Happy Father's Day!!

Here is a commission I did for someone very special: (my daughter)

Happy Father's Day, Ian!
And to dads everywhere, including mine, whom I miss very much.

1st birthday BBQ

Yesterday afternoon, I found myself drawing lots and lots of little kids outdoors, so I didn't get many photos. The birthday girl herself, being one year old, got hot and cranky as she sat for me, but luckily I saw a smile first!


As I drew, Peanut Butter Jelly Time played and it got stuck in my head for the rest of the day! :-D

Happy Hour at a senior living center!

I love drawing senior citizens!

They're so interested in what I do and how I do it; and they regale me with stories of caricatures or artist interactions of long ago...chatting with them is such a pleasure. And everyone was enjoying a glass of red or white wine, so it really WAS a Friday afternoon happy hour! ( I stuck to ginger ale when offered, saying, 'you want good drawings, right?')

It happened to be this young man's birthday. He said he was like Jack Benny--always turning 39!
They're having me return in August. :-) I'm looking forward to it already!

Roaring Twenties 8th grade grad party...

Last night's event was another Catholic-school 8th grade graduation. The kids arrived on a trolley:

The party was held in the church hall, and upon entrance, this dad was the designated Fog-guy:

Also making an appearance (above right) was the same sign that accompanied one of my recent post-prom gigs! (it's not my sign.)
Below: Two of the guys, and two of the gals:


The kids had a blast!

Boas everywhere:

And of course there were decorated bathrooms:

Congrats, Class of 2010!

Caricature gets a bad rap on the Huffington Post...

Two days ago, the Huffington Post blog posted a photo essay which reinforced common negative stereotypes about caricatures and caricature artists.
Here's a quote:
Check out the bizarre caricature drawings we found, ranging from the good, the bad, and the ugly (mostly ugly) and vote for the one with the most "WTF?!"


"Mostly ugly" ???????????

Some of the images used were without permission from the artists, two of whom, Joe Bluhm and Chris Rommel, are winners of the highest honor that the International Society of Caricature Artists can bestow--the Gold Nosey. Furthermore, the samples used are years old, in Chris's case, from 2003. Another artist I know, Chris Chua, does wonderful abstract-cubism-type caricature, and his drawing of a colleague is currently 'topping' their poll.

Now, I know all publicity is supposed to be good publicity, and I know it's someone's opinion. It's the comment section that shows both stupendous public ignorance of our craft as well as support ( in fact the reason I am posting a link to it on my blog is to enlighten my readers about that). In my opinion, I think that this article shows crass laziness on the part of the HP. If you're going to label high-caliber caricatures as "ugly", do some research-- don't just snipe on our livelihood. We caricature artists dish it out, we can take it too...if it's done intelligently.

Two grad parties in one night!

Last night, I drew an awful lot of eighth-graders celebrating the fact that they were no longer eighth-graders! My night was actually split for two different Catholic schools. One party was held at a beautiful country club, the other in the upstairs of a neighborhood restaurant. Luckily, they were in fairly close proximity to each other...
My evening started in a 1901 stone banquet hall situated on the golf course:

where I drew color-with-body caricatures since there were only nine students:

After I got my photo, the parents took theirs!

This young man told me his girlfriend attended the school whose party I'd be doing after his! He told me her name and said to look out for her, and tell her I'd just drawn HIM.

I drove a bit and ended up here:


Here's a few faces:



And here's the exuberant young lady whose boyfriend from the other school had already texted her about my caricatures!

This is the view from behind my easel:

and here are the remains, of the cake where (funnily enough) no one wanted to disturb the icing photo! (except for one missing face someone dabbed off)

Congrats on your graduation to all of you! :-)

Picasso for Caricaturama 3000

I entered a digital pen and ink of Picasso in this week's Caricaturama 3000 competition. There are some AMAZING entries on there by artists I truly admire!



Update: My friend Paul Moyse won!!! Congrats! Click on his name to see his intense entry.

I had a reject...

It happens to all caricature artists once in awhile, for a variety of reasons...

As I excitedly drew this little girl, (because of Mr. Met on her hat and her sparkly-eyed expression), I sensed some reluctance on her parents' parts. When the line drawing was complete, I overheard the mother mutter, "That doesn't look like her." (Bear in mind that one of my priorities IS likeness).
I continued for a moment, and the mom said it again, this time loudly. I turned to her and smiled, "If you don't like it, you are not obligated to buy--no problem." At that, the little girl (she was about eight years old) jumped up and ran to the front of my easel to see for herself. She exclaimed, "Mommy, I love it!! It looks just like me! I want it!!"
Mommy answered, "But, honey, she made you look like a witch!"
Daughter got overruled, and they decided to have my colleague Gary draw her instead. I told them I would still color my version so as to use for a sample....after a few minutes, the mom came back to me and put a few dollars in my easel drawer (which was very nice of her). She said it was because she felt bad that I had worked for nothing. The dad also came back and actually apologized for not liking it. "I can see that you're very talented, but..."
I told him it was simply a matter of different styles for different people and that I wasn't upset at all.
There was another customer, a lady, waiting to be drawn, anyway! And this one remarked to me that the little girl reminded her of pre-nose-job Jennifer Grey (of Dirty Dancing fame). I had to concur...
Poor Gary had the added pressure of knowing that he had to satisfy my unsatisfied clients. In the end, his version didn't differ hugely from mine, just sweetened a little!
Here are two kids drawn by me whose outcome was happier:

Besides placating victims of witchy-drawing caricaturists, Gary draws a mean Snoopy:

This is Gary next to a super-buttoned uber-Mets fan who was strolling the ballpark during this rare match-up of MLB inter-league play:

Another personage strolling the ballpark:

Everyone loves the Oriole Bird...although I'd rather draw the Phillie Phanatic or Mr Met!!!

Country club pool party

A tent was set up for me poolside...

where I drew kid after kid after kid! :-)





This last photo has quite the story to go with it. These two boys sat for one of the first caricatures, (note older brother's dry hair in the drawing) when I'd just arrived. I asked the mom if I could photograph them since younger brother had HUGE attitude and style (check out those glasses--I never DID see his eyes!). Anyway, Little BRO adamantly did NOT want his photo taken so I didn't force it. They left and I was a little bummed to have not gotten one, but quickly forgot as my line formed and fun was had by all...
Later, right when my allotted time was up, they came back. The mom conspiratorially sat him in the chair, with her body between me and them, saying, "we're just going to sit here in the shade for a minute, buddy." She then stepped away and I snapped away! But not fast enough for the little guy to react "NOOOOOOOOOOO!"

The customers wanted MY photo this time!

Usually, I'm the one taking photos of my work, along with its subject(s). Last night, these Yankee fans wanted to include me in a photo with them---one for their camera, and one for mine!