Fair finale...

On Saturday, the fair wrapped up with an all-day caricature marathon. So, of course, I slept for most of today!

All the pics below are in chronological order, taken throughout the day.

Mom and daughter!

Two brothers, the older of whom is a budding photographer, even though he's barely more than a toddler!

This couple told me they specifically came to the fair to be drawn with their dog!! Dogs used to be more prevalent here, but there were signs forbidding pets this year, so this couple were very canny to get their precious baby in!

Next door to me was the airbrush tattoo booth, and I was able to draw tattooist Stacy from life and her absent BF from an Iphone picture!

This couple had a good laugh when they saw it!

 I told him I liked his eyebrows. 

This little one had such an entrancing smile!

He wanted me to include his pet rock. :-)

She didn't ask me how I learned to do this, or how long I've been doing this; she asked, "What is that marker you're using that looks like a brush??"

Good question! I wrote Copic Sketch marker on her drawing so she can Google it.

 Here's my other fair neighbor, who served sodas, wiped down tables, and battled wasps at the sausage sandwich booth. I actually drew him earlier in the week and hung it as a sample, and overheard lots of passerby recognizing him!

Til next July!

Friday night at the fair...

It poured cats and dogs again, then it cleared...in time for lots of caricatures---and fireworks!

Fair night #4

I drew this little one's sister in 2009 at the same age:

A father-daughter trio sat as it started to rain (again-- three nights out of four so far this year---ugh)

A couple whose friends chortled while I drew them in BW:

Fair night #3

 Some great-faced couples sat for me last night!

 Below: a couple of brothers:

This one's a triple: the kids went off to have an airbrush tattoo (my next door neighbor at this fair) after I drew each one, so they weren't there to photograph at the end...

I 've drawn this boy for the last three years:

Finally: this year's fair Queen!

Fair night #2...

 Here are the first adults I've drawn at this fair:

And here's the first theme/body caricature I've done here: (felt nice and cool drawing this one!)

And then it was a parade of cute little kids for most of the night--here's a sampling:

And it poured five minutes AFTER I was packed and in my car afterwards!

First night of the fair 2011

It rained. It cleared somewhat. And it rained again...
...but I got some drawing in!

She was the very first one of the week....and her mom said I've drawn her every year  :-).

Mother-son caricatures are always fun for me to draw...as are mohawks.

This is my environment for the week. No more rain! (at night, at least!)

RIP Amy Winehouse

So sad, but not surprising...what a songwriting talent and what an amazing voice, stilled forever.  I created this Sculpey sculpture back in early 2008, and was really hoping she'd defy the odds,  conquer her demons and make more music...

I'm not alone in posting my particular visual premonition of Amy today; many artists are. I'm just sorry it came true. :-( 

Tim Minchin...eyeliner, hair, and talent

In January this year, I did a Conan O'Brien caricature (see above in my blog header!) to submit to the art gallery on Conan's site. Some of them were being shown on the air, so I tried to watch the show every night (for awhile, anyway) on the off chance they'd use mine. ( I don't know if they ever did.)
One night, Conan's musical guest was a new-to-American-television Australian pianist/comedian named Tim Minchin. He sang a very clever, ribald song about an inflatable doll, that ended with a Beatle homage...and I was completely hooked! A true artist with both songwriting (ranging from the utterly ridiculous to gasp-worthy to sweet, deep and sublime) and mad grand piano skills, I checked out all his Youtube videos and thought, if he ever tours, I'm going!
Well, guess where I was this past Saturday night? Handing him this digital painting after his concert in Washington, DC!

The words are from one of his sillier (he said so!) songs...if you check him out, be forewarned that his stuff is for adults who don't get offended easily (strong language and subjects).
The other half and I had wonderful seats:

Tim has a policy of meeting his fans after his shows, and he came out and charmed everyone (we were already charmed ;-)

Well, if I can't meet John Lennon or Freddie Mercury.... I'll settle for Tim! ;-)

He chatted with my other half too, and signed his ticket. I had actually printed two of my paintings, one for Tim to keep, and one to sign for me, and he did.

Then I had the audacity to give him my business card! :-O

It was worth turning down a few gigs to have this much fun!

Thanks to Danielle for the above video, and Conan for having Tim on his show in the first place. :-)

It was SO hot that....

...my Prismacolor Artstix almost melted!

Yesterday's O's game-time temperature was a steamy 95 degrees...and my wax-based color sticks were slimy and  sweaty. They don't like direct sunlight in that kind of broiling heat. I did have my easel umbrella for the part of the day that we artists weren't in the shade, but its benefits were strictly for me and my few sitters.
Below: this couple came to me because I had drawn their friends the night before! :-)

  Grateful wasn't a strong enough word for my feelings toward AC after that afternoon!

Baltimore masquerading as Boston...

...as the Red Sox Nation invaded last night for baseball---and caricatures!

She wanted a hamburger, not a hot dog.

Below: Oftentimes, I'll hold on to completed drawings while my subjects enjoy the game unencumbered, and they return as they are walking out to retrieve their special momento. I was using this young couple's caricature as a sample, and a man (not inebriated, I don't think) walked up and said, "Wow! Why didn't they want that drawing? Do you get rejects alot?"

Haha. I explained and he said, "Oh. That makes sense." 

Also makes a good story for my blog. :-)

Awkward Faces-Lar

My friend John Sprague has started his own Facebook sketch challenge group, Awkward Faces, which at the moment is called "Awkward Lar" because this week's subject is webcomic master Lar de Souza. Lar won the last round and so submitted a cringe-worthy photo of himself (with a fanboy at a comic con) for us to take and run with...artistically speaking.

 Here is my submission. Time-wise, I'm glad this is an every-other-week challenge. 

Caricaturama-Liam Neeson

Another week has flown by without much time for anything more than a quick sketch--this past week's Caricaturama subject was actor Liam Neeson. I went with black, white and blue Prismacolor pencils on gray Canson paper. He's proven to be a popular subject, at the moment there are more than 160 entries!