Caricatures in Calgary

Sometime last week ( lost track of time???) it was an early morning event in an upscale business tower...then a quick lunch and then off to a trendy restaurant to draw for another business crowd.....these guests were a 10 out of 10 in the FUN catagory..........

Kelly Gannon, caricaturist in calgary, Calgary caricaturist

Worked drawing caricatures at a beautiful mansion last week, complete with butlers..... Decided not to show the guests, instead only a couple of the drawings, fun crowd!

Calgary Caricatures

I'm so far behind right now with all things Christmas! Between Stampede Week and Christmas, these two times of the year have caricature artists in Calgary hoppin. This was a business event I caricatured here....most of the office tower were male..all in all...they were quite receptive when the idea of giving the caricature to their kids was presented....works every time!

Kelly Gannon, calgary characters

It"s been at least a dozen events since I've made my last post, and six more this week...then it really ramps up until New Years Eve. I have to say I'm really blessed to be fortunate enough to live in Calgary to be able to draw caricatures at so many beautiful corporate events....experiencing meeting interesting professionals and working in the most lavish venues around.....above are just two of many very cool people I get to meet and draw!

Kelly Gannon, caricatures in calgary 

I had to include this caricature of Philidelphia caricature artist, John Sprague...definitely one of the top funny caricature artists out there. I just wanted to see how few lines I would need to get a likeness....I think I accomplished my mission................
Kelly gannon, caricatures

I was brought in to draw couples with their jewelry purchases with world renown jewelry designer, Simon G......to say he was such a terric individule to talk to and be around is an understatement! You can check out Simon's elegant work on his website at     www.simongjewelry.com   I did have caricature samples, but where I drew the guests/clients, there was a certain kind of lighting which made the pictures turn out...well....not great.....

When I finished drawing at a corporate event, I seen this beautiful statue display in the lobby of the venue....this kind of artwork has to HUMBLE any other artist...I know I sure am after looking closely at this work of art.

The Asian community in Calgary is very receptive to having cartoon-caricatures drawn of them, and I really love drawing Asians because of their receptivness in the art form...thanks! This was a great experience to have this celebration going on around me as I drew.

I drew caricatures at an exclusive golf course about 12 gigs ago.......wow....that's exclusive!!

Sometimes when drawing a guest that isn't what we would deem as attractive, I like to think in cartoon mode and rather than ridicule the guest, try to make them more cartoony, because it's not about us...it's about our guests in my chair. It's too easy to mock certain subjects, but tougher to make them look nice, and when accomplished...I actually feel all the better for it.
Kelly Gannon, caricatures

When drawing at an event at The Stampede Grounds, I seen this Christmas display...loved it! I'm not sure if the designers just used a "wrap" on the antique vehicle, or actually used tiny mirror squares (am guessing it was a wrap)....but with the lights reflecting in the mirrors, the display was an eye-catcher...even the rims and front grill were tiny mirrors. I would have loved to work on this kind of project myself.

Yes...I do draw more than just females...though males are not as receptive to cartoon-caricatures as the females are, for a while I did try to exaggerate men more to see if they liked that...but no......they were NOT too keen on pointing out big ears, double chin etc....so back to the cartoon-caricature style.

More friendly faces....

Kelly Gannon, charicaturist in calgary, cartoon caricatures, gannon kelly

Friendly Faces

One aspect I love about drawing caicatures "live" as opposed to "studio" are the people from other countries you get a chance to meet. I've included just a couple from an event I drew caricatures at in downtown Calgary in the middle of last week......such friendly faces to draw....it was my pleasure!

Kelly Gannon, caricaturist in calgary, kelly gannon, charicatures calgary

Caricaturist in Calgary

Six caricature events this week in Calgary are keeping me busy as the busy Christmas season approaches. One such event that I do on a regular basis are cosmetic counters in large retail stores. Drawing the female in these types of events with much exaggeration is not called for, or you'll never be hired back (and so it should be..). These are actually my favorite type of events....usually one person drawn on the page, the guest isn't drinking and they're usually in a cheery mood! Love these gigs!

Kelly Gannon, calgary charicatures, caricaturist calgary

Sometimes hard to draw an attractive couple like these two, but thinking "cartoony" works best for me. These two by the way are an architect and an interior designer.....these two were made for each other.............

Calgary Caricaturist

That was my drive into Calgary to draw caricatures early Saturday morning. It was a special event for a high-end jewlery store (might add that the staff were absolutely terrific!) The event was covered live by a radio station, thanks Dalia!
Kelly Gannon, caricatures in calgary

The hill above where I was drawing caricatures yesterday was the hill the movie "Cool Runnings" was filmed with John Candy, ( remember the Jamaican bobsled team?) Never had a chance at all to have the kids hold the picture for a photo as there were 300 kids...and only yours truly drawing them, safe to say I didn't get them all drawn. But...I surprised myself how many I was able to draw per hour when under pressure, so it turned out to be a good thing. The color added was a must as when I first started, not many had arrived, so I threw on color, then all of a sudden I turn around and there are hundreds, so I had to continue with color.................

Kiss

I took "number one Son" a week ago to see KISS for an early birthday gift. Though I wouldn't buy one of their records (but after hearing their song "I was made for loving you" done live, I'll order it on iTunes) they did have a great stage show.....SO nice NOT to see a band in a sloppy old tee shirt, ill fitting blue jeans and a ball cap....THANK YOU KISS! I have the old fashioned belief that a band shouldn't look like the guy in the front row....they're onstage!!

KISS never failed to please the audience with both the pace of the music and of course ....the show. I especially admire when multi-millionaire musicians still respect their fan base enough to invest in the show itself, as they had state of the art lighting, fire, and video. After seeing the last disappointing group...Bon Jovi....(who apparently didn't think they had to have concert lighting, a stage show or anything other than Jon Bon Jovi's looks to sell the band.....). Over all, the evening was well worth the price of admission...and the warm-up band... "Leogun" was one of THE better bands I have yet to see....look out for this group in the future!

Calgary Caricatures

I've found THE best group of people to draw caricatures in Calgary for....after thirteen years, THIS group of professionals take the top place! Situated close to the top of the building in the pic is their offices....they are lawyers! THE most fun, friendly and warm (most clients are...but these guests exceeded that!)

Thanks again Christiana....what a wonderful group you work with!

Kelly Gannon, calgary sketch artist, calgary characters, calgary charicaturist

As a caricature artist, I get the opportunity to work in many different surroundings and situations, which can help break up the sameness for any one with my type of career...I always felt for the artist that has worked at the same theme park for years on end. One event this weekend had me drawing caricatures in Calgary at a cosmetics counter in a popular Canadian retail giant. Thanks Dorota!

Kelly Gannon, calgary caricatures

Calgary Caricatures

An event I drew for accountants....didn't know there were so many "pretty people" as accountants!! It was dark in the venue, so again....blame the camera! Thanks Lisa!

Kelly Gannon

Studios Caricatures

The studio caricatures I drew for the client were framed and shipped off to the client. My favorite mediums are Copic and Prismacolor pens.
Kelly Gannon, calgary caricatures

I havn't made any blog posts for close to two weeks as I've been in a recording studio recording demo's for agents. I had a chance to use the electronic Roland mesh head drums again, as one time I owned a kit of these. I must say that I missed them as I was playing them, with the mesh heads, the reaction time when hitting the surface is very quick compared to the standard heads. Though no matter what Roland does ( in my opinion ) they can never replace the sound of my Sabian AA cymbals. And yes, the demo turned out great! Thanks to Encor Studios with Don Kletke as the producer/engineer.