Wedding Brunch

This spring has brought me more wedding gigs than in the past, and on Saturday, I found myself drawing at  a pretty, pink-hued wedding reception in an historic inn…

The bride and groom were both really sweet, and I enjoyed drawing them along with their little daughter (who had scampered away by the time I took the photo):

I drew all of the small children in attendance first, then my pen and I went after some of the grownups:

These two were REALLY enjoying the process:

A bridesmaid and her family:

 And some not-quite grownup brothers:

Thank you for having me, Aimee and Jason, and congratulations! :-)

Relay for Life Caricatures

It's the season of late-night caricaturing! Relay for Life is a fundraiser for cancer research held all over the WORLD, and I found myself drawing at one on Friday night:

 The students were awesome--I had an orderly, chatting line the whole time, while other teams walked and walked, to raise money. They had dance contests going on right behind me, which were a hoot.

I love my job!

A Marriage Proposal by Caricature!

This is one of my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE types of caricature commission to do:

Eric and his girlfriend are big baseball fans, so Eric decided to propose to her in one of their favorite places…Oriole Park at Camden Yards. He emailed me some photos so I could do a studio-quality caricature of them, and asked for the Oriole Bird and the Phillie Phanatic to be cheering them on. 

 When they came to sit for me on the pre-arranged game day, I'd be ready with it, hidden on my easel. To keep anyone passing by from knowing what was going on, and also to use up a few minutes so Alicia would think they really WERE being drawn right then, I did a (really crappy) version of them that you'll see for a split-second in the video below. 

She was REALLY SURPRISED and started to tear up. So did I!!!!!

Needless to say, her answer was YES. :-)

It was a complete thrill to be a part of this. Thank you, Eric, for having the idea! And I have to give a big thanks to Rick Wright, of Caricatures by Rick, for providing the opportunity. 

Here's the somewhat shaky video. I was nervous---this was a big moment in someone's life to pull off! In contrast, Eric didn't seem nervous at all.

Congratulations Alicia and Eric!!!!!

Babies…..why they make caricaturists shudder at the State Fair

You've gotta read this blog post from my friend and fellow caricaturist in the state-fair-trenches, Celestia Ward. In it, she discusses the special place of the human baby as it pertains to the practice of our craft.  Enjoy the sarcasm, but watch out for the profanity!  :-D

In reading her hilarious post, I realized I had never shared our Exaggerated Features comic (the quarterly magazine of ISCA) on the same topic (or if I did, I can't find it) because the editor had asked for articles to remain exclusive to our readership for some time after publication. SO: here it is in all its amniotic glory!

O's Opening Day 2014

Spring has half-heartedly sprung here in the Northeast, enough to give Opening Day 2014 in Baltimore a sunny, but chilly day for a sold-out baseball game. Here's my first game-day Orioles caricature of the year!

Being one of those perpetually cold-handed (and footed) females, I came PREPARED for drawing outside in March. When we were in the sun, it was nice, but when shade encroached, brrrrrr. 

This gentleman brought his eighty-eight-year-old prospective father-in-law to his very first Opening Day. It was so cool to commemorate the occasion with this caricature!

Below: another very first Opening Day caricature!

These ladies were ready to PAR-TAY! I had a blast drawing the giant hair bun and the Natty Boh!

Click to see how crowded Eutaw Street was, pre-game. I am in this photo!

Caricature surfing

I am trying to learn how and why things turn up where they do on the internet. Having been a seat-of-the-pants pilot when it comes to advertising my own stuff, it would probably benefit my business to know more than I do about it. So, towards that end, I Googled "airbrush caricatures" and found two of mine in the top five, alongside (literal) heavyweights like Tom Richmond and Chris Rommel. How'd THAT happen??? ;-)

I am the proud illustrator of the cleavage-proud Texan lady and the broadly-grinning guy with the pink-haired girlfriend (also cleavage-proud :-)

My studio actually boasts caricatures of myself by both the aforementioned artists. One of my other goals on that miles-long to-do list is to get a "Me Gallery" up on my website. Sounds pretty vain, but if you're a caricaturist, it's kinda not…!

Young figure-skater caricatures…and a surprise for this artist

Yesterday found me drawing at an annual event that I truly enjoy--- for several reasons.

I grew up living not more than a mile from an ice rink, and it was far and away my favorite (and pretty much only) form of exercise during most of the year. And when the Winter Olympics came around, figure skating was the only competition that didn't glaze over my eyeballs. So, drawing the young ladies at this tournament is a nice change of pace for me, from the thousands of (ho-hum ;-) baseball-themed caricatures I have drawn in my career…

Below: This is the ONLY boy I drew all day. a stalwart little brother who cheered on his medal-winning big sis.

When the last medal was given out, I packed up my gear and was about to head home, when I decided to ask when the next public skating session started. ( This huge complex has two rinks----the little one of my childhood, which was owned by a Philadelphia Flyer, was rinky-dink in comparison) The next public skate wasn't scheduled to start for another two hours, but the nice lady I spoke to said, 'why don't you go enjoy the last half hour of the current session', and stamped my hand gratis!

I hadn't been on skates for more than ten years! Running through my mind was the fate of a friend and fellow caricaturist, who had an ice-skating accident and severely injured her drawing hand and shoulder. She was able to make lemonade out of a pretty rotten lemon by using learning to use her other hand, (among other things she learned) but I'm sure she would have preferred not to go through all that physical and mental pain.  I decided to be REALLY CAREFUL for the half hour allotted to me. :-)

Surprise! It took almost one whole spin around the rink to get my skating knack back! And I didn't fall, and even felt brave enough to whiz around with my iPhone in hand:

Course, it's nothing on these little athletes:

Maybe I'll go buy some wrist guards. :-)

BW Studio Caricature of a smiling little family

This family caricature was done from a photo, for the photographer who shared her professional photos with me from the wedding reception I did in February. I used my favorite CopicSketch markers and just red and black Prismacolor Artstix.

Here's her reaction: Thanks so much Emily, we love it!!!! Haha, it made my whole family smile!! I love all the red and our huge smiles=). 

Please use my new "contact form"----on the right sidebar here on my blog---- if you're interested in commissioning a "BW+1 color" caricature done from photos! :-)

Professional photography of my caricatures coming to life!

In February, my caricatures were part of the entertainment at a beautiful wedding reception held in a country club. The roving professional photographer, Heather Spicer, took some wonderful shots of the whole experience, both for artist and sitters! She recently shared them with me, and I will be returning the favor with a caricature of her and her family. 

My pencil hair-clip was bought at a street vendor during my visit to Chiang Mai, Thailand last year. It's just perfect for my gigs!

Thanks, Heather!

40th birthday celebration

For a brief interlude, it was spring here in Pennsylvania when I did this gig last weekend--everyone was out and about, enjoying the warm evening (and taking up all the parking spaces near the popular restaurants.) As I write this, it's snowing. UGH. 

I arrived at sunset to help celebrate a husband and wife's joint 40th birthday:

Forty IS the new thirty, right?

 Above left: arrival scenery. Right: the departure view!

My dainty, polka-dotted gig bag has survived a year now of being hauled to every manner of venue, and seems to be holding up well. It was a bargain when I bought it in Bangkok last year, and I get quite a few compliments on it. Fingers crossed it lasts a while longer!

The birthday couple! They were teenage sweethearts.

Below: I decided to photo-collage some of their guests. I missed getting photos of a few more people, but this gives you an idea of my evening, having fun drawing to the sounds of a variety of music (in particular, from the 80's---haven't heard Simple Minds in a long time!)

Happy birthday Heather and Chuck, thank you for having me! Here's to many more!