Sarah “Freedz” Conlon is a self-taught digital artist who loves creating whimsical, nostalgic comics and illustrating card games. Originally from Germany, she now lives in a cozy log cabin in the woods of Vermont with her husband and her wild dog named Bailey. In her younger years, she thought she wanted to become a journalist. She studied American Literature and pursued a career as an editor. With over nine years of experience in editing, publishing, and creating content, she has worked in various industries, ranging from a small family business to a large Fortune 500 company.
Her passion for digital illustration, however, was ignited during the lockdown in March 2020 when she taught herself how to draw digitally using Procreate on the iPad. Since then, she has been drawing almost daily, filling the canvas with cute, fantastical creatures and imaginative scenes. Not only did she land some art commissions while working full-time as an editor for a large used car company, but one of her illustrated games – called “Snorkel” – will be launching on Kickstarter in February 2023, and she is currently working on two more boardgames that will hopefully be published in 2023 as well.
She has created a Halloween poster for a client’s son and a book cover with three moose in a winter wonderland for a software engineer. She also created customized stickers, using photo references, so a client could surprise his wife for her birthday. Together with a game publisher, she entered a game design contest hosted by The Game Crafter, where their game – which involved tiny wind-up dinosaurs eating pizza – made second place.
Her style is influenced by steampunk, graphic novels, and 2D video games, such as Monkey Island, The Whispered World, and TOHU. Her clients and followers often call her style “nostalgic and whimsical” and “upbeat melancholy”. She seems to have a thing for cute, dark circles around her characters’ eyes and drawing wonky teeth, giving them an often tired and relatable look. She loves implementing muted colors, giving her art a grunge vibe, and using an inky hatching technique. You can find her on Instagram at @freedzart where she is super active and connected with her followers. Her art portfolio can be found at www.freedzart.com.
Contact: illustration@hkstudios.co.uk
