The Last of the Live Mall Caricatures

Here's the last batch of pencil-and-airbrush caricatures for a while, as I'm starting to get used to using Markettes and artstix here in San Diego. I did these all at another local mall in New Hampshire over the course of 2 and a half weeks with my own setup again. I basically worked 12 hours a day for 18 days straight, did some decent drawings and made a whole bunch of cash! Which is always nice and helpful when you have to drive from one "corner" of the country to the other. Enjoy!

Pock-Marked Vampire


Static EleChickcity


Goblin Girl and Gnome Guy


Big-Mouth Bass Boy
I wouldn't recommend feeding him anything by hand if you're a fan of having fingers.


Birthmarked Pixie


Just a Girl and Her Dog
Happy with how the dog came out.


Eyelash Rakes and Picasso Eyes


Pumpkin Head


Almond-Toothed Girl and the Music Man
These guys were really cool and let me exaggerate as much as I wanted. I definitely learned a lot doing this drawing, and I think it's currently one of the best caricatures I've ever done.


Smiley Face
Thought I'd continue the circle motif in the background.


Magical Girl
I really like how the colors came out in this one.


Orange and Raw Umber
The color of their faces was really easy to replicate, but my favorite part of this is her earrings.


Oval Cheeks
Yeah, I realized what this looks like pretty early on, so I just went with it haha.


Wittle Orange Dress
Aww!-Dorable


The Bearded Dragon Society
That's magical purple smoke, in case you were wondering.


Eyes of Blood


Bumps and Underfangs
These guys got a drawing from me and then came back for another one a couple days later, asking for a funnier one. This was a lot of fun to do and is one of my faves at the moment.


Lopsided Skull


Natural Asymmetry
She was really cool and loved the drawing.


Ornery Owl
She wasn't sure what to make of it, but her son was cracking up the whole time, so that helped.


Chipmunk Chick and Wonky Eyes
Nothing too special about him, but she was a lot of fun to draw and paint.


Witchy Woman and Goateed Guy


Clefted Chin Chica


A Fitting Couple
First date at a mall while being supervised by their mother. Aww! Not really sure why he's kinda floating, but why not?


Inversed Jaw and Round Jaw


Pirate Girls
Depth perception is so over-rated.


Dimple Wells and Best Friend


Downward Lashes and Eye Caverns


Head-Popsicle-on-a-Stick and Hair Swoop of Orange (aka Jenny and Meghan)
My sister Jenny is the one who is not a redhead.

Cross-Country Craziness

Here's a few of my favorite, most artistic photos of sight-seeing, architecture and landscapes that I experienced with my dad on my drive from New Hampshire to San Diego, California over the course of 8 days. I think that most of these photos can't even begin to capture how overwhelming it was to see this stuff in person, but it might at least give you an idea of the awesomess. I was unlucky and lucky enough to lose my year-old camera while at a Boston Red Sox game just a week before leaving, so I ended up getting a sweet new Sony camera that's way cooler than the one I had before. Enjoy!

Cleveland, Ohio
You can see the Rock 'N' Roll Hall of Fame, the Cleveland Browns football stadium and some water.


Chicago, Illinois
The Sears/Willis Tower Skydeck. The view from up there was crazy and a bit scary.


St. Louis, Missouri
The St. Louis Archway, the Gateway to the West. Also got to go up an elevator in this thing and look out from the top. You can't really see the small windows from this angle. It was a really gray, soon-to-be-rainy day.


(Somewhere in) Colorado
Talk about some curvacious green hills. Straight out of Super Mario Bros.


(Somewhere in) Arizona, near Monument Valley
I liked how jagged and fantastical these rocks were.


Monument Valley, Utah
This was probably about a 180-degree panoramic taken from a dirt road you can drive on that takes you down into the valley.


Monument Valley, Utah
This caterpillar was so spiky and cool that I had to grab a shot of it.


Monument Valley, Utah
Probably my favorite photo that I took during the trip. I like the contrast between the crisp and vibrant flowers and the muted, epic background.


Monument Valley, Utah
I like how the plant breaks the plane of the buttes in the background. The swirly white growths of the plant are kinda cool too.


Zion National Park, Arizona
The collage-y feel of this photo was a happy accident. I had left a map of Zion and some brochures about Zion on the dashboard of the car, making them reflect onto the windshield and creating a cool traveling-through-Zion image suitable for a travel book that I didn't notice until afterwards.


Zion National Park, Arizona
I thought the honey-combed rocked was pretty cool.


Zion National Park, Arizona
Waterfalls at the Emerald Pools


Zion National Park, Arizona
Pretty majestic.


Arizona/Nevada
The arrows breaking up the outline of the mountains in the background is pretty cool. I liked this shot when I was taking it because you just want to look out at the scenery but have to turn away from it or your car will go careening off the edge. Don't worry, my dad was driving when I took this shot.


Las Vegas, Nevada
The Venetian. This resort probably puts the most effort into making the interior actually live up to the theme of the resort. I like how they painted the ceiling with clouds and created a just-about-sunset mood with the lighting.


Las Vegas, Nevada
The Palazzo. I liked the reflection of the parasols on the ground.


Las Vegas, Nevada
The Mirage. Pretty appealing on its own; all I had to do was find a good spot to shoot it from and come up with a composition that worked well, which was pretty easy.


Las Vegas, Nevada
Crystals. Some of my favorite architecture in all of Vegas.


Las Vegas, Nevada
Crystals. The blues, yellow-grays, blacks, straight lines and crisp edges really made this shot appeal to me, not to mention the composition.


Las Vegas, Nevada
Crystals/Aria. I really liked how all these verticals lines become diagonals and overlap each other in interesting ways when you stand in the right place while looking up.


Las Vegas, Nevada
The Monte Carlo. I found a good place to half-crouch so that the Monte Carlo words would show up close to and underneath the fountain. I like how the yellow-white of the building contrasts with the warm blue of the fountain and how the water from the fountain drips down in front of the Monte Carlo words and the white statue to the right.


Las Vegas, Nevada
The Sunset Strip. I like the downward diagonal from left to right of the buildings. The van with the girls on it that somehow made it into the photo perfectly sums up the other aspect of Vegas that isn't exactly as family-friendly as guitars, Coca-Cola and M&Ms.

Craft Fair and Expo Stuff

I've done a few craft fairs, expos for hunting and fishing (a bit scary to see who turned up for that one) and motorcycle enthusiasts (got to see some nasty, wrinkly, leather-clad biker chicks), and other random events like a home and garden show that you wouldn't expect to see a caricaturist at. Let's just say that none of them were too successful, but I was able to do a drawing every now and then that I was casually content with, so it wasn't all for practically nothing.

Here's a musician who set up about 20 feet from me and delighted everyone at the home and garden show with non-stop, loud, put-you-to-sleep folk music all 3 days of the show. When I brought in my ipod and some portable speakers on the second day and played music (at less than one-quarter of the volume of his) that would actually give me energy to stay awake and be able to draw, he "told on me" to the organizer of the event that I needed to turn my music down so that he could concentrate on his. I was amazed that he could even hear my music when he wasn't even playing, but I was even more amazed that a 50-something-year-old man couldn't bring himself to walk over and ask me politely to lower my music himself. I'm pretty sure he was getting his revenge on me for my staring at him while I drew him the previous day. Hey, better than a punch!:



And here's a drawing of the guy who was set up to my left. He claimed to be the inventor of "dessert hummus" and was letting people try free samples of it. He had a large stuffed animal camel on his table to lure people over, so most people saw that thing and totally overlooked my caricature display, which is tough to miss. I kid you not, a woman who was extra enthusiastic about the camel asked me, "Did you see the camel?!" as if I hadn't noticed everyone that passed by it for the previous few hours commenting on it. Best investment for his business he ever made, he said. Here he is (the guy, not the camel):



And here are some live drawings that people paid for (as opposed to drawings I did of people indiscreetly while ogling them from afar):

Fidgety Fellow


Horse Teeth: A Family Heirloom


A Look of Familiarity
If this guy looks strangely familiar to you but you can't quite put your bony finger on it, I'll tell you why, my questioning quails, my wondering whippoorwills. It's my papa! Turns out my dad was helping out with the Parenting Magazine booth at the home and garden show I was at, as he art directs a lot of goodness at that magazine's headquarters, McLean Communications. So he stopped by for a visit, and in a successful attempt to lure in customers, I drew my dad for the first time in probably 2 years. Wow! So many beautiful imperfections that I hadn't noticed before, even from seeing him almost daily in a casually-looking-at-him-kind-of-way. I wasn't able to grab a photo of him then and there, but I found a photo from a couple years ago, so that's why the shirt doesn't match:



Wide-Eyed Grimace
As I got close to completing this drawing, I got a chance to actually look at it as a whole for the first time and got that pang in my stomach that's a fun mixture of guilt, surprise, exhilaration, laughter, nervousness and anticipation that you can sometimes get when you realize that you exaggerated a bit more than you maybe intended or when you think the result is potentially going to get a mixed or negative reaction from the person you're drawing. Luckily for both of us, she loved it and was impressed with the detail so much so that she sang my praises when the next person sat down. I must admit, she has a good sense of humor to like this one:


Square Jaw and Willow Tree
These guys were a lot of fun to draw and talk to, the perfect combination:


Freckled Teeth Freak
This was good therapy (for me):


Notice how he didn't smile with his teeth AFTER he saw the drawing? Better than the other way around though.


Wish I'd made her cheeks pink instead of red.


Lonely Cowboy
This guy was set up at the motorcycle expo with his "artwork." Turns out he's been working on 1 (count 'em: one) woodblock carving of a couple riding on a motorcycle FOR THE PAST 15 YEARS! Apparently he only works on it during motorcycle expos, which means that he pays about $300 each time to work for a couple hours on that carving! He didn't have much skill at it, but he probably liked getting a reaction from people when working live. I think I know where he's coming from, now that I think about it...


Bottom-Lip-Biter
I just kinda gave up after awhile on that sweatshirt design. I think I realized, after it was too late, that it wasn't just an abstract design but actually a dragon. Haha whoops!


Gummy Braces
A really cool kid with an awesome smile.

SeaWorld, San Diego

I know, I know, it's been a while since I've posted, especially since for a couple months I was actually posting a couple times a week. I've been pretty busy. A week or two ago I got hired to draw caricatures for Kaman's Art Shoppes at SeaWorld, San Diego! I'll be starting sometime probably in mid-May.

I had been considering my options for the summer for a few months, and after getting turned down for my private caricature stand proposal by my local amusement park, Canobie Lake, and not necessarily wanting to return to Six Flags, New England for a 4th season with so few friends returning, I imagined the impossibly ideal: drawing in San Diego with the Beastheads: Brian Oakes, Nate Kapnicky, Andy Urzua, Beau Hufford, Aaron Philby, Francesca Nunez and more whose work I have yet to be graced with. If you haven't already checked out their blog (or even if you have, check it out again), bask in the amazingness:
http://www.beastheads.blogspot.com/

Of course, living here currently in New Hampshire made this idea seem like quite a leap of faith (and a leap of location), and that was besides the fact that I wasn't sure whether I would even make it past the interview and be considered for the job, provided that Kaman's was even looking for new hires in the first place.

Aaron recommended I speak to Brian, and a week or so later after a few email exchanges I was talking live via Skype video chat to Brian and Beau who were 3 hours behind my time over there in San Diego. Ever since hearing back from Brian a few days later with the go-ahead, I've been so excited about moving out there and working with those guys that I've actually been having trouble sleeping.

I've started to put in some practice time into using the markettes and art stix they use, which are really quite different from pencil and airbrush (as I'm sure you can imagine), as I'm accustomed to using. If you can't imagine it, or you simply prefer differences being presented as useless and rather stupid mathemillumustrations, then feast your eyes:


I'll be spending the next few weeks putting more practice into that and into getting used to drawing cartoon bodies, the classic SeaWorld animals (sharks, dolphins and whales) and the less popular animals (walruses, turtles, seals, polar bears, fish, etc.). I know I'll get used to drawing those animals pretty quickly once I get out there, but I'd like to be at least a little prepared for the job as well. We didn't draw too many themes or backgrounds at Six Flags, but that kind of stuff is their specialty (along with the obligatory beasting of innocent faces), so I'm eager for the challenge now that I'm a bit more comfortable with drawing caricatures in general. Three years of practice will do that for ya.

Alright, enough blogging; back to practicing!

Flight of the Conchords

Here are Bret and Jemaine from the great show "Flight of the Conchords" on HBO. If you haven't had the pleasure of seeing it, there's a plethora of deliciously dry, British-type sitcom/mockumentary humor mixed with unpredictable, funny song parodies of music from a range of different genres. A very different, fun and catchy show if you've got an offbeat sense of humor and a love for the brilliantly stupid. You can find pretty much all their songs on youtube, for starters.



I decided to use nero lead with watercolor for the first time on watercolor paper. I think I prefer the contrast of those dark and thick lines to the rest of the page compared to the more subtle contrast of 4B graphite. It really makes the figures POP! all that much more. I'm a big fan of contrast. Some pieces don't need as much contrast, but with everything going on in the piece, I found it necessary.

For a while I wasn't sure how I would go about drawing the city scape, which is featured on their official poster and on DVD menu screens and made for a great solution of what to occupy the background with. The lines are fairly consistent in width and are also about as thin as you can draw with nero. That being said, as nero is a type of lead, it needs to be sharpened by rubbing it onto a piece of paper until it comes to a chiseled point, and for extremely thin lines, this needs to be done every few seconds.

An obvious solution came to me after finishing with the linework of the figures. I had several black gel-ink pens which smudge easily but were the perfect width for the linework and had a great fluidity that allowed me to nearly perfectly duplicate the look of that cityscape. I first tried one out on a scrap piece of watercolor paper, and without really even trying was able to duplicate the look of the poorly drawn but perfect-for-the-show skyline drawing. I figured out basic placements and compositions of buildings with light pencil and then went in with the pen, really not spending much time on it, and intending to do that so as to really capture the look of the original.

The next dilemma came from how to go about painting the sky around the figures in a single watercolor wash. Luckily for me, when I checked out a dvd menu screen for reference of the cityscape, there were swirly clouds in the sky, which not only added the whimsical and fun quality of the show but also broke up the blue of the sky so that I could paint that blue in 5 washes instead of 1. Much easier.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with this (the negative space of this piece is something I really worked and focused on this time), and it's probably one of the best caricature illustrations I've done if not the very best. Ahhh, progress!!