Caricaturist in Calgary

For my international friends that follow my blog, here is the city I draw caricatures in...Calgary.

The fireworks are at an event I draw caricatures for every year...Global Fest. In the front you see an odd looking shape of a building with lights around it (called The Saddledome), this is where The Calgary Stampede Grounds are situated, which has me drawing caricatures at The Calgary Stampede most everyday (about 3 event a day in some cases). And lastly...the downtown core in the background...this is where I draw caricatures on a steady basis...though tomorrow I'll be drawing at neither of these locations, I'll be at The University of Calgary.

Caricatures at kid's parties

Drawing caricatures at kid's birthday parties is big in Calgary, another one I did just before a corporate event was fun for me last week. I can generally squeeze the birthday party inbetween night time events. The toughest part of this birthday party was smelling that great aroma of Chinese food and knowing I had to work....no time for eating! If I didn't have another destination after this event I would have stopped off at a Chinese restaurant because I was craving Chinese food after the event....... click onto the Kel Studios Entertainment logo on the right hand side if you want to book me for your birthday party....young or old.....

Calgary Caricatures

Drawing for schools is another avenue as a caricaturist in Calgary does when not drawing at corporate events. I drew at this one and had to really increase my speed as I had a very tight time frame. For a number of years I had drawn the full bodies with sport/hobby/bad habit situation in the drawing but it took a long time and I had parents in the parking lot waiting to pick the child up after school. Instead just a "thought bubble" is quicker now and I just get completed in the allotted time frame.

Calgary Venue

I drew caricatures last week for an oil company here in Calgary and while speeches were being made and I was waiting, I just thought that this venue, called Gasoline Alley, has to be my favorite venue to draw caricatures in. I've drawn here many times and still find new things to look at. There is much more to the venue to see than what I've shown here, but couldn't walk into the other areas while speeches were taking place. The evening was a huge success. Thanks Pablo!

Calgary Cartoonist

I finish up drawing these two cartoon-caricatures for a client today to be used in an advertising situation. I was fortunate enough to get some great pics to work from and a clear idea of what the client wanted....two aspects that are important when I start a caricature project.

Calgary Cartoonist Kelly Gannon

Calgary Caricaturist

Drawing caricatures in Calgary for Toyota.

Kelly Gannon, Calgary caricatures

A practice I don't do all the time, but I had a gentleman call me about getting a caricature drawn at my home...I usually say no, send a photo, but he wanted it right away, he had been at an event I was drawing at and didn't get a chance to get one drawn and was from another country and wanted one done. So I pulled out the Prismacolor Artstix and threw some color on, it started me thinking that if someone just wanted "head and shoulders," I preferred drawing the caricature with the client sitting in front of me rather than looking at a photo. The client went away happy.

Church Events

I've noticed the rise of interest in caricature entertainment in my business by drawing at church events, and I absolutely love doing these. Above is one I drew at on Saturday morning....terrific group of people! Thanks Janice!

Calgary Cartoonist

Framed for the client, I reduced the 8 by 10 originals and had them matted and framed for him. It was for a pilot that used them for a flip-chart as a presentation. The idea was NOT to make them slick and over-worked looking. I had read a book once about John Hench, the principal imagineer for Disney (now deceased) and when he made comps or "roughs," I liked the looks of them better than some of the finished work. So with the time frame and budget, I did a loose digital watercolor with basic drawings (they were to be looked at for simply a matter of minutes at the presentation)...so we got the idea across...with cartoons it's always in a fun way to grab the attention!

Teenage attention

Drawing these two young ladies yesterday was a challenge...texting and checking the internet....perhaps I should tape a mirror to the top of my shoe to see their faces......

Drawing the Asian Female

Different nationalities have different features that a caricature artist has to learn to keep in mind when drawing the public, I've seen so many artists that don't differentiate from the different races. Above is a delightful Asian Woman I drew at an event yesterday. Obviously, very dark hair, next, the chhek structure, very dominate and rounded. The nose....shorter in length and a bit wider than the Caucasian, The space from the end of the nose to the top of the lip is also more spacious than the average Caucasian, usually with thicker lips. Next to keep in mind would be the chin, keep it small with not a lot of space from the bottom of the lower lip to the the bottom of the chin.

Lastly, the eyes....NOT always at an angle that we may think, but quite often, but keep in mind the eyeball should be a semi-circle, NOT a comple circle. There is usually not a lid involved, but do keep the eyebrows up quite high from the top of the eye.

There you have it! A basic lesson I've learned the hard way on how to draw the Asian guest. And again, I thank this lovely lady above to be my model for this small lesson, she was an absolute joy to draw and talk to!

Calgary Caricatures

When drawing some caricatures such as the young gentlemen above with dark hair, I like to leave all shading and any color out of the picture for a nice clean look that pops at first sight because of the black hair. No need to add anything else when they have dark features like these guys. I was drawing in a fashion section of a department store this week.

Retail Caricatures

It's been a long time since I've been asked to do "Retail Caricatures" where you charge for each drawing, but I thought I'd try it again last week....and loved it, mainly because I was non-stop. I remember times working at both Calaway Park and Disneyland where I sat for what seemed like hours with no one around...the key???? Keep the price affordable..

Caricatures by pictures

I'm still not too sure about when a person standing in line to get a caricature drawn pulls out their cell phone or a picture from their wallet/purse, and asks if I'll draw their children such as the picture above a few days ago....if the picture is a good one as above, no problem, but when it's the size of a dime...welllllll...

Birthday Party Caricatures in Calgary

I thought this was a terrific idea that a Mother had when she had me draw at her Daughter's birthday party a few weeks ago...she bought some painting canvas's, paints and craft supplies at The Dollar Store, then had the girls decorate their own canvas to glue their cartoon-caricature into the middle, it was cheaper than framing and much more creative.

Calgary Cartoonist, Kelly Gannon

My version of a sixties British pop band. I've always been a huge fan of the sixties Saturday morning cartoons of bands like The Monkees, The Beatles and The Jackson Five. I loved the simplicity of their design. I was honoured when drummer Tony O'Keeffe used the cartoon drummer on his facebook (he had the gentleman courtesy to ask first).Tony is in the group that works twice a week in The Cavern Club in Liverpool recreating the Mersey Sound of the sixties. Check out www.theshakers.org.uk Great band!

I hired a logo artist out of Montreal,Canada to create a logo for my Daughter's event booking agency, I just love what he came up with! Thanks Johnny...great job! My Daughter and I chose the color purple for it's vibrancy and polls show the color purple is most chosen by children and artists and has become known as "the ideal color!" I use Prismacolor Art Stix quite often behind my caricatures at live events and took an unscientific poll just for myself to see which color the general public prefers....purple was the most chosen color, thus it cemented my decision for the Kel Studios Entertainment logo. The event agency's website will be constantly added to and updated throughout the year, as I have a great website builder...thanks Davinder! I didn't go for the "completed" website yet as I've come to accept that I constantly change my mind on design, so I set it up very basic, then will add and subtract from the site as the year progresses. http://kelstudios.com

New Year's Eve

Tonight is New Year's Eve, a caricature drawing event for me tonight and one early tomorrow morning, then I depart from The Kananaskis Resort and come back home to catch up on household building projects that have been neglected. Having talked to many people, they didn't like 2012! Not sure yet how I feel about it, my caricature entertainment business was great, other things, not so...but then, that's life. Wishing you a Happy New Year...and please....don't drink and drive.......
Kelly Gannon, Calgary Cartoonist, cartoonist in Calgary

Christmas Day had me doing two events at Kananaskis Resort, above is another entertainer that day, Deano The Magic Man to help entertain a large group.
Added to the list of entertainers is a face painter, temporary tattoo artist, a balloon artist and a band. I'll be finished the event on New Years Day....good thing they have a great gym to work out in as we get food all day long.......
Kelly Gannon, Caricaturist in Calgary

Cartoonist in Calgary

What a nice surprise today in the mail! Laura Bruccoleri had sent me a tee shirt and newspaper clipping of the cartoon logo I had drawn of her pitbull..Piper! The cartoon "dog caricature" was also included on the banner used. I love it when I do a design for someone and they have the thoughtfulness to send me a copy of the printed material....thanks so much Laura!!!
Laura is the blond lady walking the white pitbull ...(Piper..who had just finished yesterday filming a television commercial)...and as a side note...Laura's husband, Mike was a member of the 60's British Invasion pop group, Herman's Hermits...you have two celebrities in the house Laura!
Kelly Gannon, Cartoonist in Calgary, Calgary Cartoonist

Caricature artist in Calgary

Absolute fun couple that said..."exaggerate!" My favorite from this week's caricature events in Calgary so far....thanks!
Kelly Gannon, Caricature Artist in Calgary, Calgary caricature artist

Calgary Caricaturist

Here's the other nine caricatures for a corporate website, and as stated in the post below, to be colored in next year. This week will be one of the heaviest live event wise as many days will have two events and I'll be drawing steady until January 1/2013...then a long awaited break!
Kelly Gannon, Calgary caricature artist, studio caricatures, caricaturist in Calgary

Calgary Caricature Artist

Here's a few of the caricatures that will be put onto a company's website.....nine more to go. As mentioned in a previous post, the client wanted them completed early this week so we compromised on delivery date and buget to have them simply in black and white for now with the option of having them digitally colored in the new year. Kind of reminds you of "The Brady Bunch"........
Kelly Gannon, Calgary Caricature Artist, studio caricatures, gift caricatures

Christmas event

Add snow to the resort above, and this is where I'll be drawing caricatures from December 23rd to January 1st, including two events to draw at on Christmas Day. It's a bit of a drive, but well worth it when you get inside the resort. When doing the gig I can eat in a five star restaurant and go to a great gym, underground parking, as well as soak in a hot tub outside with snow around me looking up at the mountains. The guests are terrific as I've worked the resort a few years in a row now and they remember me from the previous years. The downside...I'd love to see my little Grandson open up his gifts Christmas morning! Because of his last open-heart surgery....we spoiled that little guy.....he deserves it....

Calgary Cartoonist

This cartoon design was finished LATE last night ( about 1:30 am ) for a client that has an automotive company and would like to have it printed onto tee shirts. It's a vintage Corvette and a woodpecker mechanic....The logo and lettering will be added after  to make a bright tee shirt. When doing this type of cartoon project for a tee shirt, it's best to keep the colors to a minimum for cost purposes.Thanks Jan! LOVED doing the project!
Calgary Cartoonist, Kelly Gannon