RIP The Great Jack Davis

I'm a couple of weeks ago, my all time favorite cartoonist, Jack Davis, most popular for his work in MAD Magazine has passed away. Mr. Davis along with Mort Drucker are the two men that inspired me to get into cartooning/caricatures. When I was about 12 years old I seen my first MAD Magazine....and there was the wild cartoon work of Jack Davis before me....I was spellbound! I could laugh at just the drawing BEFORE I read the caption! Along with his work in MAD Magazine, Mr. Davis had his work published most everywhere in the sixties and seventies....from magazines, books, posters, lunch boxes....everywhere....even designing the cartoons for The Jackson 5 and The Monkees. And I had the great pleasure to meet my childhood cartoonist hero in Cocoa Beach, Florida....thus launching my caricature career....Thanks Jack!

Kelly Gannon, Caricature Artist in Calgary.....

Here's a couple caricatures I drew over Stampede Week. I didn't get very many as some were kid's events, some...well...I just didn't feel like it, some I'm just a terrible photographer and when there are long line-ups, the last thing a guest wants to see is the caricature artist snapping pictures after they've stood in line for an hour....yikes! :)

Stampede Week Venues

One venue I draw caricatures at during Stampede Week obviously would be...The Stampede Grounds. Though I only had a few events held down there this year as most were held in other parts of the city. For many years I would be down there all ten days drawing caricatures representing corporations from banks, car companies or airlines, etc. I'm pleased I didn't have to be down there much this year as parking and traffic is a pain....food is...well, calorie packed, give me other parts of the city anytime...

I drew caricatures at For Calgary the first day of Stampede Week, looking out the window you would see this empty field, but in a few days this field would be packed with people and the showiest band on the planet...KISS.

And this band ALWAYS gives 110 % I've seen them three times....kind of like Disneyland with guitars....and now the field is back to.....a field....

I'm taking this picture from my van just before I have to get out of a warm, dry van to draw caricatures.....but the venue was supposed to be held outside! So a contingent plan was made and I was down in the basement. This house was one of the first mansions built in Calgary entertaining Dukes, Dutchess's, Prince's and Princess's from around the world.

Stampede gigs are always held in downtown Calgary offices....though not as many as previous years. Again, with parking and traffic mess...I'm alright with that.

I do gigs quite often at Heritage Park, Stampede Week is no exception. My views on Heritage Park as an entertainer? I'll keep those comments close to my chest...

Large tents! Over Stampede Week I drew in many large tents, such as the one above, which was my last event. Usually I'm outside but this year Mother Nature was not in a good mood! Rain...pretty well all week, I was actually happy that I was indoors as the sun plays havoc with my pens....so....tents are good!

Well... Stampede Week is over for another year! Goodbye to high priced parking, bands that played way too loud, horrendous traffic, waking up at 5:30am, junk food and the rain.....and oh, how it did rain! But what can I say.....it was Stampede Week! I usually think of a big ticket item I would like to buy that otherwise would take a bit of saving up to get, then keep that in my mind to get through the early morning starts. This year I wanted to add mesh heads and Roland drum triggers to one of my drum sets....anything with "Roland" in front of it is overpriced, but at least I can pay for it.....:)

Calgary Caricature Artists

Since it's still "Throw back Thursday," I'm posting my fellow Calgary caricature artists...( and you thought we were Willie Nelson's backup band...) I'm the tall sunburnt one in the middle! In one week we'll be drawing caricatures for corporate parties all over Calgary. I have a five hour event Canada Day, then Saturday a long event at a "dude ranch,"....then The Calgary Stampede starts....ten days of hearing......YEE HAW!!!!......

Pre-Stampede Event

A couple weeks ago had me drawing caricatures in Calgary at the Stampede Grounds. The event was for the thousands of employees and volunteers that bring you The Calgary Stampede. Great country band that night, Brett Kissel who a week later was the opening act for Garth Brooks. It was a good warm up for drawing....you guessed it....PLENTY of cowboy hats......

Banff gig

The weekend had me drawing caricatures at The Banff Springs Hotel in the Rocky Mountains. Guests came from all over Canada for this special event.

This picture shows half of the hotel. I work the other half on occasion as it's a convention center.

Calgary Cartoonist

A simple cartoon I drew a few years back was used for a catering company, you never know how these things will be used when you design them. The website is    http://catering.janebondgrill.com/
I see it around Calgary on catering trucks as well. Simple is good! I designed another cartoon for a website that will be launched soon......that's for another day though...

Live Cartoon Caricature

Party Caricatures

Just a couple samples of the many ladies I drew at an accounting event held at The Calgary Convention center. While I was drawing, since I'm a musician in my other career, I couldn't help but hear how darn good the band was.... Kixxsin....a Calgary country rock group. Check out their website...  http://www.kixxsin.com/     They're a great party band that keeps the kick in the music. Great band and great ladies to draw from as far away as Texas.

Here's just HALF the room for the party...add to that the entire lobby. Good time by all! :)

Here's just half the room for the party, plus the entire lobby.

Drive By - Train - Cover - Trio Avenue

Here's a cover tune that I had the honour to play drums on. They have to remix the drum kit though, needs a bit more "thump" on the bass drum. The only problem with using electronic drums on a recording ( I used some Roland 20's) is that the whole kit is on one channel, so if one drum needs to come up in the mix...well, I have to go in and re-do the entire song.:) But I'm good with that!

Banff Caricatures

I was honoured to have drawn caricatures a few weeks ago in Banff for The World Media Festival, the party I was drawing at was for Nickelodeon, which was suiting to have a caricature artist there.  These were writers, producers, directors and so forth.

Driving up I could see the dark clouds starting to gather right over that mountain, and sure enough, when walking to the event from my parking spot...it hit, hard rain coming down, all I could think of was it spoiling the paper, lucky for me I reached the main street just in time to get under the eves of the buildings.

I've always wanted to give this mechanical bull riding thingy a try.....looking to bring out that "inner cowboy?".....Well I'm here to tell you it's MUCH more difficult than one would think to stay on, I can't imagine being on a real bull. This machine threw me around pretty good, a real one would do even better. I can strike this off my bucket list now.....and riding a real one?  Only when pigs fly.....

I did a caricature event for an accounting firm at Spruce Meadows in Calgary. Because of my bad photography, I have few

caricature samples. But I do have to give a shout out to Spruce Meadows for free parking and making it easier for entertainers to work there (UNLIKE Heritage Park which is my LEAST favorite place to work in Calgary...). In the venue I was working at there were two British Guards placed at the doors before we entered the venue....these guys are amazing how disciplined they are!

Looking out the side window, there was just one of the world class horse jumping arenas. Such a classy place!

Calgary Party Caricatures

Two attractive women that I had the opportunity to draw for an engineering firm a week ago.....they are also the gals that hired me! Thanks Chelsey and Roni....the event was fantastic!

These two guests were the most friendly folks I've drawn! MJ is from Chile and Fran is from Mexico. When I asked about their first winter here in Canada, well.....their smiles disappeared quite quickly.....but soon came back.

Kelly Gannon

Party Caricatures in Calgary

Again....I only had time to take one picture of this young lady as there were too many people waiting and I had to get as many guests drawn before the time limit and run off through Calgary traffic which is a nightmare to get to my next event on time. But this gal and pic is a fun one.....thanks Kathy!
Kelly Gannon

BOBBY CURTOLA - FORTUNETELLER in Stereo!

Before Justin Beiber, Canada's teenage heart throb that racked up a dozen or more gold albums was Bobby Curtola. In the late seventies I had the opportunity to play drums at an event for him....man was I out of my element. Being younger I was into Deep Purple and Uriah Heep and so on, then to play this style of music threw me, though now it would be a snap. But he was more than patient! Thanks Bobby.
The article on Mr. Curtola is here....    http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/former-canadian-teen-idol-bobby-curtola-dies-an-amazing-man-who-did-so-much-for-the-people-in-this-world

Kids Caricatures in Calgary

For the last couple of weekends I was drawing the kids at a major lacrosse tournament for kids held in Calgary. Terrific group of young adults! All very passionate about lacrosse. I still can't draw a lacrosse stick all that well, after drawing hundreds of them....

This young girl is as passionate about milkshakes as she is about lacrosse ...( and so am I...)

I dream of Jeannie theme song

The intro to the 60's sitcom, "I dream of Jeannie" was another influence on me when I was younger. (this shows my age....). Again, just like the opening to the sitcom, Bewitched, the caricatures are cartoony rather than exaggerated, which is exactly what I prefer. Simplicity in the drawings are much more difficult than one may think.

Wedding Gig

I was just to tired to take pictures of guests at a wedding gig I did last Saturday night. I had drawn caricatures at a couple day event where I started at 9:00am and finished at 5:00pm....then a quick change in my vehicle, then drawing at the wedding until 11:30pm. This fella was all I had the gumption to take a picture of..... :)

Kids Caricatures in Calgary

A couple weeks ago had me drawing caricatures for a three day event for lacrosse players in Calgary. Two days had me caricaturing for 5 hours each day, though the Saturday was a marathon....from 9:00am to 900pm. On these ones I just did simple body situations as I had line-ups and speed was important to finish them before they had to get back on the field. But a great weekend it was!

My Daughter, Cara, did all the face painting with me. I think it's harder on face painters as they have to "hunch over" to paint the faces....she was pretty sore after that weekend. To hire Calgary Face Painter, email Cara at...      caralgannon@gmail.com

All You Need Is Love Beatles Trubute Band Calgary

I went out last night to see Calgary's finest Beatles tribute band, All You Need Is Love. Great job by all! Keith.....you nailed it! The Beatles are big boots ( Cuban heeled boots at that) to fill and the band did a stellar job doing just that, recreating both the look and feel of The Beatles. Booted and suited they took the audience on a "magical history tour"....... I love it when a band goes the extra mile with proper equipment, look and of course, musicianship and generally caring about the audience first, as All You Need Is Love demonstrated last evening.

Calgary Caricatures

KISS or....Keep It Simple Silly. Seems to work the best sometimes. I was drawing caricatures at a cosmetic counter and was asked to draw the ladies in a high-heel shoe. Most turned out quite well, but was asked just to draw "head and shoulders" by the guests. Often I'm asked to draw with "theme" ideas, such as when I was asked by a major airline to draw all guests in an airplane.....after a few, guests just said..."skip the plane.....just draw me by myself." Sometimes just drawing caricatures the simple way just seems to work the best. :)