2014: SCHOOLGIRL SARAH'S VIVID SKETCHES PROVE A REAL DRAW FOR CELEBRITIES. The Herald. 26th February 2014
A schoolgirl's remarkable artistic talent has been spotted by David Beckham and pop star Pink. Sarah Ryan uses only a pencil to recreate unbelievable lifelike sketches of celebrities. The transition year pupil at Loreto Secondary School in Wexford has been thrilled by the reactions to her sketches of well known figures.
Admiration
Pink posted a drawing of her by the young artist on her website fan pages. Now the 16-year-old has won the admiration of Ryan Tubridy, who was blown away by her portrait of him, which she sent to RTE. Sarah was promptly invited on to Tubridy's 2fm radio show and has now been championed by a gallery in Dublin.
"I was over the moon when I got a phone call from RTE after I sent Ryan my sketch," she told the Herald. "I was told he said it was the best drawing he had ever seen of him. It was my granny Rita O'Brien's idea for me to draw Ryan. It took me a few hours and then I emailed it to him".
Sarah's drawing of Tubridy will go on exhibition at the Westbury Gallery (Balla Bán Art Gallery) in Dublin as a result of her appearance on his show. The talented teenager began giving her rare talent more time and attention last September when she chose to start a mini-business for transition year based on selling copies of her sketches.
She takes inspiration for all of her drawings from photos of celebrities and has sold hundreds of them since then. Her biggest seller was a sketch she made of boyband One Direction which sold like hotcakes to first-year girls at her school.
"I got a lot of orders too for my sketches of Barcelona footballer Lionel Messi from the boys," she said. Sarah has been selling copies of her sketches for eur20 each, with discounts for students.
Career
Her talent and achievements have made her parents Billy and Edel and eight-year-old brother Paul immensely proud of her. She haas not yet decided on a career, but her growing success may yet lead her to becoming a full-time artist. Her sketches can be seen on Facebook at Sarah Rose Illustrations.