I arrived early at the porter house and was delighted to find out there was a fabulous art store located right across the street from the bar!! immediately I rushed over and brought some last minute items for my gig and even managed to place some of my party contact info in the store itself.
The first person I met at the gig was my fellow caricature artist, Vladimir Bellvue.
Vladimir has, as we say in the caricature business, one of THOSE faces.... one of those faces that when you see it, your mind automatically starts speculating on how you can bend and stretch it. I was looking forward to drawing him as I make a habit to do with the artist I work with, and it's usually something the other artist enjoys too, since I also have "one of those faces'.
I introduced myself to Vladimir and noticed right away that he was exactly the armest individual.
"hi! my name is Elgin!'
Vladimir.
"wow! you've got a great face! I cant wait to draw you! Draw me too!
blank menacing stare
"er... how did you get here?"
train.
"er, how long you been doing this?"
ten years.
Okay... so he's not gregarious. No harm in that... Im maybe too talkie... still < I dont usually find caricature artists to be so...stoic. I immediately sat infont of him and started sketching his face and showed it to him.
Blank stare.
Okay...
As people began to come in , a couple sat in his chair and I immediately came up behind him to watch his technique. Perhaps he warms up when he's drawing, i thought. "mind if I watch?" I inquired, fully expecting to get my usual ,"sure" reply I get from other artists.
He looks at me with those deadpan eyes and says;
No. It's a little distracting..
And that was it.
For all you would be caricature artists out there, take notes. When you go to a gig and meet another artist... be friendly.The other artist is not your competitor. In fact, the other artist there can spur you on to be a BETTER artist and performer, regardless of your level of ability. Not to mention that we artsits sometimes refere people we like for other gigs which means M-o-n-e-y . A caricature artist who thinks someone watching is "distracting" is like a clown who doesnt want people laughing as he goes through his routine.
Here are my renditions of Vladimir Bellvue after he told me that I was "distracting".
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