Hello!

I’m Sarah Dahlinger, and I draw monsters and animals for books, games, and film. I’m also a scientific illustrator focused on vertebrate anatomy. I love making the fanciful look real and believable.

Art. Animals. Adventure.

When I was a kid, my parents bought forty-five acres of forest in rural New Hampshire so my sister and I could grow up away from the city. We lived up there every summer. For the first few years, when I was eight to twelve years old, we lived in a mostly broken camper. No running water. No plumbing. No TV. No microwave. We had a battery radio. We got a little house when I was twelve years old, but still no TV, and one radio for the whole house.

I lived outside like a little animal every summer from eight to fifteen years old. It has made a deep impression on me. It’s hard to explain just how much I love that land. My parents and grandparents taught me about the fish, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, and birds who lived there. I memorized the “North American Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians” and had a very solid knowledge of the Audubon’s book on North American Birds by the time I was ten.

Being alone in the woods with my sister led to all sorts of fantastic beasts who were either our friends or foes.

…and I started drawing them.

Professional Biography

Sarah Dahlinger received a BFA in Electronic Imaging/Multimedia from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth in 2006. She then went on to earn a Certificate of 3D modeling and Animation from the Center for Digital Imaging Arts at Boston University in 2009.

Additionally, she has studied under Scott Eaton and Terryl Whitlatch to hone both her human and animal anatomy skills.

Sarah has worn many hats while working in travel, video games, and the medical industry leading to a broad base of skills broad base of skills – illustration, 3D digital sculpting, vector graphics, infographics, web design, and mobile app art.

Recently, she has decided to pursue her true passion – creature design and vertebrate scientific illustrations.

Who is the Hound?
I adopted Dodger, the retired racing greyhound, in May 2017. He’s a wonderfully sweet dog. I started calling him the studio assistant due to his habit of strictly enforcing breaks throughout the day. He has definitely boosted my daily productivity.