Thursday, November 18, 2010

Digital caricatures

Here are a couple of digital caricatures I've done recently. I've been practicing with digital media to improve my technique. I'm feeling more confident now with the tools and am getting results more to my liking.

Here are the latest...


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Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Phat Daddy's Car!

I posted some of the drawings I did for Phat Daddy's Pizza back in April, and here are some pictures of the drawings on their delivery car. Very cool! (thanks Roger!)
Note
: I didn't do the tomato.


I will be drawing free caricatures at Phat Daddy's (15 First St, London, OH) on Monday 11/29 from 6-9 pm for their customers. I've done this for several years now. The drawings are posted on the walls and just about every nook and cranny of the place is covered with drawings I've done in previous years. It's great fun, and even more fun to see some of the kids that I've drawn numerous times through the years grow up before your eyes in time lapse caricatures.

I'll try to get photos of the walls to post here. I never remember to take my camera to that gig, but this year I'll try to do so.

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Friday, April 30, 2010

recent stuff

I drew this lovely gal who is originally from Moscow, Russia at an Ohio State Active Minds event. This gig came during a 10 gigs in 10 days streak in mid-April. That stretch was both exhausting and exhilarating because after a really slow winter, it was great to draw daily and resharpen my abilities.

Here are a couple of drawings I did for PhatDaddy's Pizza in London, Ohio-- a restaurant where I have drawn several times and the owners have scanned the drawings of customers and have framed and hung the drawings on the walls. These graphics will be made into decals to put on their delivery vehicles.



A portrait commission for an author in Quebec, Canada. He wanted a serious look and something that looked somewhat antique, so I used a vertical hatch technique that made it look a bit like a woodcut. I'm pretty happy with the result.


Also in April, I was booked for a gig in Louisville, Kentucky with two other artists, Tad and John. Afterwards we went to the Hard Rock Cafe for a late dinner, but the highlight was the visitor's bureau which had a Colonel Sanders shrine inside. The place was closed, but I took this shot of my friends posing next to the ghostly apparition of Col. Harlan.


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Friday, April 16, 2010

Gigs from an April weekend 2010

Here are some sketches I did over the last weekend. The first few are from a EMS workers conference (a six and a half hour job!), and the last one is a sketch I did at the stand at Huntington Park.

I'm currently in a streak of 10 straight days of gigs (except Tuesday which I voluntarily didn't work) which ends this Saturday when I have two jobs. Pair that with having 10 portraits to draw this week in my studio, and you can understand why my hand is a bit sore right now! I'll have only one gig in the following week until I start another streak of gigs starting with the following Saturday in which I work a 15 hour day from 10 am to 3:30 am. I then work nine out of the next ten straight days!











I had drawn this young man last year at the ballpark, and he came back with his girlfriend to be drawn together. I don't usually draw knight/princess themes at the park, but this was at their request and a lot of fun for all.


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Monday, March 15, 2010

Recent Gigs: BGSU and Bridal Show

Here are some photos from recent gigs I've done.

This first group is from the "Big Playground" event at Bowling Green St University. It's like an afterprom of sorts with games and activities to give students an alternative to drinking. I enjoy working at college events because I am always very popular and the kids are always so full of energy which motivates me to draw well.

[click photos for larger view]





On Friday 3/12 I drew at a bridal show at the North Pointe Conference Center to promote my services to do caricatures for wedding receptions and wedding gifts. The event was really well done and I met many great couples. Hopefully they will call me to entertain at their upcoming weddings or to caricatures for save-the-date cards, reception displays or for bridal party gifts. I had many positive comments and lots of questions were asked, so I think they will!





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Funsketch: Ellen

(click for larger view)

In warming up for the chalk portrait below, I did this sketch of Ellen DeGeneres for fun. She has some fun features to work with. I've only done portraits in this medium, so it was fun to do a caricature using conte chalk.

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Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Their Three Sons

I recently completed a chalk portrait for a long time client who has had me draw a portrait for each of their three sons. What a great tradition! I hope they keep having kids!

Below are the three portraits, the most recent is first. The other two are from photos supplied by the client, so they are a little dark, but the color was the same as you see in the first.

2010

2006

2004


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Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Announcing-- the NEW ColumbusCaricatures.com!


I've remodeled! Announcing the roll-out of the new and improved ColumbusCaricatures.com!

Please check it out and let me know what you think (and if I have any typos or goof-ups!) http://www.ColumbusCaricatures.com

I'm also in the process of updating my website at FunFaces.com and CaricatureArtAndMORE.com, so please check those out as well and let me know what you think!

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Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Valentine's Sale!

To celebrate a new decade, to spur an ecomonic recovery, and just in time for Valentine's Day, prices for all media for both caricatures and portraits have been dropped to the minimum price each category. For instance, I offer four different b/w media to choose from, but they are now all on sale for the price of the least expensive medium. Prices for additional people have also been slashed!

Now is the best time of the year to order a gift for someone special, so forget the melty, fattening chocolates and quickly wilting flowers, show them that you care with a gift that will last forever (and save some well-earned dough!). Tell your friends and neighbors, too!

Just go to FunFaces.com and select either the Custom Caricatures page or Portraits page to view the samples and place an order. Wait times are currently about a week or so, but the schedule can fill up fast! Sale ends 2/28/2010, so hurry on over and save!

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Happy New Year! (Christmas 2009)

The last time I blogged, the work I was doing was for Christmas gifts, so I couldn't post them for fear the recipients might see their gift in advance (yeah, unlikely, but still didn't want to risk it). Work was kinda slow this year (I hear it was for just about everyone), but here is the artwork that I did in the months of November and December of '09.

This one was for the head honcho at the local CBS affiliate, WBNS-10. The client gave me pretty good reference on this one, and other than having to do some tight turns with the pen to do the logos and type so small, it was a fun one to do.

(Click for enlarged view)




Earlier in the year I did a pencil drawing of this subject (a company owner's farm house) that was used for company t-shirts for their annual picnic (held at the same place). For Christmas I was asked to recreate the drawing in watercolor to give as a gift. I rarely do realistic trees and grass (most of my "landscapes" are part of a cartoony background in a caricature!), but this was fun to do because I got to tap into my "inner-impressionist".

The hardest part of this one was doing the railings because with a watercolor, dark colors are painted around lighter ones, so if you are painting a very thing light colored thing, you have to be very careful painting around it so as not to obliterate the light color you're trying to preserve. Some artists use a masking fluid to cover over parts they don't want to accidentally paint over, but I just go with the "hold your breath and pray" method.

(Click for enlarged view)



This one is done in "ink wash" (or b/w watercolor). I've included the pencil sketch version as well to show how I first provide a detailed pencil sketch for the client and then use that sketch to do the final artwork. This one was for someone retiring to a life of yachting and golfing. Sounds good!

(Click for enlarged view)




This one was done as a gift from her to him. This scan is a bit dark and the colors a bit more bold than the actual painting, but I didn't know that until now because I just replaced my monitor yesterday and am discovering that old one was going bad quite awhile before it finally gave up the ghost two days ago. That said, orange is a tough color to work with because it is so bright and hard to create from color mixing. Fortunately I've done annual soccer team caricatures for a high school whose team colors feature orange as the main color, so I had a bottle of liquid orange watercolor paint that I bought for that project that I used for this one.

(Click for enlarged view)



That's all for now. More to come soon!
Happy New Year!
--Steve

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