Emily's Caricature Sketchblog

Another great video from our 2011 ISCA con

2012-01-26T09:34:00.000-08:00

Fellow artist and videographer Brian Vasilik of North Carolina just put up his video impression of our most recent ISCA con on Vimeo...lots of great shots of caricature art being created and enjoyed.
Below: I made the cut! Screenshot from about five minutes in---watercolor of me by the talented Mr. Court Jones....

Oh, my freezing hand(s)!!

2012-01-24T10:05:00.000-08:00

My drawing hand is always cold in the winter, especially when I am using my Wacom tablet...

My untalented left hand gets cold too, but somehow, the one I am using most seems to suffer the most. So I snipped off the fingertips of a pair of gloves and voila! Help for the poorly-circulated freezing appendages. The digital image onscreen is a sneak peak of this year's upcoming Texas comic for Exaggerated Features by Celestia Ward and myself...

My friend Johanna Veerenhuis-Lens

2012-01-23T06:36:00.000-08:00

Over the years of attending NCN/ISCA conventions, I have made many wonderful friends from all over the world. A special one to me is Johanna Veerenhuis-Lens of the Netherlands, whom I first met years ago at one of our Orlando cons, but also bumped into at Salt Lake City's airport while we waited for a connecting flight to Reno...

...anyway, we've been friends ever since. This photo is from our 2011 ISCA awards night, where she won 2nd place for 3D caricature (to add to her growing collection :-)

She started out as a party artist like me, but three years ago discovered that her true passion was caricature sculpture...specifically Sculpey sculpture. Since then, she has won lots of awards, written a book, and opened a museum with her husband in her lovely barn home where busloads of visitors come, see her creations, and learn about what she does. This year at the con she gave a seminar and shared her book with us.
Here is my copy: it is half how-to, and half motivational:

I certainly love what subjects she sculpted for the cover!!

This year, she has been asked to showcase all her sculptures that were on display in a new Museum of the Twentieth Century in Hoorn, the Netherlands. In order to do that, she'll be closing her own museum, and is now putting out the word that she is currently taking new sculpture commissions. Click here: commission Johanna if you'd like to look into doing so (site is in Dutch, but it's pretty self-explanatory-- or you could call her, she speaks English with a most appealing accent ;-)

I am so happy for her success!

O's Fanfest 2012

2012-01-22T10:47:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, on the first sleety/snowy day of the year, some people's thoughts were jumping way ahead to spring, and baseball season in Baltimore...

It was O's Fanfest day, and even though Baltimore's NFL team, the Ravens, are hot, hardly anyone was wearing their purple--but there was lots of Oriole ORANGE in evidence---and we were drawing it!

I was part of Rick Wright's A-team:

My easel is sandwiched between Gary "Toonboy" Smith's to my left, and Dan Ginter's to my right. I'd never actually seen Dan work live except at conventions, (where the motive is not to please customers!) and very much enjoyed seeing him do these lushly colorful, appealingly alive pieces, using the chalk-and-glove technique:

Above: by Dan Ginter. Below: by Gary "Toonboy" Smith.

Gary is a big fan of "defunct 60's and 70's sitcoms" (his words, not mine) so he was pretty happy when this young lady sat in his chair. He asked her parents if they realized their daughter bore more than a passing resemblance to the Partridge Family's Susan Dey...they hadn't, but agreed---now that he'd mentioned it! :-)

Thanks to Rick, for having me. Here he is, drawing away:

And here's a photo he took of us, before the onslaught:

L-R Dan, Gary (whose face Stan Laurel seems to have possessed) and myself.

The "Caricature episode" of Frasier

2012-01-15T06:21:00.000-08:00

For those who have never seen it, and for those who haven't seen it in a long time:

Enjoy!

My LinkedIn page recommendations

2012-01-14T06:06:00.000-08:00

It's housecleaning time, as usual in January, and that means some attention to my various online presences:

My LinkedIn page is updated automatically by my Twitter page, which is in turn updated by my Caricatures by Emily Facebook page, so I haven't actually logged into LinkedIn for quite awhile. I decided to spiff it up by asking for some recommendations of my work...and wow, I was very happy to read the nice words that came in from clients and colleagues. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

Caricatures by Emily Anthony

“Emily Anthony is one of the finest caricaturists working today. Her ability to entertain and provide crowd-pleasing drawings in her live work is unsurpassed. She has an accessible style that brings a smile to the faces of the recipients. Her studio work shows a mastery of her chosen medium, be it digital, airbrush or sculpture. Anyone who does business with Emily has made an excellent choice!” January 15, 2012

“We hired Emily as part of our entertainment for an event for the Domestic Violence Center of Chester County. She was wonderful and all the guests loved her! I highly recommend for your next event!” January 10, 2012

Top qualities: Personable, Good Value, Creative

“We had Emily come over for our daughter’s birthday party as one of the entertainments for both kids and adults and she was a big hit! Emily is very easy going and friendly, and interacts well with people while remaining very professionnal. She is careful about people’s sensitivity about their looks and does not make too harsh caricatures even though they remain very funny and resembling to people. That said, if you have enough sense of humor to laugh at yourself, you can ask her to draw a “meaner” caricature and she will be glad to do it. Emily is a very talented caricaturist. She truly “sees” people and seems to catch their features at the very first sight. Drawing fast is another strength she has, which is very valuable for parties with a lot of people or for caricatures of small children who don’t sit still.Everybody at our party was thrilled with their caricature.
To summarize, Emily is the artist to go to if you are looking to give the gift of a high quality caricature.” January 10, 2012

Top qualities: Great Results, Personable, On Time

“I have known Emily for a number of years as a colleague in ISCA. Her work is excellent and she has been her own caricaturing business for some 16 years. Emily has a broad range of versatile skills in various mediums and an eye for attention to detail. Her outstanding attribute is customer focus and professionalism. I highly recommend Emily to any client who requires top of the line caricature work.” January 9, 2012

“We hired Emily for the wedding rehearsal dinner for our son and daughter-in-law to draw caricatures of the guests. She also drew a large caricature of their engagement photo, which everyone signed and is now framed and hanging in their home. Emily also provided small copies of the engagement caricature that we gave each guest as a memento of the evening. People still talk about how unique and fun Emily's caricatures were -- and many have the caricatures hanging in their homes. Emily was fun to work with and didn't leave until everyone who wanted one had a drawing - which meant staying past the originally agreed-to time.” January 9, 2012

Top qualities: Great Results, Personable, Good Value

“If you`re looking for a caricature artist that`s at the top of their game-- Emily is the artist for you. Emily gets a great likeness with all her caricatures, She is also very professional in every way.” January 9, 2012

“In the past several years that I have known Emily, I have watched her flourish as and artist and a business woman. She is passionate about her work and determined to make her clients happy. I admire her professionalism as an artist in business. Hire her to draw at your event and you won't be disappointed. Your guests will love her, just as everyone that meets her does.” May 20, 2010

“Emily is a excellent worker and artist. She is reliable, always on time, her work is great, she's fast and she's very personable with clients.” February 10, 2010

Top qualities: Great Results, Personable, On Time

First gig of 2012

2012-01-13T07:41:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday night, I had a rare mid-week corporate event, held at a trendy restaurant:

Four artists and our sitters took up several booths on the mezzanine, which was reserved for the party.
One of our aforementioned sitters took this shot of John Sprague and I plying our craft (it was also a rare color gig and we were working from sign-in sheets):

We were asked by a guest "Which one of you is Dali and which one is Rembrandt?" which we found strangely appropriate in a caricature sense!

Here's a couple of my drawings:

Of course, on the first drawing of the evening, I wrote "2011"....duh!

Afterwards, we went downstairs and enjoyed some fancy cuisine with my fiance, (who was my chauffeur for the evening)! Luxury!

L-R... Caricaturist John O'Connell, my JB, "Rembrandt" and "Dali"!

First thing I've signed 2012 to...

2012-01-05T12:25:00.000-08:00

Doodled this of some strangers early this week. Everything I do always turns out somewhat caricature-ey! And I made sure the lady never got a gander at my sketchbook...

RIP Ronald Searle

2012-01-03T09:24:00.000-08:00

Another artist I admire has passed on---Ronald Searle. Here is a caricature he did of characters from TV's Bewitched...

Last gig of 2011...

2011-12-30T20:04:00.000-08:00

...was a birthday party for eleven-year-old Ally, complete with noisemakers and happy-new-year decorations:

The boy guests really outdid themselves on the cheesy grins--here are a few, in order of increasing cheese!

These two cousins were so much fun to draw because of the contrasting...well, everything!

Happy New Year, see you here in 2012!

Illustrator Drew Friedman was the guest speaker at our ISCA con this year...

2011-12-29T09:22:00.000-08:00

...and he has a huge post on his blog today about his experiences with us. Here are two photos I took from my second-row vantage point at his seminar:

Mr. Friedman has a penchant for drawing old Jewish comedians, and a particular liking for rendering liver spots, but I really preferred this drawing of the non-liver-spotted Joan Rivers, while her face still had some elasticity....check out that link at the top for lots more images and info about a very talented, detail-oriented artist.

Season's greetings!

2011-12-27T09:51:00.000-08:00

This is the second year in a row I've been under the weather at Christmastime. I didn't even want to look at markers or Wacom pens...but I am feeling better, and this is the result:

2011 is almost over, I hope it has been good for everyone who has visited here (for which I thank you for reading!). Happy New Year, everybody!

Caricature Christmas card...

2011-12-23T09:54:00.000-08:00

Here is the lovely card created by one of my MD Irish Festival customers, scanned from all the single caricatures I drew of her kids, of her and her hubby, and their dog from a photo she sent me:

She added the cute little red-and-green hats, bows and holly to make it very festive, and also included my business card on the back! Thank you, Joan!

Last holiday event for this season...

2011-12-20T08:23:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I was asked to draw all the members of a small firm, by one of its members--it was his gift to his co-workers! It was a full-color-with-themes afternoon. :)

When I asked this gentlemen what he liked to do in his spare time, he said, "work"!

Here they are, minus a dad/daughter one that went home with its owner before I got a photo. Can't believe the holidays are almost upon us!

Another holiday party...

2011-12-19T15:54:00.000-08:00

...that I look forward to doing every year. It's held for the family and friends of a vocational training center, and many of the guests have multiple caricatures from me spanning the years, including this young lady:

The attendance was up this year so I did not get many photos...

Loved this gal's hair!

She was itching to get back to capturing balloons that were dangling everywhere! :-)

The gig without any photos!

2011-12-17T10:32:00.000-08:00

Well, except for this one:

Pat Harrington and I drew at a corporate holiday event yesterday that had quite an amount of directions we had to follow, beyond just getting there. First, we were told to have photo ID, as there were two places we would have to pass through security, and to allow time for that. We were told to look as "holiday-ish" as possible ( I think we covered that pretty well). Finally, there was to be absolutely no cell-phone use during the event. We weren't quite sure why that was, as we don't take calls while drawing, but it scared us into not taking photos either! Before we started, we saw the party-goers taking photos with their phones, so we snuck this ONE pic you see above. But no pics of any of the great faces we drew :-(

Drum line caricatures

2011-12-14T06:27:00.000-08:00

Did these last week for some college seniors, to be presented at their band banquet---I sent them to the young man who ordered them on behalf of other band members, and here is the email I just received from him:
"They loved them! We got a picture and it is attached. Thank you so much! I will pass this idea on to the freshmen next year and other members of the band, they were the hit of the banquet! Everyone was jealous."

They sure have some good faces!

Company Christmas party

2011-12-13T14:57:00.000-08:00

On Saturday evening, I was cozily caricaturing by the fire for a small company Christmas party:

Santa and Mrs. Claus made an appearance too, and handed out homemade cookies to everyone!

I asked the client if she had hired them through Gigmasters (that's where she had booked my services) and she said, "No, this is a surprise to me!" It turned out they were two of her guests! (the middle couple below!)

Some more jolly faces:

(Below) The center gentlemen's wife was under the weather and didn't attend...but Iphone photos came to the rescue once again. :-)

I really have to thank a colleague, Chad Straka for making caricature fans out of my client and her husband. They had a framed drawing he'd done of them that they were very happy with, but he's no longer in this area. Thanks Chad!

Children's Christmas party

2011-12-12T06:28:00.000-08:00

This was our line a half-hour BEFORE we caricaturists were due to start!!

Needless to say, it was one of those parties where we cranked out the kids, to the strains of Nat King Cole. I worked next to Pat Harrington:

It was so warm in there that both our Santa hats had to come off. :-(

Here is one of Pat's hilarious drawings in progress:

Here are a few of mine:

I'm pretty sure this was my 10th year drawing at this party. Thank you for having us, as always!

December birthdays...do they get swallowed up by the holidays?

2011-12-11T17:20:00.000-08:00

Not in this case!

On Friday, I drew for the guests of a late-night party, where the vivacious birthday girl was so busy greeting her guests that she messaged a photo to my Iphone--and I was able to come up with this!
The festivities were held in a beautiful former DuPont mansion built circa 1739:

My easel and I were situated in a lounge just outside the ballroom, which made it nice for me--I could talk to my subjects and still enjoy the live band:

Here is some of my night's output!

I love getting to see so many interesting venues.

I'm sure the people who lived here in the eighteenth century never envisioned this for their home's future:

Doggie commission!

2011-12-08T07:04:00.000-08:00

I like to draw canine facial features as well as human ones:

This handsome chap belongs to a family I drew at last month's Irish Festival. They decided to combine all my caricatures for their Christmas card, but were missing one family member---Archie here. So some photos were emailed, a drawing to match the other ones (BW party-style) commenced, then was scanned and sent back. I hope I get one of their cards! :-) Boston terriers are particularly adorable, aren't they?

There's still plenty of time for me to do this type of commission before Christmas. If you are interested, $25 for one BW subject with color background, includes scan and shipping (USA only). Please email me at Emily@Emilyarts.com.

A magical, memory-making Christmas party

2011-12-06T07:02:00.000-08:00

Every December, this family-owned company does something completely magical for the kids of its employees---a Christmas party like no other:

And that's just the entrance hall! The showroom floor is transformed into the actual party area:

All the kids get to make a gingerbread house, along with other kids' crafts, and there are also carolers, a face painter, a photobooth, gifts and a visit with Santa, and of course, two happy caricaturists! That's my colleague John Sprague who brought his blossoming beardly beauty.

We were in a newly-expanded party area that encompassed part of the company's warehouse. Thank you to the gentleman who facilitated that:

I told him that as much as I loved our previous very festive location in the main room near the tree, (this was my fourth year doing this party) it was very loud (the carolers' speaker was always next to us) and not as open as where we were this year. And he'd provided benches for our sitters, so whole families could sit comfortably. This party is definitely about families! I barely use any paper because it's mostly threesomes, foursomes and fivesomes. Or sometimes it's a whole lotta of elves:

Yes, John fit all six of them on one sheet of paper :-)

Here's a few of my sitters:

Some of these families have been drawn every year that I've been there, so their collection is growing! :-)

To our right, the talented face painter plied her skill and Santa skied his way over our heads.

Here are some of her creations:

We are always invited to eat at this gig, and I am always happy to see soft pretzel bites, because they are one of the few things I can handle while drawing. :-)

And my day ended with my own visit to Santa:

Merry Christmas!!

The Grand Gala

2011-12-05T08:10:00.000-08:00

I was booked to draw at Wilmington's annual Grand Gala this year:

It's a fundraiser for the Grand Opera House, and the after-party is held in the historic Hotel du Pont in downtown Wilmington:

It was a formal event, so I got to really dress up---but luckily avoided getting any ink on my blouse! Magician extraordinaire Larry Denburg was also performing. Here we are in our fancy duds:

There were over 900 Gala guests throughout the hotel. My easel and I were situated on a landing outside the Gold Ballroom and I was able to draw at least several dozen of them!

A huge line waited patiently for my drawings, so I wasn't photographing many.
One of my subjects remarked to me, "You know, what you're doing is performance art." Yes, exactly!
At the end of the evening, all the drawings that had been left with me on the adjoining table had been retrieved, except for this one:

I hoped she hadn't forgotten it, or perhaps, hadn't liked it...but after I'd packed my gear and returned from the ladies' room, it had disappeared. All's well that ends well! :-)

Lar discusses one of the ISCA con caricatures he received on his Ustream :-)

2011-12-03T05:47:00.000-08:00

My friend Lar De Souza is a Monty Python geek too...

So, when I created my piece at the recent ISCA con, he was a shoo-in for the part of Tim the Enchanter:

I just found out he'd discussed the amazing diversity of styles and media at the con on his weekly Ustream broadcast (this is from November 25, 2011, which I missed because I was away for Thanksgiving weekend). With his permission, I am sharing a clip:

Awwww, thank you Lar!!!

And since he mentions God, portrayed by Mr. Jan Op De Beeck, who isn't in the photograph of the piece above...

I should probably thank Terry Gilliam as well. I'll never forget the first time I saw his cartoon animations on late-night public TV as a thirteen-year-old (yes, it was after my bedtime-- I snuck downstairs to watch Monty Python and SNL on Saturday nights after my parents were asleep!)

Patsy Cline re-visited

2011-11-29T04:25:00.000-08:00

She has been one of my favorite singers for years, and I've drawn her several times in the past, for my own artistic pleasure:

The above was done with watercolor pencils in 2003, and has never appeared on my blog, as far as I know. Below, you can see my first digital painting ever, from 2007. Click here if you'd like to read how that came about.

This past weekend, the Significant Other and I visited relatives in western Virginia for Thanksgiving and decided to drive home the scenic way on Saturday instead of the interstate. When I realized that could take us past Winchester, Virginia, Patsy's childhood home and also where she is interred, we decided to pay her a visit...

You can see the Shenandoah mountains in the distance from her gravesite, but they didn't show up too well in my photos. It seemed a serene resting place for her. The bell tower on the left was a gift from her fans, it plays hymns at 6 pm--the hour of her tragic death at age thirty in 1963.

So sad.... I took one of the oak leaves to put with my drawing of her.

Then it was on into downtown Winchester, to her teenage home where she learned to sing by playing records incessantly...

To our surprise, it was open for tours and we had gotten there just in time for one. Our docent, Joe, was very well-informed and personable. Photos were not allowed inside. Click below for lots of info and a short clip featuring Joe (whom I just found out, actually KNEW Patsy when he was a boy):

Newly-opened Patsy Cline Historic House already a pilgrimage for fans

Patsy Cline Historic House Facebook Page

I actually started shaking in the living room when told that Patsy spent many an hour next to the fireplace listening and singing along to records or the radio, honing her skills so that one day she could do this:

While there, I bought a book called Patsy Cline: The Making of an Icon, by Douglas Gomery. While I haven't had time to read it fully yet, I came across this passage, which really resonated with me as an artist:

I love the fact that sometimes my own personal interests coincide with those I admire. Drawing ability, like singing, is also a general characteristic of the human species---nearly every child draws. Those who don't give up either discipline become artists. :-)

An Advent Social

2011-11-28T08:31:00.000-08:00

Hope y'all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! On Sunday of the holiday weekend, I was booked to draw at an afternoon Advent Social, by a gentleman who had been drawn at this party. I am including the link because I found out, while talking to him yesterday, that his parents are the second couple in that video (one of my favorite caricature reactions ever!). They have my drawing framed and hanging in their family room. :-)
This is a major way I get bookings, by people who have been drawn or seen my work at the parties I do.
So, yesterday's event, held in the church hall, contained people of all ages:

My spot was in the center of a ring of chairs, and we used a sign-up sheet which went pretty well, because I had a tween helper.

After the event was over, I was invited to see the church's pipe organ, which is about to undergo renovation....wow!!!! I absolutely love the sound of this instrument and have since I was a little girl.

My client told me there are more than 14,000 pipes within this church. Here is a link about it if you are interested:

1925 Austin Organ

One of the myriad things I love about my job are the opportunities I get to meet interesting people and see interesting things like this! :-)

My studio entry for the 2011 ISCA convention

2011-11-22T13:50:00.000-08:00

This year, I decided to try to do something different for my studio piece entry---something topical, somber, and opinionated:

It's a digital painting based on the famous boxing images done by George Bellows in the 1920's, except I substituted some current personalities for the boxers....

2011 ISCA convention in St. Pete's Beach, Florida

2011-11-20T20:57:00.000-08:00

I've just returned home from the best caricature artist convention I've been to in my nine years of attending them. Everything from the beachfront venue, to the weather, to the food and drink, and especially to the camaraderie, was just wonderful. I created a competition piece to be proud of, which is amazing because there were so many stellar artists present with just spectacular skills. My caricature batteries have been recharged!

My wall this year was a rather large collage based on Monty Python and the Holy Grail. If you are fan of the movie, you know that it's an ensemble piece which fit in well with my adapting friends to fit the characters. All the faces on this are of fellow caricaturists. If you'd like to see all my con pics, below are public links to the albums on my Caricatures by Emily FB page:

Emily's 2011 ISCA album #1

Emily's 2011 ISCA album #2

I'll probably have more to say here on my blog about the con, but for now I need to recover---we spent all day at seminars and all night drawing for almost a week...I was getting by on four hours of sleep per night. We are that passionate about caricature! For now, I'll put up a photo provided by the talented Mr Tom Brennan, of me in my work spot...which was occasionally visited by large palmetto bugs! (Our 24-hour drawing room was housed in a large outdoor pavillion ;-)

Irish Festival 2011

2011-11-14T08:50:00.000-08:00

This past Saturday, my wild, 25% Irish self was drawing other Irish! (everyone there was at least honorary Irish!)

"The wearing of the green"

kids....

organizers...

These two guys are identical twins! Below, one posed with his girlfriend as well (or as he put it, his lover! ;-)

I drew this couple and all NINE of their kids! below, as they wait patiently)

Some of the sights you see at an Irish festival:

Irish dancing...

A stroller's cupholders----holding GUINESS...

Older men with lovely younger ladies...

and a hard-working caricaturist with shamrocks on her head. :-)

My cherished assistant got a caricature too... ( I haven't attempted him for a few years, it's hard to draw your loved ones!)

It's about 75% finished here.

Girl Scout meeting..with a little something out of my comfort zone

2011-11-11T08:41:00.000-08:00

Last night, I drew an excited group of young ladies at a Girl Scout meeting:

That part was certainly IN my comfort zone. No, what made me a little nervous was that I was asked by the Scout leader to give a half-hour talk about being an artist...specifically being a female artist. Public speaking is not my thing--my usual line when people ask how I can DRAW in front of others is, " I can only do it because I can't see my audience--they're BEHIND me!"

Anyway, I told the girls and their moms how I got into the (male-dominated) field of professional caricaturing, and how with perseverance and practice you can be anything you want. Then we looked at some photos on my computer of various gigs, and they asked questions---good ones! I actually enjoyed it once we got talking. When the half hour was up, I couldn't believe it---then it was time to draw them in color. Thank YOU, girls!

Caricaturama--Dexter

2011-11-07T06:30:00.000-08:00

This week's Caricaturama subject is an actor, Michael C. Clark, whose television show, "Dexter" I have never seen:

Apparently, the character is a vigilante serial killer with a non-threatening public persona, which some commenters told me that I emphasized in my digital painting of him. Below are the stages my piece went through:

A self-indulgent, non-caricature post...

2011-11-06T16:41:00.000-08:00

Usually, I try to keep my blog relevant to my professional life. This past weekend, I shirked my caricature career for "me" time...my significant other JB and I went up to NYC to see my favorite pianist/composer/lyricist/comedian/critical thinker/rock star wannabe, Tim Minchin, in concert. (This was my third time, click if you'd like to read about the first and second--where I was able to connect it to caricature somehow ;-)
This time, after a wonderful day spent eating and subwaying around Manhattan (with one unintentional detour because we accidentally got on an express instead of a local) we strolled to Times Square from our hotel, expecting to be awed by the colossal technological displays to be found there. Instead, we bumped into Tim Minchin himself! He wasn't being mobbed, he was just standing in Times Square chatting to a few people, and was happy to see us. He took this wonderful photo with my phone and it just made my night... and we still had his concert to look forward to!

JB later remarked, if we hadn't messed up on that one subway ride, we wouldn't have gotten there right when Tim was standing in the street, as he left about ten minutes after our arrival to go get ready to perform.

I guess I could say my caricatures made this all possible. I do love my job!

Phils Phans commission

2011-11-02T05:00:00.000-07:00

Awhile back, I did this party-style commission for the female half of this couple to present to the male half on their anniversary...and I drew them with a dear friend of every Phillies fan. ;-)

Retirement commission

2011-11-01T09:01:00.000-07:00

Last week's rush-job party-style retirement caricature: ordered at 9 am, hand-delivered by 4 pm for his party that evening!

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T06:52:00.000-07:00

And this week's Caricaturama, which I have neglected lately, is the oh-so-appropriate Mr. Vincent Price:

Haunted Homecoming gig...in the SNOW (?!)

2011-10-30T10:28:00.000-07:00

On Saturday morning, I headed for a college about an hour north of my home...with the weather forecast calling for several inches of snow later in the day. I figured, the ground isn't frozen yet, the roads will be fine later---it never snows this early in the year here, let alone sticks. The gig was a block party to accompany the homecoming football game, which was moved inside due to the inclement weather (the block party, not the game!) and was enough fun to divert my mind from the worsening conditions outside:

My spot was near another artist, of a genre I'd never seen before--his medium was spray paint:

Our lines were both massive, so I really didn't get a chance to chat with him, but students showed me his work. Art can come out of anything!

I posted these two pics on my Caricatures by Emily FB page during the event, and said that it was a day to cue up a remix of Monster Mash/WinterWonderland, but realized they had to go here too, because every year now I'm printing a book of my blog. Someday when I'm a little old lady, they'll be my caricature scrapbooks!

Commuting home in OCTOBER:

Took two-and a half-hours to go thirty-seven miles... but I arrived home to hot tea and an afghan. :-) Maybe I am a little old lady already!

Kids' Halloween party

2011-10-29T04:41:00.000-07:00

Last night was my first event since returning home from Texas, and I had to get used to drawing on an upright easel again! (Airbrush easels are much flatter.) It was a kids' Halloween party, and I drew eighteen kids in color in two hours. :-O

Here's most of them:

Several of the boys had participated in a home-made house of horrors in the basement, and they had long black robes with crazy masks, so I drew them holding each mask.
The tasty bits here were hilarious! I love Halloween!

State Fair 2011 wrap-up

2011-10-28T05:29:00.000-07:00

This just might be my biggest, longest blog post ever...because I didn't keep up with it very well while in Texas. So here goes!

There's our booth, in the shadow of the Cotton Bowl...

...with a long patient line later in the day! The lady in blue and her adult son will show up in a drawing in this post later on. ;-)

Colleague Celestia finishing up a Dr. Who-fan young man...

Colleague Vlad working on a Batman family...

Colleague Paul about to start airbrushing a dad and his toddler.

This is the view from my subject's seat...below are samples of my work this year :-)

We draw families...

tweens...

kids...

and couples.

Even celebrity-lookalikes!

These are two sets of sisters...

This couple asked for a landscape orientation. More room to widen heads! ;-)

More couples!

But this couple is a mother and son. And SHE asked me to make it say he was single!!

This group is a father and his FIVE sons. Three doubles took me awhile!

A brave dad and son walking around in Cardinals garb in Ranger country. (The World Series was in town!)

This is proof that airbrush artists can victimize themselves into unfixable mistakes. Brown paint plopped out of my side-feed cup ---right on the blonde's face---because I overfilled it. Luckily, it was the only mess-up during the fair that required a complete re-draw. ( I had other little foibles happen, but was able to either camouflage them or make them look deliberate. Hey, that's being an artist, right?) I gave the unfinished dud to the girls as well. It was interesting to me to compare the two.

So many people were in red Texas Rangers gear, it felt like the Dallas Cowboys have been sadly forgotten!

However, this lady asked me to put her in a red top with a red background, as she has a collection of caricatures and portraits done that way. She told me my result would make it up on her wall! :-)

Teenage boys are ALWAYS fun to draw.

This young lady had interesting asymetrical hair.

This boy asked for his Domo to be included. Then I found out that Paul and Vlad had drawn his dad and uncle, too!

Another great smile!

MORE couples!

Uh oh! There's Celestia being paparazzied while trying to get the attention of some little kid she must've been drawing right then...

Speaking of Celestia, I decided to try her favored method of drawing this year for my BW caricatures. Through her, I bought a Caran D'Ache lead holder and 6mm 6b leads which are used with a blending stump. She uses these for all her live work, but I found that my speed was slower when using them. No doubt that was from non-familiarity, but I think I got some good results with them.

This young lady's shirt lit up AND she asked for the saying that appears on her caricature.

Two little brown-eyed boys...

...and a BIG brown-eyed boy with his girl!

Caricatures can mark special occasions in the life of any couple, and I had my share of special ones this fair:

A 25th anniversary caricature for repeat clients: he got to me before she did and told me to put them in bridal attire, and she had no idea until she saw it!

A recent engagement caricature--so recent that none of their friends even knew yet, they were going to announce it with my drawing!

And finally, a Save-the-Date caricature. I hope they remember to mail me one!

And now for the "What did they eat?" portion of my blog post!

Well, for starters, Fletcher's Corny Dogs! Yes, I broke down and had one, even though I am not a hot-dog fan. It was good!

Late one night, Lorin took us into downtown Dallas so we could enjoy a non-fair meal at a real restaurant. He chose a place called the Iron Cactus, and he chose well! The drinks and food were delicious, and that's our waiter Kahlil with us in the photo. He was an amazing guy.

Mmmm...my tortilla soup and blood orange-basil mojito were the highlights of my experience with upscale Dallas cuisine. :-) The only upscale experience, that is!

Back at the fair, you can't call chicken-fried bacon upscale, but you can call it yummmmmy.

Lorin lent his talents to our booth on the one chilly day we had, and it was alot of fun working alongside him. One other benefit to having him there was that it freed up us four regulars to go do something Celestia and I have been pestering Paul and Vlad to do for years---get our photo taken at the "Olde Time Pictures" booth. This was the result:

Can't look at it without smiling!!

So goodbye, Big Tex, see you next year! Thank you to all the Texans who graced our booth!

And I'll be needing a manicure ASAP...

More caricature reactions from Texas

2011-10-26T19:35:00.000-07:00

I'm back home in PA, after my yearly stint at the State Fair of Texas--with alot of blog-catching-up to do. For now, see these fun-to-draw couples and their reactions to my airbrush caricatures. :-)

Caricature reaction 10-18-11

2011-10-20T07:43:00.000-07:00

I haven't had much time to really blog while in Texas (there will be a huge recap when I get home) but I wanted to get this little video snippet up. These two enthusiastic caricature fans came in because I had previously done the parents of one of them:

Here's their reaction:

The latest caricature craze.. sunglasses?

2011-10-14T23:06:00.000-07:00

Once in a blue moon, someone will ask me to draw them wearing sunglasses. Sometimes I will dissuade them, because the point of a caricature is to emphasize one's unique facial characteristics--including eyes. Other times, in fact, frequently lately, the cool factor of shades is just too much-- they need a caricature to celebrate this! :-D

This young married couple were just too cute. The husband was drawn first on his own, then the wife decided to get one also. Mr. and Mrs Faux Chris Rock!

More Texas caricatures, etc.

2011-10-13T00:00:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite families who come back every year for a caricature!

The mom and girlfriend of a serviceman who is stationed in Tanzania sat for this one; they are going to send it to him. I asked them if he was in Zanzibar, and they surprisedly said yes, how did you know that?? I told them that one Freddie Mercury was born and spent his early childhood there!

A Jack Russell. Woof.

A kid who loves Angry Birds...I'm attempting to do cloud backgrounds more often.

This is what Texan girls wear to football games (photo taken on the OU-Longhorns game day).

The two photos above are of my colleague Paul's work. He's a whiz at comic-book-y stuff, and also renders hair with an airbrush like I'll never be able to...well, maybe someday. I learn alot from all three of my co-workers here.

Another cute couple--I had fun rendering her platinum blonde hair against the rainbow background.

"Can you make me playing an electric guitar?"So I made it a Red Special...

This woman came up to me and told me I'd drawn her and her friend last year, and that they really liked it---and it was on her phone!

Stylish sunglasses-wearers...

"Game over!"

Deep-fried chocolate-chip-cookie dough balls with chocolate syrup. Mmmmmm! Better than Schweddy's!

A cute lil' girl. I have been trying to draw bigger and this one achieved full use of the paper.

His shirt was hilarious! His wife didn't want a caricature at first, but when she saw it, she loved it. :-)

A foursome!

A great smile!

A brother and sister wearing typical expressions--I love catching those!

A little break from caricaturing in Texas

2011-10-10T07:18:00.000-07:00

During my time here at the Fair, I work 12-hour days--every day--so there is really no time for anything but drawing caricatures, eating fried food, (the fried chocolate chip cookie dough is delicious!) and sleeping. However, the other night, due to the 3-mile-away proximity of a live Tim Minchin performance, I took a break...

...wore my caricature of the man on my t-shirt, and look who I happened to bump into! We were in a beautifully restored Art Deco theater:

Okay, he appreciates all his fans enough to meet them after his concerts, and he said he remembered me from giving him that caricature in Washington, DC a few months back. Although I'll forgive him if he was just being polite, since I certainly can't remember everyone I've ever drawn. We chatted about our mutual affection for the Beatles and Queen. :-)

The Dallas audience was extremely warm and appreciative towards him, considering he had some issues with his piano rental...Here is the one clip I took of him practicing his artistry: (and he attributes his American success to Youtube, so that's why I feel okay sharing this non-spoiler kind of snippet--it just showcases what a whiz he is on piano!)

As we left, Dallas was receiving some much-needed, long-awaited rain!

Airbrush sample/Caricaturama entry!

2011-10-06T10:17:00.000-07:00

I killed two birds with one stone today. Vincent Van Gogh is this week's Caricaturama subject and now he's my airbrushed sample at the caricature booth here at the State Fair in Texas.

I have to credit my very funny friend Bob East for his great idea---the ear of corn!! I had originally done ol' Vincent with the ubiquitous food item here, the corny dog, and posted it on Facebook:

So I just airbrushed corn on another piece of paper and taped it over the corny dog. :-)

Deep in the heart of Texans--2011

2011-10-04T06:07:00.000-07:00

Well. it's that time of year again, I am sitting in the outdoor caricature booth at the State Fair of Texas with three colleagues---and am madly drawing/airbrushing faces! Here's a few highlights from the first few days of the fair. The weather is absolutely perfect so far, and lots of Texans are venturing out after a scorching summer.

I've drawn this little girl since she was an infant!

Grandmom and grandsons!

Big baby boy!

Two wine-drinkin' ladies!

Facial hair and mohawks are always fun to draw!

Ha, they even posed like their drawing for me!

Wedding shower caricature...Oktoberfest theme

2011-09-28T21:37:00.000-07:00

This is a recent commission which was ALOT of fun to do!!

It's marker/artstix, done from several photos. And the client and I found each other through Craigslist!

Ben Franklin-approved caricaturing

2011-09-27T06:01:00.000-07:00

Last night, my friend Celestia Ward, who's visiting from Las Vegas, and I drew caricatures in the presence of Ben Franklin himself (well, a 30-ton marble effigy, anyway) at the Franklin Institute in Philly:

We were the resident caricaturists for a corporate event that also included Mummers, and one of the best magician/balloon artists in the area---John Cassidy. I've got a video snippet on that in a bit--first a little bit of pertinent info on ol' Ben:

That's from a 1905 article in a New England periodical that I found on Google...and was news to me! Wow, another thing to admire about the man!

So the event was lots of fun, and was in such a spectacular setting that I somewhat overdid the scenic photo-taking. Enjoy!

There's John Cassidy, stocking up on balloon creations before the guests' arrival...

My little spot on the steps in the rotunda...

Celestia was on the other side...

The serene statue of Ben that dominated all...the dome is based on the Parthenon in Rome.

Celestia's view of my spot...

And my view of hers!

We caricatured more men than women--it was an IT conference, and just as in the caricature industry, women are a minority. But we got to draw one or two! Here's a few of mine. Celestia was a little too far away to get photos of her work (or I would have!)

Now so you can feel the vibe:

Caricaturama--Novak Djokovic

2011-09-26T05:13:00.000-07:00

This week's subject is a world famous tennis player who makes some fierce expressions!

Digital over marker sketch. Took about an hour or so.

Fundraiser fun...

2011-09-25T06:17:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, I was part of the entertainment (along with a husband-and-wife magic team) at an afternoon fundraiser for our local branch of Variety Club---a charity for kids. I didn't draw just the kids, though--I drew everybody!

Due to the steamy, drippy weather, what should have been an outdoor event had to be held inside. But it didn't dampen the fun...
Check out this band! It consists of two men, on guitar and bass..and two teen boys--on drums and keyboards (I assume they were their sons). At any rate, they played some gooood stuff!

I took some video of their warm-up before the party got swinging, just because I love this song!

From Emily's Archives #5: Ringo in pencil

2011-09-22T07:30:00.000-07:00

From a sketchbook I used intermittently in the 1980's:

It's from about then because it also had sketches of my infant daughter who was born in 1986.
And I didn't make his hideous great hooter big enough!

Baby baseball player

2011-09-21T06:36:00.000-07:00

Hot off my clipboard...

This is a marker/artstix commission done from photo sent via email. In my studio, I use a clipboard instead of an easel.The Phillies are hot for yet another postseason. :-)

13th birthday party----Aaaaaaaaargh!

2011-09-20T06:14:00.000-07:00

Avast! Talk-like-a-Pirate Day was yesterday. Oh well---on Sunday, a sweet young lass celebrated her 13th birthday at a pirate-themed outdoor restaurant---here are photos of the hearty time had by all, including the caricaturist!

The birthday girl:

A rogue Cap'n who stood guard over my easel:

Some teenage guests:

Time for cake!

Mmmmmm, it was chocolate and red velvet--my two faves!!

Then I drew some adults--here are the grandparents who both had great faces!

Once again, the hosts invited me to extend my stay. Thank you!! :-)

This was my taking-leave view:

which reminded me of THIS!!

End-of-summer backyard bash

2011-09-19T08:43:00.000-07:00

My second event on Saturday was a backyard family party with hordes of people---in fact both the house and the yard were overflowing! I arrived at dusk and got busy right away with a couple of matriarchs:

Then, it was on to lots of kids. I asked this youngster to video my drawing hand in action while I drew her friend (to the accompaniment of one of my favorite songs as it came up on the host's playlist :-)

She did a good job! (Thank you Gillian! :-) This video gives a good indication of my drawing speed...it starts when I am just about finished the marker portion, and captures some of my shading.

This is the finished result: (girl on the left)

Some adults got in on the action towards the end:

Then it was time for pyrotechnics!

(Although some guests opted to watch the Phillies clinch the National League title inside on the large screen television...there were probably fireworks going on in South Philly as well!)

3rd birthday!

2011-09-18T07:49:00.000-07:00

My first event yesterday was a little girl's backyard birthday party to celebrate her 3rd birthday:

After I drew her in marker, she was too interested in the goings-on to stay still, so I took a photo of the drawing---without her. But I didn't exaggerate her eyes much--they were huge!

Here are some little-girl guests:

A teen boy:

This drawing was a feat, if I do say so myself. This shy little boy actually sat with his back to me. I leaned over as far as I could for each look at him, and was able to come up with this:

Finally, a couple of couples:

As always, thanks to my clients for having me! I had to scuttle off for round two (another gig) of the day, otherwise I would have gotten a photo of a lovely real-life Cinderella who was doing some balloon twisting. Happy birthday little Zaara!

Caricaturama-John Krasinsky

2011-09-15T11:28:00.000-07:00

This week's Caricaturama subject is a actor from NBC's "The Office"---John Krasinsky. One of the cool aspects about this weekly challenge (beside forcing me into creating pieces for my portfolio) is that I draw subjects I am not familiar with (never watched the show, although I have friends that tell me it's really good.) Sometimes, that's easier than doing faces you know well.
The final is digital, over a quick marker sketch:

UPDATE 9/19/11: This piece has gotten more "likes" (101 at the moment) from fellow artists than any other I have ever submitted to Caricaturama in almost a year and a half. I am grateful, and this proves that practice and persistence pay off in the long run. :-)

Toronto Comic Jam

2011-09-14T03:56:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, the S.O. and I visited our friends Marlo and Nick in the frozen North (Ontario, Canada). Okay, it wasn't frozen, we enjoyed some absolutely lovely late-summer weather. One of the fun things we did was go to a comic jam in the heart of Toronto, with other artists, some familiar and some not:

We commandeered some tables in a funky coffee shop and each person would draw the first panel in a comic, then pass it to someone else. And so on and so on, and so on...

This is one of the few non-racy ones...but it's still gross! The second panel's mine. If you want to see more, click here: Toronto Comic Jam (warning: off-color but hilarious!) a Tumblr blog started by Seo Kim to show the best of them, colorized. The night we were there we probably drew 25 or more!

Here's an online article about TCJ.

Caricaturama-Sting

2011-09-13T07:02:00.000-07:00

I couldn't just draw Sting for this week's Caricaturama, I had to do all the members of Police, since they were a major part of the soundtrack to my late teens and early twenties...

This started out as a marker sketch that I photographed with my Police pin (that was worn on my collar in high school, on days when it wasn't a Beatles pin :)

Can you tell what small changes I made in coloring it?

1st birthday party, with beautiful balloons-- and saris!

2011-09-12T07:52:00.000-07:00

At my event on Saturday, I was wowed by both the balloon artistry of the decor and the beautiful saris the women guests were wearing--at a little girl's first birthday party. Here she is with her mother:

Her cake was pretty too!

This family became my first subjects:

Another little one early on:

Then it was couple after couple--- here's a few:

Finally, below are the gracious host and hostess. Thank you for having me extend my stay--I had an absolute blast drawing everyone! One of my drawings will even be traveling on a 20-hour flight (I asked one gentlemen if he'd come a long way, and he said he'd come all the way from India for the party :-)

A thoughtful guest gave me a plateful of goodies so I could continue drawing between bites. I usually don't plan on eating at gigs---I'm there to draw---but I love Indian food, so this made me very happy! Thank you!

Teacher caricature for classroom use!

2011-09-09T07:52:00.000-07:00

Isn't this a cool idea for a caricature?

She's going to print it for various things in her classroom, and also use in her online presence. I love Dr. Suess as well, (in fact, I learned to read from his books) so it was fun incorporating the Seussian elements in this piece.

40th wedding anniversary commission

2011-09-08T07:06:00.000-07:00

Recently, I had the pleasure of creating a 70's-themed wedding caricature for a couple celebrating their 40th anniversary. The party has already been held, so I can post it now! The client, the couple's daughter, had seen the one I'd done for my sister and her husband and wanted something similar. Here is the result!

Remember when avocado green was all the rage? :-)

Caricaturama-Patricia Arquette

2011-09-03T10:14:00.000-07:00

I've only ever seen this week's Caricaturama subject in a few episodes of her TV show, Medium, and I thought she was pretty blah, but her haircut was fun to draw...

This one is a Markette-Micron--Pentel brush pen-sketch with a dab of PS hatching on top.

My latest Awkward Faces entry...

2011-09-02T10:05:00.000-07:00

This week was the deadline for the Awkward Faces sketch group on Facebook. Since I won the last round, I got to choose the photo everyone drew, and I put up a recent one of my S.O. meeting Tim Minchin. Click here to see: my reference pic. Here is what it mutated to:

There were some pretty phenomenal other entries! Check them out here. The winner was my friend Mr. Bob East, who came up with an excruciatingly awkward version...

An exquisitely beautiful woman is tough to caricature...

2011-08-30T09:31:00.000-07:00

especially this one:

Motivation to even attempt Vivien Leigh came from seeing this blog post about her and her then-husband, Laurence Olivier, being caricatured backstage by a prominent cartoonist of the day, Oscar Berger: (whom I had never heard of)

I liked the one he did of Sir Laurence, but found the one of Viven to be lackluster, especially in the eyes and eyebrows, features which I consider to be her most important and expressive. However, if I were sitting in front of her trying to catch her essence in five minutes and a few lines, I think I'd be dumbstruck too!
My little Markette doodle took about fifteen minutes and I am not totally happy with it, but enjoyed doing her eyebrows with their distinctive asymmetrical arch...I'd like to do one of her and Clark Gable now from GWTW.

Caricaturama SD3000--a few of mine that have backed up

2011-08-29T07:04:00.000-07:00

Caricaturama Showdown 3000 is still steaming along, with over 100 entries every week. I try to keep up, but I haven't been posting my efforts here...til today. Ketchup!

Who are they??

The current week's subject: (I've been trying to go for subtle jokes--maybe they're too subtle. Unlike the SNL skit this character appeared in)

Graphite and prismacolor pencils...

Digital.

Graphite pencils...

Chartpak, Micron, and Prismacolor markers.

Sweet 16 during "Irene"

2011-08-28T15:08:00.000-07:00

Last night, just as the outer bands of Hurricane Irene were arriving in my area, I ventured out to do a Sweet 16 party... in my own town! What are the chances of that circumstance--doing a gig three miles from home during a nasty storm?! (I'd been booked for it for awhile, too.) The client and I were both happy about that piece of luck!

The birthday girl wanted the family Labradoodle included. So they ended up in matching tutus...

Everybody got a BW body-with-theme caricature---some examples: as Snooki, as Hermione, and taming a unicorn (which was a new one to me!). I also did a group caricature of all the girls and managed to fit ten faces on an 11 x 14 paper.

Then I did a family caricature: (dog too!)

Happy birthday, Brooke!

After enjoying a slice of cake, I left for my short trek home---and by then, there were no cars on the road, the rain was pelting and the winds were picking up. One large branch was almost blocking my way at one point, blocked by orange cones, but my smaller car got around it easily. At home, I had exactly an hour to enjoy electricity, before it conked out for about sixteen hours!

Obviously, it's been turned back on, or you wouldn't be seeing this blog post. :-) Before it was, I actually drew in a sketchbook, while listening to the song of nearby chainsaws.

Hope everyone fared well through it--Goodnight Irene!

23 MILLION people affected by Hurricane Irene

2011-08-27T09:35:00.000-07:00

I'm hopeful that the advance warning for the entire US eastern seaboard will save lives, if not property...

...and for the less critical matters in life, Hurricane Irene forced the cancellation of lots of fun things scheduled for this weekend! I had a summer's-end gig at a community pool that was cancelled. And this party-style gift caricature would have been on its way to a wedding celebration in North Carolina, but now it will have to wait. I feel bad for all the brides and vacationers who have long looked forward to this weekend, but it's better to be safe!

The client said that this couple are serious sunglasses aficionados. I almost felt like I was cheating by not having to draw eyes, but then decided to really go for the tones in her sunglasses. Congratulations, Pancho and Erin!

"Summer camp's over" caricatures

2011-08-26T07:44:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I spent a large chunk of my day happily churning out kids' caricatures in a couple of locations at a summer camp program. In the morning, I was outside in the shade with a nice, cool breeze...then the skies opened and I moved into the gym, where the DJ was pumping out Justin Bieber tunes...

They even had their own Bieber clone!

According to my imprecise calculations, ( I may have forgotten to tally all of them) I drew 75 or so kids in not quite six hours---that's 4.4 minutes per kid. Not bad for an old lady!

The MAD Art of Caricature by Tom Richmond---I give it 5 gap-toothed smiles!

2011-08-24T07:55:00.000-07:00

If you are an aspiring caricaturist, or even if you are a professional, you need to buy this book, written by MAD artist extraordinaire Tom Richmond:

I recently had the pleasure of being a backup, proofreading pair of eyeballs to the real (and amazing) copyeditor of this book, my friend Celestia Ward. So, I am not just banking on Tom's reputation as an incredibly hard-working artist and entertaining (and prolific) blog author---I've read it closely from cover to cover, and it contains:
1. concise explanations and demonstrations of concepts I've never considered that are relevant to caricature
2. things that I had considered, but just never articulated in my head (i.e, things I have always done but never thought about WHY).
3. a treatise on every facial feature
3. Numerous illustrations to make everything clear visually
4. a few in-jokes and familiar faces used as samples

Here's a link to Tom's blog showing a few pages: Head shapes

If you buy now, the first 100 orders get a hand-drawn piece of art from Tom!

My own 'hand-drawn piece of art' by Tom is a caricature he did of me (back when I had brown hair, alas) at my second ISCA con in 2004. It's a pen-and-ink wash, which thrilled me because I love that medium:

It's hung on the wall in my studio proudly. But even that wasn't my first brush (haha) with his art.

For that, we'd have to go back to 1991, when I bought an unusual comic book (and they were not my thing, I was never into super-heroes). Actually, I bought it as a Christmas gift for my then-husband, but of course, I read it cover to cover myself, because it was about a guy as far from a super hero as you can get:

Tom did all the crazy-facial-expression Al Bundys in the background on the cover, and all the inside inking. So, who knew that twenty years later I'd have a sneak-peak to his magnum opus, one of the most definitive how-to books on caricature to be penned?? :-)

Caricature reactions video from 8-21-2011

2011-08-23T05:42:00.000-07:00

What a fun time, had by both the guests AND myself!

Happy folks at a 20th anniversary party

2011-08-22T12:19:00.000-07:00

On Sunday evening, my easel and I found ourselves in a rain-washed country club, along with a lady harpist, to help celebrate the 20th wedding anniversary of a much-loved couple...

I told her how nice it was to hear her artistry (instead of the umpteenth repetiton of 'cha cha real smooth' ad infinitum). Here is a link to her website: Ruth Hunter
The party guests, who spanned quite a few different age groups, were really receptive to caricature (you'll see in my blog post tomorrow, as I video-ed a few reactions):

And last but not least, the anniversary couple (and their daughter), done in color:

Thank you for having me, Deborah and Landon! And congratulations on your twenty-year marriage plus 35-day courtship!!! You know a good thing when you see one. :-)

Be-boppin' block party

2011-08-21T08:42:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I was part of a block party that also doubled as a birthday party---it had everything from two bounce houses to pony rides to a balcony-sitting DJ to a petting zoo to face-painting clowns to a caricaturist (me) to, finally, a juggling magician who was quite amazing and funny....

The petting zoo was across the street.

The animals made house calls, too!

Now for some caricatures:

After my drawing time was over (the client extended it by an hour! :-) I was able to enjoy the next entertainer. The Juggling Magician really had a rapport with the crowd, and told them when asked the inevitable question, "how did you learn how to do this?", that it was practice and determination! Both qualities are needed to be a good caricaturist, too! Check out my video of him in action:

People-watching doodles

2011-08-19T08:22:00.000-07:00

Right now, I am readying my caricature kit-and-kaboodle for this weekend's gigs, and just found these doodles from last Saturday's rain delays...

Yes, the man on the left is wearing a kilt, accessorized with Keds. He had a bowtie too, but wasn't facing me enough to get that in. The other two guys had interesting stances. I used my Copic multiliner pen for these, in live caricature it's good for eyelashes, thin eyebrow hairs, and stubble.

As long as I have a pen or pencil and paper, if there's people around to draw, I'm never bored...(actually, my other boredom-killer is playing Tetris on my phone. Which is another subject unto itself :-)

Can you spot the difference?

2011-08-18T06:35:00.000-07:00

This little one's birthday was this past weekend:

A family member ordered a party-style caricature from a photo through my website, and little Hannah Sophia's name was spelled correctly in her email...but this artist DIDN'T get it right on the marker/artstix version. I shipped it out---sans H! I think maybe the phone rang or something when I was doing her name, or some such excuse ;-)
Anyway, luckily, she didn't live terribly far away, so I combined a nice dinner with my other half in a town near my client, with a quick visit to fix my mistake, by re-styling the letters and fitting that H in there! Happy 1st, HannaH Sofia!

Two happy client feedbacks...and caricature copying info.

2011-08-17T09:05:00.000-07:00

I recently received this sweet, handmade thank you card from one of my clients--she'd asked my permission before reproducing my caricature on all her cards---:-) AND she included my website info on the back!

Emily, Now that's what I call a tea party! I was absolutely thrilled with how well everything went. I received so many compliments on your caricatures and your ability to make everyone feel comfortable while you were drawing. You made it fun! I do hope I have an opportunity to attend (or host) another event where you are plying your trade. Fifty and fabulous, Stephanie

Thank YOU, Stephanie! Your party was one of the highlights of my summer. :-)

I do want to mention here on my blog that any party caricatures I do can definitely be reproduced for personal use---that means thank you cards, party favors, Facebook avatars, or just extra copies for family and friends to enjoy.

However, I don't wish them to be used for business purposes---as the artist always holds the copyright, (even though the subject may own the physical drawing) any profit-making use of the art means the artist should get a portion of that, therefore I recommend studio commissions for those interested in caricatures for their business. It's kind of a murky subject---and one that has to operate on the honor system with live stuff, as it's not likely I would ever find out. But it does happen occasionally. I remember a story from a colleague (can't remember who, unfortunately) who was occasionally asked by live sitters (who just happened to be real estate agents) to include a house with a "For Sale" sign in the background. He'd draw a dilapidated money-pit with a shoddy sign! :-D

Here's one more happy client feedback:

What an amazing talent, Emily wowed my guests with her quick work, and captured the fun of the evening with her drawings, I would absolutely reccomend her for your next event! My guest's are still raving!! THANK YOU Emily!!!! Leslie

Thank YOU Leslie! I had just as much fun as your guests did!

Irish caricature reactions galore!

2011-08-16T07:38:00.000-07:00

Enjoy some video snippets of my day!

Being as I'm 25% Irish, (and my hair color seems to be inherited from that grandmother), I felt right at home!

Irish smiles at a fund-raiser...

2011-08-15T08:15:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, I met Commodore John Barry and his friends at a party in his honor:

Who is Commodore John Barry, you ask? He was the United States' first commissioned naval officer, a Revolutionary war hero, and has been largely forgotten as most people think of John Paul Jones as the first American naval hero. Baltimore's chapter of the Ancient Order of Hibernians is raising funds for a memorial gate to Commodore Barry (a native of County Wexford, Ireland) to be erected on the grounds of the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. So a party was in order--food, music, beer, and caricatures!

The street in front of the Irish Shrine Museum was closed off, and I started out drawing there, but battled the rain that fell in torrents every now and then...

Once everyone arrived, I moved to the back patio area where the food and music were:

Drawing a foursome of buddies!

Didn't get a photo of these subjects, but this caricature is of a lovely ninety-year-old gentleman (who reminded me of Dr. Suess) and his son and daughter:

I have some video from this event to edit. Look here tomorrow...

Pen and ink inspirations, musings...(and contest)

2011-08-12T07:05:00.000-07:00

I've always loved pen and ink artwork, from the time I was a kid. Some of my favorite books were illustrated in this fashion. Long before I knew about caricature (and pen & ink greats like David Levine in particular) these are what my eyes devoured and aspired to...

The first person who can name all six artists (and respond on my FB caricature page) gets a pen & ink caricature from me! Five of these artists were in my book collection as a child, and one I discovered as a teenager. I don't know how much they've actually influenced my work, but to this day I am still excited by dip pens, Rapidographs and Microns...

...which brings me around to this piece, done with the aforementioned Microns. It was a submission to the FB group Awkward Faces, where the goal is to cartoon/caricature a submitted photo of non-celebrities as awkwardly as possible! Compared to the behemoth which is Caricaturama (over 4000 members), AwkFaces is miniscule, but the talent pool is amazing, so I was pleasantly surprised to have won this week. Here's a link to the target photo, so you can see what I had to work from:

My favorite comment about my piece was that it was "delightful and cruel", a combination I'm not used to hearing, and two qualities found in several of the pen-and-ink examples above.
My live work definitely slants towards the delightful most of the time, with a slight tinge of underlying cruel (especially of adults). It's a line that all caricaturists have to decide where exactly theirs lies. Without "cruelty" it's not a caricature. Without "delightful" it won't appeal to a broad spectrum of people...

...but with illustration or political caricature, the percentage of "cruel" can go way up!

Family Night at a university

2011-08-11T16:56:00.000-07:00

Last night, my easel was plunked in an festive banquet room at a local university, surrounded by excited family members of adult college students (smart people going for their MBAs!)

First up: the Professor!

Then some guests:

Her necklace was actually a teething ring!

Father and daughter: the dad is an expatriate Brit from Kent, whom I impressed by telling him of my colleague ( also from Kent) who drew at Paul McCartney's Christmas party a few years ago!

A delightful 60th birthday party

2011-08-09T07:01:00.000-07:00

On Sunday afternoon, it was off to a country club to draw for a surprise birthday party given by four loving sons for their mom. Now that my car has my website emblazoned on its rear window, for surprise parties I'll need to park a ways off, so that's what I did! ;-)

The room and the cake were both lovely: (and the cake wasn't just pretty, it was delicious too!)

Here's my little spot:

The birthday girl had a huge, happy family... I drew her and her S. O. last, but I'll put their photo first:

The four sons requested a quadruple fraternal caricature, so I brought some larger paper:

At this party, I drew the immediate family in color, and the guests in BW. These are two (out of a bunch!) of the grandchildren:

Below: These two ladies whipped their glasses on after I'd drawn them! ;-)

More guests:

As always, I have just as good a time as my subjects! Thank you for having me! :-)

Waterfront caricaturing--for an anniversary party

2011-08-08T09:48:00.000-07:00

On Saturday evening, I found myself set up to draw in this lovely place on the Delaware River:

The occasion was a 15th anniversary party for a kids' dental practice, and it seemed much more like a family event than a company one! Just like the view, the table settings were absolutely stunning, with a purple and lime theme. Even the guests were all formally attired in black and purple--so of course, my caricature backgrounds reflected the purple/green vibe.

Here goes with some of the caricatures:

This gentleman was first drawn with his wife, (whom I told could pass for a young Jamie Leigh Curtis) and then he wanted another one with his drink!

Here's a little bit of this party's ambiance--complete with LED ice cubes!!

Thanks for having me, and here's to your next fifteen years! :-)

A festive family reunion

2011-08-07T21:46:00.000-07:00

On Saturday afternoon, it was a return engagement at an annual family reunion I've done in the past:

I was told by one of the moms at this event that she had switched her kid's custody weekend around with his dad-- -she wanted to bring him to this party, just so I could draw him! Whoa!

These two thirteen year old cousins were a little bashful at first, but then:

Wedding rehearsal dinner...

2011-08-04T10:36:00.000-07:00

Last night, I had a blast drawing a future (as-of-this-Saturday) bride and groom, members of their wedding party, and parents, at a cozy (and fantastic-smelling) Italian restaurant:

Of course, I did color for the bridal couple, and drew a silly version of their engagement: he gave her the ring from a plastic bucket on the beach, while his knee was in a puddle!

The Phillie Phanatic is intruding on this couple!

The dad in this one asked for it to be "dragonic" so I obliged!

"Make us salsa dancing!" :-)

"We like the beach...and the Yankees!"

Video from the Fair!

2011-08-01T10:47:00.000-07:00

My other half got some great footage and I edited it together to give you a glimpse of my world last week:

Fair finale...

2011-07-31T19:28:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, the fair wrapped up with an all-day caricature marathon. So, of course, I slept for most of today!

All the pics below are in chronological order, taken throughout the day.

Mom and daughter!

Two brothers, the older of whom is a budding photographer, even though he's barely more than a toddler!

This couple told me they specifically came to the fair to be drawn with their dog!! Dogs used to be more prevalent here, but there were signs forbidding pets this year, so this couple were very canny to get their precious baby in!

Next door to me was the airbrush tattoo booth, and I was able to draw tattooist Stacy from life and her absent BF from an Iphone picture!

This couple had a good laugh when they saw it!

I told him I liked his eyebrows.

This little one had such an entrancing smile!

He wanted me to include his pet rock. :-)

She didn't ask me how I learned to do this, or how long I've been doing this; she asked, "What is that marker you're using that looks like a brush??"

Good question! I wrote Copic Sketch marker on her drawing so she can Google it.

Here's my other fair neighbor, who served sodas, wiped down tables, and battled wasps at the sausage sandwich booth. I actually drew him earlier in the week and hung it as a sample, and overheard lots of passerby recognizing him!

Til next July!

Friday night at the fair...

2011-07-30T06:54:00.000-07:00

It poured cats and dogs again, then it cleared...in time for lots of caricatures---and fireworks!

Fair night #4

2011-07-29T08:36:00.000-07:00

I drew this little one's sister in 2009 at the same age:

A father-daughter trio sat as it started to rain (again-- three nights out of four so far this year---ugh)

A couple whose friends chortled while I drew them in BW:

Fair night #3

2011-07-28T07:44:00.000-07:00

Some great-faced couples sat for me last night!

Below: a couple of brothers:

This one's a triple: the kids went off to have an airbrush tattoo (my next door neighbor at this fair) after I drew each one, so they weren't there to photograph at the end...

I 've drawn this boy for the last three years:

Finally: this year's fair Queen!

Fair night #2...

2011-07-27T09:37:00.000-07:00

Here are the first adults I've drawn at this fair:

And here's the first theme/body caricature I've done here: (felt nice and cool drawing this one!)

And then it was a parade of cute little kids for most of the night--here's a sampling:

And it poured five minutes AFTER I was packed and in my car afterwards!

First night of the fair 2011

2011-07-26T10:58:00.000-07:00

It rained. It cleared somewhat. And it rained again...
...but I got some drawing in!

She was the very first one of the week....and her mom said I've drawn her every year :-).

Mother-son caricatures are always fun for me to draw...as are mohawks.

This is my environment for the week. No more rain! (at night, at least!)

RIP Amy Winehouse

2011-07-25T08:19:00.000-07:00

So sad, but not surprising...what a songwriting talent and what an amazing voice, stilled forever. I created this Sculpey sculpture back in early 2008, and was really hoping she'd defy the odds, conquer her demons and make more music...

I'm not alone in posting my particular visual premonition of Amy today; many artists are. I'm just sorry it came true. :-(

Tim Minchin...eyeliner, hair, and talent

2011-07-24T21:38:00.000-07:00

In January this year, I did a Conan O'Brien caricature (see above in my blog header!) to submit to the art gallery on Conan's site. Some of them were being shown on the air, so I tried to watch the show every night (for awhile, anyway) on the off chance they'd use mine. ( I don't know if they ever did.)
One night, Conan's musical guest was a new-to-American-television Australian pianist/comedian named Tim Minchin. He sang a very clever, ribald song about an inflatable doll, that ended with a Beatle homage...and I was completely hooked! A true artist with both songwriting (ranging from the utterly ridiculous to gasp-worthy to sweet, deep and sublime) and mad grand piano skills, I checked out all his Youtube videos and thought, if he ever tours, I'm going!
Well, guess where I was this past Saturday night? Handing him this digital painting after his concert in Washington, DC!

The words are from one of his sillier (he said so!) songs...if you check him out, be forewarned that his stuff is for adults who don't get offended easily (strong language and subjects).
The other half and I had wonderful seats:

Tim has a policy of meeting his fans after his shows, and he came out and charmed everyone (we were already charmed ;-)

Well, if I can't meet John Lennon or Freddie Mercury.... I'll settle for Tim! ;-)

He chatted with my other half too, and signed his ticket. I had actually printed two of my paintings, one for Tim to keep, and one to sign for me, and he did.

Then I had the audacity to give him my business card! :-O

It was worth turning down a few gigs to have this much fun!

Thanks to Danielle for the above video, and Conan for having Tim on his show in the first place. :-)

It was SO hot that....

2011-07-21T08:23:00.000-07:00

...my Prismacolor Artstix almost melted!

Yesterday's O's game-time temperature was a steamy 95 degrees...and my wax-based color sticks were slimy and sweaty. They don't like direct sunlight in that kind of broiling heat. I did have my easel umbrella for the part of the day that we artists weren't in the shade, but its benefits were strictly for me and my few sitters.
Below: this couple came to me because I had drawn their friends the night before! :-)

Grateful wasn't a strong enough word for my feelings toward AC after that afternoon!

Baltimore masquerading as Boston...

2011-07-20T15:36:00.000-07:00

...as the Red Sox Nation invaded last night for baseball---and caricatures!

She wanted a hamburger, not a hot dog.

Below: Oftentimes, I'll hold on to completed drawings while my subjects enjoy the game unencumbered, and they return as they are walking out to retrieve their special momento. I was using this young couple's caricature as a sample, and a man (not inebriated, I don't think) walked up and said, "Wow! Why didn't they want that drawing? Do you get rejects alot?"

Haha. I explained and he said, "Oh. That makes sense."

Also makes a good story for my blog. :-)

Awkward Faces-Lar

2011-07-19T05:53:00.000-07:00

My friend John Sprague has started his own Facebook sketch challenge group, Awkward Faces, which at the moment is called "Awkward Lar" because this week's subject is webcomic master Lar de Souza. Lar won the last round and so submitted a cringe-worthy photo of himself (with a fanboy at a comic con) for us to take and run with...artistically speaking.

Here is my submission. Time-wise, I'm glad this is an every-other-week challenge.

Caricaturama-Liam Neeson

2011-07-18T11:00:00.000-07:00

Another week has flown by without much time for anything more than a quick sketch--this past week's Caricaturama subject was actor Liam Neeson. I went with black, white and blue Prismacolor pencils on gray Canson paper. He's proven to be a popular subject, at the moment there are more than 160 entries!

A Victorian tea (50th birthday) party

2011-07-17T10:41:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I had a wonderful afternoon drawing a group of tea-sipping, scone-munching ladies--WITH HATS--all celebrating Stephanie's 50th birthday.

What an exquisite house! This is Abigail's Tea Room, in Reading, Pennsylvania. The interior inspired lots of oohs and ahhs--it's been restored to its former glory, complete with original fireplaces, chandeliers, stained glass windows and antiques, after being a daycare for many years. The food, tea and service were all fantastic. Highly recommended by me if you want a unique place for a ladies' day out! (Here are some reviews :-)

( I just adored this peacock feather lampshade!)

The venue wasn't the only beauty of the day--all the guests and the birthday girl were so friendly and ALL were wearing hats or even costumes. (Yes, I was hatted too, you'll see!)

Below: Mary Poppins---I mean, the birthday girl! She made her outfit AND the parrot head on the cane!

(The 12th was her actual birthday.)

My first couple of drawings were these beautiful young ladies:

Below: I really surprised this youngster---she told me her name started with a D---and I said, "Let me guess your name..." I mentally ruled out Donna, and the next name that came into my head was Dawn.

So on the first aloud guess, THAT WAS HER NAME!!!!!!

We kept laughing about it for the whole party, she thought I was psychic! I realized later that I had just used the word 'dawn' in a Words with Friends game with someone the day before--so it was floating around in my "recently used words" folder in my brain, I guess..

Check out all these ladies and their headgear!

The birthday girl's hilarious mother* and grandmother were both in attendance, (bottom extreme left and right) along with sisters and nieces and a son's fiance. Where were the menfolk? As far from a tea party as you can get---at the car races! :-)

*she said if she liked her caricature, she would use it on her casket at her funeral!! :-o

Here is my hat. I wore it years ago when I was a helmet-haired Jackie Kennedy for Halloween and it's been waiting for an airing ever since... :-) Thank you so much, Stephanie, for having me, and happy birthday!