"Bensonhurst Barone" Soccer Coach HERO!

I drew at a great party last week in Besnsonhurst Brooklyn, and got the opportunity to meet and draw, local hero, Peter Barone, the Soccer coach. No, Mr. Barone, isnt "nationally known" doesnt have his own line of sneakers, or has his pic plastered across a cereal box, but Peter coaches soccer to a group of local kids, most of which were at the party,and doinng THAT makes him a hero in my book. It's so important that children have role models to look up to, especially strong male ones who are willing to spend time, provide guidance and teach them the neccessary skills they need for LIFE. Peter may beel that he's "just teaching kids how to kick a ball" but so much is learned on the field about fair play, teamwork, being able to push hast pain and exaustion, and even being able to lose graciously after doing your best, are skills that children learn early and carry with them into the world that ultimately benefits their families, their workplace, their community and their world.



Not to mention that I think Pete's muc is a SCREAM to draw and I promised him that I would DO THIS HA!!! I personally think it's one of the best Gift Caricatures Ive done this year.

"TOM RICHMOND STYLE" caricatures

Dont know if I ever mentioned it, but Mad Magazine Artist, TOM RICHMOND, is a MAJOR influence om my style of caricature, particularly my party style, along with Kendly Dillard, adn Ed Steckley.
Like most caricature artists,I grew up reading MAD and was mesmerized by Mort Drucker. TOM took on the mantle of Drooker adding his own particular flavor, while style retaining that "Drooker'esque" vibe. Likeness is essential with a littttle exaggeration , but not in a grotesque way. Here is a pic of two "homies" I did at a party some time back I forgot to post. I also drew a caricature of Pastor Fredrick Price's Wife while watching TV one afternoon

This is a workable party style I use when I want to do a little exaggeration, and NOT offend the party goers TOO much. It's nice to have an assortment of "caricature styles" in your trick bag that you can pull out at WILL in order to get a job done. Being able to move seamlessly from style to style depending on the job takes years of practice, but once you have that mastery live drawing truly becomes FUN to do, and not a chore. I've been with other artists who seem to labor so much over their pictures at a live gig, that they really seem like they arent haveing a good time at all, which is a SHAME because IT'S A PARTY!!

These were drawn with a PITT Artist pen. I know Ive been singing the praises of the SHARPIE marker for a while now on this blog, but the ole Pitt is STILL the king for line quality and crispness. When it WORKS there's no smoother pen out there!

Son Of Promise

Sometimes when I think about my son I just smile.... This caricature is based more of my funny IDEA of him that anything that's reality based. He's lost all the weight, is a lot better looking, and looks less comical .
He's a gifted speaker, performer, theologian and vocalist, which he does really well. I drew this picture.. secretly.. heh after a recent visit to him at College earlier this year.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Chancellor Joel Klien caricature for THE WAVE by Elgin

NYC SCHOOL CHANCELLOR JOEL KLIEN CARICATURE

Sneak peeak of the Chancellor's pic Im doing for THE WAVE newspaper.... such a great mug... WHY hasint anyone else caricatured this guy???? show you the full toon on Friday once it's "officially printed". What's NOT to love about the Chancellor's mug?? He's got a shiney dome you can view your reflection in, a Nose that he can suck on in place of his thumb, five o clock shadow that shows up at nine in the morning, and to top it off, inky black curly hair that he combs into a MULLET!! LOL! again , I ask, WHY HASNT ANYONE ELSE CARICATURED THIS GUY????

1 Train to South Ferry

Caricature of this old dude who looked like He was having a bowel movement....

David Fliss and The Subwaysurfer put their game faces on...

David THE CHINN FLISS came to NYC to visit and we went out lookin for trouble with our game faces on...heh...

Gift Caricature , logo , Avatar of AJ the Bartender

Best Gift caricature Ive done this year. I got an email from AJ a Bartender in the city who loved my style and wanted to be caricatured subwaystyle. LOVED how this turned out and did it in two styles. The first one is done in my style, with a focus on character design.Who knows I may even use AJ's Character for some other stuff! LOL the second one is drawn in a "Peter Bagg"slash Andy Urzua Style. I was just Goofin on this one after being in such a good mood of nailing the initial likeness.

New Subway Caricatures.... mostly

The guy with the pelican like jaw at the top was drawn in March and I just found him hiding away in my notebook and had to post along with these others. To think I drew this pic with a regular sharpie marker is a real eye opener for me. For years I laughed at artists who used these markers thinking they were for "caricature novices" but now I find that they are very reliable for consistent ink flow, and although I have to work harder to get the line quality variety I like, overall my satisfied with their performance. Cant complain about their availability either. Just go into any CVS or Duane Reade and you got a tool you can use right away.
The Bald dude with the large eyelids looked up at me long enough at the 14th street station on the A line, to see me sketching him as he was talking to his girlfriend. He moved away from me quickly, but not quick enough! heh....
The homeboye with the large fish eyes is a pic Id drawn before of a commuter on a Manhattan bound A train. This pic captures his vibe a little better than my previous one. His eye was so unusually large I thought it was gonna roll out of his skull on to the dirty subway floor....
Speaking of "dirty" I couldn't resist throwing this picture of the "scuzzy Dunkin Donuts coffee shop dude in this series. He was listening to his girlfriend chatting on about her job and whutnot, and by the look on his face you could just TELL that all he was thinking about was getting her alone in his room.... I looked at her and looked at him and wondered just HOW do some people hook up with others? ......
Saw these two business people on the train during rush hour and they reminded me of an X Files or Men in Black team. All Business... No Smiles. Fun to draw!

Caricature of the Day

Yes, her butt really DID stick out like that.... She tried to "tame it" by wearing a jacket, but a caboose that size just would not be contained.....

Concordia College Gurls

My daughter asked me to do a gift caricature of her two buds at a recent visit to her school. Never could resist a request from my little gurl... who's not so little anymore...sigh....anyways, her two buds had the most interesting contrast in their faces which is what makes a group picture "work" Master Caricature artist, Jan Obdebeek taught me that a good caricature always has a "funny head" which is something that is often overlooked by caricature artists who focus primarily on features of the face. Not that it's "wrong" to do this, but if you want a truly animated looking caricature, paying attention to head shapes are crucial. In order to do this I simply look for the parts of the face that "seem to want to go in a particular direction", no matter how slight, and exaggerate that to death. Master Jan also taught me that you must do a LOT of preliminary pics in order to get to the one that you like, so I also did a LOT of drawing on each individual face before I got to the one that was perfect.
Since Im dabbling more in animated type work these days, my caricatures reflect that simplicity.

MAN! I feel like a Woman!

Thats the song that was playing when I did this group caricature of my client, Alison and her team members at a recent gig at a Posh Senior center in Manhattan recently. I loved the faces so much that I took photos went home and worked on it some MORE! LOL!!! I didnt go TOO far with the exaggeration, but managed to get a result that I was pleased with. Composition wise, I thought the pic worked better with just the ladies but since the guy is also part of the team I had to include him. I think the caption fits!

Gotta love PHOTOSHOP! LOL! I did each pic 8x11 and then arranged them together. working this way enables me to focus on each individual pic without worrying if they're all going to fit, like I would at a gig.
Im spending a LOT more time with getting a more accurate likeness and did a LOTTA drawing on each face until I could pretty much do it from memory. I saw Jan Obdebeek doing this method and if it's good enough for Jan, it's good enuff fo' me!

Believe it or not, these were drawn with a regular old fashion... dare I say it...SHARPIE MARKER!!!!!! and not my usual Tombo or Pitt, which ran outta ink!!!

TEACHING ART COURSE AT HUNTER COLLEGE

Hey Surfer Fans! If you live in the NEW YORK Area, are a fan of this blog, and always wondered, "how does he DO that???" Now here's your chance to find out How eye Dew whut I Dew.

Starting in June, Monday Nights, I will be teaching at HUNTER COLLEGE a course entitled, WHAT EVERY ANIMATOR NEEDS TO KNOW (What Flash cant Teach you) In this course you will be learning MY approach to sequential art, character design and development, caricature and most of all how to THINK like an animator. Registration is happening NOW so go to the link listed below to guarantee your seat!


http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/ce/pressroom/announcements/new-courses

What Every Animator Needs to Know (What Flash Can't Teach You)
Flash may have enabled animators to make great movies and faster and more cost effective and does a lot of great things- except the one thing the animator needs. It can't teach you how to draw! This course not only teaches you how to draw as it relates to animation, but also how to think like an animator.

IM BACK!!!!! .....sorry I left for so long...

I took some time off

Now Im Back

CLOWNING PEOPLE LIKE THIS!!!!!! LOL!!! ENJOY!

GET OUT YA HANKIES AND YOUR NASAL SPRAY!

IT"S SPRING!!! SO......Im SPRINGING!!!!

Sa quan's Artwork

While visiting my mother in law, the other evening, her 8 year old nephew, Sa Quan, seemed especially exicted to see me. This was really unusual, because "Say Say" as we call him, would usually be upstairs playing the Wi or some other video game. "Uncle Elgin, Uncle Elgin, I want to show you some pictures I drew!" he exclaimed, carefully talking the folded sheets of paper out of his bookbag. "He's been wanting to show you this for a while," chimed in Mema, (that's my Mother in Law) and as he proudly handed me his stack of papers, I was already prepping my mind for the customary, "that's nice, keep it up!" response that you give children at this age as not to discourage their progress. I was confident that I was going to see "typical" eight year old drawings of monsterously distorted figures that had to be identified by the child or you'd be hopelessly lost wondering what you were looking at.

Boy was I wrong!

Instead of the customary "that's nice," response, I found myself gawking and asking him,
WOW! DID YOU DRAW THIS??????? Followed by my next question, DID YOU TRACE THESE????? which was followed by a final question: ARE YOU SURE????
His answers were
YES
NO
and YES
His Grandmother who watched him draw these little masterpieces verified his story, and I must say I was and am impressed.
The kid certainly is a lot more talented than I was at his age.
Now although these drawings are COPIED form one of his Pirates of the Caribbean Coloring books, and not created out of his imagination, I would have to say that the kid has that RARE remarkable ability that you MUST have if you're going to be a good artist, namely, He has learned how to DRAW WHAT HE SEES NOT WHAT HE THINKS HE SEES

This ability to limit the interruption of the interpretive left side of the brain in a skill that few adults EVER master. and although his efforts are not "photorealistic" I can actually tell who the characters are just by looking at them.
Would you believe I never taught him how to draw a straight line? I look forward to teaching him a lot of em now, just to see how much he can develope. In fact, Im even creating a blog for him entitled, Sa Quan's Artwork just so he can stay motivated as so I can chart his progress. I encourage you to follow along, who knows WHAT he might come up with!

William Shakesphere Lives!!!

Went to the doctor's office recently and saw the most interesting face in the waiting room. This dude's hair reminded me of William Shapkesphere as if he was a distanct relative or something. I caught this view of him as he was taking to one of the other patients while putting on his coat. I did a quick initial sketch and spent the remainder of my waiting time, about an hour, refining it. Im very pleased with the result. I kinda missed doing a detailed graphite drawing like this, and it was a deviation from doing cartoons.

NEW SPRING SUBWAY CARTOONS AND CARICATURES!!!

Wow! my head is STILL spinning from yesterdays adventure! I rode a couple of trains, and the faces just kept getting better and better! I usually take time to carefully redraw them and clean them up, but decided to just show them in their raw stage with pencil lines included, although Ive done some inking. All of these were done live, and Ive even included my notes. Enjoy!

sketch adventure! Galt Aureus - The Armada

Just wanted to share this bit of animation and music that was a total surprise today. Originally I was looking for a limited animation vid, saw the picture and clicked on it.In no time flat I was immediately caught up in the story and the song, The limited animation was cleverly done, and complimented the beautiful vocals perfectly. I thought about comic writer/historian, Scott Mc Cloud of "UNDERSTANDING COMICS",fame who often spoke about the perfect marraige of words and pictures that is so elusive, but when it works, it's a wonder to behold.


A clip like this is a great example of when a writer/artist collaboration WORKS, and is definitely a "commercial" for the "less is more" school of limited animation. I loved the way the artist skillfully incorporated seleccted words and phrases into the animation throughout. This technique served to re emphasize the lyrics and enhanced their vocal impact. The animation was also so simply drawn that you didnt get overly distracted by the beautiful drawing and forget about the song and the lyrics. The artist very skillfully changeed the mood of the piece when the hero went "into the abyss" to rescue the love of his life, who was trapped in the cage. There was even a fight scene! fantastic stuff!!!

Gov Patterson, Charie Rangle, Al Sharpton ,Malcolm Smith, Carl Mccall .Greg Meeks Cartoon

Editorial Cartoon of Gov Paterson depicted as Charlie Brown Holding his poor "Political Report Card" much to the displeasure of NYC Black Leadership Power brokers, Al Sharpton, (top left,) Carl Mc Call (bottom left) Charles Rangle (bottom right)Greg Meeks (middle right) and Malcolm Smith (top right) drawn for The Wave Newspaper Far Rockaway NY
A series of recent Political flops, mishaps, and blunders, from an experienced Politician like Gov Paterson "earned him " the title of "Blockhead"

Charles Rangle in particular has a deceptively "easy" looking face to draw at first glance, but I somehow found it tricky to get his likeness as spot on as I usually get them, and with the deadline looming large in the background I had to settle for a less than perfect picture IMO, of him. His face will definitely be revisted. I was overjoyed at having an excuse to draw Al Sharpton. As noted in an earlier post, I viewed some youtube clips on him, and he's really a pretty smart guy, and great speaker. Of course, Ive drawn so many pics of Sen Malcolm Smith and his pal, Greg Meeks that I can practically draw them in my sleep now. Carl Mc Call is new. He has one of those "handsome" faces that is also deceptively hard to "grab unto" viusally without switching into generic caricature mode. All of these guys have such interesting faces that Im really surprised, with the exception of Sharpton, of course, that they havent been caricatured more by artists in recent years.

The caricature artist in me would love to go REALLLLLLLLLY extreme on all of these guys, but for publishing purposes, it's best to stick "middle of the road" with only slight exaggeration, I've found.