You guys know that people sometimes pay me to paint things, right?
As in, art isn’t just a hobby, but a business. They get an authentic, hand-painted portrait. I get money. Everyone wins. And when you’re lucky enough to have your art teacher’s complete and zealous support, the odds of being a multi-millionaire by age twenty are definitely in your favor.
Unfortunately, I happened to miss several lessons of art class over the last few weeks, due to… circumstances. Which means I had a lot of assignments to make up for last Monday. Which means I had several large portrait projects and a research paper due, all of which had to be completed in one week.
Guess which week Mrs. Howard found me another portrait commission?
Yay me.
Needless to say, my creativity feels burned out.
After a week of non-stop painting, and an evening of furious cramming and writing (to those who say you can’t write an essay in one night, tell that to my A+), I can honestly say I never want to look at my artwork ever again.
Naturally, I had an art dump in the roster for this week.
Yay me.
This is mostly old projects that were done over the last 1-2 months, since you can’t see the commissions because PRIVACY. So don’t expect anything spectacular. However, you should expect elves. See, I just finished reading the Silmarillion. Which was a fantastic book. And when I read fantastic books, my creativity goes hyper.
It’s not my fault.
I did warn you, didn’t I?
As our first specimen today, we have Maedhros, AKA the tragic oldest son of an elven psychopath, AKA my favorite. It’s totally not obvious that I was studying graphic design when I drew this.
This was cool. Four squares made out of three triangles, arranged to create some sort of kaleidoscope. If you look long enough, you’ll see that the squares are all identical.
For the record, I don’t recommend looking long enough. This thing will hypnotize you.
Shallan Davar of the Stormlight Archive. I’ll be completely honest here: I’m in love with this drawing. The incredible softness of her nose, the scholarly dreaminess in her eyes, the way her freckles came so perfectly off my pencil. While she’s certainly not the most amazing thing I’ve ever done (um, Arwen portrait, anyone?), I see so much more than the finished product here. When I look at this picture, I see how much fun it was to draw, and all the successful experiments I managed to pull off with almost every one of her features. This one created itself. And when that happens, the artist can’t help but love it.
Yeah. Rant over. The point being, I really like this one.
Another Silmarillion thing—Turin Turambar and Beleg Strongbow. This is how I assuage my grief: I draw a bunch of happy pictures and pretend everything that happened didn’t actually happen.
(Which is otherwise known as denial, but anyway…)
We were doing these cool zentangle thingies on little canvases in art class, and the girl sitting in front of me randomly popped up and said, “CAN I WRITE A BIBLE VERSE ON MINE?”
Mrs. Howard thought that was an idea worth emulation. As did I.
It’s come to my attention that 80% of my sketches look the same, so this was a quick exercise in drawing odd features. I swear I wasn’t trying to make them look evil. It just… happened.
The dude on the bottom left is my personal favorite.
Maedhros and Maglor. From—YOU GUESSED IT! The Silmarillion.
Here is a real conversation I had with my mother, as I tried (in vain) to explain that book to her, and why I’m so fascinated with it.
“There’s this elf guy named Feanor, who’s rather dumb and slaughtered half of elfdom because he wanted their boats to go find his silmarils, otherwise known as glowy jewel thingies. Then everyone got banished from Valinor because they were dumb enough to actually LISTEN TO THE JERK. Then this other guy, named Fingon—no, Finrod—no, Felagund—no, actually, I think it was Fingolfin—so this person does something else that—no, wait, I actually think he died. It was Thingol. Yeah. So he did a bunch of cool stuff and became everyone’s unofficial grumpy uncle, and Luthien was melodramatic, and Maedhros got spiked to a cliff, and then they all died because Melkor, mom, Melkor. But THEN—”
Mom, looking slightly glassy eyed: “So Elrond is Galadriel’s mother-in-law…?”
I give up.
This started out as a half-hearted attempt at yet another modern art assignment, and ended as some sort of deep psychological contemplation that gets more thought-provoking the longer you look at it.
Kaladin Stormblessed, otherwise known as Grump of the Century.
In a rare moment of adventurousness, I thought I would try something in colored pencils.
I have since renounced all adventurousness.
If you ask me, the medium doesn’t lend itself to much depth. No matter how hard you try, it always ends up a tad flat, not to mention rather streaky. I don’t like it. Not one bit.
And for your information, yes, I did spend four hours just on the plaid.
Here’s a rather sad specimen, based on a scene from a book I haven’t written yet, and featuring my very un-epic handwriting. May all the people with OCD be blessed by it’s crookedness.
Some sort of African princess, I think. I really don’t know. This one just… happened, and there she was.
Ah yes. The random lady I drew from a magazine. It’s incredibly satisfying to know that somewhere in the world, this poor soul is going about her normal life, completely oblivious to the fact that she’s a permanent addition to some kid’s art class portfolio.
Also, let’s appreciate the fact that for all my whining about being a people artist, not a plant artist, that flower turned out extraordinarily well.
Look and learn, kids. We can’t win all the time.
So there you have it, folks. There’s my load of creativity for the week. There is one more thing I was going to show you (something I like to call “le chef-d’oeuvre”—learn your French, guys), but it’s going to be in my homeschool co-op’s spring showcase, and unfortunately, I was dumb enough to hand it over to my teacher before making a copy. Typical. So you’ll have to wait on that one.
Happy Thursday, guys, and may your mother always understand your Silmarillion rants.
~Sarah
The Sarcastic Elf 
The last drawing looks like a Drak Elf from Thor:The Dark World
Also, The Silmarillion is wonderful! My favorite character was Nienor, because she has a depressing and weird storyline. Also, madness. (I am writing a research paper on madness right now. I think it is going to influence my mind somehow)
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HAHA, it does, doesn’t it? Okay, that guy is officially a dark elf.
“My favorite character was Nienor, because she has a depressing and weird storyline.”
In my entire life, I have never related to a favorite character statement so much. 😂 Nienor WAS incredibly tragic… Though to be fair, EVERYONE in the Turin arc was tragic… *sidelong glance at Beleg* I’m still not over that one.
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*takes a moment of respectful silence for Beleg*
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Love ’em! 😀
And PLEASE don’t give up your adventuresness. For your first adventure, it didn’t turn out half bad. So what if some of the technicalities aren’t perfect. That’s life. You never know what might happen if you try again. 😉 I rather like that drawing myself. 🙂
Your poor mother… :”D
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Yeah, I suppose when it comes right down to it, 70%of art is messing up in order to perfect the technique—something my poor perfectionist soul has a VERY hard time grasping. 😉
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Let it be declared that I hereby find myself incapable of deciding if I like the Shallan one best of the Kaladin one best. They’re both /perfect/.
Now do Szeth. *evil grinning*
That first Maedhros one is quite impressive, as is your (totally accurate) description of the Silmarillion. I love the whole thing. Art dumps are awesome.
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It makes me unbelievably happy that everyone seems to like the SA pics. You never know WHAT’S going to happen when you start messing with characters people’s imaginations have already created…
*eyes Szeth**a slow grin begins to spread**says no more*
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*grins wider*
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KALADIN!!! SHALLAN!!! *does weird dance* Love them both. Amazing. Awesome. So awesome. So incredibly awesome. So amazingly and incredibly awesome. Awesome.
Great job! I think Shallan is great, but Kaladin is also really good… I can’t choose which I like best. Good job with the symbols by the way! And the last picture… made me laugh. 😀
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Two things to add to what I just said: The elf’s hair is awesome (the one shaking hands with the other guy) and that picture was drawn right after Kaladin became a slave and before he scratched his forehead with swords. 😀
So. Cool.
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For some strange reason, I get the feeling that you find the Stormlight Archive pictures awesome and amazing. I’m not quite sure what makes me think that. 😂
Also, YOU NOTICED HIS HAIR. I don’t think anyone will ever quite know how long I have wanted to draw a braid on an elf. And they DEFINITELY won’t know why, because even I’m not sure. Still. It was fun, and I’m very proud of you for noticing. 😉
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Haha, hilarious post as usual! 😄 I loved the art, by the way. 😉
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Thanks!
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*stares at squares* I see four identical squares made of two triangles, one square made of eight triangles, and one square made of twelve triangles. Where is the square made out of three triangles?
*sees warning to not stare at squares* *looks back at squares anyway*
Where???
*wanders on* oooooooh… These pictures are really good Sarah. *It is Sarah right? Wait, do I call her Sarah? Galadriel? Ethryndal? What’s a name?*
*gazes glassy eyed at squares* Where is it?
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*crazed grinning* Isn’t it great? In all, there are 9 squares and 16 triangles. The squares I’m talking about are made up of one big triangle and the two little ones that are directly connected.
And for the record, *I* think I should be called Supreme Dictator for life. But I suppose Sarah works as well. 😉
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Oooooh… I see it now. That’s cool.😸
*clears throat* I found 10 squares and 20 triangles now. The four middle squares make another square and you can cut that square two ways and make four more squares.
Of course you do, Sarah. 😋 (there was no cat version of this emoji)
Wait! Is Sarah short for Supreme Dictactor? 🙀 *gasp*
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*claps furiously* As someone who can draw the occasional weird looking alien, this was great. I really enjoyed the picture you did with the colored pencils. I thought it was very good. I also really liked the second to last picture of the lady. That was really good in my humble opinion.
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Aw, thanks. And hey, weird looking aliens don’t get enough credit. For reference, observe my last drawing. 😂
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Kaladin. Just, Kaladin. And SHALLAN. And all the Silmarillion onessssss Precious. *much shrieking* Especially the Turin and Beleg one. O.o Sheesh. (And NICE fur vest.) And the extremely cool (GEOMETRIC-MINDED) first Maedhdros. AND EVERYTHING ELSE. THEY’RE AMAZING.
You should draw a picture of all of Bridge Four together. Because that would be too awesome for words. But maybe after you read Oathbringer. Because they just keep getting better. *weeps* Sigzil. And Rock. And Teft. And Lopen. And KALADIN WITH THEM ALL. *throws a walleyed fit*
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I figured you would appreciate the Turin and Beleg one. You’re very predictable in that respect. XD (Fun Fact: The pic of Kaladin I began with the intention of drawing Sley. He kinda morphed as time went on.)
I think we can all agree that I will probably be drawing Stormlight Archive things for a very long time.
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(HA! That’s neat. They do seem to be of similar temperament…)
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YESSS I second Emma, we need that art! Also yes you’ve definitely read Stormlight and that makes me so happy. 😂😍
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Since obviously no one has told you yet, either on this or any other post, that your art is great and you’re super talented…
I hereby do so once again. *superimpose flowery, elaborate, stunned language*
{You know those people who are really quite good at something and you keep trying to comment on it every time you see it? And how your adjectives and awestruck remarks get flatter and flatter? Well, Sarah is clearly one of those people. (I’m fortunate enough to know quite a few, so I’m getting good at identifying them.)}
The rare moment of adventurousness and the some-sort-of-African-princess were my favorites. Oh, and this quote, which was priceless:
“So Elrond is Galadriel’s mother-in-law..?”
Whenever I even partially recover and get back up off the floor, that’s going on the list of contenders for humorous quote of the year.
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*tries to humbly brush it off* Awww, stahp. You’re too good to me.
Seriously though, thanks. 🙂
(And just so you know, my list of humorous quotes is entirely made up of things my mother has said. She’s a rather humorous creature, if you couldn’t tell by now.)
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I think it’s probably about time to invest in some iron boots, because I keep getting blown away by your art dumps. 😀
Seriously though, Shallan-whatever-her-name-is in particular is stunning. 😍 I think I’m in love.
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*meekly hands you iron boots* I’ll have to be more careful. If I keep blowing everyone away, I won’t have anyone to read my posts. 😉
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YESSS! Another art post!!
Those are gorgeous, Sarah, as always! And I’m gonna have to disagree with you on the boy with the plaid in colored pencil. It’s probably among my favorites in this whole post.
Can I ask something really clueless? What’s Silmarillion? Is it a LOTR sequel??
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If I can jump in here, I just wanna say this: it’s not a LotR /sequel/ – it’s actually the entire history of Middle-earth /before/ the time of The Hobbit and LotR. It was Tolkien’s life work, which he started writing many years before The Hobbit ever came to be. He kept rewriting and changing things until his death. Afterwards, his son edited and put together these writings, and they were published as The Silmarillion.
Since it’s a vast story covering hundreds of years of Middle-earth history, a good amount of it is written “zoomed-out”, covering a lot of stuff in a few paragraphs. Some of the stories are told with far more detail, though. It’s not a very long book compared with LotR – it’s only around 350 pages. But it’s so, so unbelievably good. There are some parts that are so powerful and spiritual, so beautiful and profound, it almost makes you want to cry. It’s my absolute favorite book ever. I read it for the first time three years ago, and when I watch the LotR movies now, I get so excited over even the smallest reference to a piece of lore from the Silmarillion.
I’m desperately hoping that the five-season Middle-earth series Amazon is doing will manage to have all kinds of Silmarillion flashbacks and references (and Tom Hiddleston as Sauron). I just don’t know if that’s possible with the rights they have.
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Thanks so much for the information! Once I’ve finished reading Lord of the Rings (which will take a LONG time), then I’ll see if I can get my hands on The Silmarillion. 😉
BTW, I hope you don’t mind, but I peeked at your blog and skimmed through it for a minute. Yessss, another fangirl person!! *high five* Although instead of LOTR or Loki, I’m more into Star Trek and Doctor Who… Still! *high fives again*
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*high fives back*
Haha, I don’t mind at all that you looked at my blog! I really need to start posting again. 😛
And Star Trek is one of the many other fandoms I intend to dive into eventually, lol. XD
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Well, I was gonna say something to the effect of, “A prequel to LotR, chronicling how one elf single-handedly messed up the entire course of Middle-Earthian history,” but I think Elleth’s explanation is better. 😏
And YES to now getting insanely excited over all the little details in LotR. Now when I think of the Light of Earendil or the men of Numenor or something, it’s like… I KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS. It’s pretty great.
And Tom Hiddleston as Sauron. Just… yes. Good glory, that would be perfect.
I will warn you Dekreel, The Silmarillion can be a little hard to swallow at times (think of the wordier passages in LotR, and you’ll know what I mean), but overall, it’s a very beautiful (and totally worth it) read.
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Hey, new commenter here.
I’m a HUGE Silmarillion fan, and Maedhros is definitely one of my top favorite characters, as well as Finrod. XD Your artwork is fantastic! I wish I had half your talent.
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Mae govannen, New Commenter! Welcome here. I can tell just by your name that you like Tolkien. I think we will get along very well. 🤓
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SHALLAN AND THE GRUMP OF THE CENTURY!!! Ahhh! *fangirling* Seriously, Sarah, your art is amazing. This week’s post certainly gets my stamp of approval.
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*humbly receives stamp and sticks it to wall* Thankee kindly, ma’am!
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I AM SO JEALOUS OF YOUR TALENT. But then again, if I had your talent I probably wouldn’t have enough patience to sit down for HOURS and art. (no that sentence was not a mistake) And it’s no wonder you are paid to draw. Let the whole world applaud you.
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Aw, thanks! Yeeeeaah, unfortunately, arting takes time. Probably more in my case than it should, because perfectionists have a tendency to obsess. 😛
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Yes and unfortunately I’m a perfectionist too so yay and nay at the same time.
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The colored pencil drawing was really cool and realistic. I gave up on realistic colored pencil drawings long ago. *hides awful portrait behind back* The only thing I use colored pencils for now is adding details to paintings. XD
that second to last one of the girl with the flower in her ear is super good!
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My OCD self is extremely blessed.
And skarg, I love all of ’em.
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