Texan Singles...

No, not that kind of single! Single-person caricatures!  These are drawings where each person got the whole sheet of paper all to themselves...

Her lip gloss was very important...

Cute kid with cute hat and cute teeth...

This guy laughed uproariously when he saw it, I wish I'd videoed him...

"I'd like a pretty one to hang in my salon, and my favorite color is PURPLE"

 I really made an effort to get this kid's glossy, semi-Bieber hair just right. Paul is our Hairmaster artist at the booth, and I think he'd be proud. ( My title is Fontmaster.)

She said, "Draw me like PSY!!" (Celestia did a sample of him; his head is in the photo below, and I shamelessly copied the body from it, as I hadn't seen the video yet. I have now!!)

Her jacket really was hanging off her like this. Had to laugh when her mom said, "Oh look! She even drew your jacket hanging off"

 This guy had awesome hair!

This kid wanted me to draw him in his baseball jersey, which he said was orange. For his team name,  I THOUGHT I heard "Kings" but I heard wrong....a few days later his mom came back and said, it was really "Canes".  It had been so loud at the fair (we drew practically next to a live band that played five times a day) that he didn't even realize I wrote the wrong thing until later. Luckily, I was able to fix it with a little ingenuity. :-)

 Two kids that were particularly fun for me to draw...because of their nifty glasses.

This gentleman was ninety-one years old and a quail hunter, so I drew one spewing a trail of blood across the sky. Not PC, but he loved it.

This lady has been my subject a few times over the years and she is a fashion plate! Love that lipstick!

As I am blogging this from my studio, I am listening to Tropical Storm Sandy's winds howling and just heard the first cracking of limbs outside. :-(  Probably won't have electricity for much longer, but I have plenty of flashlights, water, bread and tuna!

I hope the whole East coast of the US pulls through this without too much woe.  

Halloween gigs 2012

This past weekend I did two parties...one was for kids, and one was for teens. The teenage one was held in a strobe-lit tent on the lawn; they situated me and my easel right next to the food, including a big bowl of...cheese doodles. Well, the nasty things are the right orangey color for the season, but anyone who knows me will tell you: I HATE THEM. The smell alone, let alone the taste and texture, make me nauseous. But for the love of caricaturing, I soon forgot about them and delved into drawing faces and costumes. :-)

 Devil girl!

 Sumo wrestler!

 Nerd! I told him the pocket label was great--it said "My mom loves me"

 Cop and kimono-clad Asian dude!

Pirate couple!

At this party, I drew full-body BW-with-orange-background caricatures. There was a bunch of teens in and out all night so I don't know how many I drew.

The photo machine next to me even provided some swag:

Yeah, I dressed up. My much-loved long black witchy dress is soooo versatile.

Here's a little video vibe from the party, to a song that makes me draw even faster!

Bye, tent!

The other party was for eleven-year-old girls. I do know my number of drawings because I took this group photo,

plus this one of two late-comers who were drawn after the group photo was taken:

Total: Nineteen, in a tad over two hours, and these were full body with some color. I told the girls they could have a full-color face or a BW face with some color for their costumes, and that's what all but two opted for. 

Below: a closer-up view in progress.

This young lady hired me for her upcoming bat mitzvah---two+ years away!! :-)

2012 Texan Couples #2

More airbushed couples of every shape, size, color, and orientation. :-) Anecdotes, too!

Two of my fave return-ees from last year. And I got to draw pink hair, tats and Johnny Cash too!

Loved getting these contrasting expressions!

This one above requires a little explanation, and alot of "what are the chances??" The day of my arrival in Texas, before the Fair, I had some banking to do. So I went in a branch of my bank and the teller asked how my day was going. I said it was warmer than at home, she asked where home was, and I told her, Pennsylvania. So she asked what I was doing in Dallas, and I replied that I was there to draw caricatures at the Fair. End of story, right? On my way out, a nice young gentleman opened the door for me and said, "You drew me and my girlfriend for the last three years at the Fair..."

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It turned out he was a customer service guy at the bank, had overheard my conversation with the teller and recognized me. WHAT ARE THE CHANCES??!! Of course, I got a photo of us, and then later, of this year's drawing of them! Complete with her new engagement ring. :-) 

More contrasting expressions! I so enjoy the bit of psychology involved in analyzing people's faces. 

These two were on their honeymoon...awwwwwww!

These two absolutely had the same happy expression!

And these ladies had similar assets, and also similarly happy guys! ;-)

This young man had some of the most interesting tattoos I've seen. His arm was a sleeveful of Tim Burton stuff, with a large Edward Scissorhands on the shoulder. His chest (which unfortunately was hidden by his hand in the photo) was all Maurice Sendak. They were done with a sensitive, deft touch, something that all tattoo artists definitely do not possess (which is the same for caricaturists, of course, but the results aren't so, well, permanently displayed ;-) The lady wasn't slouching either in the interesting-to-look-at department. This was fun to do, so much so that the extra time involved for that many details doesn't bother me. I use Prismacolor artstix for very small stuff like detailed tattoos and jewelry. 

A couple of Fair workers that are... a couple!

LOL-- just had to draw his whole shirt.

Two more of my fave returnees. I've done theirs for all five years that I've been at the fair and look forward to seeing them every year. :-)

This couple came to the fair on Texas-OU, unaware that 90,000 other people would have the same idea...

I told her she was one of the palest people I ever drew!

Newlyweds!

These ladies were so sweet. And the one on the left had such a cool nose!

 Two couples photographed at two different times of day. Makes a difference in the lighting, huh?

This Korean couple really liked Celestia's sample of Psy, Gangnam Style rapper.... 

More Ranger fans...

Another fun one with Big Tex as Burning Man.;-)

2012 Texan Couples #1

By far, couples accounted for the majority of my subjects this year at the Fair. And pretty much all of them had some memorable aspect, at least to me. Without further ado:

We'll start with the silly squid-hat-guy with the patient, doting girlfriend ;-) and move on to the big mustached, big cowboy-hatted gentleman and his lady...

Then there's backward-hat Texas Ranger fans:

Unfortunately, amid all the piercings, make-up, and pink hair on her, I missed his knuckle tattoos. :-)

Below: what an electric smile! High voltage!

Above: I couldn't take my eyes off her eyelashes!!

These two girls asked to have 'twins' written on it, but I don't think they were. Loved their expressions. The couple on the right has another electrified smiler. :-)

More tattoos!

Cuuuuuuuuuute!

Another one with awesome expressions. :-)

This one, of a mom and her son, was special because he's a budding artist; the next day she came back and brought me a drawing he'd done--- it was good! I enjoyed airbrushing the airbrushing in this one. 

These seem to be the only two couple photos I took that are oriented this way. On the left, you can see the cloud stencil I was using, influenced by Doug. 

She really WAS eating a corny dog while I drew them! 

They asked to have some Fair stuff included. This was before Big Tex got fried...

"Could you include our stuffed husky that he just won?"

These two had never been caricatured before--- I am so glad they sat down for me!

Another dose of cuuuuuuuuute!

 Lotsa hair!!!

 Lotsa fashion!

 Lotsa personality and another patient, doting girlfriend. :-)

Adorable!

Next post: more couples. :-)