I'll be drawing at a 50th Birthday Party tonight. At a local pub. Client requested Black/White Caricatures.

So I'm thinking - Perhaps I'd like to make them simple. Direct. Clean. To keep the Party moving - which is probably why they specified Black/White Caricatures.

Here are a few practices. This is fun. The pictures just roll right out of the marker. Not as wild as my usually Exaggerated Color Caricatures, but so much easier to make. And I think they look great in a little frame by the door. in the den. in the kitchen......

BTW, I timed myself drawing these simple Caricatures. Each one was done in 2 - 3 minutes. That's about 25 pictures per hour - much more than the 10 per hour that I usually recommend planning for. I'm sure it would take longer at an event than from photos - guests are human beings - but I'd still be confident of making more pictures this way.

Aw, Sweetie - This is obviously not You. Even my interest has gotten so far from the original girl as I draw alone in my studio in the middle of the night. I was just inspired to draw another picture because of my previous Picture - not because of the person who was the original subject.

I looked at my post here from January 3, 2010, and I was intrigued to see what I could do if I curved that nose all the way up - to match the nose-tip with the eyes. Just for Fun.

I like the Picture.

It's just for Fun. I hope people understand that they are not their picture. Actually, people look pretty much the same as each other - eyes in the middle of the head - deviating ever so slightly from Basic Proportions that are taught in any Portrait Class. Caricature Artists are playing with Pictures - drawing Shapes, not drawing Noses.

The girl that was the original inspiration for this picture was as beautiful (or as funny-looking, depending on your point of view) as any other human being. Remember - If you're going to laugh at anyone else, remember that You're one of us too. I hope that my Caricatures will help people to loosen up - help them not to take themselves so seriously - help them to relax about what they look like. It's Okay, people. It's not possible to have a face that doesn't have two holes in the middle of it (a nose) - and that's a funny design. (Don't get me started on Ears!)

I can't explain it. Why this makes me so happy. It's like, it's like it's the answer to my dreams. Here I am once again, making up faces. I guess it's going to be my Thing this year. Making up faces and keeping my backbone straight. I feel Great!

I actually do like to do my work. Today, for instance, even though I certainly didn't Have to, I just felt like playing around with one of the pictures that I posted yesterday. I wanted to do more with it, but I wouldn't have had time to give This much attention to any One picture during the party. This is something that I would do on unclocked time.