More quickie pencil sketches for my portfolio...

I've been doing some pencil sketchin' for the usual online caricature groups...mostly pencil work, with varying levels of exaggeration. These all take under an hour to do.

This one needs no exaggeration! It's done in Ebony pencil.

This one is graphite and Prismacolor pencil: the young Nina Simone.

 Juno! This sketch is veeeeery small, I wanted to see how tiny I could go.

Another version of the new Pope. The first photo of him on the balcony made it seem as though his face was quite round, but now that I've seen more images of him, I think he has a droopier face. 

Jack Black, who has quite a distinctive look, kind of like Johnny Depp Lite. This one is pencil with some digital watercolor on top.

Billie Holiday...this one is all Mars Lumograph EE pencil. I've found that they are no fun to sharpen...they crumble. :-(

So I switched to markers for this last one:

The traditional gift for a First Anniversary is PAPER...this piece had a caricature on it!

My second event on Saturday was one for which I was booked the day before! (through Gigsalad :-)
It was rather unusual as gigs go, in that it wasn't a party, but a husband wanting to surprise his wife. So, after finishing up my afternoon at the Bar Mitzvah, I headed for this couple's home and rang the doorbell. She answered, wondered who on earth we were, (my Other Half was still with me and in fact, took the great photo below) and laughed aloud when I said, "Happy Anniversary! I'm here to caricature you and your husband!"

Since I had plenty of time to focus on them, their caricature was an 18" x 24" full-color, full-body studio quality masterpiece, if I do say so myself. It included things that they held dear, such as their cats, boat, etc. etc. After I drew them, they pulled up photos on their computer of each additional item. I liked drawing his red Solo cup!! Here is a close-up of the results:

Yes, he WAS aware that paper is the traditional gift for the first anniversary. I'd say she has one thoughtful hubby!

After I finished the big drawing, they had me do a couple B/W drawings of their friends from photos, and then I called it a day. A wonderful day spent drawing---with my Other Half along with me. Congratulations, Brian and Mariana!

Update: Just got my first Gigsalad feedback! Thank you Brian!!
I hired Emily to draw my wife and I for our one year wedding anniversary. She came to our home and did a fantastic job! It was a great intimate gift as my wife and I felt very special as she was there for only us. She even did a few drawings of my friends from photos that we wanted to give as gifts. She showed up on time and was very professional. Best of all the drawings are great!! Thank you again Emily

Caricatures at an amazing Bar Mitzvah!

My first event on Saturday was one where I'd been booked for a loooong time...

 I'd drawn the Bar Mitzvah young man at a fair several years ago, several times...he had a great face and attitude. That's him with his sisters, above. I've also drawn his parents more than once, they've been guests at different functions where I've drawn... so our paths have crossed enough that they graciously invited me and my Other Half to be guests as well as part of the entertainment for Jarryd's big day.
Since my Other Half was with me, I asked him if he'd take photos. He was all pumped about using my new Iphone app, Vine, which takes 6-second video clips---it turned out to be quite the creative outlet for him! ( Thanks, Marlo!) He got some awesome footage of my subjects and other goings-on. For easier viewing for the un-Vined,  I compiled a bunch into one Youtube video. Check it out!

This celebration stood out in many ways: the DJ from Hot Hot Hot was top-notch, the food was scrumptious, the candle-lighting ceremony was moving... 

and the SOCKS were awesome:

Congratulations Jarryd, and thanks for having us!!!

Gigsalad

It's a funny name for a online party/entertainment booking service, but it works! I just signed up with it five days ago and I have my first gig already. Thanks, Gigsalad!

St. Patrick's Day caricatures..

My event on Sunday afternoon, St. Patrick's Day, was a two-year-old's birthday party, held in a restaurant;  I drew a slew of little kids first...THEN THE ADULTS WITH ALCOHOL 

CAME ALONG! :-)

I don't think they were even Irish! ;-)

Surprise 40th birthday party at country club

On Saturday evening, I found myself in this lovely room ready to receive caricature subjects:

This husband was able to surprise his wife thoroughly! He planned everything for this party last November.  The personable DJ, Derek Evan, and I were procured through Gigmasters...but his coup de grace was having her family members from Poland show up!!!

Here is the happy birthday girl with her color caricature. I did 95% couples at this party, here are a few:

Happy birthday, Gosia! And thank you for having me and my caricatures! :-)
Update 3-19-13: Client feedback for this Gigmasters event was,  Absolutely Perfect - Could not have asked for anything more. Got a lot of laughs from the caricatures. Thank You

                         Thank YOU for having my caricatures be a part of your celebration!

Senior ladies...and a gent

Yesterday afternoon, I did one of my semi-regular drawing sessions at a local senior home, one of my favorite types of gig. Sometimes I am there to draw the employees, and sometimes it's the residents. That was the case yesterday, at a "caricatures social"  :-)

One of the employees had her caricature  displayed (from their employee appreciation day--she's the one holding the money ;-) to show the residents what to expect:

Below: This lady was very jovial, and told me her nickname was "Hazel Nuts"! LOL!

A couple more beautiful-senior-lady drawings:

And a cute couple:

Everyone said  "aaaaawwwww" as I finished this one. 

I've probably said this more than once here on my blog, but I love my job. 

Retroactive first winner on my FB free caricature contest...

This lady has commented and "liked" her way to a free digital caricature:

I don't know her personally but she has been a fan of my work for a long time, and often has nice things to say on my FB fan page about my eccentric vocation in life. So when I decided to run a contest there, she was both an inspiration and the obvious first recipient! This is her with her beloved uncle. I decided to make it a cartoon-style digital one.

Thank you Dianne!!

Free Caricature Contest on my FB page...

I've decided to offer a monthly free caricature to people who connect with me on my FB fan page:

Here's the link: "WIN a Caricature at Caricatures by Emily"

Since it's mid-month, there's two weeks left to go before I'll choose a winner, but I do have a retroactive free caricature that went out yesterday to the person who inspired me to do this! I'll post about that tomorrow!

State Fair of Texas comic...by Celestia Ward and yours truly

The most recent issue of ISCA's trade magazine, Exaggerated Features, carried this comic about our time at 2012's State Fair of Texas..and its unintended version of Burning Man!

Can astute observers tell which panels are mine and which are Celestia Ward's? ;-D

Two more caricatures I did in Thailand...and some I didn't.

My subjects weren't Thai, however! This one is of a gregarious British lady author, whom I met at the home of one of my son's yoga students in Bangkok. She had personality busting out of her seams...

This one is of a young Iranian boy who lives in my son's apartment complex, also in BKK. I actually drew him and his younger brother, (not shown) who literally couldn't sit still for two seconds--so I wasn't entirely happy with how his drawing turned out. I may re-do it from his photo. 

Now for the caricature sightings. This lonely little marker drawing was hanging in a mall in Chiang Mai, with no artist nearby. 500 baht is about $15.

Here's a pic of my son (phone glued to his ear ;-) in front of another art studio in the same mall. All of the artists were working on this type of drawing--super-rendered, extremely photorealistic portrait stuff. 

Lastly, this one was displayed in a kids' art center, also in Chiang Mai. It was Monday, so they were closed. Wonder if it is one of the teacher's works?

More Thai artists...these were the hi-tech ones promoting Samsung

One afternoon during my recent trip to Thailand included a stop at a huge mobile communications show, held in Queen Sirikit Convention Center in Bangkok. It was amazing how many vendors there are in this industry---and one of them was utilizing the talents of real live artists...

Samsung has held this type of event in cities all over the world, to show how their Galaxy Note tablet can be used for drawing. I have plenty of colleagues who've done this gig here in the US. The pay was not commensurate with what professional digital artists usually get, but as usual, one can profit and learn from ANY experience...

Like most things in Bangkok, it was VERY crowded:

Here are some of the completed digital drawings:

Portraiture and anime predominate.

At this event I also had a cool Beatles t-shirt sighting! :-)

And this was too cute for words:

Bye bye, Pope Benedict...

Hope Google Translate got the Latin for "I'm goin' to Disney World" correctly!
Done with Mars Lumograph EE pencil and a few blue Prismacolors, for Traditional Caricature Art Contest on FB...

A little artist-ambiance (visual AND musical) from Thailand

Recently I posted about a street artist we chanced upon while visiting Chiang Mai, Thailand...and just now, chanced upon the video I took that night. The live music was coming from a Thai guitarist... I wonder if he was singing phonetically. Everyone loves the Beatles!

An evening at an AIDS benefit

Last night was a very stylish event benefitting AIDS DE-- a fashion show was held at the Delaware Center for Contemporary Arts with lots of red ribbons in evidence. I wore a pin in honor of Freddie Mercury, too, as I drew the throng of excited guests.

I told this gentleman he had epic glasses.

Thank you Daniel, and everyone, for having me---it was a fun night!

Update: 3-8-13. The professional photographer, Paul Pruitt,  shared some great pics  on FB! Enjoy: