Recent digital commission….of a group of beach-lovin' ladies

This is a recent digital cartoon-style caricature I did, of a group of friends, two of whom are sisters. (Can you tell which two?) My client sent me a photo of it on the wall, underneath what looks like another caricature!

Here's what she had to say:

 "It looks awesome! I can't believe how you've captured our likenesses. Thank you"

It's the most wonderful time…of the year

And this is the most wonderful party! This company outdoes themselves every year!

 The festivities extended from their showroom, to their warehouse, 

which is where we three caricaturists were situated:

Myself, along with Julie Borysowski and Colin Harris. It's always fun working alongside them!

Here's a few of mine, some are of faces whom I've drawn every year now for the last five Christmas seasons!

This was taken BEFORE everyone arrived:

 And this is AFTER! Can you feel that holiday spirit? (especially as Thanksgiving was only three days previous to this!)

Santa has alot to do in a short amount of time this year. ;-) He looks tired already!

And now for a little Xmas ambiance:

A look at my competition wall at the 2013 ISCA convention

For the third year in a row, I decided to do a theme wall at the #ISCA convention, held two weeks ago in St. Pete's Beach, Florida:

The convention itself is a crazy week-long, 24/7 extravaganza of caricature art and caricature artists. During the day, we participate in educational seminars and timed contests. In the evening, we all settle into one big ballroom (in this case, a huge tent) and draw each other, with the goal of creating a gallery of work created onsite, which we'll then vote on in various categories.
So, unless you're a caricature artist, you won't know any of the people depicted here in my STAR TREK parody…but believe me when I say, these things practically cast themselves. Who but Lar De Souza could be a Klingon? Or who but Lorin Bernsen as Spock? Actually, Lorin was my inspiration for the whole thing. As a friend, fellow TOS Trekkie and especially since he was our hard-working, outgoing President of ISCA, I wanted to do something close to his heart….thank you Lorin!!

Here are some of my subjects whom I managed to snag for a photo after the awards dinner. 

Captain Kirk is Chris Galvin, our new ISCA President. 

Beam me up, Scotty, for another year of anticipating our NEXT convention!

I'm at the 2013 ISCA convention!

It's being held in beautiful St. Pete's Beach, Florida, at the Tradewinds (where it was held two years ago as well.) My colleagues and I are enjoying a week of education, competitions and networking right next to the tranquil Gulf of Mexico…

We've already had ArtFights:

the Likeness competition:

(that's one of my efforts upper right)

and the Party Artist competition:

I'll post plenty more when I get home. 

A wee bit more from the Irish Festival...

Two of my airbrush caricatures got a little video attention from me…

On the left are three board members who are good friends. This was done from separate photos, as they were far to busy to sit, and was used as my sample. Lots of folks passing by knew just who they were and took photos of it! The couple on the right had neat headwear and were just a joy to draw. 

Check them out in my video:

Whisky in the ....caricatures.

It's Irish Festival time!
These are all airbrush caricatures. I didn't feel like using artstix for some reason. Using a handcut stencil for shamrocks is quicker than drawing them. 

Shared booth space with Ireland: The Old Country---Patrick Harnett's calendars and tin signs.  A native Irishman, he took amazing photos of castles and landmarks and transformed them by adding surreal sunsets.

We got our photo taken with Commodore John Barry! Here's why he was at an Irish Festival.

I don't really drink (the Guinness and Jameson were flowing freely here) but I did have potatoes, cabbage, ham, Irish beef stew and champ!

In addition to traditional Irish songs, like this one...

I also heard THIS:

College event + caffeinated bonus

Yesterday featured a rare weekday afternoon gig for me...at a college morale-boosting event:

The locale was the lobby of the student center....which housed a STARBUCKS! I don't drink coffee, but I LOVE their iced tea!

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. 

Caricatures on Instagram

Instagram, the photo-sharing app, isn't one I have used as frequently as Facebook, but that's changing for me. Many young people who've gotten caricatures have told me FB isn't cool anymore but Instagram  and Twitter are. My presence on Twitter is actually linked to my Caricatures by Emily FB page, but I plan on posting more on Instagram. Last night, I decided to hashtag #caricature on Instagram  to see what's out there, and found several of mine! 

Apparently blogs 'aren't cool' anymore either, but I am not giving up blogging! ;-)

Texan Twosomes 2013

Couples are always fun to do...contrasts in appearance and personality make the caricaturist use both visual AND psychological magnifying glasses:

I think she was the palest person I drew this year at the Fair. He asked for the caption...

These two had a nice vibe between them. This is the only "on the drawing board, before I show them" type of photo I took. In addition to the camera angle distorting it a little, I accidentally cropped the bottom. Boo, me!

 Tatted to the left/pale and gauged to the right!

If their cleavage is on display, I draw it... ;-)

 SHE was taller...

 Guess which one was the extrovert?

 HE did all the talking. 

Just two generally 'thrilled-to-be-there-getting-a-caricature' couples. :-)

 Both these couples were drawn by me in past years. Thanks!!

It's the sixth year I've drawn these two!

All three of these drawings had very interesting hair to render.

 Above: Father/son caricatures. It was really fun drawing Deadpool on his shirt, I had to Google him to know who he is!) Below: Mother/daughter caricatures. The redhead mom told me to make her a blonde as she didn't like how her current haircolor had turned out!

Another mom/daugher one (loved her t-shirt ;-)

 Awwwww....young love!

Above: two engaged couples about to start their lives together in distant lands! ( Left, Germany, and right, Australia...accents were giveaways. )

Drew several Minions this year. I reiterate (I know it's been said on this blog somewhere once or twice) I love my job!!