Nikk and his gurl Gift Caricature.

One of the many gift caricatures Ive done for couples lately. This is the copy I kept for myself. Not a subwaysketch, I know but Im very proud of it.

Rhino subway pan handler wants a quarter

When a Rhino asks if you can spare a quarter, you definitely give him a dollar. Good thing that they arent allowed on the train. No one in their right mind would sell them a metro card.

Okay, what inspired this? I was on the train drawing one time, and this little boy was so fascinated that he screamed out, "Hey! can you draw a RHIO???" My mind went blank for a couple of seconds and then i produced one and gave it to him. I knew Id return and do another ever since... today was the day....

Giant Butterfly on the A Train

He had these.... ears......

Mr. James Shaw

I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. James Shaw on the Manhattan bound A line some weeks back doing my usual subwaysurfing. We started off chatting about the weather, and in no time we became engrossed in conversation where we discussed politics, race relations, community affairs, jazz, and art. Mr. Shaw, 70 plus years old, looked years younger, and in a lot of ways reminded me of myself. He took off his hat at one point and showed off his RED hair which he proudly boased was natural and never went gray. I was delighted and amazed. His daughter, Janathel M. Shaw was a sculpture,whose most famous work, "Dead on Arrival" was featured on pg 163 of author, Judith Schwartz'sbook, "Confrontational Ceramics." I promised James I would mention this on the blog so it's a promise kept.
Mr. Shaw knew a lot about jazz and shared priceless stories about Miles Davis, Dizzy and Duke Ellington, and spoke about the glory days of Harlem. It was almost like being there. I did a couple of different sketches of him while we spoke not really satisfied with any of them, so I decided to post all of them here. I made sure that I gave him one of them as a gift which he folded carefully and put in his pocket. I also promised him that when it got warmeer I would check out one of the many free jazz fastivals that are played in the city. I hope to see him there.

Roxanne of The Marriott Courtyard Hotel

Roxanne is one of those people who make an immmediate impression on you. SHe is professional without being cold and aloof, courteous, and when you're around her you get the impression that"everythings gonna be alright." Roxanne, a manager at the marriott Courtyard Hotel, is the "lady in brown" as I refer to her, and almost always is stylishly dressed in earth tones particularly brown. She also has a fun face to draw and even though Ive drawn her several times before, I really wanted to take my time on this sketch here.

Matt Boismier Caricature sketch

Matt Boismier, is a fellow caricature artist who posted his photo on the NCN's Forum site's "Firing Squad" I decided to take a warning shot at his face before coming back for another pass later. My first comic impression was that his face reminded me of a buzzard, so that's what I went with.

President Bush Iraq Shoe Bomber Attack

Man! how could you NOT draw a cartoon on what happened recently in Iraq? I bet every cartoonist in the nation thanked the cartoon gods for THIS "freebie" If you DIDNT draw a cartoon on this, or at least THINK about one, you should immediately turn in your "artistic lincense" card with your union rep.

Personally, this incident is deplorable and shows the level of respect that people have for the OFFICE of the President of the United States. Forget for a moment how much you "love to hate " the current President and think instead of what an insult this is to the most powerful leader of the free world. The agents who were guarding him should be handing in their resumes to the shopping mall about now, hopefully they're still hiring. It IS the holiday season after all...

Not ANOTHER Obama cartoon!

Looks like Im getting the hang of drawing Obama! and I will have four more years to practice. This Toon is another in the series of Tract illustrations for World Outreach Evangelical Ministries. I really feel bad for Obama in a way. He's got a LOOOOOOT on his back, The war, the economy, and the hopes and dreams of the American people who seem to want to make him the end all and be all, kind of like a Messiah figure. That's a lot of pressure for any flawed human being to handle.

Elton John Lookalike

This is a memory sketch of a person I drew at a recent gig. He reminded me so much of Elton John the only thing missing was a Grand Piano. He was actually an English teacher from Hong Kong as was at the Corporate event with his wife. He got drawn twice.
Of course it's unfinished, raw and unpolished. I will come back later to finish it.

Three dudes on da train

I had a LOT of time riding the train yesterday as i went to two gigs that were miles apart. I decided to use a more modeled approach in the drawing this time using the colored woodless pencils. The First man with the large eyes was desperately trying to stay awake as he was watching me draw him. His stare was SO intense that I had to look away a couple of times. He eventually fell asleep, and then it was easy.The last man in purple had this self satisfied look on his face, as if he was saying , "go ahead, and draw! How could you resist a face as handsome as this!"

"Whateverrrrrrrrrrr...." Teenager on the Q53 Bus

I love to draw teenagers. They all seem to work SOOOOOOOO very hard at being nonchalant and uncaring, meanwhile on the inside they are a bundle of nerves and emotions. I caught this guy walking onto the Q53 Last night on the way home from my gig.I love the animated feel of this sketch! I drew it in 10 seconds.

You want CUTE? I can draw cute!!

I did this gift caricature of Connor, for fellow Caricature artist, Wanye Savage. Cute little monkey, aint he? I remember doing a gig for Manga.com to promote the animated film, "Space Chimps" last summer, and thought it would be perfect to draw Wanye's kid like this. Dont you wish YOU could swing on a Banana?

AKEELE, here's your pic

This is a memory sketch of the young man who recognized me and stopped me on the street the other day. His name is Akeele I think.

Soooooo Cute, you could just PUKE!!!

Just returned home from a great gig at Toys R Us, in Times Square, with fellow caricature artist, the self proclaimed, caricature king, Dan Springer. (Dan really IS that good and if anyone deserves a crown, HE does, check out his blog listed on this site... but I digress....) We werre invited to draw at this event by an absolutely adorable husband and wife, party team, Jason and Stacey. I'd never met them before, and was blown away when they both arrived in custom made matching white tuxedos covered in hearts. Upon seeing this, I thought to myself, man, I reallllly got work on my party wardrobe more! They both looked like two life sized plush toys that jumped off of a little girl's bed. I gotta admit, they were so cute you could just puke, and i had to restrain myself from saying "AAAAAWWWWWWWW!!!" Each time I looked at them.

Jason did some fantastic baloon twisting and sleight of hand tricks while his wife handled the facepainting It was a fantastic gig which ended with us all partaking of a delicious buffet while overlooking Times Square. I love the Christmas Season!

I between drawing kids i drew their likenesses in a cartoony style that dipicted their vibeand couldnt wait to bring it home to color it and upload here! Enjoy! .... dont forget your barf bag.

Corporate gig sketches

Dragged myself in at 2;30 am last night after doing a fantabulous corporate gig held at the Hudson Hotel in the city. My Hostess, was EXCELLENT, the crowd was enthusiastic, the music was not too loud and my hostess, who was EXCELLENT provided the best lighting and seating that I've ever had at a gig. For those of you who are party artists, you know how RARE it is for clients to really get this right, and my hostess, who was EXCELLENT, hit a home run.

Out of the faces i drew these two were the most memorable, particularly the woman with the big grin. She thought at first that she waouldnt like such an exaggerated picture, but actually cracked a smile bigger than the one I gave her here.

The guy had unbelievable eyebrows, ears , lips, forehead, jawline.... I got so excited I thought I was going to crash and burn on the exaggeration, but I managed to pull it off. This was an absolutely FUN gig!

Surfs up!

Drew this on the number two train today en route to a great gig at Toys R Us.... feels good to be drawing folks again! Havent done it since.... yesterday.
These are two minute sketches done with a brick colored woodless pencil.

World Outreach Evangelical Ministries Tract Illustrations

I got an opportunity to do a series of tract illustrations for a Dynamic young African pastor in Far Rockaway named James Taiwo of The World Outreach Evangelical Ministries organization.( http://www.woem.org/) Pastor Tiwo has been very receptive to my offbeat style of artwork, feeling that eye catching illustration will help be to be more receptive to the content inside, and I must agree. I did tract illustration years ago for several ministries including the American Tract Society, Focus on The Family, and Apple of His Eye Ministries, and always looked forward to doing other assignments like this. How could I resist drawing cartoons??

The Host of Dr. Sketchy's Anti Art Show

My friend,and fellow NYC Caricature artist, Laurie Edmomds, invited me to an onorthodox live drawing extravaganza called, "Dr. Sketchy's Anit Art Show" Held at "The Slipper Room" at 167 Orchard Street last saturday afternoon.Unlike your "traditional" live drawing class, there were no bright lights, clean marble walls, or mis shaped nude models, instead The models are porvocative , irreverant burlesque performers who wear extravagant costumes and are in excellent condition. In this particular session they paired a tall beautiful dancer dressed in letter with goth makeup on, and a male midget wearing similar garb.
As outlandishly as they were dressed, i found one of the hosts, a lantern jawed youngman with heavy five o clock shadow, a shock of black hair that kept getting into one of his eyes, and a black business suit. Between each break, he would get up on stage and banter about with the other host. I had the most fun drawing him, thinking that he would make a perfect character in my ever growing cast, so I spent the majority of time drawing him. this is one of many pictures i made.

Im becoming a celebrity!

Funny thing happened on the way from the art store...
I just finished shopping at my favorite art store, Utretch Art Supply and was heading into the 14th street station, when I almost collided with a man going in the opposite direction. I stopped, apologized and waved him on to continue walking, and he gave me a quizzled look. As I was beginning to walk down the stairs, he said WAIT! I KNOW YOU!! I turned back around, and he exclaimed, " I saw you drawing on the subway yesterday! You're that guy!" I explained to him that he saw me after returning from a gig at Sardi's Restaurant. I told him that since he took out the time to recognize me that I would give him a beautiful rendered pencil caricature once he sent me his email address and pictures. He was Trilled, and so was i that im actually becoming a sort of Urban Celebrity. The guy's name is Akeelah, I think, and i will be posting his memory sketch picture soon.

Star Wars The Adventures of Jedi Nikk Intergalatic Dog sitter of Bark and Play

JEDI NIKK;".....get in the van.... get in the van..... PLLLLLEASE get in the van!!!..."

JABBA DA MUTT; "BAH!, your Jedi Mind Tricks wont work on ME boy!"



This is an almost completed gift caricature that im doing for Nikk, my favorite dog sitter from Bark and Play> Bark and Play picks my dog up from my house, takes him to the headquarters in brooklyn, where he gets to play with other dogs, and then delivers him back to my door! the service is great, my dog is happy, and i wanted to do something special for Nikk.
I recently found out that he was a BIG star wars fan like me, so I have made up a series of strips, (in the pre production stage) featuring him as the main character, "Jedi NIkk" Intergalatic Dog Sitter At Bark and Play. I am toying with the idea of making this a series so Nikk has actually provided me with inspiration for a webcomic. How cool is that?

My dog, Butchie, loves Nikk and his pals at Bark and Play, but usually gives Nikk trouble with getting into the van. I based this joke on what Butchie does. I guess you can say that my dog, Butchie, is Jabba Da Mutt here.