K-fair reactions!

Laughter, squawks of surprise, and giddy leg-kicking can result from laying eyes on a caricature!

K-Fair faces 2012...

I have soooooo much fun at this fair!

This beautiful family are longtime friends, she was a colleague in my pre-caricature work life (which is a long time ago now) and has been a big supporter since it took over! It was great to see them. :-)
Below: a whole bunch of twosomes:

This couple wanted their duckie included:

Below: I put the Italian flag in the background since they plan on retiring to Tuscany...

This young guy with a toothy grin was drawn first with his pretty girlfriend:

...then with his fiendish little brother! They wanted boxing, and they wanted it gory!

So boxing caught on as a theme:

...which gave me a challenge and was such a hoot to do!
This couple were previously drawn by me at Halloween party a while back, and I'd happened to use it on my self-caricature promo sign!

This young man was a repeat from last year, his dad had a photo of it framed on his phone!

This was one of my very few "from photos" caricatures this year at the fair, requested by a bunch of officers of their boss, and it's a doozie! Check out his motto on the mug! ( I did ask if they wanted a donut...)

Drew these two last year when they were just BF and GF. Next year it will be a wedding one!

One evening we all avoided the brunt of a crazy thunderstorm, and I had some nice company during the 20 minute downpour:

Loved the little guy's t-shirt, I had almost decided to wear my Coca Cola t-shirt that night. ;-)


Loved her expressive eyebrows!
Below: last few...

Goodnight, Kimberton 2012!

75th birthday digital caricature

Recently did another cartoon-style digital for a July birthday: 

I used his license plate colors for the balloons!

The client's response was simply, "Thanks so much! It's perfect." :-)

Fair time!

Late July is when I find myself on the same unassuming patch of gravel in a field, that for one week becomes a MIDWAY!

I bought a new tent this year, the old one gave its life in service of my caricatures. This one has windows on the sides! And I painted the canopy with my favorite jaunty font...

The weather has been a little steamy so far , as per usual, but the faces have been arriving in the chair like clockwork...

These two cousins really like their phones, so I couldn't resist including them...

Company picnic...for a business whose product I can endorse!

Yesterday, I drew employees and their families for a Kia dealership...which is hilarious to me because out of all the vehicles out there on the roads, my own car's company somehow found me to draw for them!! (It's actually not the dealer where I bought mine, so this client had no idea---til I sent her a photo of my baby! She agreed we were a perfect fit!)

Had to laugh when I pulled into the leafy park where the picnic was being held and saw a bunch of my car's cousins. ;-)


So here are a few faces I whipped out on a warm summer afternoon...







(Also had to laugh when I realized my check from this gig could go right towards my car payment!!)

Here's a few more:

Thanks for having me!!!

Crab hats and river breezes

Gotta love ladies with crabs...one of whom I drew yesterday at a riverside community day.

She had a few piercings, too. ;-) Below: This young lady only had three...

This girl asked me to include a hula hoop after I had already drawn her arms...

 This couple sat early in the day and were still in love after 48 years married...they sure don't look old enough, do they?

This young man had a serious demeanor no matter what. 

Canine caricature! This was a veteran service dog, the lady said it's trained to do things like wake up veterans if they are having bad dreams and other combat-related helps. 

 What a picturesque location! The inflatables and I had the best real estate here!

70th birthday caricature

This digital caricature for a wonderful lady was done in between gigs while I was in Canada...

I used a stock image of sunflowers from 123RF.com because of being *a bit* pressed for time. They made a nice backdrop for all her children's and grandchildren's names (Yes, she has ten children!)

Here she is with the framed version. Happy birthday, Mrs. G!

21-person digital caricature...

Whew! I managed to fit them all in! :-)

This is a pen & ink style digital caricature of a very special matriarch and her family. They celebrated her 90th birthday recently, and my client (one of her grand-daughters) wanted something amazing to adorn t-shirts they'd all be wearing. This was loads of fun to concoct, (her bridge cards and favorite college football team helmet are in the mix, too) and I can't wait to see photos of the shirts. :-)

My new Calgarian friends...

It was a pleasure to meet and stay with Kelly's family while caricaturing during the Stampede. Of course, I just had to draw them and they ALL had good faces!

This little guy was too cute for words! The day I drew him, his curl didn't exist, it was too hot! ( Photo was taken on another day.) The cat was drawn live, as well.  She mostly cooperated, we just had to keep turning her around while she sat. :-)

Later, I was able to draw the little tyke's parents:

and his cool uncle and girlfriend:

and his amazing grandparents!

Thanks so much---for all the laughter and making my experience there such a wonderful one!

Visiting the Quirky Art Cafe in Edmonton

During my stay in Alberta, I'd hoped we'd have time to visit my caricaturist friend Cathy McMillan at her cozy coffee-shop/studio in Edmonton...and we did!

Kelly Gannon, Cathy, and I

The quaint little storefront was originally just Cathy's studio where she worked on her paintings, commissions and taught workshops, but she wanted it to be more than that. And she accomplished it! She went through all the non-left-brained technical, legal stuff and fun creative stuff required to make her dream a reality. Now she  provides a welcoming atmosphere for her regulars or anyone who walks in, whether it's for a latte or a burst of creativity!

Below: some of her caricatures.

Another of Cathy's specialties is creating altered books. As a former scrap-booker, I was very intrigued:

Super-inspiring! I have loads of homeless sentimental ephemera in boxes, so as soon as I can buy some used books, this will become my reality! Cathy even shared some cool techniques with me.

Thanks for having me Cathy, and to Kelly for driving me the furthest north I have ever been! (Edmonton is the northernmost city in North America with a population of over one million.)