Monday, January 28, 2008

Company Event - New Hampshire


Liberty Hotel company event


Some people sit for a caricature and don't smile.
It's just not their nature. So how do you add humor
to a serious-looking person? You draw a little body
on them and make them handing a bouquet of flowers
to their sweetie.

Liberty Hotel company event


The other night I drew at a company
event held at the Liberty Hotel in Boston.
My caricature table was set up on the
5th floor. This was my view. Beautiful!

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Comcast/Celtics Event


When I saw this gentleman from across
the room I immediately cast my invisible
fishing line and reeled him into my seat.
A guy like this comes along once in a blue
moon at most parties, so I had a ball
drawing him. He laughed a joyous laugh
when he saw the finished picture.

The key to capturing his essence isn't his
nose, or his beard, or his hat - it's his eyes.
His heavy lids give him a sleepy, mellow
demeanor. Admittedly, I drew his face longer
than I should have. What can I say -
I was overexcited!

Comcast/Celtics Event


This past weekend I drew at an event
(courtesy of my talented associate, J4)
for Comcast. The party was held at the
Boston Celtics' practice facility in Waltham, MA.
That's me taking a break, and behind me
are the actual Celtics running around the
court shooting layups and stuff.

It's kind of funny - sometimes when I arrive
at a party people set me up in a dark basement
with no windows. Other times, I get to draw
in a room with a live view of the Boston Celtics.

Caricaturing has given me many rare opportunities
like this.

Comcast/Celtics Event


Friday, January 18, 2008

Twins?


The contrasting looks of these two gentleman
made caricaturing them a hilarious experience
for me. The guy on the right, Charles, has that
flaring white collar with its nine-foot wingspan,
so I exaggerated it. Raja, on the left, has
jet-black hair which really stands out against
the sea of white shirts. I like to be able to see my
caricatures from across a room. Drawing
bold black areas makes that possible.
(click to enlarge)

Saturday, January 12, 2008

Boston - Hotel Commonwealth Staff Party


Ana was fun to draw because of the shape of
her eyes when she smiles, which I exaggerated
a bit here. The trick to drawing the 'glimmer' in smiling
eyes is to draw black archs with white spots
in the center of them. (click to enlarge).

Boston - Hotel Commonwealth Staff Party


Last night was the second year in a row I was
called by the posh Hotel Commonwealth to draw
at their post-holiday staff party. I contracted
my trusty sidekick J4 to draw with me. It took
a little time for people to loosen up enough
to get drawn, so they headed straight for the bar
and mingled for a while. But soon enough, the caricatures
were popular as usual! The couple above were
originally from Columbia.

Sunday, January 6, 2008

Mass General Hospital Post Holiday Event


This mother-daughter team was fun to draw
thanks to their strong features. Susan, on
the left, has intense light blue eyes and heavy dark
eyebrows - an exciting combo for drawing.
Her feathered hair was fun to exaggerate as well.
I think this is the third year in a row I've drawn
these ladies together. (click to enlarge all photos)

Mass General Hospital -Pediatric Oncology event


This little girl was hilarious. She kept flashing that
wide, zany smile at me. You can see the mischief
in her eyes!

Today's gig was for Mass General's pediatric
oncology department. They call me every year
and I have to hire a couple of artists to work it
with me since there are about 200 people who
attend. It's 3 hours of non-stop caricaturing!

Private House Party - Brentwood, NH


Last night I drove all the way up to the Exeter, NH
area to draw at a private party for a sales team.
(The hostess, Arie, set me up in a room displayed
with her amazing homemade wedding cakes!)

The couple above were fun to draw. The guy, Brendan,
was a real ham all night long - cracking jokes and
laughing a lot - so I knew I could exaggerate his
jock-like appearance and he'd appreciate it.

This is one of those caricatures that really gets the
crowd laughing their heads off. I was laughing
with them.

Private House Party - Brentwood, NH


She has a lovely look - but I had to look very
carefully to capture her likeness correctly due
to her delicate bone structure. He was pretty
easy to draw thanks to his unique smile.

Private House Party


Friday, January 4, 2008

Everyone Loves Caricature!


Here I am drawing a couple of 90-year-old sisters!
They sat very still and looked much younger than
their years. I asked them if they'd ever been drawn
before and they said, "no".

That blows me away. I'm their only portrait artist
in 90 years!

Later, the hostess who hired me for the party emailed
to say that it was her favorite drawing of the
night.

"I couldn't believe that they even did it!" she said.