Thai street artists, etc..."walking street" on the island of Koh Samui

Of course, my timing was off and I walked up just in time to see the artist applying hairspray to his charcoal caricature-portrait then bagging it up...(also see video at end of blog post)

This was during a "walking street"in Fisherman's Village, pretty self-explanatory--the road is closed to traffic and there are so many vendors and tourists that it's a bewildering, yet exhilarating experience. Complete with outdoor portable bars every twenty feet... 

There were other types of art going on too, this gentleman was doing intricate work with a gold pen:

These are made of coconut husks:

Here's a little sample of a "walking street" vibe:

(The first shot in the video is with my son and my other half, after our first purchase there...at one of the aforementioned portable bars. :-)

English country-manor caricature!

My recent travel-time was mostly spent in Thailand, (and there are still more caricature-related photos from that to share) but the Other Half and I also managed to tack on a whirlwind four days in England, (somewhere I've always wanted to visit) before returning home. We crammed in Windsor Castle, Stonehenge, Salisbury Cathedral, The London Eye, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace and Abbey Road, along the way eating some surprisingly good English fare. One place we particularly loved was a B&B where we stayed for two nights, Rollestone Manor in Shrewton, near Stonehenge.  It's a 950-year-old manor house with a little church behind it where Jane Seymour was christened. The proprietors were a lovely couple (and their daughter) who welcomed us with warmth, comfort and fantastic breakfasts:

I wanted to thank them for their nothing-is-too-much hospitality, so I made sure to take a photo of the family before leaving. Upon returning to my studio, the above little marker-and-pencil drawing resulted. It's ended up on their FB page and hopefully on a wall of the Manor somewhere!

How did I know they were caricature fans? I'd spotted this in their office:

Here's a photo of the house and grounds and one of us in the foyer:

And here we are just up the road!

Caricature-spotting on Koh Samui #1

During my recent trip to Thailand, I didn't just get to see Bangkok--we travelled (by night train, bus and ferry) about 500 miles south to the beautiful tropical island of Koh Samui. The most popular beach town is Chaweng, with a thriving main street full of local Thais and tourists from all over the world. One shop had this displayed out front---it looked like a combination of marker and watercolor:

  This particular artist had pieces in a couple of shops nearby:

Many of the small art shops we passed had painters busily working on large canvases of popular subjects; it seemed to be a tie between traditional Thai art and...the Joker. ;-)

Ok, gotta throw in a photo of the absolutely beautiful beach here...

Doodling in Bangkok #2

Another day in Bangkok, another sketchbook...this book fit in my (horrors!) fannypack...

Her birthday caricature was really an ENGAGEMENT caricature!

On Saturday evening, I delighted in what is a big thrill for any caricaturist: being part of a marriage proposal!!

There's a neat backstory to this. In 2006, I was still caricaturing at Philadelphia Phillies games and drew a very nice gentleman (with his signature hat) and his lovely daughter Helen, and I took a photo of their drawing. A few years later, they happened to walk by my stand at my annual summer fair, and were surprised and pleased to see their caricature was one of my samples! So the dad took my card, and said someday he'd hire me for something. Well, the something turned out to be his daughter's 30th birthday party this past Saturday. When I arrived, he pulled me aside and told me that her boyfriend wanted to propose with a caricature--and the only people who knew were himself, the BF, the BF's mom---and me!!! So while I was drawing the guests, I knew the main event was to come later...
This is my caricature from 2006, which was on display at the party:

And this is the dad, Glenn (no hat, though! almost didn't recognize him---the mustache helped) and two of his grandsons now:

I was a little nervous, but probably not as much as the prospective bridegroom! When he and Helen finally sat for me, I put up a prepared sign on my easel that said: "SHHHHH! It's a surprise!!" so no one would blurt out what I was drawing. And no one did---Helen was completely stunned when the moment came, as you can see in my little video!

She definitely got a birthday surprise. :-)

Good things can definitely come in threes--a birthday party on St. Patrick's day that included Tony and Helen's surprise engagement---Thank you for having me be a part of it and congratulations!!!

"Can you draw me body-checking?"

Well, the calendar said March 17, but neither of the events I drew at yesterday were St. Patrick's celebrations! My daytime gig was a girls' hockey tournament that I do every year. Here are a few faces from that:

 This girl wanted to be drawn falling down on the ice! Her mother was against it at first, but relented, and then laughed as the drawing progressed. :-)

After this, I packed up and drove to a 30th birthday party at a country club, arriving just in time to change my outfit (had dressed warmly to be in an ice rink and it turned out to be a summer-like day!) and set up for round two...

Doodling in Bangkok #1

My recent trip was crammed full of activities so I really did not sketch alot, but here are a few faces I caught in my favorite sketchbook...pencil and a few markers.

Caricature spotting in Bangkok #4

I did not see a huge amount of street artists in my travels, and almost all of the ones I did see offered charcoal portraits, not caricatures. This young man near Khaosan Road did not have any takers as we passed him by...

Caricature-spotting in Bangkok #3

These were displayed in an art/frame shop in MBK mall in downtown Bangkok:

600 Baht is equivalent to about $18. These seem rather detailed for such a low price, but Thailand is well-known for its bargains. The way it works is, an artist takes your photo and you come back several hours later for the drawing...
Here's one that was hanging on the wall:

Finally, some artists were busily painting, scumbling and glazing away here...

Caricature-spotting in Bangkok #2

Another day in Bkk--I spotted this magazine cover. Looks to have been done digitally.

Caricature-spotting in Bangkok...

On my recent trip-of-a-lifetime, I tried to photograph any instances of caricature that presented themselves. One night, my other half, my son and I were sitting in a street cafe on Khaosan Road when I noticed the
t-shirt of a fellow patron:

 The subject was also drawn in on the back of the shirt, which is how I first noticed it:

If anyone knows the subject or artist, by all means comment below! I have my suspicions as to the artist as it looks like the work of a few possibilities...

Confirmation party...

Yesterday afternoon I drew at my first event in more than a month...it was a lovely family party to celebrate Brianna's confirmation.

Brianna herself was a lovely young lady:

I drew everyone there, (with bodies!) (and one uncle who couldn't attend, from an awesome photo on his wife's camera) and photos were taken of all the guests by the hostess:

After a birthday cake was brought out for Brianna, and I found out the confirmation party was also her belated birthday party, I confessed to her mom that yesterday was my 4?th birthday. So I got a round of applause and a piece of (really good) birthday cake! I love my job!!
Thanks for having me and my caricatures on a beautiful afternoon!

Home from Asia and Europe!

My blog has just had the longest hiatus in its almost-five-year existence: my intrepid Other-Half and I went on a month's journey to Thailand, with a four-day jaunt to England tacked on at the end. :-)
My son happens to live in Bangkok, which is about as far as one can get from Philly without being on the way back. It was my first time overseas (unless you count the Caribbean) so I was very excited about:
A. seeing my son after a year and a half
B. seeing sights, eating exotic dishes, and soaking up foreign climes
and
C. finding art/caricature related stuff to share here.
Here's the Other Half, and my son and I, in a water taxi along one of Bangkok's many canals.

So to begin sharing what (little) drawing I actually did, or what I witnessed, on the looooong flights there I doodled Miss S. Germanotta from a magazine. Luckily, I like to do tedious crosshatching sometimes, because there was plenty of time for it:

There's plenty more to come, from street artists to medieval gargoyle faces, once I find the relevant photos among the 18 GBs I took! (video too.) But first I have to get ready for a gig tomorrow---my last one was on February 5th, which may have been my longest break from THAT in a loooong time too!