Backyard 11th birthday party!

After leaving an early afternoon gig, I hightailed it down the turnpike to a backyard birthday party that was more in my neck of the woods. It rained on the commute, but by the time I arrived, it was dry again---which meant I could draw the birthday girl and all her friends on the back patio:

The number of guests here allowed time for face-body-and-hobby caricatures. 

The young lady (below) asked for one I'd never drawn before: "Could I have a panda hugging me?"

Of course!!!

I happened to buy this polka-dotted shirt at Target recently, NOT realizing until someone asked if it was intentional, that it matches my gig bag!!! My client shared this great photo with me! Haha!

My spot was a good vantage point for the blowing-out-of-the-candles on the birthday cookie:

The birthday girl is a caricature fan----she showed me this one from Legoland, California that she had from last year:

After drawing everyone, it started to rain, so the family took me inside and fed me. I have the best clients! :-)

Happy birthday Bella! And thanks for having me (and for the photos!!)

Surprise college grad party

My easel and I were set up and cranking out caricatures, before the new grad arrived for her surprise party. Here are a few of her friends and relatives:

and here's the girl of the moment herself! Congratulations, Janelle!

Thanks for having me through Gigmasters!

15th birthday caricature…and I can still draw Pikachu!

What do you give an artsy teenage girl for her birthday? 

A caricature, of course.

With Pikachu.

Before I was a caricaturist, I dabbled in face-painting at my children's elementary school events. The most requested thing to paint on little cheeks and hands was this famous Pokemon character. 

Haven't had occasion to draw him much lately, but my niece loves him, so including him here was a no-brainer. Happy Birthday Jacky!

Doggie Caricatures!!

On a dreary, chilly, rainy day, the smell of wet dog fur was in the air… at a community event for dog lovers! Caricaturist John Sprague and I drew nothing but canines of every imaginable type.

Below are a couple of mine. Didn't get a lot of photos, because my fingers were freezing! I wasn't prepared with gloves or warmer clothing, because the day was supposed to be partly sunny and 65 degrees. The weatherman was wroooooong.

Dogs are amazing creatures. They're always so HAPPY!!

My Other Half was along for this gig; he shot some video of our line AND got us hot tea and coffee (for which he had to go drive somewhere to get, the event was selling only cold drinks!) 

 I think I'll keep him. :-)

Caricatures at a lakeside wedding

Saturday's evening's event was a lovely wedding on a lake, which featured a sudden downpour right after the ceremony (that luckily didn't dampen anyone's spirits or outfits)!

The bride and groom entered their reception from near where I was set up for the cocktail hour…

…which was also where guests could put their best wishes on the sign-in caricature.

I had a steady stream of happy faces for the whole reception, which the bride asked me to stay on for (she'd originally booked me for just the cocktail and dinner hour :-)

My absolute favorite caricature of the night, though, was this bride-with-her-bridesmaids drawing! You rock, ladies!

The bride had this to say about my services:

 I cannot thank you enough. Your drawings were a HUGE hit.

Thank you so much for having me, Evette and Brian!!

It's always fun to hear live music and the band at this wedding was pretty great---I had to stop drawing for a few seconds just to get this video:

Another Communion Party on a gorgeous day!

On Saturday afternoon, my easel and I were situated in a most picturesque spot: a patio in a renovated historic barn, under the wisteria arbor!

The occasion was this little angel's Communion party.

I'd drawn at her older brother's Communion party, too (back in my pre-blogging days!)

The party followed my usual custom of drawing all the kids first, then the grown ups. 

All the while that I was drawing, I kept getting whiffs of heavenly wisteria scent, but hadn't noticed any obvious blooms overhead. After finishing everyone, I stood up on my chair and found the culprit :)

Thanks again for having me! I wish I had gotten a photo of the color caricature I did of the Communion girl and her family. 

Post Prom in Wonkaland

As the clock struck midnight, my drawing hand was ready to caricature----at a post prom, whose theme was "Keeping it Reel"

The designated spot for the caricaturists was the cafeteria, 

which had been turned into Willie Wonka's chocolate factory (one of my favorite movies!)

Augustus Gloop and Violet Beauregard were there too!

Of course, the Oompa Loompas were represented:

Here's my caricature colleague Colin Harris and I, photobombing an Oompa Loompa.

Oh yeah, we drew caricatures!

This is Colin doing his thing:

and a reaction from two of my subjects!

Despite the crazy hours. I really love doing post-proms. :-)

College campus caricatures!

On Friday evening, the polka-dotted gig suitcase and I found ourselves on a campus green, helping to kick off "Haverfest" at Haverford College….

There were guys playing cricket nearby! I don't think I have ever seen that sport played before.

It started out sunny, but then turned grey and breezy, by the time I got set up… 

There was a line of eager students waiting for me fifteen minutes before start time, so I didn't get many photos….

Their mascot is a black squirrel! I had fun adding that to each drawing. 

University luncheon for international students

People come from all over the globe to attend our local university. I was tickled to be able to meet and draw quite a few of them at WCU's International Students luncheon on Friday afternoon. They were from places like Uganda, the Bahamas, Jamaica, Vietnam, Kenya, China, India, and right next door to us---Canada. :-)

This was the first event of a jam-packed weekend. 

My polka-dotted gig bag saw a lot of unpacking and packing. 

Thank you for finding me on Gigsalad, and for the great review!! 

Emily was the star of the party! Special "thank you" to Caricatures by Emily. The students enjoyed the caricatures and we can't wait to invite you back for our next event.