Caricature Express

Some stuff from my sketchbook ~ Posted here to remind me to exaggerate maturely ~ Easiest done in a 3/4 view ~

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

Decisions ~ It’s always about making decisions.
I feel like Artwork helps me to exercise the ability to make decisions.
Especially when working at Parties ~ where there’s no time to 2nd guess myself, no time to think it over (which really means Not making a decision yet).

At Parties. In the Studio. And even in the Office. Like now.

Which photo to post ~
the one in which the subject is animated, but the photo is blurry?
Or the one in which the subject is posing, but the photo is clearer?

I usually choose the clear photo. Because I figure that Your eyes (my Dear Viewers) wouldn’t feel good if they just looked through pages and pages of blurry photos. I want you to feel good.

But this time……… to illustrate what I’ve learned about making decisions…………

People frequently pose and smile as soon as I take out the camera. I’m not a professional photographer ~ I feel like it’s much easier to put my reaction into a Drawing than a photograph,
but sometimes
I manage to capture personality in a photo too.

Decisions ~ How to make Decisions ~ How to Represent Yourself on Your Blog ~ What to emphasize in a Drawing ~ When to snap the Photo ~

Decisions ~ What to Draw first ~ How to interact with my subject ~ Which Marker to use ~ Which Color ~

Decisions ~ Where to send your Children to School ~ What to wear to the meeting ~
Decisions ~ Who to spend time with ~ How to spend your money ~ What to say ~

whattobelieve~howtospendyourtime~whattoeat~religioneconomymarriagelovedisdainpoliticsvotingdoesanythingmakeadifferenceanywaytakingcareofagingrelatives

ornotwhotoinvitewhichcartobuyhowtospendmytimeexerciseorcleanthehouseoreatorrelax orvisitorprepareforworkdrawthestudiocaricatureansweremailsbecomeanagenthowto displaysamplesshouldipaintmatsorgotothepostofficeineedanewphoneordontibutcameraand ipodshouldilistentomyownmusic????

Whew ~ I’m so glad I have to produce approximately 10 good pictures per hour. It’s excellent training.

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

Oh ~ You never know what to expect. Got to be ready for every contingency.
After last Saturday’s snow-storm, I was happy to remember this warm outdoor
event at a local school:

Last Saturday, October 29, 2011, I had an event up in Mount Kisco, NY.
I planned on getting there by 5:30 pm because I was supposed to draw
a big event for a big agent starting 6:30 pm.

Last minute job, so I was up til 4:30 a.m. putting the papers into the mats,
getting travel directions, stuff like that. So when to sleep, when to rest?
I slept for a few hours, but left Wantagh at 12:30 that afternoon.
Since mapquest said it would take less than 1 1/2 hours travel time,
I figured I would have time to sleep in the car just before going in -
so I’d be both rested And sure to be there on time.

But it
Snowed. Big.
After handling Hutchinson River Parkway Traffic (if you know what I mean), it was sloooow-going. When I got near Pleasantville, the highway was even Closed. My gps routed me onto a little highway that had one lane going in each direction. Winding road. Little hills. And

Traffic. Including one point where we all just put our cars into park. Only 10 minutes away from the venue, and I had to stay awake on the road with my car. Apparently, cars kept skidding as they tried to get up a hill. Including a Penske Truck. People were trying to move it. I was the 2nd car in line that was asked to Just Wait. Just being glad that we weren’t having accidents……

Traffic finally moved when some cars from way behind, who didn’t know what was happening, had the nerve to swing into the opposing-traffic-lane, drive up to our hard workers, and insist, like say, hey, what ….
Now they let us through when there was a little space to maneuver by.

Okay. Still time. Driving carefully. In the snow. I still think I’ll get a Little time to rest. But

But
2 miles from the venue, a yellow ribbon tied across the entrance to a deep snowy road.
I have a Lot of heavy supplies to bring. Including lights, and easel, and Lots of Paper. In Mats…..
I’m wearing Shoes - not boots. It’s still October. In New York.

My gps reroutes me to get back onto that closed parkway. It worked. It was right beyond the closure that had rerouted me so long ago. Gps brings me passed the venue and back down the other side. And I’m there! Actually in the Grand Prix parking lot at 5:25 pm. Perfectly on time for 5:30 arrival. And maybe I’d rather Stand at the easel than rest, anyway. I’d been sitting in the car for Five Hours!

Oh what a day.
Back at the Computer now ~ back in my Studio, and I see photos taken at a recent outdoor sunny weather event for a local school…..

AND I have a brand new shovel for the winter too! I had bought one at a CVS that I passed when I was rerouted to come back down to the venue. Figured that I’d need it if I might have to dig my car out of the parking lot after the event. So now I’m ready for the winter. Bring it on ~ Let’s Party!

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

Oh - I wish all my clients gave me enough time to do really good Artwork. So often, they’re interested in ‘draw as many faces as you can in as little time as possible so I won’t have to pay for another hour’. Oh.

I usually refuse to copy other Artist’s ideas, but in this case, I was intrigued - because the client was looking for a ‘Sixties’-type picture. And that is so my natural style. The way I naturally like to draw. Pop Art…..Peter Max….Psychodelic……Me! Alison Gelbman.

He asked for his whole Party to be drawn on one big paper - and he wanted the picture to “look like the cover from the Sargent Pepper Album (Beatles). Ummm, okay. Limiting (see my other wild Group Caricatures), but still interesting to me.

I arrived ready for Fun. Exaggerations. Style. But my client asked that I draw real fast - that he’s hoping to get 33 people plus one dog drawn with the whole Sgt Pepper Composition (lettering, some bodies, placements). And he also wanted me to draw “Couples” next to each other. That didn’t leave any time to let his guests ‘do the party-saunter’. I needed each one immediately and with his partner.

And since I tell people to Estimate ten faces per hour, I was forced to just get something representing each face onto the paper - No time for unique exaggerations. No time for banter. No time for the Outrageous Composition I wanted to do. This is Work.

The picture came out good. The people had a good time. The Party was successful.
But oh, my client had no idea of what I Could have done.

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

Oh - the synchronicity of…..
How do you spell that?
Even though I tried to check at http://thesaurus.com/
(another word to s p e l l ),
I still have no idea.
Does spelling count?

Anyway, I was impressed with it today. Serendipity.
Because I had randomly opened a folder to find some of my Samples
to post here, and I came up with these pictures from a Corporate Event
where I had been asked to draw Black and White pictures.
I usually work in Color, but I was also hired to draw Black and White Caricatures at a University
tonight. This very night. It’s good for me to see them - as a Warm-Up for tonight’s event (which will be the Sam Gennaro Event - a yearly Celebration about Italians).

This is what I like to call Black and White Caricatures.
Still uses a bit of Color. But in this case, the Color makes the pictures get finished faster -
which is what these Clients were looking for - to get more faces drawn during the hours that we had arranged:

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