Bar Mitzvah celebration!

After my brief catnap following this morning's post-prom, I found myself on a lovely historic estate where a bar mitzvah reception was being held in a big tent on the grounds. The weather cooperated and I had one of the most picturesque spots ever for caricaturing--next to a beautiful, still pond and trees and flowers...

I drew the bar mitzvah boy and many of his friends in color, which is so enjoyable for me. Here's a sampling:

The boys had a hard time deciding who or how many were going to be in this group caricature, so that accounts for the lopsided composition!

Post Prom!

Early Saturday morning I drew at another fun-filled post prom, with a colleague, John Sprague...who promises me he will be updating his own blog!
Here are some of my insomniac efforts:




Below is a view of John at work, and our area in the gym...

And finally, two tired caricaturists at 4 am, after drawing dozens of high-schoolers:

I am about to go to sleep now! zzzzzzz

College gig

A local university held an indoor (due to rain) block party on Friday afternoon, to give the students some fun during finals. My caricatures were the entertainment, along with a travelling reptile show! I don't have any photos of the huge yellow snake that was slithering on the floor, but here are some of the students I drew!

Corporate retirement caricature

At his retirement dinner last night, this gentleman received the digital caricature I worked on last week. His company had some very thoughful people who came up with all the details in this drawing that mean something to him...

This morning my client sent me a photo of the honoree holding his framed 11 x 14 version, which included an engraved plaque. Thanks Stephanie and everyone! It was an especially fun project for me, because of the lighting from the bonfire and sunset. And congratulations to you, sir!

Still in Charm City...

Today was the second of two Orioles/Red Sox games I worked, and it was absolutely the best weather possible for outdoor caricaturing. Not too warm, not too chilly, no wind, and overcast enough to be easy on the eyes...and there were some great faces to draw!



Here's a girl who asked for soccer, so it was again a not-all-baseball-caricatures day.

This is a little doodle of my co-artists that evolved when it was slow. I would have drawn myself too, but I have never seen the back of my own head...

A cameraman for the Maryland Sports Network (MASN) asked if he could film just my hand drawing their logo, for them to use in a speeded-up version before commercial breaks. I said, "Sure!" No one will know it's my grubby, inky hand!
Every time I am ever filmed for event publicity, I never get to see it! (don't live in MD, don't get that channel).
Thanks for the photo, Rrrrrrick!

Not a baseball caricature....

While drawing at an Orioles vs. Red Sox game this evening, a young lady who didn't care for baseball asked for a gymnastics caricature. "What is your favorite thing to do in gymnastics?" I asked her. "Uneven bars!" she exclaimed.
Well, I had never drawn that particular exercise ( usually I show the balance beam) but here's what we ended up with. She and all her friends loved it, and many of them sat for the other three artists and I after that!

Birthday digital...

I had a two-hour deadline today for this one! (my younger daughter's boyfriend)

Happy Mother's Day!

Mother's Day was special for me this year because I didn't have a gig or ballgame for the first time in five years, and could spend it with my family.
It was also special because I was able to give my son George his birthday caricature, which he loves. :-) He was actually brought home from the hospital as a newborn on Mother's Day...

Communion party...

Yesterday, my caricatures were the favors at a very nice Communion party, held in a restaurant. Once again,I drew all the children and was then asked to stay longer to draw adults.
One interesting little incident happened while I was drawing a little girl: she shrieked while I was sketching her! It turned out there was a good-sized spider crawling on the back of my easel. When I tried to swat it off, it scurried into the recess of one of the collapsible legs where I couldn't get it. Eventually, it dropped into my bag of plastic bags, which I then closed up and opened another bag!





Thanks to Michael and his family!

May NCN sketch contest entry...

This month's victim is Marilyn Manson. Quite a different face than last month's Matt Damon! Judge Jan Opdebeeck's usual rule applied: no digital media. So I drew one version in pencil and another in marler.
BTW, the last several contests have been won by my friend Paul Moyse. Find his blog in my links list...he is a rising star in the caricature world.