Living on Canada’s West Coast, Sarah Still often draws inspiration for her lifelike portraits from
the surrounding wilderness. She currently resides near Vancouver, British Columbia, where she
works as a contemporary realist painter, depicting highly detailed wildlife paintings.
She was fortunate to have discovered her talent at an early age thanks to the encouragement of
a school teacher. The support helped to nurture a lifelong passion for creating. Her work has
sold worldwide and has been featured on two Canadian postage stamps.
Sarah paints primarily with acrylic using monochrome and muted colours. Her focus is on how
light interacts with textures and forms using the highlights to carry the viewer’s eyes throughout
the painting. This allows every feature to be appreciated without the distraction of colour.
Her painting technique is executed by layering thousands of precise brushstrokes between
washes of paint until the desired depth is achieved. The process, though tedious, achieves a
high level of detail and realism.
Not limited to working on a two-dimensional plane, Sarah is also a veteran makeup artist for the
film and television industry. Her success in this career has contributed greatly to her
achievements as a portrait artist. It has awarded her the opportunity to strengthen her artistic
expression, hone her attention to detail and discover the kinship that arises between artist and
subject.
“As we move further into a digital world, I am disheartened by our decreasing connections to
nature. Natural environments have always had a significant impact on my choice of subject
matter and wildlife my primary theme.
As a youth, I was drawn to the works of realist, wildlife artists, Robert Bateman and Carl
Brenders. Today I’m still heavily influenced but employ a more modern approach to traditional
wildlife art in my own paintings. By removing surrounding environments and utilizing a subtle
colour pallet, I reduce the distractions between the viewer and subject.
It’s my love of all living things that inspire me to produce an image that not only celebrates the
essence of the subject but also brings the observer into a shared space with the animal. I
ultimately endeavour to create an emotional connection to the natural world through art.”
Checkout more artworks at: https://gogomagazine.in/category/magazine/arts-volume-7/
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