CARICATOONZ by John Sprague!

Homecoming Caricature Artist's got A Marker...

2011-10-28T14:45:00.000-07:00

5 points to those who got the reference in the title...I kill me. Anyway, here's some crazy scenes from the homecoming dance I drew at a school in Delaware...FUN!!!

Long Overdue update....

2011-10-27T18:08:00.000-07:00

a little Mega update here! First blogpost in two months, and first in my new abode in Philly - got a bunch to show ya, so let's go to the faces....

These here are from a fun company party I did out at beautiful Valley Forge park at the end of August:

Here's a sampling of the awesome event I did with Pat Harrington, for Drexel University...

From a PNC bank event in early Sept:

Here's a couple folks from a retirement community in Allentown, including 1 staff member:

This fella is usually very camera shy, but loved his caricature so much he agreed to pose with it - when I showed him it he told me it was the best photo he'd ever had taken of himself! Yes, caricatures CAN build self esteem!

Caricaturin' in the Rain

2011-08-09T12:03:00.000-07:00

Did a free health fair today for a great company that has given me several other gigs, and was able to draw about 7 faces before the rain hit! Here they are:

102 Degree Caricatures...

2011-08-02T14:20:00.000-07:00

Wooo, whatta hot one for four days, at the Burlington County Farm Fair last week, all worth the sweat and tears, I think...

My original 'booth' inside a big tent - hot, dim, and kinda miserable...

My stand after I finally escaped the sauna of the big tent, looking proud and ready for business....ha!

Ellen DeGeneres for a nice lady who designed hospital gowns for cancer patients, and was a big Ellen fan. she was going to send this drawing along with other photos she took with her Ellen doll, to the show. Quite ironic that this is the second time I've drawn Ellen in two years, as last year she had a caricaturist on the show, and mocked him on the air (facetiously?), sparking the ISCA to ask its members to contribute drawings of Ellen to send to the show to 'educate' her on the art of The

caricature, of which I contributed. I think this one is a better likeness!

He liked guns, she liked drugs (because she's a pharmacist).

Yes, I just happened to have his favorite band, Napalm Death, on a Pandora station, which I played for him while I drew. Word is Grind!

I'm still cleaning hay out of my car from this festival!

Here's some photos from a big country club event I did at the end of June:

June crazy faces...

2011-07-18T12:27:00.000-07:00

Ooooookay, and here's the rest of the crazy faces I drew at gigs for the month of june!

These are from a middle school grad in Allentown:

Next batch is from a early morning post grad gig I did with Patrick Harrington, and man things got nutty!

This kind of wilder take on caricatures usually happens at these kinds of events:

Last grad party of the month and my drawings seem to have gotten a little looser and sloppier, and hence, weirder - tiredness catching up with me i suppose!

This little guy was from a health fair I did in West Philly. Cute kid!

Then there was this here fun couple that wanted to be drawn as a zombie bride and groom at the Wizard World Comic convention I worked at at the Phila. convention center for one day...

Here's a bunch of other interesting people I met there:

And lastly, here's some nice ones from a huge country club pre-4th of July event, right before I took off for a 4 day weekend to beautiful Castine, Maine....

Some Grad gigs and then some...

2011-07-07T14:41:00.000-07:00

June was a month of grad parties, grad parties, and oh yeah - grad parties! I think I may have done some other types of gigs last month but the students reigned supreme during the merry (and miserable because of the HEAT) month of June....here's two from a middle school grad party I do every year with 5 other artists:

Oh, this one was NOT from a grad party but from a health fair for a company that's been keeping me busy:

Here's one from some other random event:

Okay, here's where things get scary - these were done at the annual 'Project Graduation' I do with a whole bunch of other artists, and once again, I had a blast! And as you can see from most of the faces here, they did too! i get to go quite a bit wilder with my drawings at these events because students and young adults are often very receptive to this style, especially in a big, celebratory, party atmosphere. So here's some of them, with more to come!

Laffs and Woofs

2011-07-06T13:43:00.000-07:00

Some stuff from the end of May, as I get caught up here on my blog:

Laughing their a$$es off at a Phillies game...

These doggie faces were done at the Furry Friends Festival in Willow Grove, PA!

My setup:

Gigs, gigs, gigs!

2011-06-08T20:05:00.000-07:00

Just catching up here with a bunch of gigs I've done in the past month, starting with this one done at a big paper distribution company (not Dunder Mifflin!):

The Boss!!!

NOT Dave Chappelle...

the sweet client who had the guts to hire me...

She was scared...

Very cool gal, and dead ringer for Sweet Dee from 'It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'

This one was at the annual middle of the night gig i draw at with good friends and colleagues Emily Anthony and for this year, Patrick Harrington - lots of funny faces, so little time...

Here's my cohorts in Caricature craziness:

Not quite the uproarious reaction I was hoping to capture...but still made them happy...now this NEXT one, I have no idea how I didn't think of videoing them - priceless - tears and all...

Same girl i drew above, on left, yet completely different likeness, what the hell!?

This guy just reminded me of Pee Wee Herman...

More to Come!!!

Hot Yoga Instructor and Bowled over Faces!

2011-05-13T13:43:00.000-07:00

I did a gift caricature recently for a yoga instructor who does 'hot yoga' and loves her juicer- couldn't find my reference pic, so the final drawing will have to suffice - the client loved it!

Here's here quote: "I LOVE it!You are genius! This one is so awesome!"

Next up is some fun I had at a 'team building' meeting of a pharmaceutical company, conducted at the great North Bowl bowling ally in Northern Liberties, Philadelphia. Had a great time, and was treated to great fish tacos, and cheesy tater tots, and an open bar! Very appreciative guests, even for the 'brutal', weirder stuff I tend to do at these types of events.

Triple Live Gonzo!

2011-05-09T22:06:00.000-07:00

Catching up from a wild bunch of gigs a couple of weekends ago - feel like I'm STILL recovering from these three - first one was a college gig I drew at with comrade Mikey Edwards, where the faces got funky, busted, and just plain weird ....and the laughs erupted over and over:

This next event was at a massive street fair on Broad street in Philadelphia, called the Philadelphia Festival of the Arts, sponsored by the Kimmel Center. All types of top class entertainment, food, and activities were there for this event, and I felt honored to have been part of this event as I drew till my back almost gave out for over 8 hours, alongside my good caricaturist friends Angie Jordan, and Pat Harrington (who I did not get to work with, since they split up the caricature artists), as well as some pastel portrait artists. We were swamped with people, and the streets were gridlocked - crazy!

Heres' some of what i drew that day -

This guy was the owner of a restaurant called 'Bliss' and was nice
enough to get me an awesome burger and fries (that got cold because I was
so busy!)

Last event for the first weekend of May was the annual WMGK DeBella Dogwalk in beautiful Green Lane Park, PA. I did non-stop business in my 4th year as caricature artist to the dogs (though past two years also starred Pat Harrington, who couldn't make it this year). Check out several I did here:

Needless to say, I was pretty pooped after these three big events, and was actually quite thankful I only had one gig the following weekend (which I didn't get any pictures at). However, I'm now ready for MORE - bring it on!!!

College Craaaaaziness

2011-04-24T10:22:00.000-07:00

Some college caricatures I did last week!

Anniversary Couple and Soupy Guy

2011-04-23T11:25:00.000-07:00

Here's a nice one I did for a teacher I work with, for she and her husband's anniversary. I also drew up a little 'character' version of her, below, which she hasn't seen, but I liked how it came out enough that I thought I'd share it here. Pitt brush pens and color sticks were used.

This was done for Campbell's Soup in Camden NJ, a long-time client, and I quite like how it came out.

Used Copic markers and color sticks on this.

Some Gigs I did recently

2011-04-14T18:57:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've posted here, so without further ado, here's several gigs I did recently that I enjoyed. I think my customers rather enjoyed their caricatures as well. Now it's your turn to enjoy....

First Gig of 2011 - Rusty, Grainy, FUN!

2011-01-28T13:37:00.000-08:00

First gig of the year 2011, for a 'Post-Holiday' party at a sports bar in Jersey last Saturday, and things were a bit rusty and grainy, but damn, was this a fun, crazy crowd! I drew for this school staff a couple years back, and the client misplaced my info., and then just happened to find me on my facebook fanpage! (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Caricatoonz-By-John-Sprague/186489862485)

Lots of wild dancing and butt-slapping going on - great peoples to be around during these slow, anxious times....here's a bunch of shots, taken, sigh, again with my iPhone - I WILL use my digital camera next time!!! I will, I will, I will......

This theme was suggested to me by the husband, to his wife's dismay and surprise. Hope the baby doesn't really look like that...

Bryan, the man in charge proudly displaying my cartoonizication of him. (Hmm, first time I ever used that word...I'll have to patent it...)

Tidings of Discomfort and Joy: Leftover Grab Bag Edition

2011-01-25T21:11:00.000-08:00

Like the title says....MOAR caricature madness from Xmas parties past:

Mikey was a wild and 'crazi' guy.

And proud of it...

Elisha's proud husband...

This gig for a fire prevention company found me working with Pat Harringtoon, and in a bit of a looser, more cartoony style...we had us some fun with these peops!

This family ruled!

Some brief shots of a inebriated funeral home Christmas party. No stiffs here, people:

1 shot from a YMCA holiday bash:

Staff Party at a Catholic high school in North Jersey - crazy shit ensued.

Fragrance Festivals in Jersey and NY

Police Xmas Party!

Real Estate Xmas Party...

That's it for the archival live stuff (I think).Thanks for scrolling.

NEW live stuff next? I think so...

Tidings of Discomfort and Joy Part...whatever! Here's Some I missed...

2011-01-23T16:50:00.000-08:00

Welp, here's a bunch of holiday gigs I seemed to have forgotten about - first one was for a big law office holiday party inside a fancy lobby where there were 4 artists shakin' down the folks with some crazy caricature drawing - here's a few from that night!

This next batch was for Urban Outfitters, in South Philly, inside a massive warehouse that was set up with a carnival theme, complete with ferris wheel (inside the building!), skeeball machines, food stands giving out gourmet hor's deurves (and lots and lots of freeflowing drinks), and of course, a freak show....represented by the caricatures I drew of these very fun, hip, and sloshed employees. It was nice to be able to break out the colors and capture some of that very vibrant night!

Next was a law office Christmas party with these proudly mugging mugshot worthy faces:

This guy's gorgeous wife suddenly became camera shy once it was picture time!

Tidings of Discomfort and Joy Part 4: Peace Out 2010

2011-01-22T08:59:00.000-08:00

Alas, here is the last post of my Dec.2010 live gigs - a month that was among the best and worst times of my life, and capping off a generally difficult year economically and personally - and I think one of the few things that got me through it was drawing and conversing with people at my live gigs, and keeping in touch with supportive friends and family. I'm very grateful for having been able to do caricatures for as long as I have - about 13 years, almost 10 of those years freelance - and I still truly enjoy it, and plan to continue doing better at it creatively and financially, even as I branch out into other creative endeavors as well. So here's the last gig of the year, at a rest home that was part of a First Night celebration, where I mostly drew the musical guests - charming folkie musicians who kept the tunes flowing and the spirits bright as we headed towards 2011. Happy Belated New year!

Next....

Archival live stuff never released until now!

Tidings of Discomfort and Joy Part 3! Bowl-ho-ho

2011-01-20T17:26:00.000-08:00

Loved working this holiday party on the second floor of North Bowl - very funny, wild personalities here, and oh yeah, lots of alcohol flowing as well to liven up an already lively venue. I would love to work at this place every weekend! Let's GO North Bowl!

Tidings of Discomfort and Joy Part 2

2011-01-19T20:09:00.000-08:00

I had a fun time drawing these kids for a Flyers game at the Wachovia center last month with the great ladies of About Face II facepainting - here's a bunch of 'em:

That same night, I had a great time drawing at this small Allentown coffee shop's Christmas party at the North Bowl Bowling alley as bowling balls sailed past me and threatened to knock over my easel! Very inspiring - kept me on my toes!. Sorry about the quality, should've brought my better camera...

Tidings of Discomfort and Joy! Part 1

2011-01-18T15:13:00.000-08:00

The vibes were wacky, wild, and merry at this massive company Christmas Party I did earlier last month with fellow artiste Emily Anthony. After this one, I got all the Christmas I could possibly need for the whole month....my ears are still ringing from the speakers that blasted live caroling right in my face the whole time. And I only realized halfway through the event that it WASN'T pre-recorded....guess the electricity of this event and the good spirits had me distracted - in a good way! I felt very 'on' at this gig and felt that I put a lot of action and expressiveness into each face, making some big, weird, funny distortions here and some cuter and cuddlier cartoonified simplifications there. I had fun! And it looks like everyone else did too - thanks again Emily!

MArinated boatmen and Salty Dogs...

2011-01-17T20:41:00.000-08:00

Okay, Here's a little trip to the past - i just found this series of caricatures I drew at a convention for motorboat marina owners (I posted the 1st and 3rd shows I did, and this is the second one) in Atlantic City a couple years back in November '08 that were never posted, so here they are - after this it's back to new stuff, and only a couple dips into stuff i'd never posted before. Because I'm obsessive like that.

COnvention part two - Drawings of my mug...

2011-01-16T16:15:00.000-08:00

And now here's the awesome artwork from the ISCA convention done OF me...I'm getting quite a backlog of drawings of me from the other conventions I've been to as well as from other occasions, so I may have to start a separate page, or maybe when I get a full website going (in the works...):

Angie Jordan

Roger Hurtado

Takashi Yamazaki

Yves Demers

Wade Collins

Miguel Aguilar

Kira Layli Scott

George Huante

Big Al Lopez

Court Jones

Caricature Convention 2010!

2011-01-15T16:33:00.000-08:00

One of the many cool things about being a caricature artist is being able to take part in the big convention that is held for members of the International Society of Caricature Artists (www.caricature.org), of which I have been a proud member for several years. Every year, there is an event at a different location throughout the U.S., (as well as mini-conventions usually internationally) and around 200+ artists come from around the world to take part in this weeklong event, where we draw each other in a 24 hour ballroom with every medium imaginable, and get our own wall space to display our work. At the end of the week, when the competition is done, we go around and vote in about 20 categories for the best work of the year, followed by a big banquet and awards ceremony on the last night. During the week, there are seminars on caricature techniques, business practices, and a lot more, plus there is a guest of honor, a well-known caricaturist illustrator, (this time it was independent animator Bill Plympton - http://www.plymptoons.com/index_main.html - who started out in caricatures, and frequently displays a caricature influence in his cartoons)who shares their history and mingles with the artists, often drawing with them too. Not only that, but there are several competitions, such as the speed drawing and likeness competitions to keep everybody excited and competitive in a friendly way. The con last year was held in Las Vegas, during November, and it was yet another huge, exciting, overwhelming mind-blowingly fun time where I drew all week , saw old friends, made new friends, and soaked up the whole creatively stimulating vibe that is unlike anything else i've experienced. It's an incredible reward for us as caricature artists, and I look forward to it every year. I only wish there could be something as great as this every month!

Here are the drawings I did at the convention, along with photos of my subjects:

Most of my drawings were done with marker, brush pen, color sticks/pencils, and acrylic paint.

My Wall:

Me and Mr. Bob East (AKA 'Beast), 2nd place winner of the Most Humorous Caricatures of the Year

Me and Dan Almariei, winner of Best Black & White Technique, and enthusiastic imbiber of red wine.

Me and Miguel Aguilar, 2nd or 3rd place winner of best black and white technique, and 1st place winner in 2009.

Me and Sean Gardner, winner of Caricature of the Year award, Color Technique, and Most Exaggerated awards I believe, and outstanding Zombie caricaturist.

Me and Kira Layli Scott, winner of Best Body Situation

'Two Handed' Mikey - winner for many years of Most Humorous Award, in 3rd place this year

Mike Hasson, owner/superagent for About Faces Entertainment

Brian Vasilik - Nice guy and great caricaturist and videographer:

Carrie Lee McLish - probably one of THE most popular faces of the year.

Next post.....my face takes a hit!!!

Caricatoberfest

2010-11-03T18:50:00.000-07:00

Drew a lotta nice folks last weekend - first gig's at an Oktoberfest for a church in Doylestown, second batch is from a Marine supplier expo in Atlantic City. Always fun people!

WELLL...OBVIOUSLY...

2010-10-28T14:08:00.000-07:00

...I had a lot of fun at this Homecoming party where I drew with Pat Harringtoon for a coupla hours - should've been an all night happening, but whatever, it was an epic two hours.

So run and tell THAT. Homeboy....

Bizarrmitzvahz

2010-10-19T16:57:00.000-07:00

Yep, more old shtuff, cuz I don't have any new ones from this past weekend, and I want to keep things updated here, so I might as well share some old ones I never shared, since they demanded me to - 'Please share us with our 2 blog followers', they demanded. So to shut them up, here they is:

The following were from a 2-barmitzvah weekend where I got my freaky drawing on and crunked out the jizzams. Yeah, that'd be me trying to sound 'down', but getting it all wrong. Hollaz!

Dog Day Afternoon (The PG version)

2010-10-12T15:58:00.000-07:00

So I drew a bunch of real dogs at this festival in NJ on Saturday...

Immediately after this long (but fun!) gig, I went to a party to draw another bunch of rowdy, scruffy creatures - namely...teenagers (as well as a couple a bit younger, and another quite a bit older) - here they are in all their wiry, awkward splendor:

Future's so bright, I'm blind..

Yes, his name really is Kal-El...and his brother's is Jor-El!

Another interesting name - Shjon...named after a well-known hockey player. And here I thought it was a typo!

LOTS of spirit and liveliness in this 87 years young sweetie!

I had a lot of fun with this family! thanks again guys!

the Art of Fun...

2010-10-03T13:25:00.000-07:00

Fall Arts Festival fun in Hoboken NJ.

Check out these girl's reactions...

A perfect mix of shock, horror, disgust, and delight - it's what I aim for!

Some Oldies but Goodies

2010-10-01T14:56:00.000-07:00

Here's a trio of sweet old ladies I drew at a senior citizen's facility last week, the same place I am hired for their annual summer staff party. I really enjoyed drawing this enthusiastic group of golden agers, and they kept me as entertained as I did them!

Now for more Oldies but Goodies - some live stuff I never posted anywhere, and since I don't have a full website with archived pages to show off my older material, I'll just post it here. A little 'fall cleaning' if you will.

So here they is...

These ones are from a fun gig I did with Pat Harringtoon at Chickie & Petes for a bank opening staff party.

These next ones are from a kid's birthday party in the basement of this gigantic house - in fact the kid's room was the basement. I recall there being a Frank Sinatra impersonator singing at this party for some reason.

Okay...why am I doing this again? Oh yeah, lack of new material, that's why...and hey, I think these were pretty good, so why not?

This bunch was done at Franklin Square park in Philly, when I had my on again, off again retail stand there.

These are from a college event.

A wedding!

Uh no, it was a birthday party, whatever...

Okay that's all for now. Hope it was good for you. Next post will be more from the archives of the month of October, until I get some new work done at least...

Husky Du/Shoot Out at the Crayola Factory

2010-09-28T18:12:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday, along with my buddy Patfreak Harringtoon, I drew up some fluffy Huskies (and other breeds too, such as the strange and rare homo sapien) as a retail vendor for an event for Tails of the Tundra Siberian Rescue (http://www.siberescue.com/) in Warminster park. While it wasn't the busiest we could have been, it was fun for the 5-6 hours, and we learned more than we ever thought was possible about Husky markings, eye colors, uh, fluffiness...okay, there wasn't all that much to learn about them but damn they're some beautiful animals, and you should adopt one today (that is of course, if you don't mind dealing with all that fur...)! I also got a nice sunburn down the right side of my neck and arm, as the sun kept seeking me out, only to destroy (that's a Stooges reference for ya, what you didn't know that?), even under my tent. Pat's lillywhiteness wasn't touched, but a crazy wind kept blowing off his hat - haha! Anyway, here's a buncha photos from the event, starting with the sign I drew to replace the well-intentioned but uh, not exactly accurately spelled (and way too small) 'cariacuture' sign the event promoter had for me, but oh well! Great people, great faces, great fur, great heat and wind...

A couple hours later, I met up again with "Pat Trick Hair In Tongue" for a crazed Sweet 16 event at the waxy-smelling Crayola Factory in Easton PA, the place where the crayon was invented (okay, I just pulled that one out of my a$$), where we melted down some faces (I can't resist bad puns, can I? No I can't). So did I draw with crayons? No, but what the hell, I should have! Anyways, it was some good fun we had with those always hilarious teenage faces (who were very receptive to me and Pat's weird and twisted styles), as well as some adults, kids, and waitstaff too.

Once again I apologize for the grainy picture quality...iphone cameras still suck ...

The Ambiguously Gay Duo, in the flesh

I love how the dude painted on the wall is gawking at the Sweet 16 Birthday girl. Creepy!

Can't You see I'm busy?

2010-09-28T04:13:00.000-07:00

Good times are here again with a midnite gig for a student fun event at Rider University, followed the next day with a big 4-artist mindblower of a company party in the Philly area...

People Pleasin'

2010-09-27T18:35:00.001-07:00

I've been a bit busy in the last few months so here's a little catch up of some gift caricatures I did recently:

A Retirement caricature for a teacher at the school I work at, which was presented at the year end teacher's meeting last June. She loved it!

This is a nice guy who won my 'free gift caricature' giveaway at my facebook fan page - since I got backtracked, it took me about 3 months to actually do the drawing, and by that time, he'd broken up with his girlfriend, the one in the picture....uhhh, so I'm drawing up the new girl who replaced her now...hopefully things are still good with her by the time I finish it...

Cracker was a beloved dog who passed away last year, and this commemorative gift was commissioned by his owner while I worked a fair in NJ. I had no time to complete it on the job, so I finished it at home. It turned out better than I thought it would since the client requested a little more 'realistic' depiction than I would normally do. I think I found a decent compromise, and represented the sweet, loving qualities of this dog rather than it's funny or goofy side, while keeping it somewhat cartoony.

The last three were requested by a client who'd hired me for a barmitzvah in August, and though I was non-stop busy for the entire four hours, somehow her son, the barmitzvah boy, her daughter, and parents didn't get drawn. It was no problem for me to whip these up free of charge, but the client wasn't having that and insisted on paying me! She gave me probably the nicest, most effusive praise I'd ever received on my live caricature performance, too, which was posted on GigMasters, the site she hired me through...here's her comment:

"John was completely professional and uniquely talented. All 110 of my guests commented on his unusual talent. I wish i had two of him at my party! All i know is from the time he began to the time he left, there was a continuous request for his artistry. I cant wait to hire him for my next event! He was completely independent and didnt request anything from me but a glass of water and only when I asked him! What a complete gentleman and most professional! Thank you John!! U helped make my son's bar-mitzvah a HUGE hit! Leslie Harris (new york city resident, NJ party)"

http://www.gigmasters.com/Caricaturist/Caricatoonz-By-John-Sprague/

Please contact me today for a gift caricature or illustration and I'll be sure to provide you with a fair rate, awesome quality, and a quick turnaround time!

Back in Action

2010-09-25T04:50:00.000-07:00

Hello again! I've been away from the blog for about a month, but I've been pretty busy so I've got lots to share. Here's some photos I got a chance to take from a gig a couple weeks ago. These are from a SEVEN hour gig I did for Children's Miracle Network and WOGL at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Lots of fun for a great cause (and lots of money raised for sick kids) and made lots of kids and their families happy. Oh, and I had some fun too...

2 Fun Company Gigs...and FINALLY caught up!

2010-08-19T10:54:00.000-07:00

I once again drew the fine staff at a senior care facility in Allentown PA this past Friday the 13th, and had a face-smashingly good time! Despite the constant threat of rain, I plowed on and excavated laughs galore! This marks the fourth year I have worked this gig and I it's always a good time - here's all 20 drawings I did of them!

On Saturday, I drew at another annual company event in Jersey, and whipped out these gutbusters...

Nope, not the "Jersey Shore" guys, nor the Gotti brothers...

nope, this here is ''EN2 - get it right!

Blue's Clueless! Just kiddin'....

Can it be? Yes it can! I actually caught up with myself on this blog - no more slipping behind, posting gigs and gifts from months (and in some cases, YEARS) past - I am now living in the present! Wow, it's weird to not be all backed up. It's like I took an enema made for blogging! (yech...)

Fairways, Here I Come! And Go...

2010-08-19T10:24:00.000-07:00

Here it is once again! I did the 7 day Middlesex County Fair for the 4th year (missed last year) and lived to tell the tale! Here's the evidence for your perusal...

My minimalistic set-up, right next to the Tea Party 'patriots'! erg....

Shana here was a short-lived caricaturist at my alma mater, Kaman's Art Shoppes at Great Adventure, for about one month this year.

Babies just don't care how you draw them - they rule!

I challenged this nice lady to draw a 'stick figure', because, as many people claim - she 'can't even draw a stick figure'. Well here she is showing off her attempt - not too bad eh?

Pat on the job - just another day in toxic Jersey - If you look closely, you can see my badly-drawn Toxic Avenger in the background - 'New Jersey's First Superhero!'

Buffy the dog. Drawn from a cellphone.

"I'll bet you drew me like a cave-man, hahahaha". Yup!

Loyal repeat customers - 4th year?

She wanted to be singing/dancing, but I added the 'Hair' idea. Hardeeharhar!

The Middlesex County Fair Robot - this year with a sandwich eating woman attached to his head! i have to draw this at some point.

I'm sure he'll love it!

More repeat customers! Anthony wears the same hat every year I draw him! Very consistent guy!

Is that a 'tan' or an 'orange'?

Repeat customers once again - these two always keeps ME laughing!

So cute, yet so cruel! Poor ants...

Not Tom Cruise...

The only time this kid was not talking was right here!

And that's that! This festival was dirty, loud, annoying, perplexing and of course FUN, as always, and I did well enough that I'll probably give it another shake next year - I've got enough repeat customers/fans who will be heartbroken if I don't show up. Next year, my lovely wife Jill WILL be there to help smooth out the crowds and help keep my sanity in check (I had to struggle with that, being next to the Tea Party propagandists, and being threatened by one teenage steroid abuser), and I WON'T be commuting 45 miles back and forth every night like a nut, just to avoid staying over my parents' house, which is just 15 minutes away...my poor car is begging me not to do that to her again!

Philly Bowl-o-holics and Fuggotabout Fair Photos...

2010-08-16T16:18:00.000-07:00

Here's some pics from a gig at the North Bowl bowling alley in Philly, for the local Maker's Mark reps. I even got a free bottle of their famous whiskey thrown into the deal. These are the gigs I live for...

The owner of North Bowl and his eager girlfriend...

And as a special added bonus, here's some snaps from the NJ Balloonfest that I used to do, as a nice lead in to my next blog post...

"Gotcher 'Newark Staw Ledga' right heyah!!!!! My god, four years later, and this guy's incessant braying is still stuck in my head...make it stop!!!!

Repeat Funny Bizness...

2010-08-16T14:03:00.000-07:00

I had a lot of fun going wild with the facebending at this family party for a high school grad girl (second pic) in Secaucus NJ. This gig was a rare case of repeat business with a 6 year gap - I drew at the client's daughter's 13th birthday party in 2004! I had actually moved from North Jersey to the Philly area later that year, and she tracked me down to get me to draw for this party - how cool is that???

This lady shared the same name with my wife and I's friend Lisa Wolf, which I thought was cool, and I made sure to add a howling wolf in the distance and a full moon too...owwoooooooooo...

Here's some hysterical laughing I caught on video from the last couple to be drawn on this fun night...

...And here's some stuff I never posted from a while back:

A Hulkin' Out kid from a 1st b-day party...

A company party for some company...

Sweat, Fur, Feathers....Laffs

2010-08-16T13:35:00.000-07:00

Here's a grab-bag o' live stuff from the sweaty month of July...

This group of photos was at a great family party in NJ for a recent high school grad - the hosts of the party, in the first photo, owned 6 cats, a parrot, and a cockatoo. That's a lotta poo...

I'm in the process of creating a collage of the caricature faces (in color) requested by the client, so I'll be posting that as soon as I finish.

Kids in the Class Caricatures

2010-08-16T11:17:00.000-07:00

This past year I got a job as a one on one assistant for a 3rd grade student in an elementary school in Northeast Philly, and ended up not only drawing him many times, but all 29 kids in his class! Each of these caricatures I finished by the last day of school and they were very excited to finally see them! There were a couple kids whose caricatures I somehow missed getting photos of, so there's actually 27 posted here. I look forward to this school year's doodlings - hopefully there's less students this time!

Laughin' Out Loud!!!

2010-08-05T11:48:00.000-07:00

Lots of laughin' out loud at this enjoyable outdoor event for the staff and customers of PNC bank in South Philly. Worked side by side again with my crazy caricature comrade Pat Harringtoon. Good vibes!

Right after this event, I did caricatures for the annual Covenant House grad BBQ in Germantown and made sure to snap some pix of the faces there. Always a fun one! These are kids who've been through a lot on the streets and Covenant House has done so much to help them and give them a second chance. They are always excited to have me back every year and the kids really appreciate the wild visual lampooning I like to exercise as much as possible...

Piece o' cake

2010-08-05T11:07:00.000-07:00

Batmitzvah at a nice place in Bordentown NJ. Very cool, friendly family!

The Batmitzvah girl.

Shrek and Donkey made a guest appearance....

I drew the entire family into one drawing - based on an old family reunion photo. Whew, this took longer than expected, but it was worth the effort!

Each of the people drawn here also got their own individual caricatures too, all of which added up to more hours at the gig for me - score!

Even More Fun...

2010-08-05T10:55:00.000-07:00

I had a great time drawing this fun family at the end of June.Here's some photos from the event!

This nice lady was actually turning 55, but I made her 50 instead, because I misheard her. She was quite happy that I heard her wrong!

More Fun from the Late Night Caricature Factory...

2010-08-05T10:46:00.000-07:00

Man, I was exhausted and burnt out at this middle of the night Grad gig at Drew University in NJ. Still managed to crank out some decent 'Scare-icatures' (hmmm, maybe I should patent that name...)

She laughed so hard, everything went blurry...

The Funyuns guy was WIRED...woof...

Sometimes I'm working so fast I completely miss some obvious stuff that would have made a much stronger drawing. With the girl here, I feel that I messed up with her cheeks and hair, losing the likeness in the process, so I messed around with 'fixing' her in Photoshop. The second drawing is how I should have or could have drawn her.

She LOVED purple, so I drew her in purple...

Very hyper young lady, and FUN to draw!

SPRAGUED 'EM!

2010-08-02T12:15:00.000-07:00

Once again I got to draw at the E.Brunswick Project Grad and it was killer krazy fun as always! Worked next to my man Pat Harringtoon and we bounced the crazy vibes back and forth, twisting, bending, contorting and basically just disrespecting these awesomely good-humored students' genetically inherited dispositions, taking them on a chuckle-filled trip to the funny farm! This year, the artists were spread out along a big 2nd floor running track, which was a big change from the suffocating hot box of an office space they had all eight of us (plus students) in for the past several years. For the first time, i took video of some of my subject's reactions - check 'em out for some genuine guffaws, whinnies, snickers, and chortles (and a couple confused 'heh-heh's too). Along for the ride again were Emily Anthony, Angie Jordan, and the nice guys of Aardvark Entertainment - including my old pal Joe Flood, whom I used to draw these events with before he moved to Hipsterburg, I mean Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Check out his amazing comic book work here: http://www.kneedeeppress.com/

This guy had one of the funniest laughs i've ever heard...

Mr. Ron Maslanka - sans his 'SAM the Clown' makeup - finally got 'SPRAGUED'!

check out more of the multi-talented Ron Maslanka here:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Howell-NJ/the-Magic-Aardvark/109792502371903

Caricatures from the Crypt

2010-08-01T16:49:00.000-07:00

Okay, here's some stuff I somehow never got around to posting - and I believe it's some of my best and funniest work. It was at the annual Project Graduation middle-of-the night insanity i've been doing for this one school in NJ for, well, ever, it seems, and it always turns out to be my favorite gig to work. Along for the ride this particular year (you can see for yourself on the drawings what year it was) were Pat Harringtoon, Angie Jordan, Emily Anthony, and Aardvark Entertainment. Enjoy and don't be afraid to laugh your ass off.

The Famous Emily Anthony by me!