One of my caricature gigs this December was themed with the minions of Despicable Me fame.  Who can resist these adorable little characters, and they inspired me to draw a Christmas vignette.  Though I usually only draw personalized cards for my three daughters, sisters and mom exclusively, I got such a kick out of this little group of minions, I decided to send them out to a number of friends and extended family as a Christmas card for the first time EVER!  It would sure be delightful to add their funny little voices to the scenario.

The Game of Thrones series on HBO is wildly popular, and I have read all the available 1000 page books the show is based on, so I thought it would be a blast to do a caricature of the most notoriously conniving, rich, lecherous, bloodthirsty, yet brilliant and entertaining clan of the Lannisters.  My favorite is Tyrion, the dwarf (played by the fantastic Peter Dinklage) who uses wit, sarcasm, and guile to make up for his diminutive stature, and thwarting the evil designs of his enemies and scheming family.

Caricature for a couple married at Lake Tahoe about a month ago and wanted a picture done for their "post" wedding reception in Manhattan Beach.  I'm always moaning about my distaste drawing from photos, and this was another example for my angst.  When I met Brian, I was dismayed because he looked more full faced in the photos Sara had sent me.  He was much thinner in the cheek and chin areas in person, and when he saw the drawing, I could tell he wasn't exactly rapturous.  Sara seemed more than pleased however, and said she wanted to cry, so I got at least a 50% approval rating on this one.  Their guests at the reception that I drew seemed even more effusive: a never ending line waiting to be drawn, lots of laughter, fun conversations, praise, and $300 in tips (a record for me) for the six hour time frame, and that was over and above my fee for the event.  I went home with a pocket full of cash, a check for services rendered, and a rather large smile on MY face!! :D

A sibling birthday wound around quickly for another year, along with the need for a fresh idea from previous endeavors.  Shauna has participated in the popular Color Run in the past, so that was the theme I chose for this years' card.  The first creature that came to mind was the Cameleon, which I felt fit in perfectly, their bodies changing like camouflage to blend in with their environment, just as the runners become similarly "indistinguishable" as they pass through the gauntlet of colorful powder splatting their bodies and billowing in the air.  The wet on wet technique of watercolor was the perfect medium to get the effect I wanted.  I wrote a poem on the inside to go along with more splashes of color and happy birthday wishes.

A client wanted a caricature of her friends who live in the US now, but are originally from the Ukraine and love their heritage, so included are a country setting, costumes, beer, and their German Shepherd...done in ink and Prismacolor.

The mood hit to draw some non-commissioned caricatures, so I decided to do a parody of some principle actors in the film "The Expendables".  As most have met or exceeded what is considered their "mature" Hollywood years, I thought it would be fun to depict the action stars as having become a bit creaky with affects and toll exacted upon their bodies after long careers of physicality, the title of course a play on the adult diaper brand Depend.  I wanted to show the difference between the b/w line drawing and the color finish which was done in watercolor.  In case you think my likenesses suck and can't tell who they are: Top row l to r ; Chuck Norris, Dolph Lundgren.  Middle row l to r ; Terry Crews, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Bruce Willis.  Bottom; Randy Couture, Jet Li.

Five years ago, a mother I met while helping out at work parties for my first daughter's Grad Nite at TC High School learned that I did caricatures, and she asked me to do one for her daughter, who was graduating and going on to college at San Jose State.  Her son has now graduated as well, is going to Northern Arizona University, and she desired a caricature for him too.  I asked her if she wanted to see a rough sketch before going to final, or would she just trust me, and bless her heart, she let me do my thing without any input!!  This was a lot of fun...hope they like it.

I received both a voicemail and email on Thursday afternoon from a potential client telling me a caricature artist he had hired weeks earlier and payed half up front to draw his parents had totally flaked on him and was desperate to get them drawn and printed on t-shirts by Saturday for a family cruise on the Disney ship "Magic" to Spain.  I agreed to help him in his time of need, but he was at work and didn't get pictures emailed until after midnight.

 A rough drawing was sent Friday mid morning and while waiting for a response,  I decided to go to the gym for a workout, arriving back home around mid afternoon.  I had mistakenly drawn them facing the wrong direction, as he wanted to mimic a Mickey and Minnie Mouse design.  He also had few other suggestions and modifications for the final.  I flipped the drawing in Photoshop and made the decision to do the finish digitally with my Wacom tablet.  What a mistake!!!  First of all, when a drawing is reversed, it doesn't quite translate properly and changes need to be made, the most telling being the redirection of the mother's hairstyle and subtle adjustments to the facial structures.

I had such a hard time controlling what I wanted to accomplish with the digital pen, especially the line quality, direction and flow on the slick surface of the tablet while gazing at the results on the computer monitor.  The eraser tool was easiest for me to command and it was called to service A LOT!!

Since I had promised he would have a completed drawing by Saturday morning, with much aggravation and exhaustion I worked through the night drawing, erasing, redrawing, erasing ad nauseam trying to get it right, and I finally added the final touches bleary eyed around 8 am.  I was tempted to take a break before completion, but I had a gig at two Saturday afternoon, and was afraid I wouldn't have the time or energy to get it done before needing to leave, so I bit the bullet and plowed through till done.  The client said I was a lifesaver, and the final was fantastic, so at least he was happy!

After a short nap I drove to my birthday party gig and made 3 times more money in 2 hours than the approximately 14 total hours toiling on this one drawing.  "Perfectionism" (and bad decisions) can be a mighty curse sometimes.

My mother turns 78 this week.  She has always loved to sing and perform, so I decided to focus on her talent for music, and the thought of a songbird came to mind.  Though I enjoy cartooning, I wanted this time to approach the task in a more painterly, slightly more realistic direction with the bird and surrounding decor.  My desire was to make the lettering represent the look of notes on clef bars.  The bottom painting is a flower added to the inside of the card as a little bonus and having fun with watercolor.  I'm betting the note added inside combined with the artwork will bring a little tear to moms eye.  It doesn't take much now days to get the waterworks flowing. :)

It's hard to believe my friend Kenny and his buddies have been doing this event for 28 years!  Each season they travel to different locations, and a new design is commemorated on t-shirts.  I was commissioned years 5 through 7, cartoony versions of their drunken antics combined with golf.  They went a different direction for the ensuing years until this one when Kenny asked me again.  Though I love to do cartoons, I decided to try a more serious design like approach and practice my pathetic Photoshop/Illustrator skills.  It took me an eternity to accomplish, but after all my plodding, cursing, trial and error, I did learn some new techniques and like how the finish turned out.

All of my girls are now out of their teens, as my youngest Lauren turned 20 on the 23rd of May.  In July, she and her sister Kristi are traveling together to Thailand for about 5 weeks, so I used that as inspiration for her birthday card.  A film called The Life of Pi was popular this year, so I did a word play to commemorate the big trip, and along with working on a farm interspersed with sightseeing, the girls want to ride on elephants and cuddle with tigers as part of their experience....so into the card they go!

These were some frustrating drawings for me!  I don't charge enough for my work, nor am I good at setting boundaries or saying no!!  The bane of being a people pleaser.  No matter how strongly I stress the importance of being sent clear, current, unobstructed, un-dark, large as possible photos from the client, I rarely get what I need to help me get a good likeness.  Beyond the plethora of logos this mother wanted included as an ode to every college and sports teams associated with her boys, and the complexity of drawing an instrument such as the French Horn, she repeatedly nixed the bodies/scenes I  put them in, had a hard time seeing their likeness, and I wasn't capturing their personalities!  Because I know them so well, and I'm inexplicably supposed to pick that up through osmosis from crappy 2D pictures!  After numerous roughs and revisions, she still was not satisfied.  I emailed her and told her she should find another artist to make her happy, because I was done with all the nitpicking and unrealistic expectations.  Suddenly my drawings became awesome, and she was more than pleased with them.  Despite my little snit, and feeling far from anxious to continue, I decided to complete what I had started.  I even made more revisions, hoping to make her happier still.  So thrilled to be done!!

Commission from a father for his son's birthday, including family and their dog.  When I sent a rough drawing for his approval, he thought I made his son look too much like John Kerry, and the dog looked "generic"whatever that meant.  Am I the only one who thinks animals of the same breed all look alike?Somehow I'm supposed to capture personalities from 2D pictures and osmosis.  I think my original drawing of the son captured his likeness much better than the finish, and he actually does resemble a young J Kerry IMHO, but what do I know?  This was done in ink and prisma color.

As part of a birthday present for his girlfriend, my buddy Kenny brought over a 9"X 42" board he had painted a glossy black, with a request for me to paint a design upon the surface thereof.  Apparently there is a drinking game where shot glasses are attached to a board, filled with liquor, and participants must drink in unison as the plank is tipped toward open maws.  As you can see, for this particular device the drink of choice is Fireball, and four imbibers immortalized with nicknames in all their glory, lest confusion ensues upon inebriation.  

The Fireball and devil dude logo was scanned from an empty bottle Kenny supplied, then manipulated in Photoshop, printed and transferred to the board along with lettering for the phrases and names.  Both sides are completely hand painted with Sign Painters lettering enamel.  The challenges were myriad; eye strain, neck and back pain from hunching as I attempted to intrepidly lay down paint within the lines, yet facing the sad reality of shaking like a Richter 8 California trembler while simultaneously  getting high from oil based paint and brush cleaner fumes.  Despite the aches, pains, fussing and fretting  I was pleased with the results.  If you stand far enough away, the lines look straight and clean as a ruler, I think the font I chose complements the logo, and the colors really pop on that glossy black background.  Kenny seemed ecstatic and wasn't expecting such a "work of art".  Kind of a shame to mess it up with raucous alcoholic activities, but then again, everything looks better after a few shots of Fireball!!!  :)

Turning 21 is quite a milestone, as the age of adulthood has arrived at long last!  To commemorate this rite of passage, my daughter Kristi has expressed her desire to experience a more, umm, adult form of entertainment, so this year's card is a light hearted way for me to acknowledge a signifiant event in her young life.  Though Chippendales is not her venue of choice, they are most famous in the genre, and the cartoon chipmunks and their names fit right in with the fun I wanted to portray.  The medium is ink and watercolor.

My sister Karen and her family recently went on a vacation to Florida, and while there visited an aquarium where they were able to swim with the dolphins.  It was her favorite experience of the week, so of course that is what I incorporated for this years birthday card.  My brain struggled with a catch phrase to go along with the dolphin theme, but I came up blank.  Thus the trite, but still applicable flipper thing.  I usually do the cards in Prisma, but this one is watercolor.

Another project for my brother in-law, Randy.  He has a strange, confrontational relationship with an apparently cranky, mean, and down right abusive bank teller that goes by the name Bea.  He has no clue why she treats him so badly and she used to get under his skin, but after a while he decided to give as good as he was getting, and they have been throwing barbs back and forth at each other with reckless abandon whenever he does his banking.  I find it rather odd for Randy to give this nasty teller a Valentines gift, but he wanted a caricature as a kind of smack down, and this is the scene he described for me to draw and color which he will present to his nemesis on the 14th.  This is done in pen and Prismacolor.

My brother-in-law, Randy, has a friend that owns a trailer in the mountains near Idaho City, about 25 miles to the northeast of Boise.  Every year around mid May, a bunch of pals gather together for a weekend of male bonding; a kind of mountain man camp, no females allowed.  Lots of stories, drinking, cigars, and eating meat.  Randy asked me to do a painting commemorating the annual event, and I reluctantly agreed.  After A LOT of procrastination (two years worth) I finally kicked myself in the butt to finish so it could be framed and presented for this years camp.  The trailer is beat up and a boring, dirty white/ecru, so I added a bit of color to make it pop; and more interesting for me, since I didn't really want to do it in the first place.  The fire pit is actually farther off to the right, but I had to condense everything to incorporate all the elements he wanted in the painting.  The original is 9"X15" and done in watercolor.

My sister Karen recently had me paint a caricature for her boss, a gym owner whom we call Booty Brett.  Apparently it put an extremely unusual smile on his ever present sour mug, and he liked it so well, he decided to get a caricature done of his girlfriend for her birthday.  She has two miniature Pinschers, Ritter and Roo, so they were incorporated into the painting along with her love of wine and snowboarding.  This was done in watercolor.