Best Caricature that Money CANT buy.

It was a slllllllow retail day at the Hotel that afternoon,and I was not making a dime. Frustrated, tired, and bored, I was ready to pack up and call it a day.

Then I spotted HIM looking at my caricature stand.

This kid was a caricature artist's dream. He had those chubby hamster like cheeks that looked like mini water baloons attached to his face, huge pointed ears that stuck out like open car doors, each one at a slight 45 degree angle, but that wasn't all! He had these great bushy eyebrows, and to top it off a literal crown of thick black curly hair that sat majestically on the top of his head like a miniature rectangular skyscraper! I was in carciature heaven!!! He came over with his sister and brother and asked how much the pictures were. When I quoted the price for color is heart sank a little bit, but determined to get a picture from me sat down and decided to get a cheaper black and white job.
I didnt really care. It had been a slow day and not only was I finally going to make a little money, but I was going to draw a picture of this kid who was a caricature artist's dream! I drew his picture immediately and he was almost beside himself with laughter and delight. It's not often that people actually LIKE highly exaggerated caricatures of them. I drew his brother next, and saved his older sister for last. As is my habit when drawing, I began to make small talk asking her questions about various things and asked her how she had come to stay in the hotel that i was drawing her in. She said quietly that her family's home had burnt down the previous night and they were staying there until they could find a place to live.
My heart sank, as she reached in her pocket to pay for the caricatures. I told her to forget about payment, and proceeded to change her black and white caricature to a full color one. Her face brightened a bit, and she broke into a smile not expecting this. I did the same to her two brothers' pictures, all the while making casual conversation while fighting back tears and emotion. I thanked them for stopping by my stand, and as they left to go back to their rooms I heard the youngest one say, "He's a good man, right?"
It's times like this that you realize that you really can make a small difference in somebody's life just by this simple act of drawing. Money cannot buy the respect of a child, and that kid didnt realize that the gift he gave me was worth more than anything I could've made.

This is a memory sketch of that kid who blessed me that day.

All THIS an POINTED EARS TOO??

His wife was cracking up as I drew this. At one point, she blurted out, "would you believe that he has pointed ears under all that hair?" I took another look at his face and replied, "no need to draw that, I think Ive messed him up enough!" He loved the picture, by the way.

They're creepy and they're spooky... my Family. Again

Just wanted to see how this looked if I applied some black prismacolor to it. Here's the result. From the Bottom, my daughter, My son , and my wife. She doesnt look like this anymore, becuase he changed her hairstyle............again.

Change Day

A Change Is Gonna Come
(Sam Cooke)
As Performed Sam Cooke (1964)

I was born by the river in a little tent
And just like the river, I've been running ever since
It's been a long time coming
But I know a change is gonna come

It's been too hard living, but I'm afraid to die
I don't know what's up there beyond the sky
It's been a long time coming
But I know a change is gonna come

I go to the movie, and I go downtown
Somebody keep telling me "Don't hang around"
It's been a long time coming
But I know a change is gonna come

Then I go to my brother and I say, "Brother, help me please"
But he winds up knocking me back down on my knees

There've been times that I've thought I couldn't last for long
But now I think I'm able to carry on
It's been a long time coming
But I know a change is gonna come

Happy BIrthday Martin Luther King

Pieces of a Dream coming together today. It's a proud day to be an African American in America. For me, it's always been a proud day thanks to the dedication, and sacrifices that were made by others.\I did this drawing for the "Editorial Comment" Section of my local paper, "The Wave".

Caricaturing da Kids again...

me makin fun of my kids again. They should be used to it. Ive been doing it since they were born. These are the individual colored versions of both of them taken from the "Family Christmas card " caricature I did on em weeks ago.

Wife Swap's Casting Associate Producer, Amanda Gershkowitz

This is a caricature of the lovely, Amanda Gershkowitz, who is the Casting Associate Producer for ABC families hit reality show 'Wife Swap.'

Amanda contacted the Surfer the other day because The people at the Wife Swap show
were casting for their fifth season, and were looking for CARICATURE ARTISTS/ COMIC BOOK ARTISTS!. I unfortunately did not meet all the criteria requirements for the show, but once she finds an artist with the right 'fit" then it's sure to be a spectable that must be seen. If you are unfamiliar with the show, It's a reality show where the wives are taken out of their home environment and transported into another with ...interesting results, as the family members attempt to adjust.


In appreciation for being asked to do the show I offered to draw Amanda's Picture here. Im relieved she liked it because I went far on the exaggeration.

As of this posting she hasnt found anyone YET to my knowledge, so All you caricature comic artists with spouses and kids living at home, if this is something that seems right for you, give her a call!...or rather give ME one. There is a "bounty" for finding the artist /family with the right "fit" and being the capatalist/opportunist that I am, I aint ashamed to say that I WANT IT!

Jabba the Hutt's kid brother, Rocky THE HUTT

Some of the Hutt's on Tatoowine, prefer to grown their hair long, and ae quite the snappy dressers, like my friend Rocky, here... heh, heh...

New Promo Flyer

Thought I'd update my promo flyer for the New Year. Heres one idea This shows off my color party style work.

This is for my pal, Rocky

Rocky is my new Pal on the NCN forum. Rocky's a fellow caricature artist who looks like a mob Boss. I thought it would be funny if I drew him as a Mob Boss caricature artist who has his Gorilla lump up his victims faces so that they ALREADY look exaggerated before he draws them. The poor sap who just got the beating is of course, me.

Chinese Caricature artist, pan hsueh kuan,

This is the original offending caricature that I drew of the Taiwan terror, Pan hsueh kuan, the resulted in me getting unceremoniously caricature slammed by him in the previous post. I'm starting to breathe easier now, and the feeling is beginning to come back into my right drawing arm....Caricature is BRUTUAL Ladies, and gents! If you're of faint of heart, retreat to your Disney coloring books, and Saturday morning cartoons! THIS is ARTISTIC WAR!!!!

pan hsueh kuan SLAMMS the SURFER!!!

In an unpresidented and surprise move, Chinese Caricature artist, pan hsueh kuan, The Taiwan Terror, comes off the ropes, Caricature Close lines the subwaysurfer, and slamms him to the mat with a devestating caricature!!!!! This is an obvios rebuttal to a previsous caricature that The Surfer Drew of Pan!

Drawing "simple" AINT!

Believe it or not, folks, this "simple" drawing on this Asian Hip Hiphopper took me two days to get just right. Drawing "simple" is realllllly a challenge. Dont ever let anyone tell you differently. I tried a LOT of different versions of his face until finally deciding to do a more iconic look from memory, which came out perfect...after a couple of false starts. This is Jack Lo, aka J-LO from Taipei of Taiwan

1960's time warp pictures on the A train

These two were hilarious to draw. I know it's stereotypical to draw the BIG nose on people as a caricature artist, but what can I say? this lady's nose was so outstanding I had to draw it. I wanted to add a little background info also. Maybe that is what I will do more in subsequent caricatures just to add more context to the pictures. I like the "movement " that I've got going with the Nose and those funky boots of hers. Same type of "visual rhythm." She had this type of "beatnik" look about her, and I could imagine her at a jazz club or speakeasy listening to improv poetry, surrounded by cigarette smoke,sitting at a table with a cup of java, slowly nodding out. She even wore Bell Bottoms. Only in New York could you actually find someone looking like this in "real time".



The Hippie Dude with the long hair and walrus mustache had this look on his face like he was wondering what happened to the sixties or something. When i finished drawing this it had a Robert Crumb feeling to it, which shouldnt be strange since he is an artistic influence from long ago.

FIRST POST OF THE NEW YEAR

LAST POST FOR THE YEAR

Last post of the year.... I want to say something profound, but all I can really say is thank you for tuning in. As I write this, I see that over 26,000 of you have tuned into this blog over the year saying that you like my art, that you are inspired by it, entertained by it, educated and amused by it enough to keep tuning in, and encouraging me to do more. As an artist, no matter how "good" you think you are, you often have doubts. Art is a very solitary activity, and it's easy to get discouraged. When your peers and well wishes tell you that what you are doing is WORTH seeing, it makes you want to do more> I've learned so much about the art of cartooning and caricature by actually DOING it. Experience really is the best teacher, and I've had a lot this year. I've also learned a lot and have been encouraged myself by the many artists who I've featured on this page throughout the year. The list continues to expand, and as I discover more I get better and better.
Thanks to all of you who have supported my book writing effort as well. It's been a labor of love, and I've tried to make it affordable.
Hope that your next year will be full of possibility, and that your dreams will come true. I KNOW a lot of mine did last year.

Tim the seminarian

My son's roomate, Tim. Pre Seminary student. Just like my boy. Im really having too much fun playing with my new caricature style. I was also in the mood for experimenting in photoshop. It's wonderful what this program can do!> I wanted this to have a "Saturday morning" animated cartoonish feel to it.

and yet ANOTHER self Portrait!!!

Never get tired of drawing myself....I think this is how Chris Chua.Tomo San,Adam or Andy would do it! AAAARRRRGGGHHHH! Im channeling TOO MANY caricature artists!!!

SURFER BREAKFAST CEREAL!!!!

Hey, it COULD happen!

Caricature Family Portrait

Everyone say cheese! As you all know, I've become fascinated lately with the abstract minimilistic caricature styles of Andy, Chris, and Adam lately. Last night, THIS was the result! I'm lovin it! .... the family isnt.
From the left, my wife, Me, my son, and daughter.

sketchbook goodies

found these gems hiding in an old sketchbook. I love to be surprised by my old drawings. I always had difficulty drawing Asians in the past, and would alway result in doing a dumb stereotypical picture, which must have insulted my audiences! I knew I was on the right track when a Chinese man exclaimed, " you make us LOOK Chinese! that's good".

Vince Guaraldi, It wouldnt be Christmas without you!

Besides celebrating the birth of My Lord, Christmas "just wouldn't be Christmas" without watching my favorite animated classic,"A Charlie Brown Christmas", and that "Charlie Brown MUSIC!"

I'm positive that I'm not the only one who feels that way. just hearing that music brings childhood memories back so thick that you literally have to brush the tears away from your eyes. You simply cannot imagine watching a Peanuts cartoon without hearing that cool hot piano played magnificently by Jazz Pianist, Vince Guaraldi.

Like all things in our culture we've come to love and appreciate it, this music, which has become so ingrained in American pop culture, almost didn't happen.
In 1962, Lee Medelson, a San Francisco based television producer, had was wrapping up the final stages of a TV Documentary on cartoonist, Charles Schultz, whose work was becoming a stable in pop culture. Medelson was contemplating what musician he would choose for the background score of his film, when he heard the song, "Cast :Your Fate To The Wind." by jazz pianist, Vince Guaraldi. The two met, and Vince immediately went to work on the score, composing the first song, "linus and Lucy" (which I have dubbed, "the Charlie Brown theme song"




Medelson's documentary included his interview with Charles Schultz, some rough animation of his Peanuts characters, and of course,Vince's song.

It was a documentary that never saw the light of day.

Three networks rejected the film on the basis that people didn't want to see little kids talking like adults. We take it for granted today just how revolutionary a concept Peanuts was. Schultz maintains that he never intended to have the strip appeal to kids but to adults. The "intelligent people" in Hollywood didn't think people would like that, which just goes to show you once again WHY you SHOULD follow your dream.

But lets continue...

Three years following the rejection of the Documentary, Medelson was contacted by an advertising exec who saw the film, and thought that it would be great if the characters could be used in a Christmas special. Medelson agreed, and immediately knew who the musician would be for the score.

The rest, as they say, is history.
The film broke a lot of new ground to say in the least, but one of things it also did was "introduce Jazz" in a sense to a new audience in prime time. To juxtapose cool jazz into a cartoon just wasnt done, and "would not work" on paper. Just goes to show what can happen when you think outside the box.

I chose to draw this caricature of Vince in a Hirschfeld'esque type of style because I feel it just "fits". I have the CD playing in the background as I write this , and also as I drew the caricature. I feel that "Charlie Brown music" is the perfect backdrop to artistic inspiration. Make sure you buy yourself a copy before they're gone off the shelves until next year!


MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Nikk and his gurl Gift Caricature.

One of the many gift caricatures Ive done for couples lately. This is the copy I kept for myself. Not a subwaysketch, I know but Im very proud of it.

Rhino subway pan handler wants a quarter

When a Rhino asks if you can spare a quarter, you definitely give him a dollar. Good thing that they arent allowed on the train. No one in their right mind would sell them a metro card.

Okay, what inspired this? I was on the train drawing one time, and this little boy was so fascinated that he screamed out, "Hey! can you draw a RHIO???" My mind went blank for a couple of seconds and then i produced one and gave it to him. I knew Id return and do another ever since... today was the day....

Giant Butterfly on the A Train

He had these.... ears......

Mr. James Shaw

I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. James Shaw on the Manhattan bound A line some weeks back doing my usual subwaysurfing. We started off chatting about the weather, and in no time we became engrossed in conversation where we discussed politics, race relations, community affairs, jazz, and art. Mr. Shaw, 70 plus years old, looked years younger, and in a lot of ways reminded me of myself. He took off his hat at one point and showed off his RED hair which he proudly boased was natural and never went gray. I was delighted and amazed. His daughter, Janathel M. Shaw was a sculpture,whose most famous work, "Dead on Arrival" was featured on pg 163 of author, Judith Schwartz'sbook, "Confrontational Ceramics." I promised James I would mention this on the blog so it's a promise kept.
Mr. Shaw knew a lot about jazz and shared priceless stories about Miles Davis, Dizzy and Duke Ellington, and spoke about the glory days of Harlem. It was almost like being there. I did a couple of different sketches of him while we spoke not really satisfied with any of them, so I decided to post all of them here. I made sure that I gave him one of them as a gift which he folded carefully and put in his pocket. I also promised him that when it got warmeer I would check out one of the many free jazz fastivals that are played in the city. I hope to see him there.

Roxanne of The Marriott Courtyard Hotel

Roxanne is one of those people who make an immmediate impression on you. SHe is professional without being cold and aloof, courteous, and when you're around her you get the impression that"everythings gonna be alright." Roxanne, a manager at the marriott Courtyard Hotel, is the "lady in brown" as I refer to her, and almost always is stylishly dressed in earth tones particularly brown. She also has a fun face to draw and even though Ive drawn her several times before, I really wanted to take my time on this sketch here.

Matt Boismier Caricature sketch

Matt Boismier, is a fellow caricature artist who posted his photo on the NCN's Forum site's "Firing Squad" I decided to take a warning shot at his face before coming back for another pass later. My first comic impression was that his face reminded me of a buzzard, so that's what I went with.

President Bush Iraq Shoe Bomber Attack

Man! how could you NOT draw a cartoon on what happened recently in Iraq? I bet every cartoonist in the nation thanked the cartoon gods for THIS "freebie" If you DIDNT draw a cartoon on this, or at least THINK about one, you should immediately turn in your "artistic lincense" card with your union rep.

Personally, this incident is deplorable and shows the level of respect that people have for the OFFICE of the President of the United States. Forget for a moment how much you "love to hate " the current President and think instead of what an insult this is to the most powerful leader of the free world. The agents who were guarding him should be handing in their resumes to the shopping mall about now, hopefully they're still hiring. It IS the holiday season after all...

Not ANOTHER Obama cartoon!

Looks like Im getting the hang of drawing Obama! and I will have four more years to practice. This Toon is another in the series of Tract illustrations for World Outreach Evangelical Ministries. I really feel bad for Obama in a way. He's got a LOOOOOOT on his back, The war, the economy, and the hopes and dreams of the American people who seem to want to make him the end all and be all, kind of like a Messiah figure. That's a lot of pressure for any flawed human being to handle.

Elton John Lookalike

This is a memory sketch of a person I drew at a recent gig. He reminded me so much of Elton John the only thing missing was a Grand Piano. He was actually an English teacher from Hong Kong as was at the Corporate event with his wife. He got drawn twice.
Of course it's unfinished, raw and unpolished. I will come back later to finish it.

Three dudes on da train

I had a LOT of time riding the train yesterday as i went to two gigs that were miles apart. I decided to use a more modeled approach in the drawing this time using the colored woodless pencils. The First man with the large eyes was desperately trying to stay awake as he was watching me draw him. His stare was SO intense that I had to look away a couple of times. He eventually fell asleep, and then it was easy.The last man in purple had this self satisfied look on his face, as if he was saying , "go ahead, and draw! How could you resist a face as handsome as this!"

"Whateverrrrrrrrrrr...." Teenager on the Q53 Bus

I love to draw teenagers. They all seem to work SOOOOOOOO very hard at being nonchalant and uncaring, meanwhile on the inside they are a bundle of nerves and emotions. I caught this guy walking onto the Q53 Last night on the way home from my gig.I love the animated feel of this sketch! I drew it in 10 seconds.

You want CUTE? I can draw cute!!

I did this gift caricature of Connor, for fellow Caricature artist, Wanye Savage. Cute little monkey, aint he? I remember doing a gig for Manga.com to promote the animated film, "Space Chimps" last summer, and thought it would be perfect to draw Wanye's kid like this. Dont you wish YOU could swing on a Banana?

AKEELE, here's your pic

This is a memory sketch of the young man who recognized me and stopped me on the street the other day. His name is Akeele I think.

Soooooo Cute, you could just PUKE!!!

Just returned home from a great gig at Toys R Us, in Times Square, with fellow caricature artist, the self proclaimed, caricature king, Dan Springer. (Dan really IS that good and if anyone deserves a crown, HE does, check out his blog listed on this site... but I digress....) We werre invited to draw at this event by an absolutely adorable husband and wife, party team, Jason and Stacey. I'd never met them before, and was blown away when they both arrived in custom made matching white tuxedos covered in hearts. Upon seeing this, I thought to myself, man, I reallllly got work on my party wardrobe more! They both looked like two life sized plush toys that jumped off of a little girl's bed. I gotta admit, they were so cute you could just puke, and i had to restrain myself from saying "AAAAAWWWWWWWW!!!" Each time I looked at them.

Jason did some fantastic baloon twisting and sleight of hand tricks while his wife handled the facepainting It was a fantastic gig which ended with us all partaking of a delicious buffet while overlooking Times Square. I love the Christmas Season!

I between drawing kids i drew their likenesses in a cartoony style that dipicted their vibeand couldnt wait to bring it home to color it and upload here! Enjoy! .... dont forget your barf bag.

Corporate gig sketches

Dragged myself in at 2;30 am last night after doing a fantabulous corporate gig held at the Hudson Hotel in the city. My Hostess, was EXCELLENT, the crowd was enthusiastic, the music was not too loud and my hostess, who was EXCELLENT provided the best lighting and seating that I've ever had at a gig. For those of you who are party artists, you know how RARE it is for clients to really get this right, and my hostess, who was EXCELLENT, hit a home run.

Out of the faces i drew these two were the most memorable, particularly the woman with the big grin. She thought at first that she waouldnt like such an exaggerated picture, but actually cracked a smile bigger than the one I gave her here.

The guy had unbelievable eyebrows, ears , lips, forehead, jawline.... I got so excited I thought I was going to crash and burn on the exaggeration, but I managed to pull it off. This was an absolutely FUN gig!