Mets Fans on Phillies turf...

Mom=Mets fan
Son=Phillies Fan
Caption: "I must have raised him wrong"

By the way, the son's team won...

Backyard Birthday Party...

Today was one of those parties where I was supposed to draw all the kids, but once I finished them--the adults ended up extending my stay because THEY all wanted caricatures...gotta love that!
Here's a few:


Oh yeah, here are two of the kids:

Me by Marlo Meekins

This is an example of masterful caricature on several levels.
My friend Marlo Meekins (blog listed on right) created this with a handful of markers--Copics, Prismacolors, Chartpaks, and a wonderful nameless Japanese brush point with hair-fine thickness. Her color choices and combinations give this vicious, pimpled likeness an odd beauty. She nailed my likeness in spite of the fact that I don't have a particularly easy face to "get". Many caricaturists I know (myself included) have conceded that. She also went for the jugular-- the humor in this piece is that I am not that awkward and ugly, but if I was, that's how I would look. However, that sensibilty in caricature--the insulting likeness--is generally not what clients want, and artists tread a fine line in determining how much is too much. It's an interesting debate that's been addressed by many caricaturists...artistic freedom vs. commercial viability. It helps to have friends with a caricaturist-mindset-lifestyle to draw! ;-)

More Phillies Phans

I pulled double duty today in that, after I drew at the birthday party, I headed to the ballpark to draw some more. Yes, the Phillies still have fans even though they are taking a nosedive in the standings...

Birthday party!

Today, I had the pleasure of drawing at a little boy's first birthday, held in a picnic pavillion in a state park. Well, most of it was a pleasure---except the temperature!It was 95 degrees in the shade...there were droplets of sweat coming down off my forehead onto my glasses!
Here's the hostess getting drawn after I had finished her husband and son.
( I have no idea how I got ink smudges on my back!!)

And here's the finished caricature:

This young man was leaving for Army boot camp immediately afer the party:

Some other guests:

Phillies Phans...

Here are a few chalk-and-glove caricatures from the past couple of days.
A college-bound young man and his parents:

A hot-dog chomping boy and his best friend:

A young couple in love:

And finally, two somewhat-inebriated young wives whose sober husbands egged them on into getting a caricature. When I asked if they wanted me to draw their beers, one of the husbands said, "You'd better draw eighteen, then!"
Well, I drew five...

Fun couple of the night....

A damp, chilly night didn't prevent this couple from enjoying a caricature, and seeing the Phillies beat the Dodgers...

Company Picnic

Some lucky employees of a group of construction companies had their summer picnic today...in newly-inducted Baseball-Hall-of-Famer Cal Ripken's minor league park in northern Maryland. The neat thing about this park is that it is a tiny replica of Camden Yards in Baltimore, complete with a "warehouse" that is actually a hotel. So, along with the employee softball games and crabfest, there were three artists bent over their easels churning out caricatures...



Here's where I was bent over my easel...

Doggy-catures...

Here's a piece I just did for a repeat client:

Three cute little furry friends...people sure do love their pets!

Day camp event

Today, I was part of a day camp carnival. Funnily enough, I drew dozens of girls--and only one boy, in the very last few minutes.
Here are two of the girls: