8th birthday party!

Once again, the snow held off just enough to allow for another birthday party. This one was for a cute little eight-year-old and her family and friends..

The girls were Frozen fans and the one boy in attendance wanted to be Indiana Jones. :-)

After I'd drawn the kids, I did the all grown-up kids, too. That seems to happen a lot. ;-)

Thank you so much for having me! What a fun afternoon!

Surprise 70th birthday party for 'Gumps'!

On Saturday afternoon, after a not-too-crippling snowstorm, my easel and I were able to travel to a surprise 70th birthday party for a man affectionately known to his family and friends as "Gumps'. I gave myself extra time to get there, so was early enough to see the moment he walked in:

Gumps came in with a big grin, greeted his guests, and even had a hug for me! 

Here he is, as a (color, of course, he's the birthday guy) caricature, with his wife (who very much liked how it turned out :-)

Then I got busy with his friends and family, of all ages!

My client, Gumps' daughter, sent me home with a yummy plate of food...and we both were very happy that the snow hadn't postponed or cancelled the celebration. 

The next day I received an email with the recipe for her fantastic homemade potato salad, and some wonderful feedback she'd left for me on Gigmasters:

Absolutely amazing! I've met other caricature artists and Emily is by far the BEST. Not only did she nail personalities she had it together with little kids! She was able to get the personality and features of the little ones, remember it and let them run off if needed. EVERY guest was amazed by Emily and are just raving at her caricatures, as well as her as an artist. Emily is personable yet very professional and had everything in order from communication prior to the event all the way through to the end. If an opportunity arises, I will certainly use her again! If I could give her 10 stars I would!

 Thank you so much! I am so lucky to do what I love, and have such wonderful clients to do it for! 

January holiday party

Some companies like to wait until the holidays are over...to have their holiday party.

This group of speech pathologists (unlike caricature artists, speech pathology is a female-dominated industry) had a wonderful time in a nice restaurant. The party favors were my caricatures, and little boxes of Godiva chocolates...that's a pretty good haul, I think! ;-)

I drew all during cocktail hour and then as dinner progressed, each lady came and sat for me until I had drawn all of them. My client found me on Thumbtack.com and had this much-appreciated feedback for me:

What a terrific experience. Unique activity was enjoyed by entire team of 20+ people. Emily is warm, engaging, quick and produces amazing caricatures. Highly recommend.

Thank YOU for having me! 

Caricaturist meet-up

The doldrums of January are a good time to enjoy downtime from gigs...so last night the Other Half and I went to a caricaturist meet-up at Dave and Buster's in Philly, organized by colleague John Sprague. 

First we eat (and drink), see familiar faces and meet new ones, and then we DRAW.

Here's my output for the evening. :-)

And these are of me...by old and new friends: 

L-R Cartoony me by Terry Laban, NASTY me who draws NICE by Patrick Harrington (I hate you, PAT ;-) ( just kidding, I LOVE it) and cuuuuute me by Mike "Shorty" Robinson.

I'm glad I wore my favorite-est hat.  

Here's some pics of the action:

Shorty and Pat dood-oodling away. Pat is wearing his characteristic smirk. 

Chris Chua, Terry, Debbie Schafer and Shorty.

Sean listening intently. 

Below: Ali Thome, she of the sultry voice in the new caricature podcast "It's Supposed to be Funny" 

and Julie Borysowski, whom I used to work alongside at Phillies games way back in the day...

John and Pat,  two of my oldest friends in the caricature biz: 

 Thanks for pulling this together, John!

First gig of 2015---Happy New Year!

On New Year's Day, my caricaturing skills were put to use at a fabulous Open House, about as close as one could get to the sequined, spangled, famous Mummers parade...

 I arrived eaaaaaarlllllllly to set up (and avoid the already-inebriated logjam that was Center City)and thus was able to enjoy the opening scenes of the parade, right from the steps of the Union League.

My easel was in a beautifully decorated ballroom with a fireplace, where guests congregated to enjoy little glasses of "Fish House Punch."

The Union League was definitely impressive.

Here's a bad selfie...I was trying to get a photo of my New Year paper tiara. ;-)

Now for the caricatures! 

Did quite a few father-son caricatures at this event:

And quite a few bow-ties too!

 I wish I could keep from blurring my reaction photos! Grrrrr!

One of my final drawings was for a couple who sat down and told me they'd just gotten engaged that morning and could I make sure to show her new ring in the drawing. I said, ABSOLUTELY!!!!

I was very proud of the fact that it was rather easy to remember to write '2015' on each drawing! 

Happy New Year, everyone!