I FINALLY finished it. This has taken me roughly a week and a half, it’s my second ever hand-made patch. The edge is rough because when I sew it onto its final destination it’ll be trimmed. It’s roughly 4.5" by 8". I know it’s not great but I did my best with it either way :3
We recently had the privilege to interview the awesome @charapoo !
Artists and illustrators are turning more and more of their designs into patches and pins recently, and we are thrilled to be a part of it.Sara Talmadge is a talented artist who works in a vast variety of artistic mediums. Based in Oregon, Sara has achieved success as a comic book cover illustrator, game asset designer and now patch designer!
Many of us at Stadri Emblems loved her first patch design. The “Yes Please” doughnut patch had an amazing design and stitched beautifully. After the first design was well received by her fans, Sara also designed a “Queen Bee” patch with gold metallic threads!
What are your biggest artistic influences or inspirations? For me, inspiration is hard to pin down because it comes from everywhere- I live in the Pacific Northwest so the nature that surrounds where I live is a constant source of inspiration. I also love fashion and period dress so that works its way into my artwork as well. As far as artistic influences go, I take cues from everything from animated films (particularly midcentury Disney films like Fantasia, Peter Pan, and Alice in Wonderland), children’s book illustrators like Beatrix Potter, and mainstream comics both American and manga!
What made you want to start making your own custom patches? I started tabling at conventions a few years back to sell my wares and I quickly found that while there is still a market for art prints, many people wanted something different. People told me over and over that they liked my work but they had run out of space on their walls for more posters, which got me looking into alternative ways to showcase my work. This was right when enamel pins were really catching on and I wanted to do a different kind of wearable art- naturally patches seemed like the perfect fit!
We really love your “Yes Please” Doughnut patch designs! Would you consider yourself a doughnut enthusiast? I love doughnuts! I think they’re the perfect treat- they’re cute, they’re sugary, and no one bats an eye if you eat it for breakfast! I even named one of my art books “Donuts for Breakfast”. I’m really picky about my doughnuts though: Oregon is famous for its hip and trendy doughnut joints but I’m all about the flavor, not the hype. I find that the best doughnuts come from the most unassuming hole-in-the-wall joints and while I love to draw the pink frosted ones, a simple glazed is my true love.
Do you have any plans to make more patch designs in the future? I certainly do! I would like to join the enamel pin wave first so I have a few ideas there, but I think patches will always be my favorite. No spoilers but I’m constantly coming up with new ideas and filling my sketchbook with them.
I see that you’ve done everything from traditional art, digital painting, 3-D animation and pixel art. Is there any medium that you haven’t tried yet? Or want to try? By virtue of going to an art college, I’ve really tried most everything at least once- I’ve even done metal sculptures! (I can’t say I was very successful with it, but I’ve tried it!). The only thing I haven’t tried is oil painting, and I would love to give it a shot. I don’t touch real paints very often (it’s hard to find the space to get messy in a rental apartment!) but there is something thrilling about the permanence and texture of oils.
Where can people find you online if they want to follow you? I’m all over the place! I’m most active on Twitter andInstagram (I go by @charapoo on both) and I update my website, www.saratalmadge.com, regularly as well.
We want to thank Sara for taking the time to answer our questions! Make sure to follow Sara on social media to keep up with her latest art and patches! If you’d like to make your own custom patches, don’t forget that you can get a free quote with us!
Hello there! Just wanted to let you know that there are some items for sale on my online shop: zines, original paintings, embroidered patches, prints! I’m going to be popping stuff up there more regularly. If you live in Toronto and can do a studio pickup, just send me a message/email about what you’d like please and we’ll skip all the delivery fee stuff. Thanks bye!!!!
Want to grab one of these? Head over to https://mfpgiftshop.storenvy.com/. They are very limited; only 70 of these iron-on, exclusive embroidered Mystery Flesh Pit National Park patches are in stock, and once they are sold out, they will be gone forever. Sold Out!
P.S.Patreon subscribers at the “Park Benefactor” tier each received one of these for free as a surprise giveaway. If being included in that kind of super-secret content is appealing to you, consider becoming a patron!
Patrons at the $20/mo tier got one shipped to them for free! If that kind of thing sounds cool to you, and you’d like to be included in future surprise freebies, check out the patreon: https://www.patreon.com/t_roberts Post link
Just posting a progress of this, I fell in love with this drawing and starting making it into a huge patch for my jacket a few months ago and it’s coming along pretty well! I still have a LOT to go but it’s very relaxing to work on, especially while I listen to podcasts.
I haven’t worked on this in months (￣▽￣;) it’s annoying stitching around the halo so I’m going slowly rn, but it feels nice to finally be working on it again
