Elgin Subwaysurfer Bolling At Work

Cutest Boy on the A Train by Elgin Subwaysurfer Bolling

So Cute and innocent looking he looked almost "doll like" how could I resist?

Beauty in the eye of the beholder by Elgin Subwaysurfer Bolling

Beauty
By Elgin Bolling AkA El Prophet, The Scribe

If Beauty’s in The Beholder’s Eye,
Then Why Is It That So Few Try
To Love Themselves?

I Guess They’re Too Busy
Tryin’ To Be Someone Else

Who Want’s To Be
Just Like Them!
And So The Cycle Starts Again

I Want To Be YOU,
You Want To Be ME,
And BOTH Of Us
Want To Flee
From The Person We See
In The Mirror.

We All Need To See A Little Clearer.
For We Are Made In The IMAGE OF GOD
Realizing THIS, It Shouldn’t Be Hard,
To Give YOURSELF a Great Big HUG!
Then We’d be Respecting HIM
Up Above.

May I See Myself
Through YOUR EYES
Then Myself
I Would not
Despise.
Copyright 2010 Elgin Bolling

ANOTHER SUBWAY SURFER RHYME ON TIME

Subway the surfer is movin
guaranteed to get ya groovin
clear da wax out cha ears
and dontcha dare start snoozin

He's paid the price
To be nice

No longer proovin

with his caricatures ya cant lose,
and if he choose to drop a verse
absolutely, and totally un rehearsed,
what could be worst

than sittin back while he attacks
listenin to him converse,
this time drawin with his voice box
insteadda using markers
that come outta a box

While you dine on ya Bagels and Lox,
hold on to your sox
cause surfers gonna knock you out of them.

Oh man I wrote another rhyme!
there I GO AGAIN!

ALL GIANTS FALL By Elgin Subwaysurfer Bolling

ALL GIANTS FALL
BY ELGIN SUBWAYSURFER BOLLING

So, they’re saying I can no longer draw on the street?
How do they suggest I eat?
Fat Cat Politician there, is sitting in MY seat
Thinking he’s got me beat.

But I aint WEAK
I refuse to RETREAT
I can take the HEAT
You give me a napkin,
I’ll transform it into a SHEET

Hand me a lemon,
And I’ll make it SWEET.
Holding me down
Only causes me to LEAP
Up high in the air
I always land on my FEET

You say the water’s shallow?
But I say it’s DEEP

My eyes are wide open,
I’m refusing to SLEEP
Whatever you sow, ya know
That you will REAP

Since this is a game
Then I’m playin’ for KEEPS

You may be a wolf
But I’m an intelligent SHEEP.
Whom you cannot DEFEAT
I refuse, and don’t choose to be BEAT.
For ALL GIANTS FALL
They all land at my FEET.

And now this poem’s finished.
Oh yeah, it’s COMPLETE.

COPYRIGHT 2010 ELGIN BOLLING

CARICATURE IS WHAT I DO a poem by Subwaysurfer Elgin Bolling

Caricature is what I Do
By Elgin Bolling Subwaysurfer

Caricature is what I do
Don’t need a Posse or a crew.
Using my own hand, I control my destiny
And I draw without a flaw
Exactly what I see

It was a Gift To Me
God Given
FREE.
Satan Tried To sift me
God sidetracked him
And so He Missed Me

It’s because the Lord Kissed Me
That I’m still here making History.
This aint no mystery…

The boys in Blue said they would rule and stop me from doing this,
But I aint new to this
I’m true to this
And that why I don’t use my fists

Let me tell you boye, it be like this:

I make my money by being funny
Clowning people just like you…
So Dont cha' run,
It's All For Fun!
It's Kool, it’s what I do.

Ya guaranteed to like what I drew.
Caricature is sure to stay around as long as I’m in a Town that
Has Bar and Bat Mitzvahs
Where I draw your kids, and your little sister
Who looks more like a “mister?”
Good thing I don’t have to kiss her,
You do that!
Please pay me though for the two hours I sat!

Freelancing pays that why I stay in tha mix,
I’m a New Yawk Professional Artist,
Not a theme Park Drawing HICK

I’m slick that‘s why I slide
Outta the devils hands
Straight to my fans
Who continue to pay.
All you haters Can go away.


copyright 2010 all rights reserved

UNION SQUARE MEMORIES By Elgin SUbwaysurfer Bolling

UNION SQUARE MEMORIES By Elgin SUbwaysurfer Bolling
I always thought you’d stick around
To draw my face so funny…

I regret the times I’d pass you by
Pretending I had
No money…

I’d watch you draw
And would secretly admire…
Never realizing a Political fire
Had been lit and put in motion,
By a “Richie Rich” Politician
Who one day got the notion,
That he needed yet ANOTHER piece of the street…

He couldn’t care less
That he’d make a mess
Causing others not to Eat…

He doesn’t care
And it’s unfair
That because of him
They’ll be another hundred candidates
For WELFARE,
That’ll drain more dollars,
Make the Middle Class Holler,
In an already depressed Economy

Which is already taking it’s toll on me…
And soon on “SHE”
And "HE"
And even
THEE....

To Be Or Not To BE
That is The Question
I keep asking ME,
When Cops Start Arrestin’
People Who Do Nothin’ Wrong
But DRAW!!
While Da Dealer On The Corner Sell Crack
You Blue Boys Pretend You Never Saw…

I guess Locking up a vendor who's selling a clock
Is a heck of a lot safer than duckin bullets from a Glock
I understand it’s no fun, you see,
But Then Again,
Nobody FORCED you to join The NYPD
You did that for free.


“Quality of Life”
It’s a term that’s been thrown around and used
By A Mayor, who’s spit shined shoes
Never ever touches down
On this Terra fir-ma we city dwellers call
“The Ground”
Bloomie never sticks around…
Unless threes a Photo Op to be found…

You Yuppies Are just a buncha guppies
Swimming in ya fish bowls
Whining like puppies

What did people like you do to protect people like me?
Passed me by,
Gawked at my pictures,
While Gulping Ya Latties and Tea??

“ I don’t NEED one of THOSE”
“ I GOT one of THOSE”
You mumbled contemptuously
Looking down your nose..

You all shudda got drawn by me
When it was cheaper
In Light of recent events
The price for Caricature has just become steeper.
You could been a customer,
Insteadda a “peeper
Ya shudda woke up
Insteadda being a Sleeper.

Now that we’re gone,
In no time you'll see
The “Quality of life” you seek,
That was ME.
Along with thousands of vendors
Wake up and smell the coffee!

Finally, it really says a LOT
That politician TOTALLY FORGOT
That it was STREET VENDORS
Who foiled a Times Square Terrorist Plot
By spotting a Suspicious Vehicle
And that’s saying a LOT

We thought you’d be grateful
But you turned out to be hateful
All you did was DISS US
Give it time
We KNOW
You’re going to



Miss us.



copyright 2010 all rights reserved

UNION SQ POEM HIGH HO TO THE SILVER

HIGH HO TO THE SILVER
Elgin Subwaysurfer Bolling Street Artist

People are not dollars and cents,
How we gonna eat or pay the rent?
Corporate Gangsters they need to Repent.

Being reduced to decimal points and numbers on a page,
Only succeeds in increasing my rage
How are people gonna make ends meet
When their source of incomes been reduced to
Another number on ya spread sheet?

“Win some, Lose some”
Very easy for some of YOU to say,
When you GOT a regular nine to fiver
And a guaranteed paycheck waiting for ya
At the end of YOUR day…

Politicians taking away PUBLIC spaces
To improve “Quality of Life???”
Look with me inside the parentheses
(As long as you wearing Armani suits, got money, and a supermodel trophy wife)

“Vendors and Street Artists?” “
get ‘em ALL outta the way”
Corporations need this space!,
C’mon Boys, Let’s Play!!
High Ho to the SILVER! Cow Yippie Yo I PAID!

Herding us Vendors Away like we wuz Cattle
Contemptuous Corporate Cowboyes
Riding High in the saddle

Although they might treat us
Like we’re “burgers for lunch”
I’ve got a feeling, and it’s more then a hunch
Pretty soon they will be feeling the crunch
You can never silence the activity
Of those who possess creativity and the proclivity
To protest and debate

Let’s not stoop to their level and HATE.
Our creative ability is greater than yours
The ONLY thing YOU’VE done
Is put us on PAUSE.


copyright 2010 all rights reserved

UNION SQUARE POEM Aka SUBWAYSURFER’S Refrain To Hurt and Pain

SUBWAYSURFER’S Refrain To Hurt and Pain


Oh where, Oh where in Union Square
Are those funny caricature artists?
They made us stare!
They were right there!!
And now they have departed!
We thought they’d stay,
But they’ve gone away!
Are they ever coming back?
Oh no! They’re gone!
And it’s so wrong
That Bloomie’s on the attack.
He took their spaces
Rubbed dirt in their faces,
Used the police to take them away to other places..
And now they’re on longer drawing funny faces of all the races,
On the sidewalks after dark
In Times Square, or Bryant Park...
Uptown,or Downtown,
we cant find them
They’re not around…
Oh where , oh where can they be found?

Bur wait! There’s still one Underground!

Da Name’s SUBWAYSURFER,
Im getting busy under the Eartha
keep ya head up, New York I’ll never ever desert ya!
Caricature cartooning, is in my blood you see,
It’ll take more than a wacky law to ever put a stop to me
My games always been in motion
Continuous and steady, just like the ocean.
BMT, IRT, IND and even on the Number 6 train and even the B
Too many trains to continue my reign, and ever put a stopp to me.
Feel Free 2 join in too start drawing today, c’mon! let’s draw! It’s cool.

Clownin' commuters regardless of what they say…
Now that they think they “leveled” our playing field,
time to make em pay.
For drawings I did once, 4 free
I’ll gladly do now 4 a fee.

Gotta roll with the punches in Bloombergs new economy..
Since he wants to make it about
Economics and Finance,
It’s high time we, as artists, rise up in unity and take our chance
To advance, to stop lookin in the mirror no more time to prance.

Let’s arm ourselves with paper pencils and paint,
Some say, “This is over” but I say it aint
Imagination and contemplation
Has always been a lethal combination

Let’s use our artistic creative minds
To regroup, re access, reorganize, and take control of our minds.
Continue to draw
Dont cha dare snore

A world devoid of Art
Is a dreadfully horrible bore
Take time to educate and evaluate, don’t be clueless
You were Born to be an Artist
Be Thankful to GOD
Not Every One can DO THIS.

When you roll back the covers
And turn down the volume of all this
“Quality of life” Political Hypocrisy
You’ll find it’s fundamentally about jealously.
Jealous of ALL OF US because we’re FREE
It’s exactly how they WISH they COULD be.

Anal Retentive, Money hungry minds
Will ALWAYS be CLUELESS.
Use your imagination
Make your OWN money
We did it before
Let’s get Through This.

By Elgin Subwaysurfer Bolling Caricature Street Artist


copyright 2010 all rights reserved

Beautful Gesture drawing from the train

I drew this very quickly with a sweep of my pencil as far as the body is concerned SHe was standing this way for an instant and I managed to nail this beautiful pose. I was absolutely giddy when I inked it. It's moments like this where I say that drawing live on the subway is the REAL "LIFE DRAWING". No way could I get a paid model to pose like this with so much natural grace and personality.

Follow and ugly kid home and see if somone ugly dont open the door for them

If the KIDD is THIS ugly what must the parents look like???

subway seated figure drawing

did a study on women sitting on the subway, Interesting body language what a story the body tells!

caricature crowd scene

another series of caricature faces of past subway caricatures put into a crowd scene The challenge to a good caricature artist is to actually SEE the face that you're drawing. Most artists who "can draw" get stuck in "generic drawing mode" and after a few drawings in a party setting especially, start to draw everyone the same, and even resort in some cases to racial stereotyping. This should NEVER happen. I always FORCE myself to be a keep observer of people and NOT to flinch. The "flinch response" is natural to us human beings as we look at strangers. We learn, culturally, not to hold our haxe longer than a few seconds, and to immediately turn away if spotted. Prolonged staring is reserved for young children who haven't learned the "rules " yet, and for mentally ill people who have abandoned all rules! LOL!  Drawing on the subway day in and day out has helped me to sharpen my ability to SEE what's there and not just to "draw what I THINK I see' Putting this collage of faces together has helped me to see also how much Ive grown as an artist, and also how truly fascinating people's faces are. I feel, that as an artist you must truly "fall in love" a little , with each face you draw or you wont have the proper passion to draw it. I always endeavor also, to NOT just "draw the face" in an objective sense, but to "draw the personality" of the subject. If I succeed in doing THAT I will manage to get an "objective" likeness also.

THE UNAPOLOGETIC SUBWAYSURFER CALL TO ACTION MESSAGE

Maybe you're a face in the crowd that is thinking "wow, Id really like subwaysurfer to draw a cool caricature of me like this!" Well, you dont have to sit there wishing! just drop me an email at
cartoons4u2@aol.com
and lets do YOUR caricature!
Prices are more affordable than you think, and just think how jealous you'll make all your facebook friends because you got a cool caricature to use as your avatar, while they are stuck using their same tied old photograph! Give me a hollar and lets make this happen!

crowd scene

was constructing a caricature crowd scene for a recent project that a client rejected much to my relief because it was hard to do! LOL! here is one of the crowd scenes.

Gift caricature

Seated passengers on a train

spray can art

due to the popularity of this post, I thought Id draw another in full color.
 If you like the pics feel free to contact me for commissions. You will find I am very reasonable. Also, If you download these pics PLEASE INCLUDE MY URL that way traffic will come back to this site.

CAN DEFINITELY CREATE ORIGINAL ART LIKE THIS FOR YOUR APPAREL OR PAGES! JUST DROP ME A LINE!

Most interesting face at Mayor Bloombergs party

Did a party for Mayor Bloomberg's company in New Jersey, and hands down THIS was the most interesting face in the room!

Two friends on the R train

Caught these two talking on The R train one evening. I drew them both on a small notebook pad which explains I hope, the odd placing of the figures. The girl kept looking down at her chest as if she could not believe they were really hers.... she seemed very proud of them.

Big Gurl in a hoddie

Yakin away on her cell phone....She was big And tall. Even sitting down she seemed taller than me standing up....

Hot day!!!

Random drawings of some folks I saw in Baskin Robbins trying to get refreshment from the ninety degree heatwave this week.

The Funniest one was the guy who just HAD to have his HOT latte in the ninety degree heat!!! now THAT"S a JAVA JUNKIE FOR SURE! LOL! Then there was this girl in the checkered skirt who was wearing a long sleeved sweater of all things in the heat....

Klingon Warrior on the L Train

I guess his Klingon Bird of Prey Starship was in the shop for repairs....

A Train Alien

Remember that SCi FI show back in the old days called "V"? If I remember correctly, the V Aliens talked moved, smelled and looked like humans ....until they stuck out that forked snake like tongue......I think I saw that on this chick while she ate her potato chips breakfast one morning during rush hour....

Number 6 train "YOU THINK IM PRETTY, DONT YOU??"

She had this look on here face that you didn't want to argue with...

The great Chris Chua

When I want inspiration to draw CHUA is one of the guys I look to. SO adventurous so extreme with his caricature concept I wonder how his mind processes all this madness and STILL gets a great likeness. Amazing.

old man young man

Clark from the F Train This Weekend

Clark here was bold enough to ask for his own caricature after seeing me draw a young lady sitting directly across from me on the train. How could I refuse?
This version is rather tame... I think I'll exaggerate it more later...heh, heh...

Young Bearded man on Queens Bound A train Sat evening

I boarded the train at Chambers Street after an enjoyable afternoon in the city. I sat down next to this young man who had such a great face for caricature I could not wait to bet started. I had already been drawing for a little while much to the amusement of onlookers, and was in such a generous mood that I'd been literally giving caricatures away throughout my commute today. "who are you drawing now?" his female companion asked... I'm drawing your boyfriend, I replied. He has a great face!! and went immediately to work having just passed Jay Street Boro Hall. Thanks, He replied, but Im getting off next stop. I knew that the Hoyt street station was less than 30 second s away so I quickly made a gesture of him promising that I'd upload a memory sketch this evening. THIS is the final drawing.
One man was so impressed, that he gave me his business card and "demanded' a call! this was my second "demand" of the day, the first being an Advertising executive that Im currently doing a logo caricature for.
Definitely a good "hunting day!"

Gig Photos

Havent Posted any live gig photos in a long time so here are a few
I really enjoy talking with the people who I draw and they never fail to inform , educate and entertain me with the stories of their lives, who they are, and what they've experienced. The man at the top is a painter and we had a fascinating discussion about painting , getting the likeness, expressing the soul of a person, all of those great things that only artists can share. After the pic was done, he kept looking at it incredibly as if in disbelief. It was wonderful. I could imagine this guy in his younger days with his hair slicked back wearing a zoot suit and fighting off the gurls with a stick. The older man in the bowler hat was a pro dancer in his younger days and did a lot of tap dancing overseas particularly in Asia. His stage name was "Flamingo" given to him by an appreciative fan who commented on how he floated across the floor with style, agility and effortless grace. Flamingo told me the story of how while in China he noticed the locals would carry these incredibly large bundles on their backs, which forced them to walk in a certain way to keep their balance. He incorporated that walk/shuffle step into his dance routine and called it the "Chinese Shuffle" It became his signature dance move.
Being a dancer myself, I could have talked to this guy for hours, but had to tend to the other guests.

REAL LIFE ANIME CHARACTER On The L Train!

In Route to a gig yesterday, I saw this guy on a 8th Ave Bound L Train sporting this BRILLIANT Tweety Bird Yellow Afro with this long yellow Fu Manchu Style Goatee. The Contrast of his Brightly colored hair next to his dark Chocolate Skin made for a dazzling combo. It wasnt enough to try to draw him, I boldly asked him could I take his picture to feature on my blog. To my surprise and delight, he smiled and compled, even posing long enough so I got a good shot.
His hair reminded me on an anime character which there ARENT too many African American ones, Gotta Love the New York Subway! You DONT see people like this ANYWHERE ELSE!!!
What I loved most about this guy was his confidence to be himself. In a world where every one is checking everyone else, or the media to tell them what to wear, hw to speak, what to listen to, here's a guy who says, I LIKE THIS STYLE, AND IM ROLLING WITH IT! He's a walking billboard for unbridled self expression, that's for sure! THIS is the real performance art using your own body as a canvas.

studies in Blue

...Girllie Mann with attitude on the Queens bound R train

Loved the attitude on this little Gurlie man I saw on the R train Yesterday...He caught be drawing him, suckled his teeth, Poked out his bottom lip, and turned his head oh so dramatically, just to show his annoyance. I loved drawing every bit of that personality.

DOORBUSTHA JEANS POSTER GURL

Now THATS a lotta Jeans! LOL!
This is a great example how real people can enable you to develop great character design. I was having a meeting with a client, when this woman passed by. I immediately stopped in mid sentence, and started drawing her much to my clients delight. While watching her I marveled what kind of jeans might fit a woman possessing such a tremendous backside. In a flash the doorbuster jeans idea was born! Of course, I already had my model.

Beauty and The Beast On The Rockaway Park A Train

On The Rockaway Park Train The Animals run Free and Sometimes sit next to ya...Dont feed the animals though... ya might lose a finger...

In The Presence Of Warriors Caricatures From The VA Hospital

Just back from a fantastic gig at the Veterans Hospital In St Albans Queens. LOTS of Great faces to do yesterday afternoon. Here's a few of em

BISHOP TD JAKES CARICATURE

Was looking over some old caricatues from years back and found this great picture of Bishop TD JAKES. For those unfamiliar with Jakes he is a The founder and Senior Pastor of THE POTTER'S HOUSE Church In Dallas Texas, whose membership is over 30,000
Bishop Jakes has gained worldwide noteriety not just for his preaching, but also for his philathrophic efforts in Africa, and in other parts of the World. He is also a NY Times bestselling author of 30 odd books,the current one, "REPOSITION YOURSELF", still doing phenomenially well as of this writing. As much as I enjoy the Bishops insight and dynamic vocal delivery, As a crazy caricature artist, I think he's equally famous for his ability to WITHOUT FAIL totally SOAK his shirts and jacket with perperation after every preaching session! I drew this picture of him in "mid sweat" so to speak!

More can be read about him HERE:
http://www.tdjakes.com/site/PageServer?pagename=about_biography

Subway drawings for the week

Heres what came up this week.Excuse the pencil lines!

Would YOU have this caricature artist draw at YOUR PARTY?

Realistically, from the AVERAGE consumers point of view, probably not.
As a get older and realize that as a PARTY artist potential consumers aren't AS interested in how well I can ROCK and exaggeration, I find that Im toning down my PRESENTATION style when courting them for their life giving dollars. To do otherwise purely for the sake of "NOT BEING A SELLOUT" may feed the ego, while the body starves for lack of food.

Let's face it, a lot of us caricature artists do this NOT JUST for the Pure ART of it but to make a living. Anyone who is in the business of making money knows that unless they are exceptionally gifted and in high demand, that the CONSUMER is the one who leads the dance, dollars and cents being their dance card. When someone is shopping for a caricature artist they are looking for someone whose work is clever, appealing, and pleasing to the eye. Outrageously drawn caricatures like the one I did here, and LOVE, mind you, only make them run to find an artist more appealing to their eyes. The general public is not as educated on what caricature is in OUR world, and unless they have artistic aspirations, really DO NOT CARE. Think about it; Do you want your little Joey looking in a similar way that Ive drawn myself to hang on your wall? JOEY may LOVE it, but Mom and Pop are paying for it, so THATS who you SELL to.
The great thing about selling to what appeals to people is that you ALWAYS find a few at the event who WANT this extreme pic and you can be free to go wild on them.
I know that some may not agree with everything said, but it's just been my experience, having been an "extreme exaggerator" and noticing what people end up BUYING. Believe me, it's RARELY this. At least not from ME.