This is for my pal, Rocky

Rocky is my new Pal on the NCN forum. Rocky's a fellow caricature artist who looks like a mob Boss. I thought it would be funny if I drew him as a Mob Boss caricature artist who has his Gorilla lump up his victims faces so that they ALREADY look exaggerated before he draws them. The poor sap who just got the beating is of course, me.

Chinese Caricature artist, pan hsueh kuan,

This is the original offending caricature that I drew of the Taiwan terror, Pan hsueh kuan, the resulted in me getting unceremoniously caricature slammed by him in the previous post. I'm starting to breathe easier now, and the feeling is beginning to come back into my right drawing arm....Caricature is BRUTUAL Ladies, and gents! If you're of faint of heart, retreat to your Disney coloring books, and Saturday morning cartoons! THIS is ARTISTIC WAR!!!!

pan hsueh kuan SLAMMS the SURFER!!!

In an unpresidented and surprise move, Chinese Caricature artist, pan hsueh kuan, The Taiwan Terror, comes off the ropes, Caricature Close lines the subwaysurfer, and slamms him to the mat with a devestating caricature!!!!! This is an obvios rebuttal to a previsous caricature that The Surfer Drew of Pan!

Drawing "simple" AINT!

Believe it or not, folks, this "simple" drawing on this Asian Hip Hiphopper took me two days to get just right. Drawing "simple" is realllllly a challenge. Dont ever let anyone tell you differently. I tried a LOT of different versions of his face until finally deciding to do a more iconic look from memory, which came out perfect...after a couple of false starts. This is Jack Lo, aka J-LO from Taipei of Taiwan

1960's time warp pictures on the A train

These two were hilarious to draw. I know it's stereotypical to draw the BIG nose on people as a caricature artist, but what can I say? this lady's nose was so outstanding I had to draw it. I wanted to add a little background info also. Maybe that is what I will do more in subsequent caricatures just to add more context to the pictures. I like the "movement " that I've got going with the Nose and those funky boots of hers. Same type of "visual rhythm." She had this type of "beatnik" look about her, and I could imagine her at a jazz club or speakeasy listening to improv poetry, surrounded by cigarette smoke,sitting at a table with a cup of java, slowly nodding out. She even wore Bell Bottoms. Only in New York could you actually find someone looking like this in "real time".



The Hippie Dude with the long hair and walrus mustache had this look on his face like he was wondering what happened to the sixties or something. When i finished drawing this it had a Robert Crumb feeling to it, which shouldnt be strange since he is an artistic influence from long ago.

FIRST POST OF THE NEW YEAR

LAST POST FOR THE YEAR

Last post of the year.... I want to say something profound, but all I can really say is thank you for tuning in. As I write this, I see that over 26,000 of you have tuned into this blog over the year saying that you like my art, that you are inspired by it, entertained by it, educated and amused by it enough to keep tuning in, and encouraging me to do more. As an artist, no matter how "good" you think you are, you often have doubts. Art is a very solitary activity, and it's easy to get discouraged. When your peers and well wishes tell you that what you are doing is WORTH seeing, it makes you want to do more> I've learned so much about the art of cartooning and caricature by actually DOING it. Experience really is the best teacher, and I've had a lot this year. I've also learned a lot and have been encouraged myself by the many artists who I've featured on this page throughout the year. The list continues to expand, and as I discover more I get better and better.
Thanks to all of you who have supported my book writing effort as well. It's been a labor of love, and I've tried to make it affordable.
Hope that your next year will be full of possibility, and that your dreams will come true. I KNOW a lot of mine did last year.

Tim the seminarian

My son's roomate, Tim. Pre Seminary student. Just like my boy. Im really having too much fun playing with my new caricature style. I was also in the mood for experimenting in photoshop. It's wonderful what this program can do!> I wanted this to have a "Saturday morning" animated cartoonish feel to it.

and yet ANOTHER self Portrait!!!

Never get tired of drawing myself....I think this is how Chris Chua.Tomo San,Adam or Andy would do it! AAAARRRRGGGHHHH! Im channeling TOO MANY caricature artists!!!

SURFER BREAKFAST CEREAL!!!!

Hey, it COULD happen!

Caricature Family Portrait

Everyone say cheese! As you all know, I've become fascinated lately with the abstract minimilistic caricature styles of Andy, Chris, and Adam lately. Last night, THIS was the result! I'm lovin it! .... the family isnt.
From the left, my wife, Me, my son, and daughter.

sketchbook goodies

found these gems hiding in an old sketchbook. I love to be surprised by my old drawings. I always had difficulty drawing Asians in the past, and would alway result in doing a dumb stereotypical picture, which must have insulted my audiences! I knew I was on the right track when a Chinese man exclaimed, " you make us LOOK Chinese! that's good".

Vince Guaraldi, It wouldnt be Christmas without you!

Besides celebrating the birth of My Lord, Christmas "just wouldn't be Christmas" without watching my favorite animated classic,"A Charlie Brown Christmas", and that "Charlie Brown MUSIC!"

I'm positive that I'm not the only one who feels that way. just hearing that music brings childhood memories back so thick that you literally have to brush the tears away from your eyes. You simply cannot imagine watching a Peanuts cartoon without hearing that cool hot piano played magnificently by Jazz Pianist, Vince Guaraldi.

Like all things in our culture we've come to love and appreciate it, this music, which has become so ingrained in American pop culture, almost didn't happen.
In 1962, Lee Medelson, a San Francisco based television producer, had was wrapping up the final stages of a TV Documentary on cartoonist, Charles Schultz, whose work was becoming a stable in pop culture. Medelson was contemplating what musician he would choose for the background score of his film, when he heard the song, "Cast :Your Fate To The Wind." by jazz pianist, Vince Guaraldi. The two met, and Vince immediately went to work on the score, composing the first song, "linus and Lucy" (which I have dubbed, "the Charlie Brown theme song"




Medelson's documentary included his interview with Charles Schultz, some rough animation of his Peanuts characters, and of course,Vince's song.

It was a documentary that never saw the light of day.

Three networks rejected the film on the basis that people didn't want to see little kids talking like adults. We take it for granted today just how revolutionary a concept Peanuts was. Schultz maintains that he never intended to have the strip appeal to kids but to adults. The "intelligent people" in Hollywood didn't think people would like that, which just goes to show you once again WHY you SHOULD follow your dream.

But lets continue...

Three years following the rejection of the Documentary, Medelson was contacted by an advertising exec who saw the film, and thought that it would be great if the characters could be used in a Christmas special. Medelson agreed, and immediately knew who the musician would be for the score.

The rest, as they say, is history.
The film broke a lot of new ground to say in the least, but one of things it also did was "introduce Jazz" in a sense to a new audience in prime time. To juxtapose cool jazz into a cartoon just wasnt done, and "would not work" on paper. Just goes to show what can happen when you think outside the box.

I chose to draw this caricature of Vince in a Hirschfeld'esque type of style because I feel it just "fits". I have the CD playing in the background as I write this , and also as I drew the caricature. I feel that "Charlie Brown music" is the perfect backdrop to artistic inspiration. Make sure you buy yourself a copy before they're gone off the shelves until next year!


MERRY CHRISTMAS!

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...