Commission caricature for a birthday party.

I was commissioned to hand paint some team logos and cheerleaders in the sports room at the Palm Restaurant in downtown LA.

These are ten 4' X 12' panels I painted for my daughter Lauren's grad night at Temple City High School.

I was a bit miffed seeing the final outcome, knowing bodies were going on the mural, just not that they would cover over pretty much the whole thing.  Many hours trying to be artsy on the dang things, when I could have saved time and effort just painting the top 4 feet!!

This was the comment board for the grads to write on.  Not too bad considering I drew and painted the panels freehand and upside down.

The ladies wanted the hotdog to look three dimensional, so I got the painting assignment.

I have been commissioned to paint four sport team logos at the Palm Restaurant in downtown LA: Dodgers, Clippers, Lakers, and a Cardinal banner. The big wigs also want a painting of two Laker girls and a 6'x9' mural on some double doors. First they wanted the Laker girls to be generic. After I sent a sketch they decided on two specific poses with two specific Laker girls, who almost look identical. So much for diversity. As for the mural, they wanted sketch ideas for a Staples Center/La Live scene, and a simpler downtown at sunset scene in silhouette. They wanted them cartoony, and I suggested a night scene of Staples because of the cool colors and they agreed. After working some hours on the sketches, I scanned and painted them in Photoshop, which took quite a while because of my limited expertise in said program. I emailed them and received word some time later that they LOVED them, BUT felt them too colorful compared to everything else in the restaurant. All that time and effort totally down the toilet and of course, no extra pay for more time and sketches.

This is why I love my caricature gigs...go in, draw for a set period of time, get paid extremely well for that period of time , and then get out!! No fuss, no muss, no changes, no complaints, paid for overtime if they request it, finish and move on to the next one.

My youngest turned 18 this month, and since her mom and sisters recently got five little chicks through the mail to take care of, that's what I based my theme on for her birthday card. Kids don't grow quite as fast as chickens, but my girls sure reached adulthood way more quickly than I could have ever imagined...sigh!!!

Kristi's birthday card this year. Her special day is on the 13th, close to St. Patricks day, so as I was going through my usual, "what shall I draw THIS time" process, and since she started a new job this year and LOVES having her own money, I decided to go with the green theme, (a somewhat fashionable lady luck leprechaun and her pot of gold).

Two of my sisters became grandmas for the first time this year. My sister Karen had two grandsons born within one month of each other, Max and Cavin, and since it is her birthday tomorrow, this became my inspiration for her hand drawn birthday card.