Looking forward to it. I've been drawing in the Studio. But I can't post it here yet. Because I was working on an upcoming Proposal Caricature. Doesn't feel right to show it to other people before my Client gets to see and use it.

So I figure I'll just Tell you what I did so far. This Proposal Caricature is different than all the others that I've officiated.

I usually draw Proposal Caricatures from photos that my Client sends me. And then I pretend to draw it at the Event, giving more attention to the Couple's Experience. But this Client requested that I handle it differently. He wants me to be able to draw the Clothes, Earrings, Hairstyles, Landscape, Flowers Of the Moment. And of course, we won't know what his intended will be wearing until Day Of.

I guess I could just draw it all on the spot ~ I am accustomed to drawing lots of people on the spot at Parties and Events. But my Client specifically wrote: Loosely Quoted "Might take a little too long. I don't want her to get suspicious or impatient. However, I don't want it to be incomplete. Are you able to start some of the drawing in advance and then draw our attire, background, or whatever else. If you're unable to do it, that's ok. We can do the whole drawing in person." Unquote. I like to give my Clients what they want, so I'm trying to plan it out now, and then actually draw it Day Of. My Client wants (and it paying for) a much bigger production that what I could do in the short time he wants the Event to last.

So here I am, doing my beloved Predraw. He sent me photos of the beautiful place where we would be (I can't tell if it will be the same season as in the photos), and he sent me photos of himself and his 'future bride'. I wanted to pull the many reference photos into Photoshop, but that didn't work easily. I don't know what some people do that make their photos or paperwork impossible to download from their emails, but that was the case with this one. Took me a long time to figure out how to access the photos.

I'm not a fill-in-the-blanks sort of 'Artist', so I feel unsure of whether or not this predraw would be a waste of time. Depending on what I would want to draw about their attire and environment (he especially mentioned that she's into her earrings, and it would be a good idea to draw the ones she wears that day) and what sort of flowers are in the area (and what if it rains and we have to move to an alternate Indoor location altogether!?!).....

Good thing that I like to draw and dream about my drawings ahead of time. I figure that whatever I end up seeing Day Of, my Pre-Studying will be very helpful.

The next time I spend time on this project, I must look up 'Radiant Cut' diamond rings. My Client mentioned that the ring is 'Radiant Cut' as though I know what that means? I'm figuring that it's probably a diamond.

Sheesh. I can't post tonight's Caricature because it's a Predraw for tomorrow's Proposal Caricature. Of course, I can't let other people see it before my Client does.

After a month of countless emails and texts and photos and changed locationS, I finally felt ready to do the Predraw. This is a unique Proposal Caricature because my Client doesn't want me to draw the Caricature alone in my Studio and then pretend to draw it on-site like I usually do. He wants to catch what they look like and how they dress This day. And he also doesn't want me to take too long drawing on-site because he doesn't want his Lady to wonder......

So I did a Predraw of a basic composition and what the faces will probably look like ~ based on my Client's photos. Came out great. But I still have to ink it and add Color and actually draw the Faces and Clothes when I get there. I feel confident with this wonderful Predraw.

But Oh. I have to use Public Transportation to get to this location. I packed up the 22x28 predraw and my markers and easel etc. But when I tried to include the Larger heavy Drawing Board, it did Not fit in the folio that I use for 22x28 papers. I don't know how I am going to Carry several 22x28 Cardstocks And a bigger Heavy Drawing Board and my Markers, Travel Directions etc, and my 2-Part Easel ~ in the car and on the train and on the subway and on the Long walk from there to get to the destination.

I have done 22 x 28 Proposal Caricatures near this location before. But they were always drawn ahead of time in my Studio. So I only had to bring my regular drawing board for pretending that I was doing regular drawing until I had taken out the 22 x 28. I didn't need to bring the Giant Heavy Drawing Board Oh.

It's now 130am. I have to leave the house at 7am to get there in time. So there's no time to shop to try different ideas. I have to come up with something. Hmmmm..... Never a dull moment

I was hired to draw at 2 Events for this upcoming Saturday. My Client for the 2nd Event, a Man's Surprise 40th Birthday Party, my Client mentioned 'You might want to know that we have a Super Hero theme. We're all going to be wearing Super Hero tshirts. Well.... wearing Super Hero tshirts ~ that's no problem for me. I chose my Super Girl tshirt! But the Caricatures..... um.... I was only hired to draw Caricatures. And that usually means 'Face Only' unless something else was previously agreed to on the Agreement. But I would like to do something special for my Client. If I can. I like to support my Clients' parties.

But I get Paid to work at Events. And we have a gray area here about Copyright law. I guess. I don't know much about it, and I don't want to have to find out. I feel like it makes sense that I wouldn't be allowed to sell pictures in which I Copied someone else's Artwork. So I wouldn't usually be willing to draw Superman, The Hulk, Spiderman, etc on My Caricatures. But in this case,if they are Wearing those designs on their tshirts, and it's my job to draw what I see..... Perhaps it could be allowed. But I don't want to have to find out. So hmmmm..... perhaps I can dream up my own Super Hero designs.

My background was mostly traditional Painting, Alla Prima Landscapes, and Portraits. So I tried to channel Comic Books for this upcoming Party. We all know basically what they're like. With those high-contrast action poses. Tonight I wanted to troubleshoot what would come out of me. So I'll be ready for the Event.

The first thing I did was a Lot of predraw. A lot of thinking out how a pose would be. Then I imagined a 40-year old man might be wearing a suit/vest, so I colored in as though it was a Super Hero in a vest. I guess I forgot that my Client did say that they would all be wearing Super Hero T-shirts. Anyway, I do feel like I learned something from this first attempt. I learned to move the Neck toward to front of the face so there would be room to punch the arm Upward after drawing the face. And I also learned that I wouldn't want to just color in big areas of 'home-color'.

Tried again. Much better shading the 2nd time. Drastic Black and Whites. Looking statuey. But I didn't fit the whole body on the page as I originally imagined.

So then my 3rd attempt. Great pose. This one is looking good. Now I want to try using it with a Face. So I'd be ready for the Party, I used some random Photos of 40 year old men that I found online.

Welllll..... Ummmmm..... 4th Caricature ~ looking stiff. Mistakenly mangled the hand. And I spent way too much time on the Predraw. That would not work at Parties. Got to simplify the pose and not try to reinvent the wheel with every picture that I draw at the Party.

So I did Caricature #5. That one's good. Good, and I feel like my Audience would like it, but it's not good enough for Me. I wouldn't feel proud of myself for drawing like That at a Party.

The 6th Caricature. Finally. I did a Simple Face Exaggeration with a Simple Power Body. I would feel happy with this at an Event.

Tried it agan, the 7th picture here, and yikes egads not good enough. He looked just like that, but I don't feel like the exaggeration is good enough. And the quick pose ~ which was trying too hard for me ~ doesn't work it's icky. And since I ink the face Before the body at an Event, no time to rethink the wheel when Clients expect a lot of people to be drawn in the allotted time, I ended up with no room for his Hand.

Aaah. Now I have my approach all ironed out. For the 8th picture here, I easily Exaggerated the face with just a little predraw indicators, and then I used a very simple post that I could have fun with. This could be ready enough for this 2nd Party that I'll be handling on Saturday. But oh no! Now what about the special circumstances for the 1st Event!

Never a dull moment.............

I'm feeling better now, but I was in a funk all day. Rough day emotionally.

Didn't have anything in mind when I picked up an old Crayola Marker to draw some lines when I had a Waiting time (I don't remember why/what). But it turned into a Caricature of how I was feeling: