Misc stuff from the Texas State Fair...

State Fairs are an interesting mix of unexpected happenings and this year in Texas was no different.

It rained every weekend til the last, so then it was no-room-to-breathe crowded...

This was the best scooter design I've seen in forever!

I did some in-your-face marketing on my drawing board and gained some fans on my FB, Vine and Instagram. Sadly, most folks were unaware of just who was telling them to follow me! One mom said to her kid, "Look at the little man with funny teeth!!"!?!?!?!

A t-shirt that educated me! I thought they were all about football. ;-)

One night, a group of engineering students came and got caricatures...from all of us artists. Can you guess which one I did?

 Another night, early on, we found out that the band on the main stage was BLONDIE!!!! Paul and I hoofed it up there pronto, just in time to hear sixty-eight-year-old Debbie Harry belting out One Way or Another... ( I still have my 45 rpm single...)

After she sang it, she proclaimed, "THAT'S how it's done, ladies and gentlemen!!!" I guess she's heard some lame karaoke versions of herself. ;-)

On the way to the ladies room every day, I passed a glass case with the winners of the annual shoe contest. These were my favorites.

This is Celestia and I devouring practically the final Fletcher's Corny Dogs of the whole fair, right after closing on the last night. That's our friend, Michael the manager...who has a corny dog tattoo on his shin. 

On the way home I saw a sunset over the Chesapeake Bay. 

Not part of my art supplies, but...

...just as important!

 

I recently received this message via my LinkedIn page:
HI Emily, 
I looked at your blog and website, they are really wonderful. 
How do you get so many photos from events? Do you take someone with you to shoot pictures? I always wish I had copies of my work with the people I drew, but never have time to set them up for pictures. 
Marie
Thanks, Marie! The answer to your question is, I've always been a keen amateur photographer-- I take them all myself, unless I'm in it! Back when I was a kid with a dinky plastic camera, my parents would get exasperated that I'd go through film so quickly. (One of the reasons I like the Hipstamatic app on my IPhone is recreating the look of those old 12 and 24 exposure rolls of film! The photo above, of my trusty Sony Cybershot, was taken with Hipstamatic.)  So, photographing the highlights of a live gig is just an extension of  a lifelong pleasure.


Anyway, at gigs, I like to take some photos when I arrive, of decorations, cakes or anything noteworthy in the venue. And sometimes, there's time after drawing to get a photo...like I did when the guests were still dancing at the end of my most recent gig.   
For the in-the-chair shots of subjects with their caricatures, there are two ways to do it, and neither take much time at all---maybe fifteen or twenty seconds.
The first way is to take the photo while the drawing is still on the easel, before you show the subject. This way is very quick and you are in control.
The second way is to ask them once they have seen it, to pose with it. There's more room for error this way, as they may still be laughing and reacting to it, but the result is more spontaneous. 
Which way you go depends on the gig and how hectic it is. If it's extremely crazy. like too many children and not enough time, I may only get one or two photos, tops---and they are easel pics. If it's the kind of relaxed gig where your line consists of a few people at a time, and stays the same size, you have more leeway. Most people are happy to be asked, and I always tell them that it may end up on my website, or blog, or my digital frame of samples hanging above the drawing area on my easel.


I do love my Sony Cybershot--its only failing is that I can't zoom while taking a video. And videos are a whole other story...:-)


Thanks for your question!

Gig prep

In the morning before leaving for my two gigs yesterday, I pre-wrote the particulars on my gig paper as I always do. Since January is always such an "iffy" month for weather, what with postponements and possible cancellations due to snow, I left it til the last minute. The only issue yesterday was bone-chilling cold, which meant both my gigs were ON! :-)

The second one of my day was to be a 40th birthday party for triplets. The hostess kindly sent me an actual invitation so I could tailor my papers to the party theme/colors, and here are the results!

I don't use Sharpies for any other function in caricaturing, but they serve this purpose well!

Pleasant surprises on my website's guestbook

My Emilyarts.com website (done for me by the brilliantly talented Sam Gorrie) is due for some updating, so I was giving it the once-over yesterday. There is a guestbook on the "About Me" page that I've neglected for quite some time... What a surprise to see some nice feedback on some of the gigs I have done!

One particular post included a link to a blog. Back in April, I did a 1st birthday party at the Please Touch Museum for an adorable little girl. Her mom posted about the party on her blog, and included some photos of me and my work!
Here is one of my photos from that day:

Thanks to all who took the time to write something. One of the things about my occupation that really makes me happy is knowing that my art is treasured by those who own it, and that I have made them happy!. :-)

Pool Party!

On Saturday afternoon, my caricatures were just one of the attractions at a huge pool party for a lakeside community. I started off drawing faces with bodies while guests were sparse, once it got jammed I switched to just faces to accommodate the crowd...



Along with a great DJ (she played FOUR Patsy Cline songs), a balloon twister, and myself, this talented fellow entertained with various goings-on, including balancing a LADDER on his chin!!

This young man received the last drawing before I packed up and headed to my next drawing destination..

Fun at a campground!

Yesterday, I spent my afternoon drawing campers at a nice campground in rural Pennsylvania, alongside a talented face-painter and a moonbounce.

Many of the kids wanted to be drawn in full-face paint, so I obliged and was rather pleased with the results. It's a challenge to get a likeness when their features are obscured!



Not everybody was wearing face paint..here are a few more...

Last minute gig with more NURSES!

This morning, very very early, I drew as a replacement caricaturist for a colleague who could not make it to a breakfast gig celebrating Nurses' Week! It's funny, ever since drawing my own daughter as a newly-graduated nurse, I've drawn more nurses...:-)
So last night, I got the call asking if I could be at a hospital in Philadelphia by 5:45 am. I happened to be at my fiance's house, which is much closer to the city than my own...but I had no easel, paper, pens, or bags! With the cost of gas what it is these days, going home to get them would have been a drag, but luck was with me. It was a two-artist job; the other artist brought the supplies, and I just brought myself.
The gig gave me a challenge from my usual routine-- but it was kind of fun to see what I could do differently. I worked at a table on a clipboard, used a Markette marker (not my beloved Copic marker) and had to use my cell-phone camera since even my digital camera was forgotten at home.
Of course, none of this mattered to the caricaturees--they had a ball even at that time of the morning!
Moral of story: From now on,there will be an "emergency gig package" in my car.