New sample and more...

I finished up a new sample this morning. All four of us have been making samples aplenty...here's one of Paul's:

Here is one of Paul's sly caricatures:

This is Celestia's version of Vlad the baby-tamer:

Finally, my own favorites for today:



This couple had just gotten engaged on the ferris wheel before coming to me for a caricature to commemorate their big day! Aww!!!

I'm still in Texas!

We are now well past the halfway point of the State Fair of Texas, with the excitement mounting for the final week or so looming over us.

Celestia, myself, Paul (the non-slacker) and Vlad.
I am getting more confident of my airbrushing skills, although I did have the mother of all clogs yesterday (that's what I get for tempting fate by mentioning clogs in my last blog post). It required the borrowing of Celestia's spare airbrush for a bit, ( thanks!!!!) then a new side-feed cup (miraculously produced by Paul and his toolbox)( again, thanks!!!!). And once mine was again firing on all cylinders, Celestia's starting acting up!!
However, the benefits of the lush saturated color and effects you get with this medium are worth the hassles.

These two lady Texans asked for a Sea-doo, a flag, and Crocs!

This Yankee gentleman loves his lady enough to wear HER team's jersey, even though he's a Philadelphia Eagles fan (so I included their logo just for him! )

Every day, I gain more control of my airbrush...

...and I am enjoying it more and more. The main thing I worry about is having a mid-drawing clog. That might mean taking the airbrush apart, finding the problem, cleaning it and re-assembling it. All in front of many inquisitive eyes, while sitters are waiting! So far it has happened to me twice, and both times one of my colleagues helped me. I have gone several days now without one, so I am tempting fate by mentioning it here!
These are my favorites from yesterday:



The above couple sat for me and announced they were marrying next spring in Las Vegas-- and wanted me to include the iconic sign (as I sat next to Las Vegas native Celestia Ward!)

Yes, Paul, I stole your 'swooning boyfriend' visual.

Cute ( but toothless) kids

Had a few of these on Tuesday:




I thought these two were kids til they told me they were newlyweds!

This young man saw Celestia's 'Hellboy' comic book under our drawing boards and asked ME if I could draw him that way for his thirteenth birthday...oh well, now I know who Hellboy IS!

Below is one of my new colleagues, Vlad's beautifully drawn and rendered pieces. I certainly aspire to this level of artistry!

Sunday's first and last caricatures

Sunday was another busy day...the tenth day in a row working at the State Fair of Texas, so Celestia and I took a well-deserved day off on Monday.
I am progressing!!

Texans are awesome people!

Another fun-filled day of airbrushing at the State Fair of Texas:





One of Paul's saucy little girl drawings.



(this one was surely an oddball scenario, never drawn a man in a stroller before!!)


Paul and Vlad.

Celestia.




I had to turn my paper to fit their hair!!! :-)

A Friday full of interesting customers...

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My sample wall ( Obama is Celestia's) has Jessica Simpson, a new Sarah Palin, a revamped Brangelina, and a reject of two kids. All caricature artists get rejects from time to time.

The boy really wanted a caricature, his mom was not really into it, but reluctantly gave permission. I drew them, and just as I was about to color it, she told me 'it doesn't look like my kids.' So I just smiled and said, "Not a problem." After they left, I airbrushed it and hung it up, because to me, it was a successful drawing and coloring, but not everyone sees it from my perspective!



This last "couple" had a unique situation; she wasn't there except on his Iphone!! Usually I prefer not to work from cellphones, but this guy had both a large screen and a close -up photo to work from.

This young lady patiently sat while my colleague Paul helped me with an airbrush clog situation. Her left cheek was a huge splotch of paint that occurs when you get a piece of dried paint in the tip. I was able to recover by quickly blotting it and using my artstix to smooth over the final result. We gave her a free plastic covering for being so sweet about it!

This mother and daughter were from Switzerland and spoke German, and a little English. The mom told me she spoke five languages, but none were the ones I could get by in ( Spanish and French). She also wanted me to put cosmetics on her, and showed me her Swiss driver's license with her fully made-up and coiffed self. Her daughter just giggled throughout!



My last one of a long day was this father-daughter couple, who were alot of fun to chat with and draw!
I'm looking forward to a busy weekend of airbrushing.

New airbrush samples

Well, Celestia predicted that a week after beginning to airbrush, that I would hate my samples from my first day. She was right.
Today was Senior Citizen Day, and older folk are not known for lining up for caricatures, so we actually did have time to work on some new samples. Here are two of mine:

This woman is either a proud native of Texas or a curse to the Dallas cowboys...

This imaginary little boy is what I keep on my drawing board between customers, to give them an idea of my style, as our samples are all mixed up on the booth display.
Here are two couples I drew:


In the evening, I was told by a passerby that the Direct TV booth down the way had baseball playoffs on. It was the Phillies, where I worked for four seasons doing caricatures, so I had to take this photo. It shows almost exactly from where I sat in the stadium drawing hundreds of Phillie fans. I hope we get to the World Series!

Corporate commission

This group caricature, done completely in Photoshop, was a corporate gift to the lady at the head of the table. I was able to finish it away from home, on deadline, thanks to wireless internet! :-)

Each person was done from a separate photograph provided by the client.

Airbrushing hair...

One of the more frustrating aspects of airbrushing caricatures for me, so far, has been hair. Specifically, dark hair. Black and brown overspray is more obvious than lighter colors, and blotchiness is more apparent too. However, today, I think I have achieved some smoother textures ( and had alot of fun doing it!)