Caricature Express

Of course, I felt special when the woman in the restaurant recognized me. “You were the one from the Communion….” “Such Talent…” all that sort of stuff. This time the woman’s name was Elaine. And she was an absolute doll:

But I had noticed Elaine before she spoke to me. I thought she was a stranger as I had passed Elaine as I walked up a ramp to get in to the diner. She had been helping a man in a wheelchair (with a breathing tank). While I ate my dinner, Elaine barely had a bite. She was busy relating to the man she was with. Encouraging him, reading the newspaper to him….Just being delightful.

Since I had made a comment about being famous when Elaine recognized me, watching her made me think about all the Unsung Heroes in this world. The people who uplift others, who tell a stranger how special she is, who kindly help people who are in their lives. People who seem to exist just to admire and appreciate others. I’m so impressed with the Elaines of this world.

BTW, here’s a picture of another boy I had drawn in the diner that day. A stranger. I liked his confident attitude. He too might have been one of the strengths of this world. Who knows? I just love people:

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

Gotta clear away some of the papers from here.
Hmmmm, what’s this recently finished sketchbook here.

I used to keep the litle green thing (4×4?) in my pocketbook.
I remember the day I drew this. I was out with family,
and this woman was in the restaurant. A normal woman. She
came already ‘exaggerated’ from the basic Mr. In-Between Face.
Nothing like being a Caricature Artist to Know that people really do
look wild. Normal people. And Nobody,
nobody really looks like Mr. In-Between. Or else we wouldn’t be able to tell who’s who.

Although I do prefer to exaggerate
to emphasize the real likeness,
these feelings were kicked off about this person because
she really did look like this.
This picture was not an exaggeration.
At least, I don’t think so.
What’s happening with my mind???

Today I was Face-Painting in Central Park.
Still adding more and more and more pictures to
my cellphone. But I’m not ready to download (upload?)
them yet, because I still haven’t checked out those
recent 491 pictures. So I’ll post a random batch from the
491 here today.

I remember seeing these people
for a moment in my life (in their lives).
The meetings, the interactions, and then, poof. They’re gone.
Made me think about the people who pass us by.
And the people who are in our lives just while we’re taking a class.
And the people who seem to be forever friends, but it really only lasts ten years.
And the people who we live our whole lives with, either by choice or circumstance. Even those
are just temporary. And how we treat these people, these short-term and long-term Passers-By.
And how we affect each other.
It’s so fleeting, but also so real. That’s all there is.

I once heard a ‘poem’ like this:
Some people are in my life for a Reason,
Some people are in my life for a Season,
and Some people are in my life for a Lifetime.

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

Oh My Goodness. Yesterday I was looking forward to writing here
about my super-exciting weekend.
But now I’m already on to more more more
super-exciting things for the rest of THIS week.
Wow, this is Fun. Let me just see now if I can remember
all the stuff that happened lately.

Saturday. Drawing at a Communion. A man in the chair.
Some comments from the crowd about his ‘position’.
“And what position is that?” I asked. Turned out that
I was drawing the chairman of the Republican Party of Queens.
I recognized that they weren’t just fooling around
when I saw the professional way
he automatically held his Caricature for this photo -
like he was accustomed to ‘publicity shots’.
I looked him up on line just now. I think his name is Chairman Phil Ragusa.

Sunday, not officially booked. Overcast. So tired
because I got home after 2:00 a.m. from a Passover Seder.
But I forced myself to get up early
and get out into the world.
It’s just too easy to sleep through life
and then wonder why life is boring.
So I went to do my first Face-Painting in Central Park of the year.

But what happened? I had to cross Park Avenue
to get the the Park. Police were at every street corner.
And we absolutely were not allowed to cross the street.
From either side. “Why? Why?” I asked. “Because the Pope
will be riding along this way.

“Safety reasons” I was told.

“How long will it be?” I asked.

“As long as it take. Half-hour. Hour. I’m just to stay
on my of the street until I’m told…”

Initially frustrated. Tired.
When I suddenly realized that this was a momentous occasion.
How many people would have Loved to be here - right where I was!!!
I took out my camera-phone.
“Don’t let me miss it,” I said.

“He’s coming. He’s coming.”

Quick! Press the Camera-mode. Again. Options. Take Photo.
I got a motorcycle cavalcade.
Quick! Camera! Options. Take Photo. Press button.
Pause…………and…….Click! “Did I get it?
Was that the Pope?” I asked the woman who was next to me.

“Yes.” She was certain.

But I did not actually see him. Dagnabbit.
We never know if we’re making the right decision
until afterwards. I thought I’d at least be able to see
him in the photo, but, well, here it is:

Wonderful day continued. I felt special. I am part of
the New York scene. I am a New York Artist.
Loooonng day. I remembered the experience of
being out there all day working the crowds.
Handling the other Street Artists. And the Authorities.
Gotta be tough to handle this. It’s not for the timid-hearted.

Went out to dinner with a friend after my Park experience.

Here are some of the pictures I drew at Saturday’s Communion:

I love this song -
Time of Your Life
by Green Day:

Another turning point;
a fork stuck in the road.

Time grabs you by the wrist;
directs you where to go.

So make the best of this test
and don’t ask why.

It’s not a question
but a lesson learned in time.

It’s something unpredictablev but in the end it’s right.
I hope you had the time of your life.

So take the photographs
and still frames in your mind.

Hang it on a shelf
In good health and good time.

Tattoos of memories
and dead skin on trial.

For what it’s worth,
it was worth all the while.

It’s something unpredictable
but in the end it’s right.
I hope you had the time of your life.

(instrumental)

It’s something unpredictable
but in the end it’s right.
I hope you had the time of your life.

It’s something unpredictable
but in the end it’s right.
I hope you had the time of your life.

Now I’m focused on a very busy week.
So many gigs, I’ll even have to cut out
of the Dahn Mudo class that I love to go to.
Because that day I will be drawing for NYU.

Then, Thursday, I’ll be drawing the NYPD in Queens.
Saturday, it’s a Walkathon for the
Westchester SPCA. From which I’ll have to
pack up fast to get back to Oceanside
to draw at a Communion that same day.
And Sunday - it’s another Communion -
right here in Wantagh (where I live)!

I’m having the time of my life ~ We all are ~

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

Once again, I’ve found that
you don’t know what you’re going to learn until
you go through the studying.

You don’t know what you’re going to experience until
you go there.

Art is Life.

Tonight I’ll be working at a Sweet 16 in Park Slope, Brooklyn.
Sweet 16. What will that be like? I’ve worked at many Sweet 16’s.
From my experience, I’d say that That means
Couples.
Not my favoriate thing to do.

But there’s nothing like studying to make me look forward to the experience. Because if I study, I’ll be working out a problem, an idea. So I’ll look forward to using what I studied.

The first thing I did was to draw some couples directly. I wanted to remember to overlap them. And I decided that tonight, I’d either want them looking directly at me or both looking to the same side. Looking directly at me is the easiest for me - I don’t need much more than an oval with an X for a predraw:

I’ve been wanting to work on my 3/4 views for 3-dimensionality, so I practiced that too (more of a predraw - if I do it enough, I won’t need it so much):

Then I remembered something that I love to do. When it jumps out at me and I see how I can wrap thge 2nd person’s face in the leftover space of the first person. This is most likely to happen when someone has a very long thin face.

But I decided to just
make it happen for me.
By drawing the 2nd person as an amorphic shape:

Ick. Something I didn’t like about that.
So I decided to make then BOTH from amorphic shapes!
That came out real cool. Real ‘caricatureeeee’:

And I’m off! About to go have some fun at Alana’s Sweet 16.
Parties can be what we make them to be.
Life can be what we make it be.
Parties, Life, School, can be
fun, interesting, boring, scary, magical…..
We can choose to change our experience if we don’t like the one we’re in.

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