Caricature Express

Clearing up. Here are a few pictures that slipped out from 3 different jobs. Just the world all thrown together:

To Hire this Artist:
(516) 579-4706
optidust@gmail.com

Piles of pictures here. These are some things that I did at parties. Looks like I was going through a Quick-phase:

To Hire this Artist:
(516) 579-4706
optidust@gmail.com

Ever have some idea posted on your wall for years
before you get up to it? I sure do.

Last Thursday, I finally got myself out to meet the
Berndt Toast Gang. Joe Visichetti had invited
me years ago.

No camera! There I was with people that I’d only heard of,
and I didn’t have a camera.
My cellphone (camera) wasn’t working for a change -
the company said they’d send me a new one in 5-days,
but that’s a different story.

Anyway, here I was, lunching with the Berndt Toast Gang.
No camera, I did what I could. I drew their pictures!

Here are a few of the people I drew:

Dan Danglo. He did Story Boards. Worked for some
of the famous studios. Worked on things like
Felix thet Cat and Mighty Mouse:

I talked with Dan for quite a while. Found out his
approach for quickly getting his ideas to come to life.

And there was Jerry Jurman. He was the first person
who welcomed me when I showed up. Jerry has made
some of the most excellent photographs:

I wished they had us all at one table. But maybe this
was the best. Because you really got a feel for the different personalities
at the table. Still, I wish I could have talked to
Stan Goldberg (who does Archie)
or Bunny - who does the Lockhorns:

And here’s a full-figure sketch I did while Roberta Fabiano
entertained us:

Makes me feel like I should be going in to something else -
like cartoons. But we can get so scattered.
I’m happily busy round the clock doing
Caricatures, Face-Painting, and Balloons.
Sometimes other work when it just lands at my doorstep.
I’m good with illustrations, signs, logos, portraits, oil-paintings, story-boards….
But to seriously pursue each thing is a separate career.
If I was to do any of them, it would be
Illustrations.
I naturally love to tell a story with my pictures.

To Hire this Artist:
(516) 579-4706
optidust@gmail.com

What a strange day I had yesterday.
What a world.

First I got caught in the worst traffic ever -
all the way from my place in Wantagh
to my Caricature gig in Short Hills, NJ.
The web said the trip would take 1 hour and 15 minutes.
But it took me 5 HOURS !
From the moment I got on the parkway in Wantagh
until I got over the George Washington Bridge,
the traffic was so heavy that I was glad when
we were able to creep along at 5-miles per hour.
(Things like this remind me that I don’t have to answer
for myself because I’d charge a travel-fee
or that I factor in ‘fluff-time’ between gigs.

And Bloomingdales - cross my eyes!
My section at Bloomingdales had ‘rap’ music!
At Bloomingdales!
Turned out that they were testing a new line of products.

Here’s a photo of my set-up.
I like how I incorporated the mannequins into my setup
(the blue backpack is usually hidden under a table or behind
a curtain, but this time I made it look like a prop for the
mannequin:

Then I was surprised. When I’d stray from doing straight faces,
I actually got good responses from the fun Bloomingdales customers.
Turned out that they were just nice wealthy people - WHO WERE OUT
TO HAVE A GOOD TIME ! Just pleasant people who were open to having fun:

Then, tired from the long day (after not sleeping much the night before -
last-minute Studio pieces with outrageous deadlines), do I go home? No.
I had been invited to see the Arkhams at a bar in Brooklyn.
Just a personal outing, but as usual, I occupied myself studying
some ideas for Caricatures. And that meant that I ended up
drawing some of the people there. In the dark bar.

Will the Fun never end?

To Hire this Artist:
(516) 579-4706
optidust@gmail.com

Well, kind of.
Last weekend I worked for the Montel Williams Foundation.
It was an event in which people walked in the Park
wearing t-shirts that said something about giving 100%.

When I arrived, I recognized the famous tv personality.
He was very approachable (and busy with other people -
I had to respect I had been hired to draw the guests.
To do a job.) So we just passed a few words.
And his Frisbee landed right near me while I was setting up.
I tossed it over to him, and could have swooned when
he said that I did that very well.

I wish I would have the sense to take photos of the
famous people that my job brings me in contact with.
This time, though, I was pleasantly surprised when
I saw Montel Williams in the background of one of the
photos I took of my Artwork:

Actually, though, I was a litl disappointed with the
pictures I drew that day. I was tired and
they stationed me right in the hot sun.
I got decent likenesses, but I wasn’t as wild and showy
as I would have liked:

To Hire this Artist:
(516) 579-4706
optidust@gmail.com

I love how Art is so in the moment.
Like life. The decisions that we make,
the things that we do or say - all in the moment.
My Artwork is always affected by my Reality.