Happier.

Warming up for the weekend's events. Because I started feeling awkward with the Tame Caricatures that I had been getting into a couple of months ago.

First I drew this Caricature...... Well..... I Started drawing this Caricature based on a photo from a previous event. But I just jumped ship. Boring:

So I drew it again. This time, none of that predraw stuff. None of that analyzing stuff. I just decided where to place the faces, and I jumped right in. Yes! This works so much better. It's the way to make art:

Just to check it out, to make sure of my easy exaggerated approach, I figured I should try it on another photo from a But since the easy exaggerated approach already worked so well tonight, I took it a step further. I used my wild exaggerated approach instead. For tonight the wilder approach was ugh. Did Not work. Stupid.

Once again, I have to say that great Artwork cannot be controlled. Cannot be forced to happen. Sometimes one approach is working great. Sometimes another. That's good to know, so I can trust myself.

But when Clients request one style or another, and I try to accommodate them, it might not really be in their best interests. Real Artwork is not a Craft. It is an Art.

So for tonight, I happily went back to my easy exaggerated approach. It's most enjoyable to do what's working in that particular moment:

Came back to these studies 2 days later. To apply the technique I felt happy with 2 days ago. Based on photos of people I previously drew at Parties.

First I drew these 2 ladies. Good. Simple. Direct. It worked:

Then I started drawing these 3 gentlemen. Aghk. Oook. I had predrawn approximate spaces for the 3 face shapes, and I oh ~ What could I have been thinking??

So I drew them again. Now that I'm posting the experience here, I sure am wishing I could remember what I did. Did I predraw the 3 face shapes and just do better at the face interpretations this time? Or did I place and draw only the center face and then fit the placements for the other faces around that? I Think that's what I did. Just drew the first face first, but I don't know. I don't remember. Oh

Then I drew the following face. Hair shape. Worked like a charm:

Tried to apply it to this next face ~ but oh something I should work on ~ the photo was taken from a wonky angle. Made it difficult. Made Artist-me feel uncomfortable.

So I felt Very Happy with the couple that I drew in the next picture. I handled this one (just 2 people) by predrawing the basic shape for Both of them before starting to ink the answers:

Feeling confident with this approach, I then tried to apply it to the following Caricature. I took an unusual photo which included hands on the face. Aghk. I'll have to revisit my Hand studies. I've done that many times ~ it's simple when you know what you're doing. When you remember what you're doing:

But not tonight. I want to do something else besides drawing.

Feels like it never ends.

Finally. After all these yearsyearsyearsy of drawing at Events, I finally figured out how to let the picture Evolve without a predraw. Inadvertently.

I previously did marker Before colorsticks ~ struggling to avoid (or at least limit) any predraw. But today I did the colorsticks Before the marker.

Since I use leftover supplies for my time-off drawings, my markers ran out of ink today. I was so intent on my drawing, that I had continued without the marker. I just relied on my colorsticks.

But I feel like my drawings should have Outlines at Parties and Events.

So I went back into today's pictures. I changed the Order of Operations ~ adding the marker to the 'finished' drawings. It worked. Seeing Caricatures side by side ~ both before and after markering, I feel pleased. Presence. In an easy and fun way.

By using the color sticks Before the marker, the predraw was easily inherent in the initial drawing. It wasn't an Extra step.

By using the marker After the colorsticks, I was able to focus more cleanly on my line quality than ever before.

So many Words. But when a guest is given only One of them at a Party, s/he is inspired to focus on that one word ~ inspired to 'take it on'. And their friends are also likely to connect that one word to the person to whom it was given. It has lasting value.

Is it soon time to say goodbye to Summer? My Summer's Party Graffitis can inspire good things as the year goes on.

Here are a few of the Party Graffitis that I came out with this summer.

I look forward to continuing my work.

I look forward to drawing more Words to inspire people.

Still happening. Good clean Fun.

Here are some of the Caricatures that I drew: