Quinceanera Caricatures!

After finishing at my morning gig, next up was a Quinceanera in this festively decorated hall, for a young lady I'd previously caricatured five years ago at a school event. (See why my website address is on every live caricature that leaves my hard-working hands? ;-)

Of course, the girl of the hour was wearing a lovely, princessy dress and a tiara:

Her friends and family enjoyed sitting for me:

The other entertainment was the birthday girl herself. She played guitar and sang confidently and beautifully!

Thank you so much for having me, Katelyn and family! You've grown up into a lovely lady since I last drew you. ;-)

Families at Lucy's Run 2015

After a year's hiatus, I once again drew in Everhart Park, for the main fundraiser of a very worthy cause. The LegUP Foundation's Lucy's Run 2015 saw some very nice weather and lots of smiling runners. After the race, I did family caricatures:

The little guy requested I draw a horn. First time for that!

Twosome caricatures:

Baby caricature:

Caricature reaction!!!

Thanks for having me! I packed up and headed off to another gig after this one. June was busy!

An evening in Baltimore with a bunch of like-minded artists

There was a mini-mini-ISCA convention at an Orioles game in Baltimore one night last month...we had some illustrious visitors...

From left to right: Caricaturists Celestia Ward (Las Vegas), Dave Thompson (Baltimore), myself (Philly), Toonboy Smith (Baltimore), Jeff Mandell (Orlando, FL but originally Baltimore), Rick Wright and Mike Hasson (Baltimore). 

Yes, I am standing on a chair and Jeff is not. ;-)

Celestia enjoyed both drawing some fans (she is a consummate pro and I always enjoy working next to her) and taking in a few innings of the game. 

I drew a few too!

I generally don't listen when women say "don't draw my double chin"

because I like my caricatures to look like their subjects. ;-)

Below: Toonboy being Toonboy. 

The Bromo-Seltzer clock tower is pretty, but it is only right twice a day. 

Baltimore was coming off a horrific week, so the balm this game provided was much-needed for its citizens. 

A backyard grad party...that DIDN'T get rained on :-)

This young lady graduate figured out that I'd drawn her at a junior prom a couple of years ago!

It was a lovely afternoon for a party:

Oh hell yeah, did I enjoy THIS reaction!!!

I enjoyed doing some human + dog caricatures too!

Thank you for having me!

Sixth-grade graduation antics!

On another night in early June, my caricatures were part of an elementary school graduation. One of the parent organizers has a collection of caricatures I did of her kids (at an annual Christmas party I do) and thought it would be a nice addition to her son's class celebration. This party was held in a fun zone/trampoline/arcade kind of place, and they sat me in the cafe (where I could breathe in the sugary cupcake air, and be just as hopped-up as the kids :-)

The aforementioned parent took this photo of one of the teachers being drawn:

Here's a few of the kids:

And my client's son (below) added to his caricature collection!

 She and the other parents seemed very happy with how cost-effective my services were, since I draw fast. We figured out that each kid's caricature cost the school about $9. 

Thanks for having me! :-)

Eighth-grade graduation fiesta!

One weekday evening in early June. this beautifully-decorated gym was the site for an 8th grade graduation celebration...my easel felt honored to be in such a festive spot!

That's a "hamster ball" in the back area. I'd never seen one of those before! It's exactly what it sounds like, except instead of a hamster inside it, it's a young teen!!

My caricature area is on the right..with one of the cushiest chairs I've ever sat on at a gig!

And, surprisingly: using a sign-up sheet actually worked! This was one of the very few times I can ever say that. This topic actually needs its own blog post...suffice to say, the parent volunteer in charge did a great job having the next few kids on hand, so there was always a very short line and other kids could have fun with various activities going on.  

Here are a few of the dozens of faces I did that night:

What a fun night! Thank you for having me!

Happy 4th of July from George and Barack!

I decided to have some fun drawing the Father of our Country along with our current President....

Both of whom have presided over great changes for the American people. :-)

This little sketch took about a half hour, and is 2.5 x 4 inches. I am liking drawing in miniature lately.

The first in a month of rainy graduation parties....

Little did I know, as I arrived to caricature at this festive graduation party, that a wild thunderstorm was approaching...and that rain-rain-rain would be the theme of almost the entire month of June!

Thank goodness for park pavillions, large tents and oversized garages. 

This graduate was a very nice young man who was looking forward to going to Temple University in the fall. His mom had lots of owl decor going everywhere!

The clouds took on an ominous look as I began drawing....but these two took my mind off that!

When hordes of guests started arriving, the skies really opened... so I drew that too!

Yes, there really WAS lightning behind them! It made us JUMP!

My easel and I kept moving inward as it continued to rain and drops blew in on us...but it didn't stop the fun vibe for everyone.

My scheduled drawing time from 5-7 ended up being the entire party, for which I thank my aweseome clients (and Gigmasters. :-) They sent me home with an entire pizza! I did get to draw them with their son (below left)

On the right is a group caricature of the grad with all his lady pals! So glad I was able to fit them all!

I drove home in more torrential downpours, but was very happy that it went so well in spite of the rain. 

Afterwards, my client left me with some very-appreciated feedback---thank you!!! :-)

Emily was AWESOME!! She was professional, polite and engaging with the guests and her talent speaks for itself. After the first few portraits were completed and the guests saw Emily's artwork, she had a line the entire event!!