I learned to draw lobsters...

…because they were my schtick for some caricatures in Boothbay Harbor, Maine last week! Folks don't care about cartoon crabs or seagulls way up there.

Complicated little buggers!

The trip took all day and my arrival coincided with sunset… and the drive up was my first time in New England, ever! This is the first photo I took in a VERY picturesque state:

Unfortunately, that was the last sunlight seen for a few days, as the rains from Tropical Storm Arthur arrived to drench the region and make Fourth of July celebrations impossible. :-( 

Below: Boothbay Harbor itself

This one is the actual Atlantic Ocean before the storm came. 

Arthur did make for some dramatic photos. :-)

When the sun returned, so did the caricaturists.  I was the "guest artist"of my friend Ben, whom I met at the ISCA convention and through mutual friends….

Here's some of his wonderful airbrush work, and his subjects' happy reaction:

So I had a lot to live up to! :-D

Here's the working environment: 

Here's the standard diet:

Haha, no, I didn't eat lobster rolls every day. But I could have!

On to: THE CaRiCaTuReS! 

I wanted to make a Maine-centric sample, and almost everything I knew about Maine came through the writings of this man. So Ben and I both made samples of him. Ben's is meaner….and funnier. ;-)

I caught this couple taking a photo of my Stephen while it was still on my easel. 

Here, I have to say that I really didn't enjoy using my French easel for airbrushing. I had the top slanted down far more than I do when using markers and art six, to better be able to see my subjects. Ben's sturdy desk worked much better. Live and learn...

Lobsters adorned many, many of my drawings for the week. It was extremely appropriate for the little family shown here, as he was proprietor of and chief lobster-roll-maker of the little deli across the way. (and where I got the delicacy pictured above. :-)

These two worked in a local restaurant and had a great reaction…such an awesome one, that I flubbed which way to hold my phone because I was enjoying them so much:

I also drew lots of lighthouses and  a few moose…

The above gentleman was ninety years old, a WWII vet, and his family wanted him to sit for me! He said, "Make sure you get my hat right" and I promised him I would. 

It was interesting to me (and very cool!) that many more senior citizens opted to get caricatures done than what I'm used to. Below, a grandmom and grand-daughter done in black-and-white: (with a lighthouse, of course.)

I also drew plenty of kids during my time there.

This young lady came along when Mars was visible right next to the waxing moon. Yup I drew it too!

SHE wanted a lighthouse, and HE wanted GRUMPY CAT! (luckily, Ben had a sample of the ubiquitous feline, so I just copied it…the credit is all his ;-)

Lest dogs be left out, THIS one came along:

This teenager put her caricature in the window of the adjacent pizza place while she was eating with her family! Free advertising!!

I did get a few spare minutes to get some lovely photos of Maine in the sunshine. This is the harbor some ways up from where we were situated:

And this is the ocean again:

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh, that would be the life!

Thank you, Ben,  and goodbye Maine! That's the LAST photo I took on my trip. :-)