Two-time Olympic beach volleyball champs get a caricature from me...

My fiance has run the mobile Jumboscreen on the AVP Pro Beach Volleyball tour for the last four years. As a result, he has seen alot of the sport, (and it IS a grueling sport, despite what they wear) and of its stars, including Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor. Usually, every year, I visit him on some stop of the tour and I've met Kerri and Misty, too. In fact, on one visit to California, I met Misty and watched her play on a Sunday, flew home on Monday, and on Tuesday saw her husband Matt Treanor catch for the Marlins vs. the Phillies while caricaturing at the game! They are both more than gracious to fans, so I decided to caricature them as a gift on winning the gold in Beijing!
John was able to present them with their own framed, matted version yesterday, at their first tournament home since the Olympics. He told me they were both very happy with it! ( Kerri is holding the version they signed for us.)


The little sun with the golden feet above Kerri's head is a pun on her nickname- "Six feet of sunshine" while Misty's super-wrong nickname is "Turtle"--especially now that she'll be one of the contestants on "Dancing with the Stars"!
I decided to use markers and artstix for this piece, they each have a copy.

My night-blooming flower waits til I'm not caricaturing to blossom...again

I have a potted plant that's very dear to my heart. It's called a Night-Blooming Cereus, and every year in late summer, it flowers for just one night. The buds get large very quickly, and usually I can pinpoint approximately when the time will come. This year, the four buds seemed likely to coincide with my first caricature gig that required a two-night hotel stay!! ( see previous post). Here is how the buds looked when I left:

When I arrived home yesterday afternoon, to my delight, I saw that they had waited for me! ( This happened last year as well, amidst my old hectic baseball caricaturing schedule.)

This is a view of the entire plant; (in white pot) it's very sprawling and even somewhat ugly. The buds come out of the sides of older leaves towards the bottom.

The flowers and fragrance are worth a year's care and wait!

Since I had four, after they were all open by midnight, I plucked two to bring inside and enjoy the scent til morning...

Too bad this video clip can't include Smell-o-vision...

Carica-shirts & Hatz

Marlo and I motored WAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYY upstate for a college event! Don't you wish you had a CARICATURE SHIRT of your very own!?? (or hat?) We had a blast! And our client even sprang for a nice hotel room for two tired travelers.
Here's a view of the long trip north, and a little video of the campus and surrounding area from the hotel.

Another dose of Yankee fans in Baltimore

I drew during Sunday's Oriole-Yankee contest, too. Sunday afternoon games have more of a family vibe, and this was no exception. Lots of kids and young people!
Rick took this photo of my audience while I sketched this adorable baby boy..

Here's the result:

I don't get asked to do profiles very often, so when I do, they are somewhat of a challenge to me. This girl was a pleasure to draw, though!

These two young ladies entertained ME while I was drawing them!

Finally, you never know what mascot will show up at public events. I should start a collection of this kind of photo!

Yankees in town!

Yankee fans invaded Baltimore on Saturday night, and due to my afternoon gig, I didn't arrive at the ballpark until an hour and a half after the gates opened...but it didn't matter; people pretty much sat in my chair the whole rest of the night!

That's Jerry, Gary and I at the far end...among the throngs of baseball fanatics!
My first sitters were these youngsters-- a young lady and her boyfriend, accompanied by her brothers. Since I had only one chair, when I do multiple people in a drawing, it's not much of a surprise to see the final product, but they loved it. I jokingly told the girl she'd better not break up with her BF, since he was in her family caricature!

Here's a couple more that I drew that night:

Pool Party!

On Saturday afternoon, my caricatures were just one of the attractions at a huge pool party for a lakeside community. I started off drawing faces with bodies while guests were sparse, once it got jammed I switched to just faces to accommodate the crowd...



Along with a great DJ (she played FOUR Patsy Cline songs), a balloon twister, and myself, this talented fellow entertained with various goings-on, including balancing a LADDER on his chin!!

This young man received the last drawing before I packed up and headed to my next drawing destination..

Wedding rehearsal dinner

On Friday night, I was honored to draw the guests at a wedding rehearsal dinner, for a couple who'd met at their friend's wedding--- and had caught the bouquet and garter! The digital caricature sign-in board that I provided, was done from a photo taken of them at that wedding...


The dinner was held at a historic old manor house that I would have loved to properly photograph, but I'd left my camera's memory card in my computer. So I had to make do with my camera phone...which I'm not very good at using! Hence these tiny photos....I was drawing on the verandah for cocktail hour before moving to the dining room. Many of the guests on the groom's side were from Alabama and other southern states, and were so appreciative of the lovely weather we've been having here in my neck of the woods! They were also appreciative enough of my caricatures to keep me on longer...I enjoyed the evening as much as they did!

Congratulations Jeff and Susan!

Baltimore or Bust!

On Tuesday evening, my caricature comrade Marlo and I were on our way down to Camden Yards to draw at the Orioles-Red Sox game when we heard a bang-bang-a'bangin'. Seems my trusty little car had a flat tire.....and what with all the travelling I do for my caricaturing adventures, I'd be crazy not to have Triple A.

So I made the call, and in under a half hour, a young lad with a wizard shin-tattoo showed up, along with a cigar-chomping Maryland Dept of Transportation guy. He put on my spare and we weren't even late to the stadium!

Here's a couple of my drawings...the last one is my Drew-Barrymore-ish subject reacting to her caricature! (taken by Marlo, in fact a lot of these pics were. Tanks, fwend!:-)




We always have a lot of fun whenever we get to work together!

Sign-in for my own party!

Sunday afternoon saw me at my OWN party for once! My fiance and I decided to have a backyard barbecue and get our families and friends together, who hadn't met yet. The weather couldn't have been more perfect (especially for August!) And of course, we had a caricature sign-in board...


This is the same caricature I created as a gift to my fiance for Valentine's Day, when we got engaged; I just re-drew my glasses and put in a background photo of my yard. Isn;t Photoshop great???

Wedding reception!

On Saturday evening, my caricatures were the mementoes at a wedding reception held in a elegant dining hall on a college campus. When I arrived at the location, I saw why they were having it there: the view from the all-window wall!

This overlooks Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The guests partied during a beautiful sunset!




Here's the bride with a guest ( didn't catch the groom)

Finally, here's the side view ( My little silver car is at bottom!)

Backyard birthday party

On Saturday afternoon, I was part of the fun at a double-birthday party for a two-year-old and her four-year-old sister. Their yard looked like a little amusement park!




Here is the above couple's reaction: :-)

I drew the birthday girls and their mommy and daddy in a family caricature, but all at separate times, so I never got a photo of them all at once...