My First Ipad caricature commission BY SUBWAYSURFER

Paster James Taiwo Of World Outreach Evangelical Ministeries commissioned me to do my first exclusive IPAD Caricature . Pastor Taiwo needed an illustration for his Holloween Online Newsletter as well as his Printed Tract Materials, and I created this exclusively with the IPAD. Since I've been suing the device dillgently for the last few weeks, if felt very natural drawing and painting this with the device and the apple software, and the job was completed in record time, comparitively speaking using my old methods. Being the caricature artist I am i couldnt help having that aspect creep into the work. Like most things Im not TOTALLY satisfied, but Its a good start.

IPAD SUBWAY CARICATURE by Subwaysurfer

Well it finally happened, folks. I did my first satisfying Subway Caricature today. The train was jammed MORE than usual with a variety of faces and I filled my sketchbook with lots of drawings that I will upload later. THIS particular guy here, reminded me of one of those rockers from the eighties. I sketched him origially in my notebook, later transfering him over to my ipad where I quickly made this masterpiece. The only drawback with the ipad is the amount of attention it gets! It was hard enough hiding my drawing while in a drawing pad! My work had gotten easier and harder at the same time now.... sigh....

SUBWAYSURFER ODD CAST PODCAST :My Subwaysurfer Persona

In this Podcast feature, I explain why I created the SUBWAYSURFER Persona, and How It enables me to do Life drawing without fear in public places, like a New York City Subway train. Enjoy.

SUBWAYSURFER ODD CAST PODCAST humourous poem DO YOU WANT A CARICATURE?

SUBWAY SURFER'S CARICATURE RAP

Im a master of observation
A facial news caster who draws even faster than
Eyewitness News
Zero time to snooze
Before they report what's happened,
I've already started to move
Right onto the next face in line
I'm finished in 60 seconds
I do it all the time.

I'm a facial assassinator
Never a procrastinator
When it comes to drawing party favors,
I'm one of New York City's BEST!
I drew at Bloomberg's party,and satisfied his guests.

Dont let me get started on the rest
Corporate parties are " The Bomb!"

So are those
Bat Mitzvahs where I draw your baby sisters,
And your soccer cheering mom!

When I step into a room
Lesser caricature artists
Hearts fill with gloom
Because they're lines start getting shorter...
Now that SUBWAYSURFER'S drawing, they know that they're goners

I can literally sketch all night
No need for a break, I guess some artists NEED IT
After a few lousy sketches,
Their energy's depleted!
No wonder they're defeated by the " energizer bunny!"
I think it's madd funny
How I take all their money!

I leave 'em all gagging
I cant help it if their skills are lagging behind mine!
I've paid my dues in the caricature skool
Always paid attention,never acted a fool.
Learned from the best,never failed to ace my drawing tests
This skill dont come easy,
Many nights I was queasy
Drawing my fingers to the bone
Now thanks to work and persistance, my unique style, i OWN

So let the haters moan, and groan
They need to complain
In a caricature drawing contest
Im a Jumbo Jet
They're paper airplanes
Trying to fly high in my sky
Which is totally insane
What's that on the ground?
Look!
I think it's their brain!

GUESS WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? by Subwaysurfer

This is an old illustration I rediscovered on my sequential drawing site that i drew a couple of years back for a great client called ROCKETSHARK RINGTONES. I drew close to one hundred character designs for the company before the decided, unfortunately to go in another direction. This particular toon was part of a series they were developing called, "WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?" and  their setups were pretty hilarious/ They were one of the few companies I worked with who actually "got it" as far as zany sense of humour was concerned, and we had the wildest brainstorming sessions. I originallky did this in Black and White and recolored it in ART STUDIO in   You guessed it, The IPAD. LOVE the way those colored POP which makes, the toon even more hilarious.Of course you KNOW what happens next, dont you??

subwaysurfer podcast The Starbucks Phenomenon

HOW TO BE A GREAT PARTY ARTIST by subwaysurfer

These wordless single panel comics were drawn to enhance an article I'd written for Exaggerated Features magazine, entitled, Gig Do's and Dont's. These were my set of rules for party caricature success and were geared towards beginning artists entering the live party drawing field.

Rule One DONT BE LATE It Looks bad embarasses your host/hostess and guarantees you will not get a referral, a tip, and even a cut in pay. Nothing spells unprofessional more than lateness. It shows that you are a rookie, and people dont hire rookies, they hire professionals.

Rule Two Seperate Couples: I seperate couples because they have a tendency to "love all over each other" too much and spoil the drawing angle. While I am still able to get a decent likeness if a couple moves, for a beginning caricature artist, it's best if the subject remains relatively still until he/she gains experience and confidence.


Rule Three Show the Paper whose Boss , In other words dont be afraid or hesitant about putting your mark on paper. It cuts down on speed, and causes you to second guess yourself too much.

Rule Four: Have FUN! you're a party artist! you CAN enjoy yourself! If you think of it too much as "a job" that stiffness will show up in your work.

CBC News - Books - Archie comic to introduce gay character

CBC News - Books - Archie comic to introduce gay characterI guess Riverdale's getting more interesting. It will be interesting to see who else in Riverdale comes out of the closet...Jughead perhaps?

ipad caricature of MISS GRUNDY from the RIVERDALE project

I remember reading the comic,"little Archie" as a kid, and remember that all the gang were taught, as younger, by Miss Grundy. She was OLD THEN...
Fast forward to the teenage years at Riverdale, and the gang is STILL being taught by Old Miss Grundy.
How IS That?.
Maybe a better name for her should be Miss Gang green. We know NOTHING about this character other tha her designation is "teacher" and it's all she gets to be.
I remember when I was a kid in elementary school how I thought on some level, that teachers weren't "really real." They were that special class of Beings who remained frozen in their designated area until the next day when you would see them again, trying to teach the same thing. It's funny how we assign categories to people forgetting that there's a real man behind that police badge, or girl behind that cash register, or woman who holds chalk in front of a blackboard.
Grundy is a mystery. Who is her family? Where does she live? What does she do on the weekend? What is up with that polka dot dress she is always in?
I see Grundy as a sad character locked into a profession she's poured her life into...unappreciated, un noticed, and now too old to do anything else but wait for death...that doesn't seem to come

ipad cartoon of BIG ETHEL from The Riverdale project

Big Ethel is yet another one of the disposable characters that populate the Archie comics Universe.She exists, simply as "comedy relief", the "tall, doody girl with the buck teeth, and bad hair who chases after Jughead Jones.
Like all the other disposable characters, there is no backstory on her to make her an interesting character, so for the purpose of creating this illustration, I decided to create one.
Just like "Big Moose" knows that he's a big lummox, Big Ethel knows she's a big tall doofus. Like Moose,she uses her physical attributes to her advantage. Ethel, in MY Archie Universe excels in womens sports,particularly basketball where she is captain and center of the Riverdale team.
I've always been struck how in the comics she was so determined to get Jughead, never getting discouraged. I attribute that attitude to her warrior spirit as an athlete.
Athletes, on and off the field, are competitors possessing an indomitable spirit to win and excel, Ethel is no different, and carries that same attitude into the greatest game of all, the game of love. Jughead being the prize.
I feel Ethel, in spite of her lack of physical beauty, would ultimately win her man.
As a competitor accustomed to analyzing an opponents strengths and weaknesses,
It's relatively easy to know what Jughead's is.

FOOD.

In order to win the heart of the man she loves Ethel would simply become Riverdales premiere chef par excellence, cooking up cuisines that would keep the love of her life forever eating at her table.
Like I said, athletes like to win.

DEATH IN THE FAMILY. RIP my poor PC

Hope you guys have been enjoying the Riverdale series that I've been posting. There's still lots to upload, and I've recently completed "Miss Grundy," and "Big Ethel". I would love to show them to you but can't.

There's been a death in the family.

My computer started acting buggy last week, opening up windows, error messages popping up, and shutting programs unexpectedly. I'm fairly anal when it comes to maintaining my system, since it's my chief form of finance, so I ran all kinds of tests, to fix the problem,without my usual success. Finally I installed a killer anti virus program that I hoped would kill the nasty little virus so I could continue with my happy computing.
It installed correctlY, and I looked forward to being up and running again in minutes.

That's when the war started.

I'm no computer expert, but it was like there was this mini war that was activated in my system, judging from the noises I could hear coming from the processor. It was like a combination of the Jedi knights vs the mongul hordes vs The United states Calvary,vs yo' angry mama!
When the shaking ceased and the smoke cleared, I peeked at my monitor only to be confronted by a sight no user wants to see...

THE BLACK SCREEN OF DEATH

It was like looking into the abyss...

I'm in the process of replacing my system, and also recovering from bookmarks on my backside placed by me for not having the foresight of backing up my system enough. I have an expert looking into whether I can recover some of my files, hopefully I will have good news at the end of the day.
As I type this post on my little iPad It occurs to me how funny things "just seem to work out" If not for me winning this iPad weeks ago, I would literally be cut off temporarily from the online world where a lot of my living is done.
Conincidence?

I'd like to say it's God's Providence.

R

ipad cartoon of BETTY COOPER from "THE RIVERDALE HIGH" project by Elgin Subwaysurfer Bolling

BETTY COOPER is the "Sweetheart of RIVERDALE" in the ARCHIE COMICS Universe. She is the "All American Girl Next Door " stereotype of the 1940's 50's. Pretty without being glamorous, unpretentious, caring , giving and sweet. Betty is the girl who remembers your birthday, brings post roast to the new neighbors ,or bakes you an apple pie "just because."
I gotta admit, as a character, it's pretty hard to dislike Betty. Even though she a fabrication, there's something in her that makes you wish, on some level she was your girl. Betty is the kind of girl you marry, and rightfully so. Not only is she attractive,and a good cook, but she's also smart, and agreeable. Betty is the shoulder you can cry on and she'd never tell your secret. She's honest and forthright, which is why I didn't caricature her TOO much....
But Betty has this flaw, which says a lot about her as a person, and it's called,
ARCHIE.
Given her character Betty is the "natural" match for Archie, just as Reggie is the "natural" match for Veronica. Betty loses her composure frequently around Archie who clearly treats Betty like the "throw away second string girl".
Betty is the girl ARCHIE comes running to when VERONICA gets angry with him, or when MR. LODGE throws him out. Not wanting to be "dateless" for the evening , ARCHIE knows that he can count on ole' Betty to welcome him with open arms and apple pies.
BETTY has so much going for her and yet has no self esteem, in my opinion.Smart, pretty, athletic, but a warped sense of self. Clearly, Betty by her behavior, doesn't recognize the "catch" that she is, and continues to ward off all suitors so that she might make herself available for the one guy who doesn't see her as his first choice. As Ive already stated, ARCHIE is kind of a dunce, by any casual observation, and if ANYTHING he NEEDS Betty more than she needs him, but I guess its part of the crazy love game to always want someone who doesn't really want you.

I gave BETTY this earnest, "LIKE ME, LIKE ME, LIKE ME!" expression, and persona because in the comic that is whom she seems to be. She seeks to BUY her way into ARCHIES heart and he's just not THAT much into her.

Whats ironic about Betty is that her main rival for ARCHIE'S affection, recognizes her for the threat that she is. Veronica, with all her beauty and finance knows she cant compete with Betty on a human level.

JANIS IAN At Seventeen...

Got unexpectedly sentimental here when I ran across this song I used to listen to when I was a teenager. If you've ever been a shy, awkward, introspective teenager, this song, "At Seventeen" Will resonate with you. And while it's true that it's targeted at women, I'm sure a lot of guys turned their radios up and shut they're doors to cry a tear or two, when it played. I found two great versions, the original, when she was a young woman, and another, as an older woman. The later version resonates much more given the introspective nostalgic nature of the lyrics.

ipad CARICATURE of App Store Employee RYAN WEISHEIT by Subwaysurfer

Lately Ive been devoting a lot of time to the characters in my RIVERDALE HIGH series, and WE ARE NOT DONE YET!!! I will be posting another surprise character very soon, but for this post, I would like to present my very first, "real" ipad caricature of a real person. Actually my first.
Approx two weeks ago, I entered the APPLE STORE on 14th Street in the village,ipad in hand , to get some first hand instruction by one of the capable Apple staff members. One thing I LOVE about the Apple store is the hours, and also the friendly, knowledgeable staff. Whenever you step into an Apple store you KNOW you AREN'T going to get any "attitude" and that the staff members are going to be more than helpful.
One such member, is Ryan. I approached Ryan initially because he reminded me of the late graffiti artist, Keith Haring. He didnt LOOK like him exactly, just reminded me of him.... I had to laugh as I explained the Ryan WHO Keith Haring was, and he promised me he would check him out. I went on to ask Ryan questions about how to do various things in my ipad without crashing it, and was excited to demonstrate to him what I could do with my new app, Art Studio, that I had downloaded a day earlier. Ryan posed for a quick sketch and requested an email right away which I did. I promised him that as i got better I would email him a more finished copy, and today I completed this one.

I am not entirely pleased with my likeness, but the painting itself is a good first attempt at something I know Im going to get better at. Im already moving a lot easier through the program, using the brushes and adjusting the settings are beginning to become second nature. I await the day when I perfect my process and take my show on the road, which will be SOON.


JUST IN CASE YOU DONT KNOW WHO KEITH HARING IS

Digital Caricature artist Pioneer Rhoda Grossman By Elgin Bolling

Im having a ball doing this digital Ipad drawing! and in all my excitement, I called to mind a true inspiration, and a pioneer of this whole digital cariacature movement, that may have been previously "unsung"

That person is Rhoda Grossman


Rhoda is one of if not THE "MOTHER" of the digital caricature movement, who had the foresight/insight to jump headlong into digital caricature at a time when most of her peers, myself included, were busy sharpening our pencils and buying paper. Rhoda is being "academic" on this vid for educational purposes obviously and doesn't come CLOSE to exhibiting her engaging humorous personal that makes her a joy to be around .

You don't just "meet" Rhoda, you ENCOUNTER her! Rhoda is a pint sized force of nature with a large personality that dwarfs the size of her physical frame.

I encounter her at my very first NCN Caricature Convention in Las Vegas. I was relatively new to the industry, v4ry green, and Rhoda, a respected professional in the industry, made me feel welcome and part of the group.
Even after all these years, I still tear up, recalling the words, she said to me, "you're home. You've finally connected with a group of people who are just as wacky as you are!" And it was true/ Sometimes as an artist in the "real world' "regular people" just dont "get you". Her words gave me a lot of encouragement that day and carried me throughout the week.
Many times she would "check on me" during the week long event, to see how I was doing, and was always encouraging, with both words and advice. She was the first person who advised me on how to draw in the Speed Competition, and although I didn't win, I made it the last heat of the finals.

Some of the best times I had that week was sharing lunch with her and her crew, where we talked for hours.

Rhoda was the first one I ever got a digital caricature from , and its one of my prized possessions. I marveled at the ease with she drew on this thing and more than once I was scratching my head, wondering how she was even doing this!

Whats even more remarkable about Rhoda is that she was doing this as an "older artist". Most of us "old folk" resist change, and like doing the same old things the same old way. Now, the rest of the world is catching up with HER!

All I've got to say to her is, "THANKS MOM!" you lit the match up under me, now stand back and watch me burn!!

ipad cartoon of DILTON DOILEY from "THE RIVERDALE HIGH" project by Elgin Subwaysurfer Bolling

DILTON DOILEY is RIVERDALES resident Nerd slash boy Super Genius. Personally, I don't even know why he exists in the ARCHIE COMICS universe. He doesn't DO anything, he's hardly featured, and what's the use of a Nerd character anyway if he's NOT going to be occasionally the butt of a cruel joke? Even the infamous REGGIE MANTLE gives DILTON a "pass".

IMO the original creators of the character didn't go far enough, visually. If you're going to HAVE the character anyway, you may as well make him more odd than all the rest. The only thing they succeeded in doing is making him short and giving him glasses...whoopie.... funny.

If your going to give him glasses, give him coke bottle one so think they are embedded in his skull. Give him a uni-brow while you're at it and let's not forget the customary bucked teeth, and we are now talking total GEEK!

For a Nerdy character, DILTON surprisingly has a great head of hair. A little large in fact, like a big pompadour. I started to give him a muti colored Mohawk, but felt that would make the character too unrecognizable to fans who may be upset with my butchering anyway.

Not much more to say about the character psychologically speaking, as in my other posts. He's just NOT that interesting.
The Only unique thing about DILTON is that he is MOOSE'S BEST FRIEND, who refers to him in some of the comics as "little buddy". He's also never had the privilege of a legendary MOOSE beat-down for daring to look at his gurl, MIDGE. Perhaps that is why MOOSE is so comfortable with DILTON. He sees him as no threat, and maybe as someone who he aspires to be, in terms of intelligence.

ipad cartoon of JUGHEAD JONES from "THE RIVERDALE HIGH" project by Elgin Subwaysurfer Bolling

Jughead is my favorite character. Out of all the characters in the ARCHIE COMICS universe, JUGHEAD is the most "self actualized" . Jug is in total control of his emotions. He Never gets upset, and has almost a spiritual air about him.  As the Drummer for the band, he's literally the one who "keeps the beat" that others follow to. Although known most for his voracious appetite, he is also very artistic, having done in the comics, performance art, and painting. In his interactions with the other characters,Jug  is always unruffled, and not in a hurry. Even Reggie when he tries to harass him with his trademark cruel  practical jokes, they all somehow end  up backfiring. Jug just has a cool vibe.
As with all of my Riverdale make overs, on the ipad, as Im painting/drawing I make up little "back stories" to get into the character, so here's JUGS Backstory...

If you've ever read the  Little Archie series where the Riverdale gang are depicted as children, you'll notice that JUGHEAD has this enormous size HEAD and the ever present crown.  Reggie Mantle, being the pain in the butt that he is one day Young Forsythe (Jughead's Real name) and says, "Look at the size of your WATER HEAD!! It's like a JUG!" Reggie laughs at his own joke, and proceeds to tease him all day with the new insult, "JUGHEAD" Now Jughead, being the cool character that he is, turns insult into victory by NOT reacting negatively to the name, but by not only answering to it unemotionally, but also introducing himself to others as JUGHEAD JONES.  Reggie  storms off angry that he did not succeed in ruffling Jughead's feathers, and the nickname sticks.
JUGHEAD also can stand for the ever present hat that he wears. In my "RIVERDALE UNIVERSE" Jughead is NEVER with out a hat, or a "JUG" on his head, and in additions to the crown, which is his favorite wears several others.

once again, this seems like a LOT of excessive thinking, to "just draw a picture" but as creators, we have to "breathe life" into our creations, and one way to do that is through the use of "back story" as talked about here. This is just another of my winning methods to help bring my cartoons to life.

Dont worry, Im saving the gurls for LAST! there's still Veronica, Betty, Miss Grundy, Midge, and my favorite, BIG ETHEL to do!   For my next project, I think I'll draw DILTON DOILEY, Riverdales official "Nerd"

Glad you folks are enjoying this series, I initially thought it up as a way to practice my digital Ipad Painting, but like most art it has taken on a life of its own!

ipad cartoon of REGGIE MANTLE from "THE RIVERDALE HIGH" project by Elgin Subwaysurfer Bolling

The way I see it, in the ARCHIE COMICS universe, REGGIE MANTLE is the coolest character. Reggie stands out from the rest of The Riverdale cast of characters because we know so little about him. I'm not a "die hard" ARCHIE COMICS historian, but I've read the series enough to never recall EVER seeing Reggie's parents or any other family member for that matter. Why is that? I think because the original writers of the ARCHIE COMICS series wanted to pen him as the "villain" Archie's nemesis, and as such, we couldn't make him as "human" as Archie. To give Reggie brothers and sisters, not to mention loving mom and dad, would definitely turn the barometer down on the Reggie Mantle "hate " factor. But we DONT hate Reggie, do we? Reggie is a kind of lovable rouge. He's not rich, but always seems to have money. He drives a fancy car, has no problem with the ladies, and gives Archie a run for his money with Veronica, who I feel , is Reggies natural "soul mate". She knows it too, which is why she cant stop dating him occasionally.

In my depiction of Reggie, I chose to give him "devilishly good looks" Reggie doesn't have a big ego for no reason. He KNOWS he's Hot! The Reggie In my cartoon universe, also has shorted his name to REG after all, he was called "REGGIE" when he was a kid, but now that he's a suave hunk of riverdale beefcake , he needs a name to fit his suave persona.

ipad cartoon BIG MOOSE From The Riverdale High Project Subwaysurfer

 

 Riverdales High School Jock, BIG MOOSE, is one interesting character in the Archie Comics Universe. Moose is always drawn as this hulking dumb but lovable character, when if you really read the comic, he's anything BUT that. First off, He's at one time or another beaten up EVERY major Male Character in the Archie Comics universe, including  some "red shirts" to use the star trek term, who appear every now and then, whose sole purpose is to be pounded by MOOSE. The cause of Moose's rage is his terrible temper as he calls it... we call it ANGER MANAGEMENT ISSUES... which is always ignited because he catches someone "lookin at Muh Gurl!" That "gurl" would be Midge, who seems nice enough, but suspiciously NEVER hangs out with Betty and Veronica... WHY is THAT??  I say it's because she's scared of MOOSE like everyone else is!! I mean if he's willing to pound someone who poses a threat to the object of his affection, what's he likely to do with the woman who breaks his heart? Midge isnt even THAT devoted to MOOSE. We see this as upon occasion sh has dated ARCHIE when He has successfully outsmarted MOOSE, and also doesnt mind talking to REGGIE... who is my next ipad target.

This is WAYYYY Too much thinking for one cartoon, but that tends to happen when I really get into a drawing.

This is why I drew MOOSE like the savage beast that I know that he IS!! The only think keeping the hapless males of RIVERDALE from sudden death is MIDGE! LOL!