The Knot.com now showcases my wedding caricatures!

I just joined the most popular wedding website in internet-land, theKnot.com . I'm listed under 'Unique Wedding Ideas'.
Weddings have been a growing segment of my caricature business, both for digital sign-in boards and live caricatures at receptions. Right now, I am only listed in my local area (southeastern Pennsylvania and Delaware) but depending on response, I may go further afield for my digital caricatures, which after all can be done from anywhere via email. One reason why I think a wedding caricature is a great addition to the celebration is that it can be used for so many things... besides sign-in boards, mine have been used for favors, gifts for the wedding party and in-laws, and thank you notes. All the client needs is the hi-res file!

Sushi artists by a caricature artist

Quite a while back, my fiance took a caricature I'd drawn of the sushi chefs at our favorite sushi restaurant in the whole world, Matsu, to them in Huntington Beach, CA. They displayed in their cozy, intimate sushi bar, but I had never seen it hanging up because I've only been able to visit once a year.
Tonight was my once-a-year for 2009! And I'd drawn the owner and the other chef from a photo my fiance had taken some time ago. They were very happy to receive another, and were gracious enough to pose for me for some photos. I even remembered how to say "caricature" in Japanese---"ni-ga-o-e", learned from my Japanese friends at the NCN convention. Thank you Hiroshi, Yuki, and Yuji!

Mardi Gras merriment

A local university held a Mardi Gras evening tonight, which included a masked caricature artist! ;-)
There was also a great live jazz ensemble, a silver-clad dancer, make-your-own masks, and other goodies. The students also made time for some video of the progress New Orleans has made since Hurrican Katrina... One of my subjects took some great photos for me. (Thanks!!) Enjoy! The dancer got a drawing too!

Bar mitzvah celebration

This evening I drew all the kids at a very pleasant bar mitzvah celebration...
13-year-olds are such a hoot! The bar mitzvah boy himself hung each drawing on the line; when I left, I heard him telling his friends there was a large size copier in the house, and they were all going to get copies of each other's! Whoa!

Digital birthday caricature

She likes mojitos! So do I.
This will be used as a sign-in for a surprise birthday party this weekend.

Valentine Caricatures at Doggie Boutique

My Valentine's Day was spent amidst the company of many of man's best friends and their families in a lovely dog boutique, housed in a 1867 barn. Godfrey's Welcome to Dogdom had a cozy little spread, complete with complimentary liver brownies and goodies for humans too! There was a line twenty minutes before I was even due to start, and I ended up drawing twice as long as planned. All in all, I drew about 60 individual dogs and people in 4 hours. Dog lovers REALLY love their pets! Most people actually brought their animals--there were many Labs, golden retrievers and toy dogs. Some drawings I did were from photos of dogs who'd crossed the Rainbow Bridge. All of them meant alot to their owners. I look forward to drawing at Godfrey's again!

Memories...of high school and my art from way back then!

Yesterday, I had an opportunity to go back in time to my high school days. After lunch with some dear friends, one of whom was recently reunited with us through the wonders of Facebook, I happened to be driving past our school. It's now a vocational-technical college. On a spontaneous whim, we went in and they allowed us to take a tour of the building even though we were not prospective students!
My first stop was the art studio, which is now an office.



This is me in 2009; below is the same room in 1981 with my fellow art-club members. The easel off to the right in the photo may even be the one I now have, as when our school was closed by the archdiocese at the end of my junior year, they allowed us to keep many art supplies.

The next stop was the (hated) (for me, anyway) gym, which remained unchanged from our days there:


I was VERY surprised to see this ghost image of a mural the school had had me paint there, of our school mascot "Endie," twenty-eight years ago!

Here is how it looked back then:

I remember thinking that I used oil paint (provided by the art department) and that it must have been painted over by the college with latex paint!! Endie's dress was our school's dual colors of blue and brown. I also remember that as much as I disliked PE, I did contribute something to the sports-minded students, fans and lone gym teacher with that mural.

I also contributed cartoons to the school newspaper and yearbook. This is an appropriate post to show them, I suppose...





Another highlight of high school for me, was a brush with major league baseball, which of course I had no inkling would figure largely in my caricature career. (I drew at almost all Philadelphia Phillies home games from 2004 through 2007). The last time the Phantastic Phillies won the World Series, (before 2008's legendary win) was during my junior year. The late famed pitcher Tug McGraw (whose son is country singer Tim McGraw) happened to live close to our school then, and he came to celebrate with us one late winter's day. I was asked to create a huge card that all 400 students signed for him. Wonder where he put it?!





Back to the current college: The serenity of the chapel is being put to good use as their library.



I really did experience deja vu walking the hallways, and especially climbing the stairs and seeing the flooring that is still there from our day, and even the same seat cushions in the auditorium!! However, my happiest memories are of the encouragement I received on being an artist.

My upcoming gig---going to the dogs!

No, I didn't create this logo, but I do have an upcoming Valentine's Day gig that I am looking forward to...and my client has advertised it on her website! It will be at a special place for dogs and their families called Godfrey's Welcome to Dogdom. After I was booked, I gave the owner permission to use my images to promote her special doggy-Valentine all-day event, and now I am blushing at the nice write-up. Thank you! Come out and bring your pooch if you are in the area. :-)

Sneak peek at one of my book illustrations...

I just finished my first children's book illustration job, done entirely in Photoshop, and the client has graciously allowed me to share a snippet of one of the pages here on my blog. This isn't the main character, but he's indicative of the color and mood of the book as a whole. Right now, I'm waiting to hear if there are any final changes to be made, then I'll begin waiting as the client goes through the process of self-publishing. That's will be the hardest part! Once that happens, I will be able to share much more here. In the meantime, this process was so enjoyable that I plan on writing and illustrating my own book! :-)