Weekend gigs

This will be a busy weekend!

On Friday I will at an anniversary party for a two hour performance. I'll be drawing head shot caricatures for a large group, and will have to do as many as possible in the two hour time frame. I draw about 15-20 per hour, depending on the complexity of the hairstyles and the speed of the people getting in and out of the chairs. While everyone there will probably not get a caricature, everyone can enjoy watching and seeing the results as the drawings make their way around the room with the recipients. I'd like to draw everyone at every event, but sometimes that isn't possible, and that's still okay. The nice thing about what I do is that you can enjoy it even if you don't participate directly!

On Saturday night, I'll be at a kid's birthday party for two hours doing full body caricatures for a small group of about 20 girls. Everyone will be drawn at that party, and I'm sure the pre-teen girls will really enjoy seeing what gags I can come up with to illustrate their favorite activities. I enjoy working for kids because they are usually more vocal with their praise than adults. While the money is nice, I think an equal part of the job satisfaction of doing live caricatures is getting the positive feedback from the audience. It's a lot like being a stand-up comic or a magician-- I feed off of the energy of the crowd and that spurs me to be even more of a ham!

On Sunday I'm doing a charity event for the United Way. It's a Super Bowl party at Rooster's in Chillicothe that is a fundraiser to help raise money for senior care. I don't usually work for free, but I do offer charity rates for worthy causes because I believe that it is good to promote charitable giving (I give privately myself) and contribute without concerning myself solely with profit. I suppose many charities wish that I could give away my services, but I am by no means wealthy, so I have to receive some compensation for my time in order to stay in business.

I'll let you know how the weekend goes!

Next week I have a couple of other gigs on Thursday, but nothing on the weekend so far. I'm hoping that someone will want to hire me next weekend for the Gallery Hop, and I've put ads on Craigslist.

For those not from Columbus, the Gallery Hop is an event that takes place on the first Saturday of each month in the city's art district. People flock to the "Short North" area and browse restaurants, galleries and shop in this unique part of the city. It's a fun and funky monthly event that brings an eclectic mix of people into the downtown area.

If I don't get hired soon, I think I will go down to the Short North and pass out some cards to shop owners and see if I can create some interest. Especially in the cold weather months, I would think that galleries and shops would want to do all they can to get people into their venues.

--Steve