More Live Drawings

These two were the only ones I put much effort or thought into in the last 2 days at SeaWorld. It's busy, so I figured I'd draw uber-fast and make some money. I liked the drawing of the british girl, anyway, and the boys was a fast one, but fun, nonetheless.

March 25 at Sea World

These are placed in order from the beginning of the day to the end. I see weaknesses, shortcuts, and tendencies start to show up later and later in the day, whereas the middle of the day was the groove. There are still many flaws, areas to work on, but I feel a bit better about these than last week's drawings. Unfortunately, only a couple of the guests held still when I was taking their pictures, and the strange shadowy light gave them some weird looks - so it doesn't represent what I saw very well. I snapped all but two drawings today, one was black and white (eh) and the other was my "i'm going to lunch in 40 seconds!" sketch.

And the best part was, no rejects and no complaints! I couldn't believe it.

Steve Silver Rules

I can't help but obsess over the elegance of his line every few weeks. Today, I was trying to learn something from his work, and this is my terrible attempt at working in a similar style. I'm seeing that I need to create more dynamic motion/poses, and add some energy and life to it... maybe work more with gestures.

Art Store + New Pens = Fun with Pens

I was in dire need of some Faber-Castell 'PITT' pens today, so I ran to the store. After working on a rushed illustration for the Chicago Reader (don't ever use a cheap substitute for a fountain pen - namely a PILOT 'Varsity'... next time I want to draw like Tom Richmond, I'm buying the real deal and learning), I started on a caricature of Prez GW Bush. I've never really tackled him seriously, so I have one in the works. Anyway, after drawing ernestly for an hour or two, I tried to loosen up with the new brush pens and I did a couple sketches. There is quite a charm to these little guys, and I did a fun one that I tried splashing some color on. it's a neat-o look for quick illustration (*makes note). It also reminded me that there is truly nothing as sweet as a fresh PITT pen.

Last day of Winter

Great guests = good drawings

This family was particularly fun. They loved exaggeration and gave the young couple such a hard time. Everyone laughed, and it was great. I was pretty happy with this sketch. It may have taken all of 25 minutes, though.

Tractor boy

Not a big fan of the cheesy bodies, but I take them as they come. I wanted to pull this kid's forehead out more, so his brow was like a ledge- the problem is, I get caught up in the softness of childrens' features, and I wussed out! I enjoy the lips, though - the kid was fairly cute and mild, so this was REALLY pushed.

another...

These kids were very good sports - their parents were laughing hysterically, then right at the end, the mother seemed pissed and asked me if I "go this wild on every drawing" - I told her 'yes', ripped it off, showed the kids, they laughed out loud, and all was okay. :)

military man

I enjoyed drawing this guy's eyes.

Last week:

I really had a good marker on this one - for those who draw live with Dixon Markettes, you know what I mean! It's rare that you get one that's just dancin... this one was. Except for the weak eyes, it's a fun drawing, and I tried some new things, got the crowd (and family- LOVE BRITS!) into it, and was very happy with it. The kid had a GREAT mouth.

Slope-nose

I was fairly pleased with this. Weak color, but it's almost what I envisioned. B+

1 of 3 - not bad

The little girl would NOT pay attention, so it was heavily from memory. The grandma sketch is weak, and the blonde mom is right on. I give myself an A- on the mom, a C on the rest. They were happy and laughed a lot.

Musician & Wife

These two were great - I feel like I failed them. Rushing led to many problems, like unwanted asymmetry, a fatter-looking face, weak hair, and a squishy look overall, with weak color. I give myself a C, at best.

2nd time around

This couple approached the stand and wanted to be drawn together - a great attitude, so I decided to take my time. His turned out very disappointing, in my mind. I saw so much more volume and dimension in his upper-lip, and lost a lot of space and depth around his eyes. Hers was nearly what I was picturing, so I was fairly pleased with it. They loved it, as eventually I learned I drew him over 2 years ago, as part of a couple (x-wife, or something along those lines). I guess 2nd time around was an improvement (according to him)... and he likes funny ones. I give this one a B-, only because I was okay with her sketch.

Live Drawings in March

I decided to 'start trying' again. Let me explain:

It's VERY easy to get caught up in making money, when working in a competitive market of retail caricature. Though I am down to a minimal work schedule (2-3 days per week), there are still the full-timers that are scraping to make as much as possible with our commission-based job. This doesn't just mean that everyone merely tries, it means that the ones that somehow have an inexplicably attractive sketch or demeanor, are also the greedy ones, who will do anything and draw boring, stamp-like (all the same) sketches, putting little effort or 'art' into their work. When working beside one or more of these artists, one must learn how to adapt in order to make it worth one's time, monetarily. After drawing for years in the same environment, an artist learns what can be done to cut some corners, get some tips, and sell frames and merchandise, to maximize each sale and each day (to make any money, speed is a MUST)- These methods RARELY... dare I say NEVER involve art or skill. There are some artists that can blur the lines, Dino Casterline, my boss and friend, being one, however 99% of the time, when working where I work, drawing good only slows an artist down and costs money.

I have been contemplating my exaggeration ability and have been pretty disappointed, so I decided to start posting naked pictures of my art... no nudity, just raw shots of nearly every drawing I do (not the boring ones, but the ones that I put some effort into, and only with guests that seem okay with me taking their picture)... these pictures will end up as benchmarks and criticism for me. I am sometimes fairly happy with the results, but moreso very disappointed, seeing only my flaws, tendencies and weaknesses. This is my effort to cut out my shortcuts, eliminate my weak crutches, and improve my vision and ability. There are many artists that inspire me, but few that REALLY drive me, those being S. Krueger, S. Silver, J. OpDeBeeck, and Dan Hay (a co-worker). I guess this is an effort to show my underbelly and open up to criticism, in the constant effort to improve. So if you see live, theme-park style caricatures pop up here from time-to time, give me your thoughts, harsh as you can... here goes...