Art As Balance: @sz.portraits By Susan McLean

Sarah Zahran is one of few people that I've met that isn't afraid of deeper truths. 

Not in the Sylvia Plath Fight Club My Teen Angst Is ImPoRtAnT kind of way, but more in the 'I get it, let's have a beer' kind of way.

Sarah and I went to high school together and she has always had the ability to see shapes and colors beyond my own capacity, but in a totally unique, purposeful and still stylistic way.

They say people are just a mash of everyone they learn from and surround themselves with, and I thought if that was true I'd really be missing out if I didn't try to learn from the cool girl making art beyond what I'd seen before in high school classrooms.

Before bonding in high school, I lowkey stalked her art.

Okay, highkey.

But only because she'd churn out consistently incredible work, maintained a distinct stylistic voice, and made me feel like the hard projects were worth it. 

Simple gestures created worlds on her pages and I would use little tidbits I stole from her, like how to see the shapes in noses (that I definitely struggled with.

Sometimes people can be sources of inspiration and I find that Sarah can pull the most creative forces out of me, change my perception, and smack some sense into me; all through her work.

We connect to art in so many ways, but her work has always left me with a deep appreciation for humanity in all it's guts and glory. 

Though so many lenses, art will always be radical and raw at the core, and selfishly as a friend, it's been completely nuts to watch Sarah fearlessly continue to create. 

Art is hard, life is hard and making time for art in life is probably the hardest of all for me.

Sarah's been through some shit lately, dealing with Chronic Lyme Disease and through the crap, she's revitalized the creative outlet. 

Sarah has been knee deep in Instagram, art and dogs lately and her new art Instagram is definitely proof. 

​With openings for commission work and passion projects on the side, the page bubbles with the faces of humanity, 

Eyes sparkle with hope, and she continues to generate not only technically accurate, but also soulful, balanced renderings. 

Follow@sz.portraits for a little colored pencil humanity. 

How I feel seeing the beautiful submissions come in for my #ShadesOfBeauty giveaway □ You have 2 weeks left to enter as of today! I'm still missing a few shades, so tag your friends and keep 'em comin! (Swipe for more info) . On a side note, today marks one month since I started this page and I'm really excited about where it's heading so far- thank you for your support. ❤️ . . . #free #freebie #giveaway #contest #win #art #artist #artistsoninstagram #portrait #drawing #drawme #diversity #skintone #melanin #beauty #representationmatters #intersectionalfeminism #unconventionalbeauty #custom #selfie

A post shared by Sarah Zahran Art (@sz.portraits) on Sep 16, 2017 at 10:43am PDT