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.