Sporting that New Subway Hair Doo!!

Even when i see it with my own eyes, I'm still amazed at the things people do with their "DOO" The top of his head looks like a house plant...
I used an old 0.5 Bic Mechanical Pencil that can be purchased at any stationary store. I'm really surprised at the results. The paper was 8X11 coverstock paper.

NEW YORK CITY Street Caricatures!

These two dudes Happily posed for caricatures on the street and even let me take their photos which in NYC is rare! LOL! Gave em both the pencil treatment

scarey ugly subway man

I admit it, I was afraid to look at him, so i drew most of it from memory....

Caricature of Bodybuilding DJ DAZE! Jusdaze@aol.com

One of the few Exaggerated caricatures that a person ASKED for! This is Bodybuilding DJ DAZE and MAN is he big!!

DAZE can be reached at 718-666-0414 or at Jusdaze@aol.com.... He's based in Queens(and will travel anywhere) and unlike most DJ's who have forgotten and neglected the art of freestylin on the mike, DAZE still does it and will put your eardrums in a trance!


I had great fun doing this!Daze has a lot of great angles on his face that caricature artists like me LOVE to exaggerate, and the fact that he's a bodybuilder makes for even more of a hilarious picture. I usually just do heads, but Couldnt resist drawing the body in too this time. If he doesnt like his picture, he'll squash me like a bug....

AMAZING 8 YEAR OLD PROFESSIONAL ILLUSTRATOR

People often ask me the question, "When did you become a Professional Artist?" I always tell em that it was when I was 8 years Old. Since I'm also asked to prove it, I have provided, in this post, 'Proof". This is the cover of a book I drew for The City Schools Curriculum Service Inc. Entitled, "Mother, These are my Friends" By author, Mary Anne Gross.It was written in 1969 during the turbulant years of the Viet Nam War, The Black Power movement, The King and Kennedy Assassinations .
Opps! I just realized that I told my age! alright I admit it! I'm an old bat!!

Ugly and Dangerous subway commuter

Er....He didnt LIKE being observed....... Caricature drawing can be dangerous in the city.
I Must be truely addicted to what I do since i dont mind the scowls and stares I get from people. Sometime a face is just so compelling that I gotta draw it! On the real side though i SHOULD be a little more discriminating since some people who ride these subway trains are trying to hide out, escape from someone, high on something, or even armed.... but you already KNEW that, I mean this IS Noo Yawk right?

One more thing...
Is it ME or does this dude KINDA look a little like Homer Simpson?

Behind every great subway sketch there's a gesture drawing....

I'll let you in on a little secret... it's HARD drawing on the train. Most people who ride the A Train "know" me by now, and as soon as I come out with the sketchpad, people start moving! LOL! This has gotten so frustrating that I've found that I need to do a very quick 30 second gesture drawing just to catch them and then go back and refine the drawing in my studio, or fro the remainder of the ride.

One of the great things about The NCN (The National Caricaturists Network at www.caricature.org, ) is their annual Speed competition that's held every year. I NEVER win this thing(sob, sob sob) but it has given me an appreciation for drawing FAST getting in essential details and streamlining features. If you compare the two drawings, I've only deviated a little as far as exaggeration goes, but still have the same basic info based on my gesture drawing blueprint.

Gesture drawing is a basic skill that all artists should practice all of their lives. Animators swear by it for helping them to get "life" into a pose, and I agree that it should be used as more than a "warm up" as most artists use it for.

I'll post other before and after sketches in future posts.

In case you're wondering the medium I used, Its an old reliable #2 Pencil, a 6B Woodless pencil, and drawn on 8X!! Cardstock.

Wonder Woman!!!!

I found this great site called the BBWW:The Big Beautiful Wonder Woman Blog,where guest artists are encouraged to draw their REALLY Amazonian renditions of everyone's favorite female comic heroine.
My sketch isnt officially on the blog yet, but I couldnt help showin it to ya. It was great fun to do!
At first glance the site seems to be nothing more than a "spoof site" to draw an overweight picture of Wonder Woman. But then I got to thinking about the whole "fat phobia" issue we have here in this country. Can a person be considered "heroic" if they dont fit into the norm of what coventional beauty is? How often do we associate so called "fat" people with being dumb, having low self esteem , and being lazy? by the same token, how often do we attribute positive attributes to people who are in so called "shape?" It's interesting. Can a large woman be considered attractive, heroic, even sexy?Just something to think about.
Nevertheless, I AM a CARICATURE Artist, and I cant help making a joke about my picture, but it AINT a "Fat Joke".
In this pic Wonder Woman is pissed because She forgot where she parked her invisible plane, and is now late for her lunch date.(even big girls gotta eat, right?) If he doesnt find her ride soon, SOMEBODY is gonna get whupped with dat yellow lasso!

Keith Haring Subwaysurfer Caricature Connection

I began thinking today about my artistic influences today and came up with some surprises. While it's true that I owe my development as a caricature artist to many of the artist I've spoken about in the caricature community listed on this blog, I thought back further and came up with a name I hadn't thought about in a loooong time.

Keith haring.

In the 1980's Haring was tagging like MAD in the subway system in a very unique way. Instead of using markers spray paint and using the metal trains for a canvas, Keith used simple chalk and the vacant black advertisement space reserved normally for corporate advertisements.

I used to see Haring's stuff occasionally while a student at Hunter College, and was inspired by his iconic drawings. In my search for my own artistic identity, I began to copy his work to the point of obsession.
Harings work had a simple Primal-esque quality to it that was immediately accessible. whether you were a seasoned or just a casual observer, you left one of his drawings with the feeling that you could reproduce it. You didn't get that feeling when looking at the awesome graffiti lettering and characters drawn on the trains. Haring's art seemed to be "in reach" of your ability. When You tried to do similar work however, it was THEN when you saw how complex it was. Well before he was "discovered" by the art world, haring already had a legion of fans, and I was particularly impressed when he said that most "big " people in the art worked didn't like him because he didn't "need" them to "make him a success"

Here's a quote from Harings website:

"...I think that in a way some [critics] are insulted because I didn't need them. Even [with] the subway drawings I didn't go through any of the 'proper channels' and succeeded in going directly to the public and finding my own audience...I bypassed them and found my public without them. They didn't have the chance to take credit for what I did. They think that they have the role of finding the artist...and then teaching the public....I sort of stepped on some toes..."16



I wanted my work to have that same power. At the time caricature drawing was not even a blip on my artistic radar screen, but now that I'm doing it, I feel like I am in some small way embodying the "spirit" of Harings work. Following my own vision, using the subway as a vehicle for personal artistic growth and expression. Perhaps one day I will get "discovered" like Haring. I certainly am counting on it.
I often wondered how would Haring have drawn me? He undoubtedly would've used a chalk line on a black background.
This is my fantasy " Haring chalk Drawing "
Check out More of his work by going to his Link on the right side of the page.

three views of my self...

These drawings are part of a series I did last year entitled 30 days... In it I drew myself for 20 days to see what would come out and also in an effort to help myself break through the exaggeration barrier. In this project I drew myself while in different moods. Here I caught myself in a very depressed mood, an extremely angry mood, and a happy/zany mood

A little color for now....

I found this slightly colored caricature among some old sketchbooks and loved the exaggeration so much I thought I'd pause for a color commercial break.

Here I go again....

Staten Island Ferry Caricatures

Had a job interview for an artist -in-residence position in Staten Island this afternoon, and had an opportunity to do one of my favorite things,that is, riding the Staten Island Ferry.
What's not to love? its a big giant "subway car" on water! jam packed with people and faces, I could hardly contain myself.
As we were boarding, I looked to my left and saw the outstanding profile of this East Indian gentlemen. He had such great angles, and I didn't have a pencil or paper! I quickly "air sketched" his profile with my finger just to solidify it in my mind before I boarded, then got on the train and immediately put my impressions on paper. This is a memory sketch but I'm sure its spot on.

The woman, on the other hand ,sat directly across from me and she was realllly hard to get because she kept looking up noticing me studying her. I threw her off by 'showing her" the sketch of the Indian man, and pretending that I was really working on that. At one point she looked straight at me and gave me this look that said: " Believe it or not I USED to be Pretty...." Looks can be fleeting.... I felt for her.... but STILL CLOWNED HER!!!!

grotesque caricature

My son says it looks grotesque.... which means its just right.....
Master Caricature Exaggerator, Jan Op De Beeck http://www.opdebeeck.com/ once said in an NCN seminar that one of his secrets to Exaggeration was in "drawing a funny head." The head should be able to form an interesting silhouette. I've been trying for ages to do that and am now beginning to understand a little bit with satisfying results. This is one of my most interesting pictures yet. I particularly love the negative space Ive created between the nose and the hair chin.... OWWW!!! I just broke my arm patting myself on the back!!! MEDIC!!!

Subway Sleepers.....keep snorin...

Its amazin how many people veg out on a moving train surrounded by complete strangers, lower their defenses and snooze.... better for me so I can catch em!
I actually wanted to give the Asian man with the pointed head this caricature for some reason, but he got off real fast at the Howard Beach Train station.

fergot this one..

Da pencil kid is at it again!!!

Booyah!!!!!!

Noze Job

Found an old couples sketch in my drawing pad. Apparently I thought the wife had a huge nose, and was a little domineering compared to her husband. I decided to really work on it and this was the result. This is one of those caricatures that REALLY piss people off at a gig!

Pencil caricatures series by Elgin subwaysurfer bolling

Basketball nose

ya know some black folk just have bigggggg noses! dont be afraid to draw em!