Gaddafi ain't what he used to be

The ISCA forum's April competition subject is Libya's Col. Moammar Gaddafi.

I don't know if it is because his features are already a plastic-surgeried caricature, but creating this pen-and-ink (Microns and Copics--not digital!) piece didn't involve any struggle on my part; which is not necessarily a good thing. Creating art should be as much if not more of a mental process than a physical one, in my opinion, and I just kind of did this without thinking.  The most interesting part for me was doing the wispy, Larry Fine hair.
As political caricature, it isn't saying much except that he has aged badly..

...but as an American, I have the freedom to say that, in my preferred visual format of caricature, about anyone. Others are not so lucky: Libyan Cartoonist Shot While Drawing Caricature of Gaddafi
That is very sobering, but not sadly, not shocking...
When the controversy about depicting Mohammed in political cartoons raged, it was more about aniconism; the difference here is that the subject is a living person, still (tenuously) in power.

Caricaturama SD3000-Lou Ferrigno

NOT someone I would have ever drawn on my own...bodybuilders and bodybuilding are not my taste!
And after a busy week, I really didn't have time to do anything substantial. This digital quickie took me about half an hour, tops.

Click here to see my and other entries.

The West Chester Spring Bridal Show...included Caricatures by Emily

On Sunday afternoon, I decided to try a new avenue to market my wedding caricatures: a bridal show (held in an impressive banquet facility, Milestone Events) that featured seven caterers, a DJ, vendors for invitations, flowers, ice sculptures, and bridal party gifts, even a horse and carriage service...and my caricatures!

I had two laptops and my digital frame going full blast to show people the myriad things you can do with a caricature:

My Mac+ Intuos demonstrated how I create digital caricatures, and the Dell had a ten-minute Powerpoint presentation playing with wedding samples only. I also had two actual-size wedding sign-ins on display: one with a signature mat, and one printed on foam core board, which attracted some attention. The 

digi-frame on my easel showed my other repertoire, from live stuff to celebrity stuff to editorial caricature...

I also brought along my favorite photographer/salesman so he could chat to more people about my work, while I drew brides. :-) He was also good for bringing me tasty tidbits, including a fantastic fresh ginger mojito!

Uh oh! Usually I don't drink and draw!

Raffles were held for various prizes; someone won a free digital caricature from me. And John was able to get pictures from vantage points I usually can't:

Below are some sequence shots: 1. In progress, 2. Reaction! 3. With completed caricature. :-)

I did draw one bride who brought her fiance along:

Yes, he gets "Joaquin Phoenix" alot.

So, we'll see what happens. Some of the other vendors told me that work from wedding shows tends to come in time, depending on when the weddings actually are. Many of the brides I spoke to are getting married in 2012, but there was one optimist who hopes to pull one together for this June! It was fun meeting so many people all in the same industry.

A TRIPLE birthday party

My second event on Saturday was another triple birthday celebration. No, this time wasn't for triplets again, it was for the boyfriend (and his parents) of a lovely lady who found me through my Gigmasters page.
I won't reveal the ages of the matriarch and patriarch, but the BF was celebrating the
Big Five-Oh...
Here are the Elvis-loving mom and dad:

And here is the birthday boy:

And an assortment of guests:

 Above: She is very fond of her Blackberry, and was so intently using it while I was drawing them that her partner told me (right in front of her) to make sure to include the phone! And she didn't hear and got a surprise when I showed them! :-)

I had an absolute wonderful time chatting to everyone at this party. Some of the drawings ended up on the piano:

After I finished drawing, I was happy to see Elvis wasn't the only revered musician for this family:
(and yes, I know I usually only photograph decorated rest rooms at post-proms, but I couldn't help myself here!)

MY favorite band!

And I am on cake-pic kick now, too:

Thank you so much for having me. I love my job!

A First Communion party

My first event this past Saturday was a little girl's first Communion party. I drew her, her American Girl doll and all the kids...who sadly did not get to enjoy the bounce house that was there due to the torrential downpours. They still managed to have fun..it happens when you put twenty-three kids together!

                     At the very end, I managed to fit in the parents!  Thanks for having me! :-)

Happy FOURTH birthday to my blog--and first post of 'From Emily's Archives'

I've been blogging about 'my caricaturist life' now for four years---since April 16, 2007!

Of course, I was caricaturing before the blog.

Because of my recent major clean-out-throw-away binge, many drawings and old, old things that were hidden in the black hole of one of my sheds (Yes, I was Mrs. Arthur Two-Sheds Jackson in a past life) have been found. So every now and then, my blog will feature a "From Emily's Archives" post---to illustrate (ha) the erratic path of this particular crayola-wielding, wall-scribbling toddler to a grown-up professional caricature artist. And not necessarily in chronological order. Right-brained people don't work that way...

I'll start with some of my very first celebrity samples from 1996-7, when I did freebies at my kids' school  events:

Instead of Copics and Artstx, back then I used (horrors!) Sharpies and Rembrandt pastels. And my stuff was so stiff! I wasn't fast then, either. There's alot to be said for perseverance...

Updated caricature on '15 Minutes Gosselin Style' blog

This reality "star" keeps extending her fifteen minutes of infamy. Her ratings are diminishing, but she has started Twittering at a rapid-fire pace...

...so I updated her caricature (added hands, phone and crazed eyes)  on 15MGS. For the past week, she's averaged a tweet every ten minutes or so spread over a 16-hour day. Wonder how she does that with eight kids to take care of?

25th wedding anniversary caricature

This couple are celebrating twenty-five years of wedded bliss today. Happy anniversary!

This is an example of my cartoon-style digital caricature, meaning it's a black-outline drawing filled in with mostly flat colors. I just have to render the face dimensionally a little!

Caricaturama SD3000-Norman Rockwell

Finished my digital painting of the illustrious illustrator for Caricaturama. I gave him a tool of the trade that he could never have availed himself of...an Iwata Eclipse. As always, there are dozens of entries and some really superb work-- check out this link and flip through them.

First post-prom gig of 2011

My third and final destination last night was a high-school post-prom party where I have been the resident caricaturist for quite a few years....the theme was Movie Mania:

Can you believe this is a school lobby?

Here is where I set up--they had my name overhanging my spot!( Maybe they didn't feel like writing

 out---or spelling "caricaturist"!)

They had a room set up for photo ops since everyone has camera phones now:

And now for some caricatures!

 Yes, boys are still emulating Justin Bieber...

Click to see a couple of caricature reactions on my Youtube channel!

Finally, the ladies' room was another fine feat of decorating:

The sign on the door said "127 Dresses," har har!