Calgary Cartoonist

A fun retro cartoon I drew the other night when I just couldn't sleep! A sixties go-go dancer.....not sure where that idea came from! Guess it's my salute to one of the greatest decades of music there ever was....or ever will be.
Kelly Gannon, Calgary Cartoonist

I can't show any pictures, but I had the pleasure to draw caricatures a couple weeks ago for The Calgary Flames at a private event. The venue was a great atmosphere that I draw at quite regularly, done up like an African village with a night time display close by. I've drawn tens of thousands of kids in my career, but when the event was over, all the entertainers agreed.....the kids at the event had to be the best behaved group we have ever entertained! ( and yes....the adults were as well....:) Great kids! And yes....a great team as well!

Crowsnest Pass Caricatures

I was asked a couple weeks ago to draw caricatures for a government agency at the Crowsnest Pass in the Frank Slide Interpretive Centre. (more on that later...). I drew mostly kids as it was a family event with my daughter Cara helping me by face painting the kids. I really enjoyed this event, great staff, venue and even liked the drive!

This young fella has a handshake that would break your fingers.......:)

The story behind the Interpretive Centre where I drew caricatures is an interesting and sad one at the same time. It was a small mining town located below Turtle Mountain. In 1903 it took about 100 seconds to have 90 million tons of limestone to come down the side of the mountain ( it's still hard to visualize that!). Around 70 to 90 people were killed during that horrific act, some bodies were never found. Below is a great turn of that century photo.

Calgary Face Painter

As Halloween quickly approaches, my daughter Cara has a couple openings left in the daytime to paint your face for that Halloween party you're planning on attending. To contact Cara, .....
caralgannon@gmail.com

Cruise Ship Caricaturist...Kelly Gannon

Throwback Thursday....About five years ago I had the great opportunity to have had the agency that handles Royal Caribbean Cruise lines and Celebrity Cruise lines call me to work around parts of the world drawing caricatures aboard their ships. This job was as close to Heaven on earth that I could get....:) I worked just two hours a day on "sea days" and had the "port days" off to go see the sights of whatever country I found myself in. It just doesn't get any better! :) Thanks Paul!!
Kel Gannon, Kelly Gannon

Calgary Caricature Artist

I had 3 fun gigs last week but am looking forward to this weekend as I'll be drawing caricatures for a professional sports team. I won't say who until after the event as there are rules involved at this one. :) The above cartoon/caricature of the delightful couple was drawn at a golf course event held in Calgary. Thanks Natalie!

Calgary Caricature Artist, Kelly Gannon

A wonderful event I drew caricatures at a couple weeks ago (that's how far behind I am posting....:). It was a themed event....1966.....a great era ( at least for music and television....AND cars). I only had a chance to get a couple pics......hurry, hurry....but it's all good!

Kelly Gannon

Calgary Face Painter

Calgary Face Painter Cara Gannon has another Halloween face paint design done up. To book a Halloween creepy face paint on Halloween day, email Cara at...   caralgannon@gmail.com
Cara Gannon, Calgary Face Painter

Calgary Cartoonist

I went to see a singer in a lounge a few weeks back and sure enough, the singer was so "visual," I drew a cartoon of him from memory. And yes....his show was a retro style show, thus the retro style cartoon drawing.
Kelly Gannon

Kelly Gannon...Calgary Caricature Artist

Here's a couple delightful polite young ladies I drew at Sunday's event. Generally the younger kids I now put some sort of "gag" and draw a body in, but at a little older age I found most don't want that......just a "head and shoulders" drawing seems to please.
Kelly Gannon....Calgary Caricature Artist

Creepy Halloween Face Painting

My Daughter, Cara, is a Calgary face painter and is now taking bookings for Halloween day to face paint in a...well....horror, creepy style! above is both Cara and a small sample of one of her many face paint designs. You can contact Cara for Calgary face painting at     caralgannon@gmail.com  And yes....she does cutesy, toned down kids face painting as well......:)
Calgary Face Painter

Wedding Event Caricatures

I had a few caricature events this Saturday....after my afternoon event it was hop in the vehicle, go through drive-through to get some fast food, change in the truck into a suit.....then on to draw at a wedding with wonderful guests! Mostly firefighters, 911 call operators and paramedics. Thanks Morgan!

The entrance leading to Saturday night's wedding had a bit of the decorations from the Calgary Zoo's spectacular night time show "Illuminasia." You can see the website that will show samples of what they look like when dark arrives....   http://www.illuminasiacalgaryzoo.com/#welcome

I couldn't see the show as I got out from the wedding after it had closed for the evening, but plan to go back as I draw caricatures at another event there in a couple weeks for an NHL hockey team private party....please do go to the website to see the fantastic light displays.

My fist gig yesterday had me drawing caricatures for a Ronald MacDonald House to raise money for parents of sick children to help lighten their burden by giving them a decent place to stay while visiting a sick child....such a GREAT cause! Please throw a few bucks into the money bin the next time you visit a MacDonalds....does the heart good!

Different Venues 2

Here's another venue last week I had the opportunity to spend four hours drawing caricatures at. I heard from staff that more than one customer complained about putting Christmas decorations up this early.....certainly not the staff's fault....:(

Different Venues 1

Last week had me drawing caricatures at eight events....all kinds of different venues, from inside to outside, classy to industrial, such as the venue above.

Here's just a few of the many kids I had a chance to caricature/cartoon today. I'm not going to use all the shading for a while because of the time factor... ( these kids stand in line in the hot sun for quite a while to get drawn...).  I kind of like the clean look to the drawings without the Prismastick shading. I have 9 caricature events in Calgary this week so I'll be able to determine if I scrap the shading altogether by the end of the week.
Kelly Gannon

Drawing Caricatures Outdoors

Drawing caricatures outdoors can sometimes be a bit of a challenge, especially when it's a hot day....though windy days can also present problems, like trying to hold down the paper! Me....hot, sunny days are my scourge! Why....the ink in my pens run like water after it heats up and is a bit uncontrollable....kind of like "herding cats..." I find that I always have to shift the chairs around as the sun lands up hitting the guest right in the face and thus the "squinty eye" look. I use a Mars brush marker when drawing....nice, but if one drop of rain hits it...well....it looks like a photo of Tammy Baker with the smearing makeup look. Needless to say, the above caricatures were drawn outside.....but I was lucky....I had a tent..... :)
Kelly Gannon

Rock and Roll Caricatures

TBT......On throw-back Thursday, last year I was scrolling through Facebook and seen a post by the legendary rock band from the sixties, Paul Revere and the Raiders had made a Facebook post with some of my cartoons I drew for the band a few years ago. They had to leave out Paul Revere as he had passed away but I was lucky enough to have drawn him and meet him a few times. The band is still touring under the name Paul Revere's Raiders. Good guys....great band!
Kel Gannon

Restaurant Gig

My photography keeps getting worse....ha ha. I drew caricatures at a restaurant last week and again....not much light.....just whatever came through the blinds....:)

Jack Black

Here's an older "kinder....gentler" pencil sketch of Jack Black....

A lovely couple I got to caricature the other night....I must take more pictures next time!

Chris Isaak

I had the great pleasure to have seen Chris Isaak last week at The Grey Eagle Casino in Calgary...FANTASTIC show! Great voice...Great band....Great light show and sound. His humour was an entertaining part of the show besides his showmanship. Chris Isaak is a highly recommended show.....I'm sure the audience will agree.

I've just finished recording a new cd for Trio Avenue, playing drums on it. For drum techies, I played a Roland 20 kit with Sabian hi-hats and a Sonor snare drum. The cd consists of cover tunes in the Motown genre covering a number of Smokey Robinson tunes as well as a few Roy Orbison numbers. This one I'm quite proud of how the cd turned out....a lot of work but well worth it!

Wedding Caricatures

My photography has a lot to be desired for sure!  But it was a bit dark and there was a huge light right behind the guests.... so I have an excuse.:) Wonderful guests at a wedding Saturday night made the evening enjoyable for me...thanks Sumeet!

Party Caricatures in Calgary

The "sunshine Gods" were with us last Saturday as I had an outdoor event to draw caricatures at in Calgary when all week....well....it rained! The venue was a very cool building owned by a very cool woman...Shakers! It's all geared towards family entertainment. I was set up close to the racetrack...(never heard a thing....) So if you're stuck on something to do with the family one day....head on down to Shakers!