Pattern Makin'

CELEBRITY PORTRAITS

(can be found on my instagram profile)

Spot the pattern?

I've been growing into working in sepia and warm tones lately when doing the spontaneous and iconic style portraits that I've done recently. Over the past 8 months, I've been focusing on capturing the essence of the subjects that I choose. They can be well-known but I like getting an emotional or typical feeling from them. I never really know how they are gonna turn out--- I usually just go in headfirst--literally and then let the way I use the materials direct the rest of the finished look. 

Grace Jones

Diana Ross

Florence Welch & Donna Summer

Sketching Love: Hey Hipster,

What is a hipster? How do you define one?

Trendy? Edgy? Into statement pieces? Attitude? Hypebeast? Sees Trippy and Be Trippy? Vintage?

It's a term applied to a define a stereotype-- "crowd" and "esthetic" even. I won't define it... but I can express what I think of how they might look. "shrugs"  Either way... I find the vibe pretty darn cool. Yea... I'll take it.

That Ombre Effect

Gazing Pretty

Lately, I've been getting really interested in fantastic art. I really like the effect in the eyes of the subjects, the whimsical, yet out of this cosmos feeling that can be executed. I think not only does fantastic art inspire a viewer to think outside of the box, but also connect the forces of this world with whatever action is going on what looking at it (the art piece itself). With that in mind, I have characters I make up in my head sometimes, I use a concept of a trend that catches my eye, find the materials that can help me bring a feeling that I find conveys it's weight (how it looks) and something comes about on  whatever I'm using to execute my vision.. in this case it was my tablet and photoshop. Here is my take on the current ombre hair trend, inspired by fantastic art. 

Digital 

SAY WHAT?

"Her" Own Display

I got another commission request this month that was so exciting to work on!

A co-worker of mine approached me about doing a painting.
 The inspiration? Reference photos of Bergdoff Goodman's holiday display windows from last season. I gathered my thoughts with this, picking out the interesting of most parts that caught my eye-- something surreal, rich in color, tropical yet prestige all at the same time. Acylics were in hand for this one. I haven't painted in this for a while so I was so excited to go from sketchbook to canvas! I merged them all creating the concept. I got to sketchin'... (left). Final painting (right) is done on canvas at 14" x 18".

Portraits for The Roeder Sisters

Last month, I was commissioned by one of three sisters (center), to do individual portraits of all them as a Christmas gift to her parents. Here they are!

(There was another request that I can't reveal yet as it's a secret gift.)

I was given snapshots of other works I've done that had inspired the client as a guide and I couldn't be happier that she liked my personal style.-- and I was to go for a whimsical look.

When I get portrait requests, I'm always focusing on capturing the true likeness of the person, so I'm glad she sent more than one photo of each sister.  I like the people in my art to look like they are breathing, ya know?

I was so taken aback with the response I got after I was told they arrived in the mail. Thanks, Audrey!

They are all mixed media on  6" x" 6 watercolor paper.

Mad Hatter

Concentraated ink and flat brushes.

Home Again

My name is Sara Jean-Baptiste. I'm a 21 year old artist residing in Brooklyn, NY.  

 I have been a lifelong artist-- in mind, body and spirit. I have been passionate about art since I was a kid-- drawing people from life, taking student projects extremely serious to going to art school on and off. I attended LaGuardia High School where I majored in art, finally got a chance to experience dedicated art classes. After switching back to an all academic high school and graduating, I knew I had to choose to dedicate myself to learning more about art. 

I graduated form the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, majoring in Illustration where I had  amazing influences by the likes of Bil Donovan, Joe Denaro, Karen Santry, Carlos Aponte and John Jay Cobaoy- these professors and working illustrators have helped me grow into the relm of stylization-- influencing my work into conveying fashion illustration. 

I'm usually drawing on the train, volunteering to work a local event as an artist for hire to do live portraits, taking on portrait commissions and drawing characters I create inside of my own head. 

Check out my work-- updates on what I'm up to and explore some of my design talents on this blog.