Bar/Bat Mitzvah Caricatures

Bar and Bat Mitzvah's are another avenue party caricaturists explore. Though I don't do a lot of them, I have done around a dozen or so. As with the case of the one I drew at last week, again, speed and likenesses are the key elements in working at these. Because of the amount of children that attend these, there isn't a lot of time to draw in full body and gag situations.

wedding caricatures

One in a hundred guests that I draw caricatures for have these striking features that can make a party caricature come out so nice....and this young woman is that one in a hundred! I finishEd drawing at an event in Calgary yesterday, had to grab a bite to eat and drive out of Calgary to find a golf course where the event was held, while the rain was beating down to draw caricatures at a wedding. Yes....I did get lost but finally found the venue, changed into my suit in my van and just made it in time to get set up. Thanks Nasra! Oh...the toughest part?...Working right beside the "candy buffet"...

Calgary Event Caricatures

Yesterday was the last, for this year, of drawing caricatures for the lacrosse tournaments. This day was a bit shorter starting at 10:00am and drawing without a break right through until 6:00pm. I actually love this kind of event. Kids were asking for bodies, but not having much time because of line-ups, I had to improvise with a simple body and a "prop" with an arrow off to the side....it saved me a ton of time! Thanks Okotoks Raiders! You guys rock!

This has nothing to do with drawing caricatures....but I'm going Oprah on you with this book. I'm a huge reading nerd that has to have a book going constantly since I was a child. A friend of mine at the gym who is an avid motorcycle rider gave me this book....love it!  Because it is a bit grim, I've made it a habit to have a coffee in the morning and read it on my deck each day. Written by super-drummer Neil Peart, drummer for Canadian rock band Rush, but with no reference to music or drums. In one year Mr. Peart had his 19 year old daughter killed in a car accident, literally months later, his long-time wife died of cancer, one tragedy is bad enough let alone experiencing two so close to each other. To ease the mental pain, Neil Peart chose to ride his motorcycle for months on end,  with the mission to keep moving, and completely miss Christmas. He documents his thoughts and feelings each day while driving his bike through Alaska, all across Canada, parts of the United States, Mexico then on to Belize. Disturbing because of his own dark thoughts and just to keep moving pretty well by himself. But obviously Neil Peart made it through the darkness and conquered what life had thrown at him showing us all not to ever take a loved one for granted, after reading the book one can only admire the man's inner strength.

Calgary Kids Caricatures

This caricature gig was for me a marathon stamina gig! It was about the fourth year I've drawn for an Alberta Lacrosse tournament, love it, but the hour were extended ( not complaining..... )...On Saturday I started drawing caricatures at 9:00am and with maybe a ten minute break, I finished at 9:00pm. On Sunday it was only a five and a half hour drawing time. I'm not sure about other caricature artists here in Calgary, but I actually love the line-ups and pressure of getting as many completed as I can....in my humble opinion, sometimes my caricatures look better! ( maybe it's only in my own mind....:)

Now this young fella's hair is a caricaturists dream......:)

It's always just a bit "odd" when I draw a young child and they want to be drawn as The Hulk.....this one kind of worked, but wouldn't you know it....green was one of the only colors I never had with me that day.....(ps....his Mom fixed his hair right before I snapped the picture.....:)

The history of lacrosse in North America is said to have originated with Canada's First Nations then later adopted by the French Canadians in 1850. It was then declared Canada's National Game of Canada in 1859. Lets just say it's a tad tougher and more physical than billiards........:)

Jazzberry Entertainment caricatures

Jazzberry Entertainment cartoons

I know this cartoon looks much different than any I've done before...but for good reason....I didn't want it to look too smooth or "slick" looking. The idea is to make the cartoon look almost as though a child drew it.. ( some may say I'm a big child! ). I designed this for business cards for a kid's entertainment company called jazzberry Entertainment, of which I'm part of. The site isn't finished yet, but the site address is  
www.jazzberryentertainment.com We'll be adding costumed mascots and children's theme parties of which my Daughter Cara has already put on, but are getting more extravagant all the time.

It's always an exciting feeling when I'm hired to draw caricatures for a corporate party here in Calgary to watch as speeches are going on while I wait for the line-up to start. Sometimes the pressure is on when I have a set time frame and knowing roughly how many I can draw per hour but knowing the first priority is to get a likeness. This event was for a car company this last weekend....terrific group of guests! Thanks Shannon!!

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Party Caricatures

A couple couples from an event I drew caricatures at a "couple" days ago! All were fun to draw and most were from other parts of the province all working in the car industry. You guests made my night a fantastic time....thanks!

Kudos to Canadian soldiers of WW11

This post has absolutely nothing to do with caricatures, but far more important as it's the 70th anniversary of the liberation of The Netherlands from the Germans during WW11 by Canadian led troops. I'm an avid reader of Canadian military history of that terrible time....even though Hollywood chose to ignore the accomplishments of the Canadian soldier, the Europeans and history books have not. ( Even Canadian school curriculums should be embarrassed).

The First Canadian Army strike force fought in mud with virtually no cover against air assault having up to 13000 casualties with 7,600 dying in the fight. Shame on you Hollywood and Canadian school boards for no recognition. I spent some time with a Dutch family in Amsterdam years ago and felt the generosity from everyone I met when it was mentioned I was Canadian. So, again....I'm very proud of what these men had to battle through...I know I couldn't do it!

Odd studio assignment...

Normally I don't do any studio caricatures, but....because a large lacrosse association is hiring me to draw caricatures for their finals, they've requested an "odd" drawing to be done...Johnny Depp playing lacrosse. I said because I don't do studio work that I'll just draw it quick like a live drawing....they were happy with that. I was pleasantly surprised how the few features that Johnny Depp has could stand out with just a few lines of the pen. large eyes, that small goatee and of course...those cheek bones!

Hmmmnn... Trying to make a decision here, I'm off now to participate in my right to vote, though it's advanced voting to avoid line-ups. The leading candidate is a friend of mine and I've caricatured him before, but I can't stand the party he's associated with ( though he's a good guy! )......so....well, guess I'll decide when I get there....

Pet Expo

Calgary's Pet Expo was a terrific event to draw caricatures at. This large event I enjoyed! Pets of all sorts, everything you can imagine to do with owning pets, from pet insurance, pony rides to different gourmet foods. Many thanks to Petsecure!

Calgary Caricatures

I'll be drawing family caricatures Saturday and Sunday at Spruce Meadows this weekend, come out and have your cartoon caricature drawn this weekend.

Just a couple more cartoon-caricatures drawn at this weekend's Comic Con.

Kudos goes out to the very talented women that were doing the body/face painting! Would I do it again? .....Nope.....

One of the body/face painters in our booth painted this character....fantastic! This guys comes in from the next province for the entire weekend....he came out for supper with us, THAT got the attention of the restaurant and staff....

A friend of mine from the gym I attend, Paul was a favorite with ALL the face painters! As you can see....Paul trains just a bit harder than I do..... :)

Body paint by Kayla, a very talented 21 year old I work with quite often. When The costume and mask were added to this guy, it was unreal! I remember drawing this guy at a pre-convention parade gig last year...below was the drawing.....

Comic Con first day...

Here I was in between Vikings and body painting, drawing cute kids at Calgary's Comic Con. Yes...I did draw some more aggressive caricatures that day....lots of green hair, piercings and so forth. Amanda Tozser is the magnificent face'body painter that I share the booth with.....tough to get noticed! Amanda is an amazing face painter that lives in Airdrie where I live. Who knows what day two will bring....I left out the other wilder caricatures for now....I can only imagine what kind I'll be drawing this weekend!

Party Caricatures

A couple bearded gentlemen drawn this morning in Calgary. One is a writer....one is a musician, you guess which one is which! Either way, both great guys to chit-chat with!

Barry Whitwam

The last cartoon-caricature I completed for the drummer for the sixties British Invasion band, Herman's Hermits. Barry Whitwam is the original drummer and is still with them in the UK today...though they don't have their lead singer Peter Noone. Barry is the character in the back of the picture.I always loved the cartoon style caricatures of The Beatles, The Jackson 5 and The Monkees. Sometimes caricaturists can be a bit critical of this style as we go for the "cartoony" look rather than exaggeration.Drawing very simple with a lot of lines left out can be a major challenge as sometimes you want to put that one last line in there...simple is ....simply good in this case.  Barry did message me that he he..."approved".....

Comic Con

Yes....I'm still at it, though my posts don't show it. Another "regular" caricature gig this Tuesday, then Thursday to Sunday I draw a certain kind of caricature at Calgary's Comic Con. I've Googled the idea I came up with and am confident it's the only kind of caricature done this way on the globe ( perhaps there's a reason for that....) It could be a complete bust, which is fine, I can then say I tried, though the money spent on the signage, booth fees and paper, parking and food....well, it would just be marked under "lesson"......

Leave Your Lover Sam Smith Cover Trio Avenue

New artist Sam Smith seems to be hot this year, a great voice at that! The band I play drums in, Trio Avenue, recorded one of Sam Smith's songs, as we're doing a high-end event next month and they wanted a bit more subdued but current set list....these tunes are new to me as well! The drumming is quite simple though, here I'm playing a Roland 20 series V-Pads.....

Air 106 radio

At first I thought that it was an April Fools joke being played on me when a radio station showed interest in my career as a caricature artist and wanted an hour long interview.....I was hesitant to get back to them at first so my lovely Daughter did....and yes....it was all legit! I went in today to a radio station with a great playlist, from today's hits and going back a few decades with modern pop being the music genre. Here's a link to the station   http://www.discoverairdrie.com/index.php?Itemid=55   Perhaps on a blog, but on live radio it did feel a bit uncomfortable talking about myself, but the commentator, Ty Tomasta ( who was absolutely a fantastic person to help you relax) went over what questions he was going to ask after each commercial break, so I could prepare an answer in my head first...thank you so much Tyler!! Ryan Seacrest....move over...........

Family Caricatures

I changed the size of paper I use and now just use 9 by 12"....at this event a few weeks ago I managed to squeeze the whole family onto the paper. I always prefer using a smaller size than the standard 11 by 14" that most caricature artists use. Sometimes when using the larger paper I feel compelled to draw bodies and gags with all that extra white space! :)

Party Caricaturist

It's been awhile! Yes...I have been doing caricatures at events, lately I just haven't found the need to take as many pictures, ( plus it can get uncomfortable for the guest!). I'm also preparing to be drawing a certain type of caricature at the Calgary Comic Con. This will be something totally new to me or for that matter, I think I'm the very first in the world ( that I know of...) to try these types of caricatures. They could be a bomb or they could take of....one never knows, though the cost of a booth there is not the price of a dinner....more like a flight somewhere...then a dinner..... but it's all good as it's a fantastic event held only once a year here in Calgary, a must see as it's the second largest one in Canada. I'm working on signage right now, something that will fit the type of caricature style I'm going to try....until then.....Tally Ho.....

Caricature Artist in Calgary

Some company parties stand out more than others...this here was for a terrific company based in Calgary called 4 Star Electric. I had fun with these guys and should have copied down some of the jokes I heard as there were some good ones! I was biased maybe as my Son is an electrician. Thanks Angela! Beautiful group of people you work with!