Sunday, August 24, 2008

42nd Street Caricature Artist FAKERS Exposed




New York City's 42nd Street, also known as Times Square is the "Mecca" for Caricature Artists. Tourists from around the country flock by the thousands to this historic location in search of bargins, broadway shows and, of course, great Caricature Art. The competition for sapce out here on the street is fierce, but if you are one of the lucky ones to get a coveted spot here, you will make a small fortune as tourists literally run to your chair as if commanded by some unseen force. Yep, you can make a LOT of money here, alright...
Funny thing is, you dont even have to KNOW how to draw caricatures really well to do it.

Take for example this "artist" here, he's a regular on 42nd street, and there are many like him... Chinese, I mean. In order to make a living on 42nd street it seems you "must" be Chinese or at least Asian. for some odd reason the police seem to take delight in harassing anyone else who tries to set up here BUT Asians, and even if you are lucky enough to get past the cops,you have to deal with the Asian mafia who will LITERALLY threten you with bodily harm if you dare set up in thier designated spots...... yep, been there, done that.. but thats another story, let get back to this "artist" here...

If you look at his blk and wht drawing in the 2nd level , you might notice that his picture, although "ok" (im being generous here) doesnt seem to match the highly exaggerated samples he's dislaying on his stand in the background... not that this matters to tourists who jump in his chair without even questioning why their picture doesnt match the sample whown, which incidently prompted them to stop at his stand in the first place. Its a crime.... and the one thing about crime is that sometimes it hits close to home...
One day, fellow caricatue artist, Kenly Dillard, looked at his stqand and noticed something familiar.... if you look at the third set of photos (the one with "Mr. Bean's head) You should see a variety of female sketches that dont quite fit his drawing style or that of the Mr. Bean caricature.
THOSE picture sketches were lifted directly from the site of my other "partner in caricature crime" Alison Gelman. Alsion's work can be seen by clickin on one o9f the links i have on my blog on the right side. Whats outrageous about this direct steal is that it was lifted from her website. These arent even her BEST sketches, according to Alison, and I even remember some of theim in particular. Again, this is a crime.
So the next time you see this artist, maybe it would help to yell out FAKER! whenever you see him try to draw someone.

7 comments:

Not Just Some Drawing Broad said...

Oh my goodness! Yes - those are definitely my old CaricatureS! Being used as advertisement to attract people to a stranger's stand. I'm wondering if I drew the blonde on the top left too - wish I could see a closeup of that one.

Thanks to both you and Kenly for recognizing my work.

It's eerie - like meeting your clone or doing time-travel or something.

Emily Byrne said...

It's so unfair!!!!!

Angie Jordan said...

Did you yell at him Elgin? :)

Elgin Subwaysurfer Bolling said...

I havent seen HIM per se, as Kenly was the one who spotted him and took the pics that i posted. BUT I HAVE seen Richmond's , Joe's and Kruger's work on various artist's easels that I HAVE screamed on and pointed out to the artist. When I aked one guy why he was using other people's stuff and not his own, he had the gall and honesty to answe, "when they see MY stuff they dont stop!" at least he KNOWS he's doing something wrong. Others Ive asked "is this YOUR work? Can you draw MEW like THAT? , pointing to one of Krugers of Richmond pics, and they just nod their heads and admit yeah, yeah.... The other day whild drawing on the street, I saw one of these 42nd street guys behind ME desperately trying to study my techniqe (he was close enough to pick my pocket, and I did check!) I turned and said to him 'HEY PUNK! YOU TRYING TO GET AN ART LESSON HERE?? OR ARE YOU JUST HERE TO STEAL??? He quickly walked away before I finished my customer, but Ive seen him a courla times since. Maybe he HAS taken a photo or two.

Angie Jordan said...

Thanks for the reply Elgin.
That's sad that these artists do this.
I don't think I could hold back!
Go get em! :)

Patrick McMicheal said...

Elgin, I read a similar entry on Tom Richmond's blog...He stumbled on some of his stolen drawings in PARIS! I don't think he confronted the guy, I sure as hell would have! ( if i spoke french).
Doesn't anyone notice the diverse styles posted around their stand? NONE of them look like they were done by the same artist!
You say they favor the Asian artists...how do they treat a brotha?

Elgin Subwaysurfer Bolling said...

There aint no love for the brothas either. Cops always think you're doing something "else" and tourists as well. Most tourists are convinced that i am a former Grafetti writer, and no amount of explaination on my part changes their minds. I think that tourists dont even CARE WHAT the picture looks like, as long as they get SOMETHING that says they visited New York city. Since they see mostly Asaina drawing caricature they automatically think that EVERYONE ELSE BUT Asians suck! Its sad. ive had people actually tell me < "boy I didnt KNOW that you were wo GOOD!" when they finally "take a chance" on me.