. One day to deliver. Five weeks to hold my tongue before daring to allow myself to spread the Big News of the year. I know that sounds pretty bold. But…. It IS Big News. It seems like with each year I progress, I not only improve in my art, but….. It gets even further in the adventure! And so, the news in which I have been dyyyyinnngg to share with the whole wide world, for the past 5 weeks, is this:

I’m selling my art in a STORE now!!!! :O A STORE! Up until now, I only dreamed of getting this far. Me. Sarah. Selling her… MY… artwork in a store. That’s pretty dang amazing I think!

So here’s the deal: Check out Lucy’s Art Emporium in Dover, NH on Central Avenue. It is a local store that sells local art, gifts, artist greeting cards, handmade jewerly, and more. It’s a really cool store!

I am selling single cards for $3.50 and packs of 15 cards per box for $15.00. The store hours are as follows:

Monday-Friday: 11:00 am – 6:00 pm

Saturday: 10:00 am – 5:00 pm

Sunday: Closed

There are 8 different card designs there to choose from, each with two different texts (and one design without any text) for each design for single cards. All cards are blank inside.

And if you have been following my artistic ventures, you will see a brand new design that I will be posting on here very soon. I made it over the weekend before Thanksgiving. It is kind of a different style in that it is a ‘design’ picture instead of a ‘story’ picture. So something simple but a little different! I hope to create at least another new design this upcoming week.

So if you’re around New England,  go there!

Well, that’s the big news I have been wanting to share. I suppose I wanted to wait until it was truly official.

There you have it. I have entered the Store Arena. Thank you to those who have helped spread the word about me and my art. I truly am thankful to have such great friends :} For that is how this all started. Word of mouth. It’s a great thing!

And with that, I end with this:

Happy Shopping!!

Whaaattt? Too cheesy a title? Don’t look at me like that!

Haha okay in all seriousness. I have already started my next project. Except this time it is not a test project to see whether I’d like a certain medium or not. It’s something someone has requested that I must finish before the end of this month. And if you hadn’t noticed already, yes, it has to do with hannnnds haha. Well, it will only have one hand in the picture but I had to give my friend options you know? She has since chosen which hand she wants to be in the picture but I will leave the guessing up to you til I put the final piece up! Which will likely happen within the next week or two.

Have fun guessing!

(click on picture for bigger viewing)

Sketch of Hands – Done in pencil on paper

So, hello there. It’s been a long while. What’s happened since February??

Well let’s see here.

My computer died on me. But THANKFULLY I lost nothing that was on my hard drive. Very relieved about that. Because of that, I ended up learning more than I ever wished to about computers. It was worth it in the end, however, because now I have a faster, quieter, cooler (never gets hot anymore) computer. Very thrilled about that

I was without my own computer for about three to four months. After learning the files on my hard drive were safe and secure, I was able to relax and focus on other things. For instance, I read four books in ONE week! It was a wild week full of sadness, laughter, suspense, adventure, puns, battles, and danger.

I also learned during this time that markers just aren’t my thing. They look really fun and innovative to use, but I just could not connect with the medium. So I have decided that, until further notice, markers will take a backseat. Now I just need to figure out what to do with these Tria markers….. At least I know now that markers aren’t my thing!

One night I decided to take out my color tinted charcoal pencils. I’d never seen color tinted charcoal pencils before so I just HAD to get them! I’m not quite so sure what prompted me to take them out again. Perhaps out of boredom? Or maybe it was that I was just remembering a charcoal drawing I did of my brother and his wife a few years ago, and how much fun it was then. Yeah, that’s probably it haha.

With the color tinted charcoal pencils (24 pencils), I did some doodles of random little things on regular paper. A shaded circle, a waterfall… Little things. Then I remembered having a simple 12-piece pastel chalk set from college. An art teacher was giving away used old art stuff and I’d snatched one of the sets up in curiousity. Never know, right?!

So then, I started drawing a simple eye and then added color, skin…. And just kind of got lost in it, as you can see below. I found myself getting so engrossed in it that, before I knew it, I had created a half face. You can see it here:

-Mysterious Human-

I enjoyed it so much so, that I decided to look further into it. I did not have any pastel paper but I did have watercolor paper, which is thick itself, so I thought it would work well with Pastels. And well… I soon learned… Maybe not ha…..

-Pastel Sunset on watercolor paper-

In the end, I immersed myself in the world knowledge of pastel chalk in every way possible. From two books on pastels, to asking around to fellow artists, to watching youtube videos and reading comments, and then getting the tools needed to try it out, for real. On real pastel paper, with more pastel chalk blocks and pencils. One problem. I needed a picture. Sure, I could always draw something from my imagination. But the true and best way to learn something new on a new art medium, I’ve found, is to study from real life, or at least from a good quality photograph. I scoured my own pictures, with no satisfaction. Then scoured on Facebook friends. And then there she was. A dog (golden retriever?) looking up happily and in curiousity at someone special.

Her fur coat was a perfect challenge because it was scattered all over the place. Going in all directions. Plus, the picture was of excellent quality (not fuzzy and not too many glares).

Josie (the name of the dog) was quite an adventure. I wanted to try to do a picture from a real life photograph, to see if I could connect with using pastels in the future. I think it is safe to say that I definitely connected! What do you think? Well without further ado, see for yourself!

Oh, just an fyi about the video. It has three songs separated by 38 seconds between each. Soooooo just letting you know . And this is my first movie that is made in Adobe Premiere Pro CS3 (which I really love now^^). And lastly, the art tools you see in the verrrry first picture are all the colors and tools I used for the painting. So it isn’t there just for introductions!

Let me know what you think! Oh and I will be selling copies of this. Just let me know if you want one!

Ok ok ok ok. Here is the movie. Enjoy!!

Alright sooooooo, I ended up having to pretty much redraw almost everything about the fairy. She just didn’t look right to me. So hopefully she looks noticeably a lot better now. Here is a comparison of the Fairy:

Paintchat version

(Click on picture above for a larger view)

Second Slightly Touched version

(Click on above picture for a bigger view)

Completely Redone version

(Click on above picture for a bigger view)

So lesson learned: always draw people naked first before showing it to the world! Makes the picture turn out even better

I realize I said I would be done with Flirty Love by Valentines Day…. As you can see that has not happened at all….. I guess at the moment, I am still learning my tools of trade. I had bought Tria and Copic Markers a few years ago and used them only a few times in that year. But after a few years, I’ve picked them back up to give them another chance. Actually, I’ve learned that Tria Markers are not very reliable, so at least I know what NOT to invest in any longer. I still have the Copics to try out, which are still as pristine quality as when I first bought them (unlike TRIAS ), but I would also like to try Prismacolor Markers, which I have not gotten yet. I’ve also learned that, using paper specially made for permanent professional art markers, makes a HUGE difference. Otherwise, when you use art markers on regular art pad paper, the ink tends to bleed, which is a no-no-no-nooo.

I have recently created a new picture, upon someone’s request, at first for fun. But I’ve decided it has great potential for something more. So I am going to use the picture you see below as practice-to-the-final-picture. Meaning, for practice but also for a possible poster or card or even both. It would be the first poster I’d post up for sale!

So, bear with me as I continue to learn and mature in my artistic abilities. I am excited at the prospect of using another tool for creative uses. Heck, just last night, I spent nearly 5-6 1/2 hours straight working on the second part (or draft) of the drawing of the fairy! And you know, I really missed that feeling. The feeling of concentration and problem solving of what to do here and there and if things look right or not, and researching things to make it look good in the picture…… It must be what mathematicians or scientists feel when they research their stuff hehe (Random?? Maybe, but a fun thought ). I admittedly stopped drawing for almost a good month. I guess I had no inspiration, or I was going through a little something (sorry, no juicy details here). It really wasn’t a great feeling. This may sound silly but whenever I listen to certain songs, read a book, or watch an animated show (yesssss… I watch anime…) I feel my creative brain working back up. So, I think that played a role in me starting to get back into the rhythm of art, because I feel like I am coming back. Plus, the feeling of working directly on paper with pencil/pen/brush/marker is an exhilarating feeling. I think that’s because, as artists, we get to see the Nothingness become Something Amazing. A piece of paper coming to life right before your very eyes.

It was only me, the music, the paper, the fairy going on in my world. Like being lost in a book or story…. Okayyy I’m gettinng a little deep herrreeee. Moving on!

No more videos right now. Hopefully in the near future though. But, if you miss seeing my videos, you can check them out at my YouTube Channel.

That is another thing I need to learn more of.

Aaaah, an artist never stops learning…

Here’s the first draft, done in paintchat (like chatting online, only you draw and/or write with other people on the internet. It is under “drawing”), that I did for a friend:

(Click on picture above for a larger view)

And here is the 2nd draft I did last night, in pencil and pen, and a little touch up in Photoshop with a Graphire Wacom Tablet:

(Click on picture above for a larger view)

Let the Artist know what you think about it so far!

Comments are appreciated. Thanks!

So here is Part 2. It was tough to find the right song because, well, it’s a GUY haha. I didn’t want to use a cutsie lovey dovey song as I did for the first video. Although this is a bit lovey dovey but with a tad bit of rocky flare to it! Soooo without further delay, here is the video:

Well hello there. Welcome to the first OFFICIAL blog at SarahLeone.com! I am very excited to be able to share with everyone my world of art.

I have been thinking on what I could do to contribute to this Blog area.  I could do politics, but this is not a political site. I could talk about the events of my days. But you could just ask me instead. I could give you scattered updates on big news going on within my business.  But that would be boring, wouldn’t it? Well, I thought about it real hard and came up with what I hope everyone can enjoy. So here it goes…

In the past I have created “progression of Artwork” video clips of things I’ve done and shown others how this picture came to be. It always makes it so thrilling and appreciative to see the amount of changes and efforts and thoughts that went into such pieces. I think it is always fun to see the progression in an artwork and thought you might like to see updates as to what I am working on. So I have decided to give you ‘preview’ videos. So every now and then you will be able to dive into my world of music tastes (Video without music? Of course not!) and art skills and changes. I won’t just post that of course…

And so, before I drag on the plans of this Blog and bore you all to death, I bring to you the very first Artwork Progression video! I hope you all enjoy it and feel free to give feedback or comment, rate, or anything. Oh yes and make sure your speakers are turned on!

I am trying this out for the first time so I hope this very short video clip of my art isn’t too terrible! I drew this around 2007-2008 and am now going to go even further with it (the full picture… there is somebody else^^). More will be added as I progress further into this project that I am aiming to be done before Valentine’s Day. After I am finished you will be able to see a better view on my website. Hope you like (even if it’s just a small drawing at the moment). To view directly on youtube just click directly on the Youtube Icon at the bottom right on the video. There, you can subscribe or be friends and rate and comment on my videos. Well, you can also comment directly on here too if you so wish.

Let me know what you think!

Click on the link below and it will take you directly to the video:

Flirty Love 1

Here is where I express my thoughts and news and ideas and anything else I feel compelled to share with the world.