More pics from Friggatriskaidekaphobia 2013

Just received some more photographs from Margaret Downey, organizer of the recent Friggatriskaidekaphobia Treatment Center event where Celestia Ward (who just updated her website and it is fab!) and I drew lots of unfazed superstition-smashers!

You can kiss the bride...in front of the caricaturist!

Saturday evening found my easel at a fabulous wedding reception:

This one came to me through 513 Entertainment. The venue was especially nice for me, as I was set up in an alcove near the bar which permitted chatting---but the sitters could still enjoy the ballroom, music and various goings-on. 

I started drawing during daylight...and finished after my time was extended an extra hour, thanks to the bride's mom! :-)

Below: These two family groupings had members who ran off after they were drawn, so I settled for photographing just the drawing. I told the lady on the right she looked like a Kennedy, only prettier. ;-) And so, four hours after I'd started, she was my last face put to paper. 

Thanks and congrats!! :-)

An ??th birthday party!

Saturday afternoon's festivities came to me courtesy of Gigmasters...a surprise birthday party for a beloved uncle. His precise age was a question mark. His invites said "I look TOO GOOD

to be this old!!!"

And he certainly did! ;-)

As usual, the birthday boy received a full color caricature. As he was deciding whether to wear his baseball cap or the birthday hat, I said, "Why not BOTH??"

It was a busy, enthusiastic party, so I was soon in the zone and forgot to take photos; but here's a god-daughter, and a pal:

Happy birthday, Jim! And thanks for having me!

The client left some short but sweet feedback for me: 

Emily was great. She came to house early, put up with my crazy family and they loved her work. Thanks!

Class Reunion caricatures

Another event that enjoyed my services last weekend was a 40-year reunion for a local high school (one of the schools I draw for every year at their post-prom, so it's likely I've drawn the offspring of some of these members of the Class of 1973)!

       

Before I got started, I put up this Breaking Bad sample...the actor, Bryan Cranston, IS pretty much the same age as the above reunion-goers!

A very happy 70th birthday!

On an unseasonably chilly Saturday for mid-September*, I helped a family celebrate Steve's milestone 70th birthday:

These are just some of the drawings I created over the course of a very pleasant afternoon, which were clothes-pinned up for everyone to enjoy.  

Here is the man of the day himself:

Seventy must be the new Fifty!! ;-)

These are some of his nearest and dearest:

 Above: I really didn't believe this pretty lady was NINETY!!

 More happy smiling faces!

 Above: this guy told me his last caricature made him look like Desi Arnaz...so I told him mine was turning out like Bela Lugosi!

The patio was the happenin' place to be:

Below: this is what makes ME smile!

Thank you so much for having me and sending me home with pork BBQ! It was a pleasure chatting with everyone and making them smile with a caricature. And happy birthday again to Steve!! 

* I had a sweat jacket in the car but was wearing flip-flops....my feet were so cold, a nice lady guest gave me a pair of socks!!! Usually it's my fingers that freeze, not my toes. Thanks, you know who you are. :-)

"Friggatriskaidekaphobia Treatment Center" Party

Frigga-whaaaaaaaat?

Triskaidekaphobia is fear of the number 13. An irrational fear, but one that encompasses plenty of other silly superstitions---the breaking of which bodes for a great party atmosphere!! Last weekend,  I drew (dressed as a nurse!) at the opening celebration for the 2013 Pennsylvania Humanist/Atheist/Skeptic conference:

I've caricatured at this biennial event in the past, so it was lots of fun to do it again, along with Celestia Ward this time. Below, we're pictured with our mutual friend and Head Nurse of the 'treatment center', Margaret Downey:

Some of the guests were given complimentary caricatures, with this very apropos design by Celestia:

She started with a wonderful caricature of my Other Half:

and an attendee with memorable hair and t-shirt.

We drew various superstitions on our caricatures. I drew lots of broken mirrors, black cats and magic-eight balls, Celestia did a chupacabra on one of hers!

The master of ceremonies was Jamy Ian Swiss, a renowned magician/author who is known for his sleight-of-hand and public speaking in the world of skepticism. He did an amzing show for the finale.

Here he is, as seen from Celestia's viewpoint while I was busy with his face!

(sometimes this artist has good posture!)

Signs point to YES---it was a fantastic evening!

Next stop: Birdland

The next caricaturing locale for Celestia and I was Oriole Park at Camden Yards, 

where we met up with Toonboy to ply our trade at a couple of games. Several O's employees remarked to us that they'd NEVER seen two ladies drawing there before (I draw occasionally for Rick, but for the most part, it's a male-dominated caricature concession. Heck, it's a male-dominated industry!

I bet none of Rick's other artists ever had an Orioles' orange-and-black pedicure like Celestia did!

I'll share some of my output first.

 Above: These ladies wanted me to pose for their photograph, so I snagged one with them as well.

Above: Your basic O's-themed caricature.

Some more couples:

Below: Gary "Toonboy" Smith has such a deft touch with the chalk and glove method:

 I really admire his cartooning skills. No one does the Oriole Bird like him! And fitting in three well-executed bodies, all doing different baseball-y things, is a feat.

Celestia's feat was of a different sort: putting four rather-inebriated men on one paper, and doing an awesome job of it:

Bravo! In contrast, these ladies were just dolled up, not inebriated but still fun:

Here's another Vine I did of Celestia doing a BW couple:

We had time to check out the game for a little bit...that's the Yankees behind us!

Go O's!

Super-Hero birthday party!

Last week was a whirlwind of activity for me; my friend and colleague Celestia Ward was in town and we did some caricaturing together. One event was her small niece and nephew's super-hero-themed joint birthday party....which was also attended by Batman!

Her sister-in-law really  knows how to throw an awesome kids' party:

She created most of the decorations herself, right down to the H20 labels on the water bottles. And Batman did "Super-hero training" with the kids, i.e. exercise!!

The kids came in to find their "super-hero name" on a big poster which featured my handwriting...they peeled off their initial letter, and took it outside to a picnic table spread with foam shapes, which they then glued to a cape (fashioned out of a t-shirt)!

Celestia caricatured the kid guests, while Wonder Woman did face painting.

And I drew any adults who were game. :-)

It was fun drawing the bodies at this party! Below: kids by Celestia, Mom by me!

Thanks for having me, Sofia and Nico, and family and friends!!