Graphite sketch

This is a sketchbook page with two of my favorite funnymen from Monty Python...Terry Gilliam, (whose cartoons amazed and sickened me when I first saw them as a young teenager on late-night tv) amd Michael Palin, he of "The Lumberjack Song" fame. I have been accused of drawing obscure celebrities too often, but that's what attracts me about them. I guess should attempt Paris Hilton and her cohorts eventually...

Three ladies-gift caricature commission...

Here are three lovely ladies who are celebrating the wedding of the one in the middle (in the drawing). I drew them all on paper separately, then scanned them together and did a few touches in Photoshop ( which I am still learning how to use). I am emailing the finished piece to the client, who lives in Oklahoma, this morning; isn't the internet just grand??

Back to the ballpark...

The moisture in the air let loose during Sunday's pregame with a vicious thunderstorm right over the stadium. Startled people were actually screaming at some of the thunderclaps! By game time, it was hot and sunny once again. Here are two young men about to go watch baseball after getting a caricature...

Last Day at the Fair...

Here are some faces from a steamy, soupy Saturday...





So that's it til next year for my little 10' by 10' patch of caricature real estate...

Before the deluge...

...I was able to get a few caricatures done, before giving up and clearing out!
It seems to be a tradition that ONE night at this fair gets rained out. I don't recall it happening on a Friday before, but that's the evening Mother Nature picked this year.
Here's a little sweetheart I drew just as the winds were picking up; her dad was nice enough to hold onto my tent AND shoot a few photos. Thanks to Alison's parents for braving the storm and sending me these pictures!


You can see Sam and her lone customer of the night in this one:

This father and daughter must have REALLY wanted a caricature, they sat while buckets of rain were coming down. He even left his umbrella for me since it was blocking water from my easel. ( Don't worry, he'll be back for it on Saturday, last day of Kimberton Fair 2007...)

A crazy caricature Thursday...

My day was spent (along with Sam) at TWO locations teeming with thousands of people...an afternoon Phillies game and then my fair in the evening.
Here's one photo I took at the game--a lanky young Yankee fan dragged to see the Phillies play the Nationals...

Much later, this carnival-going couple came and sat for me...

Here is a view of Sam and my son hanging out during a lull...

And finally, here's a view up the midway a bit. I have been situated next to a family-run cheeesteak/sausage sandwich place for the better part of the last ten years. They're one of the reasons why I enjoy doing this fair-- plus I've gotten to see their kids grow up-- one week out of every year (and vice-versa...)

To see Sam's work so far, go to her blog ( it's in my list of links--Sam Gorrie's Blog)

Another summer evening gone by, at a fair

My camera's memory card didn't make it back inside my camera from the previous night, but luckily my son had his camera with him....so here are two of his small shots.


Sam and I got lots of drawing in and even stole a few minutes to go on a ride (the Spin-Out!) which was a first for me in 10 years of doing this fair. When we returned to the booth, a couple who'd been waiting asked if I could still draw after being tossed around in the air upside down-- I said we'd find out!!

A gift for a caricaturist...

Sometimes a customer comes along that is so beyond ordinary for the caricaturist to draw that it's like getting a unexpected gift. Tonight at my fair, I had several of these:


The man turned out to be a tattoo artist.(Duh!) He totally understood my glee in drawing him, and it turns out that there are run-of-the-mill designs in the tattoo industry also. After he was drawn, his wife and her pierced-and-tatooed friend sat for me. I chided his wife for being boring, since she wasn't covered in either piercings or tattoos! They were still laughing when I took the photo, while I was praying my camera battery would hold out just a few more seconds...

Sam drew alongside of me again; it was a surprisingly busy night for so early in the week, so I only got this from-the-interior photo of the booth. You can see my daughter Madeline ( tie-dyed shirt) watching Sam and eavesdropping on the crowd's comments for us!

A fun-filled week at the local Fair!!

Tonight was the first evening of a local country fair that I have worked for the last ten years. There are alot of memories bound up in my little ten foot square spot... because this was one of my very first venues as a caricature artist. When I started out, my young children accompanied me to the fairs and festivals that I mostly did then. As they got older and more independent, it wasn't so fun for them to go spend all day watching me work, even if it WAS at a carnival, so they found other things to do. Now, the tides of time have come full circle (or whatever that lame cliche is!!) and I am now lucky enough to be accompanied by my son George, and his caricature-artist-extraordinaire of a girlfriend, Sam.

I'm sure I will have better photos tomorrow, as much of tonight was spent getting the booth situated ( meaning what we did and didn't forget to bring!!) but this one above shows Sam drawing a couple, with George observing.
Here's one of my first drawings:

This is Sam in action, and her cute and hilarious results:


These two sisters were so appreciative they even came back with a tip! ( Not something that happens often at fairs!)

2nd place finish in NCN Face-off Competition

Another Face-off has ended and I am honored to place second in a field of very high-quality entries. This competition was very international in flavor, with the other two winners coming from England and Iran, and the judges from California, the Netherlands and Japan. My prize will be a custom drawing from renowned caricaturist, author and teacher, Jan Opdebeeck, of the Netherlands.