Live Caricatures!

posted 10.26.09 at 12:00 am
 In 1991 I started drawing live caricatures.  For 14 or so of those years I worked in various theme parks across the country, as well as running retail caricature operations and training artists in this unique and challenging art form.
Any work I have gotten or will get as an artist I can trace right back to the days of sitting in the chair out in public, drawing funny pictures of people as others line up and look on over my shoulder.  This can be a very humbling experience for an artist, obviously, as the thought of complete strangers looking over your shoulder as you create a finished work of art can be very daunting to say the least.  Those days out 'in the trenches' helped shape the artist and worker I am now.  I learned how to draw on the spot, quickly and efficiently, and to take criticism from people who have absolutely no experience in, nor know anything about what I'm doing.
I don't work full time in the theme parks anymore, though I do from time to time get hired to draw at 'gigs', drawing for a few hours at company picnics, parties, here and there.
I did one last Saturday, and for the first time actually took pictures of what I was doing.  (That was hard for me, personally, as once I finish one of these quick sketch caricatures, I tend to just want the drawing to go away and never look at it again.)
With that said, here's some shots from the weekend. Sorry for the glare on some; I draw with a thick mechanical pencil, and the flash sometimes caught the graphite.
BTW, these are all 5-10 minute drawings...






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