BIG birthday party

My fourth and final event this past weekend was a double birthday celebration for a one-year-old and a nine-year-old:

However, it was definitely not your typical kids' birthday party; it included a banquet room full of people, a three-piece band, a belly dancer, and yup, a caricaturist: (that would be me:-)

I drew all the kids in two hours.

Here's a caricature reaction:

And a little bit of the party vibe:

The client's daughter had been drawn at a 40th birthday party I'd done a year or two ago, and used my contact info that I include on the bottom of every drawing to book me for this party.  :-)

Proceeding to a Post-Prom...

(which, luckily, had a start time about four hours after the end of my previous event) was no fun at all, as I crawled along in a horrendous construction-caused traffic jam that ate into my in-between-gig break. Took me over two hours to go about 30 miles. I listened to Nirvana and resisted the urge to text or check Facebook!
The night's theme was Time Machine, and the area in the school where three artists were to draw was called "What do you remember about the 90's?", so I had my Kurt Cobain caricature front and center on my easel:

And he was on me as well!

(now you know why I was listening to Nirvana)

My two colleagues for the evening/morning were the witty and urbane Gene Mater and the delightful Julie Borysowski:

Here they are before the students found us:

Kids finally arrived and we got down to business:

Below: Julie 

and Gene:

Now for some of my output:

Having done post proms for more than a decade now, it's startling to realize that this year's crop of high school seniors were born in 1995...Kurt Cobain was no longer even with us when these kids were born!!

Wedding Shower with a view

Saturday afternoon held the second of four events for me this weekend...a wedding shower, held in a lovely condo overlooking the city. The bride and groom were both there, and they asked for a beach theme---because they'd already gotten a wedding-themed caricature at Disney World.

The bride sat on the most elegant shower throne I've ever seen:

Their friends and family enjoyed what came out of my pen:

This foursome ended up in tears of laughter when they saw the caricature ;-)

Below: Two young ladies asked me to draw a lime Lyme-themed caricature to tie in with a 5k walk in which they will soon be participating, in Orlando, FL:

After having a light supper, thanks to the hostess, I headed to my next event..a late-night post prom. 

Redrum pencil sketch

Traditional Caricature Art Contest: this week it's Jack Nicholson. Click to see a Vine clip of my sketch.

College gig...starring Malcolm in the Middle!?!

This afternoon's event was situated on a university green, with bounce houses and bands and a caricaturist (my easel is over there, under the trees)

I happily drew student after student, accompanied to the strains of live music...

You can HEAR as much in this clip:

To my surprise, the students were all abuzz over the drummer for the band: Frankie Muniz, who starred in "Malcolm in the Middle" back in the 00's...he's grown up, but not upward ;-)
Even worse,  he might NOT be a giant..... (groan)

No, I didn't draw him, (although he would have been FUN---look at those TINY ears!) he had a huuuuuuuggge line of people waiting to get a photo taken with him. He wasn't  charging money for them to do so, which reflects well on him. :-)

After I wrapped up, I had a small commission to do:  a student wanted a caricature done on a cooler as a gift for her boyfriend. Gotta say I have never drawn (it's all marker) on a cooler before...it turned out to both our satisfactions! :-)

Emergency caricaturist to the rescue

Just as I was sitting down to dinner last night, I got a call from an agent whose artist could not make it to their gig RIGHT THEN at a local college...could I do it??

I made it there and was set up to go exactly an hour after the call. :-)

The students were happy to see me!

This young lady wanted her BFFs in the background.

Here's the young man in his entirety: ( awesome smile)

Even the security guard wanted one. I laughingly said I couldn't put "Class of..." on hers, and she said she had NO CLASS. So guess what went on her drawing ;-)

This was her reaction:

She literally gasped for air from laughing for several minutes after she saw it. Jeepers, I don't want to kill anybody!! (suffocation by caricature...)

Finally, as I was packing up, I noticed the room and halls were festooned with signs advertising that their get-together would have a caricaturist...it was my friend Mac Garcia from Texas!!!!!! When I told the client, he said he just Googled "caricature artist" for an image to use on his flyers and that's the one he liked!!

When I got home, my Other Half reheated my dinner for me. :-)

Abe Lincoln...facial analysis

The subject for Tradition Caricature Art contest this week was Abraham Lincoln. I used rather not-typical media...some old Eaton typing paper and a Papermate ballpoint pen for this little ( 5" square) sketch:

Lincoln's face is extraordinarily interesting to face-ophiles like myself:

The two sides of his face were asymmetrical which may have been due to disease or to having been kicked in the head by a horse as a young boy.

(Wikipeda also has an entry on his physical and mental health that makes for fascinating reading.)

He aged extremely rapidly while in office (understandable as he had the weight of the American Civil War on his shoulders) but there is speculation that this may have been due to a wasting disease. 

He had two life-casts done (NOT death casts) which offer an insight into the real dimensions of his features both before he took office and after. 

The face of the Lincoln Memorial sculpture, in Washington DC, must be lit in a certain way to do justice to the dignity of the statue.

It's gratifying that he happened to be President at the dawn of the photography age, so we have photos as well as artistic renderings of our greatest President. 

I drew him beardless a few years ago.

Fundraiser dinner

Saturday night's event was an annual dinner for the L.E.G. Up Foundation, a local charity that helps families in traumatic circumstances.  Check out some of these fun faces!

Below: I took another Vine clip of these two ladies and their caricature reaction, but it wouldn't upload (well, I WAS in the back of a crowded restaurant). And even if it had, I'd forgotten to include hashtags again. Maybe someday I'll get it right! But for now, you can enjoy it here:

After I finished the dinner guests,  I was able to draw a few restaurant patrons in exchange for a donation to L.E.G. UP. :-)

Thank you for having me! I will also be drawing at the 5th Annual 5k for this charity on June 15th.

Skater caricatures...

Not boy skaters, girl skaters...and lots of 'em!

I was busy drawing many aspiring medal winners at this ice rink yesterday. 

Here's the vibe:

When I was a teenager, there was an ice rink about a mile from my home and I was there almost every weekend...I miss it, but I am afraid of skating now---my right hand is pretty much my livelihood and I'd be terrified of falling on it. Maybe I'll buy a wrist guard and be brave someday in the future...

University staff appreciation party...

On Thursday, I had the rare weekday-afternoon event, this one was a staff appreciation party at a local university. In addition to the great faces I was presented with, the accompanying music from someone's iPhone was all  90's and 00's fare...old-school Spice Girls and Ace of Base stuff! It reminded me of when I was just starting out as a caricaturist, that's what I drew to back then! :-)

Below: Two totally different beards!

Below: I keep attempting Vine videos, but I keep forgetting to put hashtags on them. If anyone wants to find my Vine profile, it's "Emily Anthony".

This young man was game to be in one, and said his GF was a Vine fan, too.

Irish golfers...

Last weekend, the grass wasn't the only thing wearing green...

...as I drew caricatures at a golf-game fundraiser for Irish Charities of Maryland. 

My Other Half was playing, so I just hung out during the absolutely gorgeous day, and drew at the dinner afterwards.

Yes, my sample was a five-year-old caricature of the Other Half. He looks a *little* different now...

Here are a few of the faces I did:

 Here are a couple of video snippets...enjoy!

Afterwards, since we were in his vicinity, we got to visit with fellow caricaturist Mr. Rrrrrick and his lovely wife Linda.

Enjoyable day!