Caricature quick tip How to draw braided hair part two

The first post was so popular, I decided to include this second one in the series. Sorry about the view. I got disorinted on this camera. Hope its  not too much of a distraction.

Live Caricature Drawing on NYC Subway By Subwaysurfer

I absolutely LOVE it when passengers are bold enough to ASK for their picture, like this gentlemen did  here. I was sitting across from him and noticed he had an interesting look for a character design I was developing of a scientist, or something like that. I did a quick sketch and turned the page when he inquired about thedrawing. we went on to have a great discussion about social media, character design, and entrepreneurship. He even gave me some social media tips! what did he tell me? HEY! that's MY secret!   Sorry for the shaky picture I was on a moving train and took this with my camera phone. The guy in the picture  name is WES. I told Wes I would be doing some character studies on his face, much to his delight,.... 

Caricature Quick Tip How to Draw Braided hair

Have you ever found yourself horrified frustrated and frozen with fear someone with braids approached you to be drawn at a life event? I sure did! I hated drawing braids so much that I carried scissors in my bag with intentions on cutting them off the persons head! since being a barber is not in my skill set, I had to devise a method for drawing them quickly and easily. Nothing can ruin a caricature more than drawing braids sloppy, especially if its a major part of the persons, visual persona... er... is that even a word? This video goes into one of my methods that not only make drawing braids easy, but also a lot of fun! forgive the quality of the video, I filmed it on my smartphone while waiting for my wife while she shopped at Trader Joes....

William Shakesphere iPad caricature

Talk about a different and unexpected assignment.... I'm currently working with a client who commissioned me to draw some character designs for a board game he is currently developing, and one of the characters is William Shakesphere. I must admit, I've never had a request to draw that before, and was very excited on how I would interpret the character.

The client wanted the illustration to be a full body shot, no gross exaggeration, and recognizable. I immediately thought of the style and approach that Alex Toth used when he was commissioned to draw characters for Saturday morning toons back in the day. The design had to be elegant and simple. As has become my habit, these days, I drew the character in such a way that if it were being animated, it could be easily copied, and quickly reproduced. I looked at pictures online to see how Shaesphere had been depicted by other artists, and then gave it my own particular flair, as I did with the period clothing, after researching that. Google and YouTube make research like this a snap.

I couldn't resist adding the skull as a accessory, and within a few hours, I had a character design but artist, and client could be proud of.

What I love about assignments like these, is the opportunity to draw people and things I wouldn't ordinarily draw myself. Another great benefit if drawing William Shakesphere, is the potential of bring new viewers to my blog who come, not necessarily because they like art, per se, but because they like William Shakesphere. Hopefully in the process of viewing this illustration, they will be encouraged to check out the rest of the blog.

I'm giving a subtle hint here, fellow artists, so listen up.

If you want to increase traffic to your blogs start including pop culture pieces, as well as "traditional" drawings like Will, here. The goal is to get new people looking at your work, and if you're selling something, hopefully, they will be impressed and encouraged to buy something.

Speaking of buying... It's time for another...

UNAPOLOGHETIC SUBWAYSURFER CALL TO ACTION!

If you are impressed with this character design and have a project that you feel my talents are suited for, don't estate to let me know! Prices are not "cheap" but they're negotiable, and more affordable than you think!

Newsletter illustration of couple on Jetski

Just completed this assignment of a couple on a Jetski for their company Newsletter. The hardest part was drawing the Jetski jussst right! they loved it.

As an artist, I have been fortunate to have rubbed shoulders with, taught by, influenced by, and even "stolen from" some of the best caricature artists in the world, all of whom have contributed to, influenced, and enhanced by approach to caricature.
One of my favorite character artists, is Terry Dunnett, affectionately known as TEL from Australia. (http://www.terrydunnett.com.au/Tels_Caricatures/Home.html)
In addition to being an excellent draftsman, Tel is a master of drawing accessories. By "accessories" I mean supporting items in a picture that the main characters interact with. Examples of accessory items, are cars, planes, snowmobiles, and jet skies. Prior to being exposed to Tel's work, I focused pretty much on the individual figures, and pretty much "winged" everything else. Even though my clients did not complain, I knew deep down, I had compromised, and given into lazy drawing. In comparison to Tel, whose accessory items were just as meticulously detailed as his caricatured. Visually, this added to the overall unity to his pieces as well.

That's when I started really concentrating on getting the accessories correct.
If a client takes time to mention they want a particular car or golf clubs in a picture, then obviously the item is an extension of them. This is the Bain reason why they should be given as much attention that you give to your favorite part of the drawing.

This particular jetski took me days to get to my satisfaction. It's not perfect, but definitely better than I might have done, years ago.

HOW TO DRAW KIDS by Subwaysurfer

If you've been a professional artist for more than five minutes, I bet you've been asked to draw a couple of kids. For a caricature artist  it's inevitable. You are either going to draw a child at a first communion, birthday party, wedding, anniversary , or Bar-Bat Mitzvahs. Dont even let me get started on gift caricature.  Drawing children can be quite lucrative, as everyone loves to have their kids immortalized in pictures.

I used to HATE drawing kids, at one time. They were unpredictable, moved around a lot, and for some reason I kept making them look to old in a picture. I really needed help, and kept my ears and eyes opens until I learned how. 

Of course now I'm sharing that method with you, so listen up.

I was at an art convention a couple of years back, and master caricature artist, Joe Bulum  was lecturing on how to caricature the face. His subject wasn't on kids, per se, but he said one line, in passing, that made a light  bulb go on in my head. To paraphrase, Joe, he said that drawing kids was easy. He pictured them as being akin to "little aliens" in appearance, and structure. Joe was being tongue in cheek with his comment, obviously, but I immediately latched on to that visual of a stereotypical "Roswell Alien" with the Giant Forehead area, large lumonious eyes, and small mouth nose and particularly the CHIN. with this image in mind, I never had another problem drawing kids. Of course this doesn't mean that you ignore basic features of each individual child's face. Some kids have fuller lips than others, some  have smaller eyes or wider noses, of course, but that basic head-slash- alien structure is crucial.  

WATCH THAT CHIN!

Getting back to the chin. NEVER NEVER NEVER add a LOT of space between the buttom lip and the chin. even if the kid has a long face, comparatively speaking, put all the visual weight in the upper head area. If you fail to do this, you WILL age the child considerable.

DRAWING A MOVING KID

The secret to drawing a figity kid is not to panic. Resolve in your mind that this kids will NOT be sitting still. Once you've acknowledged that, start by drawing that Alien head container lightly in pencil. As I said earlier, you KNOW that the head is going to conform to that shape. Most babies also, have those hamster/balloon cheeks so include that too. Next you want to pick your target. Say the nose, you wait until the child is looking in your direction. he WILL eventually, and as soon as he does, BOOM !  you nail that body part, and keep repeating for each facial feature. I mentioned drawing in pencil also because the "sketchy" line quality will add to the overall life of the drawing, at a live event. If you are doing a gift caricature, like the ones on this page, you can sketch even more loosely knowing that you will ink it in later.

 THE SUBWAY SURFER

 SHAMELESS UNAPOLOGETIC CALL TO ACTION

Hey moms and dads, aunts and uncles, God mothers, and God Fathers! If you loved the way I drew these kids, just think of how gorgeous I can make the little alien inhabiting your planet?  digital portraits are affordable, and start as low as 40.00 (yes, we are committed in helping you buy art in these trying economic times.) if you are interested email me at cartoons4u2@aol.com  a good JPEG of your kids 

 and we can get started! Paypal makes the whole process painless! 

(these children were digitally painted on the Apple Ipad using the Art Studio App)

IPAD COMPATIBLE CLOTHING SCOTTEVEST GEAR ROCKS!

http://www.scottevest.com/

Folks, I haven't even fully written a post for this, but when I found this gem, my eyes popped! Once I picked them back up off the floor, I realized that this was the line of clothing I've been searching for. As a Creative Caricature Marketing Consultant, one of the services I offer clients is that of a live caricature entertainer for corporate events. Oftentimes, I am required to be mobile, especially for events that require me to interact with the crowd,(like the job I did with absolute Vodka) and it is impossible to lug my gear around from one location to the other. With the Scottevest, there are numerous pockets to put pens, books, paper, and the aforementioned iPad for digital drawing. The company also makes pants will multiple pockets. As awesome as Scottevest gear is, from a purely functional standpoint, Scottevest gear also look cool. So you no longer stand out like a sore thumb with your pockets buldging. I almost wanted to keep this news to myself, but hey, this is social media after all, so I'm sharing!

CREATIVE CARICATURE QR CODE MARKETING

Audio Link
http://cdn.cinchcentral.com/rec/Recording_255325.mp3

Audio Podcast

Can QR Codes be used Creatively with caricature? You bet they can. I am already helping many of my clients maximize their marketing efforts with this exciting piece of interactive technology. And while it's true that anyone can use and have access to making QR codes, a compelling visual to lead your customers in the desired direction will always be a plus. Listen to the audio podcast to find out more how you can benefit from my services to enable you to come up with a unique strategy in using QR Code technology .

AFFORDABLE AVATAR DESIGNS FOR THE ARTISTICALLY CHALLENGED

As a Creative Caricature Marketing Consultant, I created Affordable avatar designs like these for the artistically challenged. I realize that you want to stay competitive,AND remain budget conscious/ Let me help you do both, as I have done for my clients here. 

Email me at 

cartoons4u2@aol.com  

Include a quality Jpeg of your picture and a description of what you need done. Single Characters are as low as 40.00  get YOUR Avatar Today.

GREATEST TESTIMONIAL SUBWAYSURFER HAS EVER GOTTEN

I've gotten a lot of testimonials over the years from satisfied customers, but this one from author Dan Guarino, of The Rockaway Artists Alliance, literally brought tears to my eyes..Dan wrote this testimonial following a performance The ROckaway Artists Alliance Writers Group
gave at Peninsula Hospital.

"There aren't enough words to describe the multi-talented Elgin Bolling. Just when you think you've got him defined, he pops up with a new talent.
 
          Artist, author, caricaturist, cartoonist, journalist, commentator, cyber-reporter,  poet, performer, speaker, teacher, actor, entertainer...
 
         The list goes on.
 
         I can say, though, I have never seen anybody draw people in like Elgin nor lift an audience out of their seats.
 
          In short, I have never seen anyone bring their art to life like Elgin Bolling."

Why I Love drawing people on the NYC Subway Trains By Subwaysurfer

"The Subway is a microcosm of the world. It is the one place where for a brief moment in time, comparatively speaking, we are all equal. People all over the city of every gender, race, social economic status, religious , political , social sexual orientation, come here to share space. Its a forced kind of intimacy, almost. I am more than an artist drawing funny pictures but a visual anthropologist, studying and recording human behavior. My visual data can be found throughout this blog, especially in the earlier posts, and also through my subsequent Ebooks, two of them are right below you.



I LOVE TO DRAW A GOOFY LOOKING GURL
Written and Illustrated by Elgin Subwaysurfer Bolling

Is Beauty really in the Eye of the Beholder? Subwaysurfer says, it depends on who is looking at you! Find out what New York City's wackiest subway sketcher sees!






SUBWAYSURFER EXTREME LIFE DRAWING ON DA TRAIN
Written and Illustrated by Elgin Subwaysurfer Bolling

Caricature Quick Tip Series How To Draw The Human Figure

July 4th poetry

Miss Liberty’s Got a Lot to Say Today
July 4th Poetry


By Elgin Bolling.

Welcome, Welcome! One and all , to Me!
That’s right, I’m You’re good “Old Friend”
The Statue of Liberty!

Give me your tired and your poor..
But don’t come HERE NO MORE!!
You’re being stopped at the door..

The statue of Liberty! That's me!
BOY! my feet are KILLIN' ME!!
I haven’t sat down in YEARS
And I’ve shed many tears, my dears,
But don’t YOU fear! As you can see,
I’m STILL standing here
Right where I’m supposed to be!

Smack dab in the middle of this here, MESS!
Trying REAL hard not to stress..
Hard to hold it together with So many people
Walking up and down up under my dress!
Putting me to the test

I guess I’ll grin and
Do my best to hold high the torch
Lookin toward Manhattan Island
Sometimes I just wanna drop this torch in the water
And start to crying/
Too many folks fightin’ screamin’ and dyin’
I AINT LYING!

Gimmie ONE plane ticket and
I’ll be a FLYIN!
What I need is a vacation
From being a symbol for the nation

So TIRED of riding this “freedom train”
When do we arrive at the station?
The location where we’re FINALLY All ONE NATION under GOD?
In a world full of atheists,
THAT’S gonna be kinda…hard.

Belief in GOD should be a PLUS
Aint it written on your money somewhere
IN GOD WE TRUST????!!!
LOOK! IT”S WRITTEN ON YOUR MONEY!
LOOK! IT”S WRITTEN ON YOUR MONEY!!!!

Ya know… this aint even funny.

One more thing,
Let me tell you, honey..
Instead of just snapping pictures of ME
From the Deck of the Staten Island Ferry
Why don’t you do me a favor?
Turn to your neighbor
And treat HIM Merry?!

I KNOW it’s not
Christmas day, or any other Holiday,
But loving one another
Is still OK!!
Don’t you forget to PRAY!

On your knees is where you should stay
Then you’ll never stray.

And HEY!...
I aint going NOWHERE.
I’ll be right here on ELLIS.
That is….
If the Mayor
Doesn’t sell us.
Copyright 2010 Elgin Bolling all rights reserved.

SEE AND HEAR IT PERFORMED LIVE WITH TWO OTHER ORIGINAL POEMS
http://youtu.be/ndjH1XbphlI




In Addition to being a visual artist, I am also a prolific poet. And as you can read,see, and hear, my spoken word, and written word is as "visual" as my artwork. Ive spoken to capacity crowds for many years now, and even combine my visual art with my thought provoking, humorous poetry. (gee, I almost broke my arm patting myself on the back like that!)Feel free to hire me for speaking engagements as well. I also create original prose and poems to go with your pictures. Now how many artists can do THAT??!

This Poem and many others are all in an Ebook entitled, "Anointed Verse Unrehearsed" which can ve purchased for 5.00 directly thorough me by ordering here

Sprint store salesman Daniel Jacobs Sheepshead bay

LISTEN TO THIS AUDIO PODCAST

http://cinch.fm/subwaysurfer/252735

This is a special shout out to DANIEL  The Sprint representative at On Top Communications. The store is located at 1743 Sheephead Bay Rd Bklyn, NY. The dynamic, Daniel Jacobs,sold me my NEW Optimus LG Phone. When it comes to phones, I pretty much always felt that I never needed all the bells and whistles, currently being advertised by Sprint and other dealers. Daniel was so persuasive and patient in answering my questions, that when he finally brought me my phone I literally did the snoopy happy dance of joy. My new Optimus LG is fantastic! Its got some many toys on it I almost ditched my ipad! The reception is clear, I can go online virtually anywhere, it's got a great camcorder than enables the Subwaysurfer to do even more videos on location, and a camera that takes crystal clear shots. The speaker is more like a mini megaphone! Dan is a dynamite salesman, very knowledgeable and has this cool toothpickk that never seems to fall outta his mouth when he talks. Check out his store in Sheep head bay you wont be disappointed.

As is my habit, when I get great customer service, I usually do a caricature of the person. I found out that Daniel is also a graffiti art enthusiast, so he went nuts over the idea of me caricaturing him.

This picture has him SPRINTING to give you fabulous service, which he definitely will. Make sure you Sprint down to his store to get the best deal today.

Oh, one mre thing... Dans store is a literal stones throw from some of the best restaurants in Brooklyn, that overlook the bay. After you buy your phone, celebrate with a delicious meal, and treat yourself to a boat ride! What could better?

ATTENTION ALL BUSINESS OWNERS AND ENTREPRENEURS WHO LOVE THIS PICTURE

If you're thinking to yourself, "boy, I bet that Daniel Jacobs guy is getting some new business every time some one checks out his picture on this blog!" You're absolutely right! DANIEL knows how to think outside the box, how about YOU?

Let me create a cool caricature advertisement for YOUR business, to put in all your social media outlets including my popular blog here. The cost is more affordable than you think, and as a Creative Caricature Marketing Consultant, I don't "just draw you a picture" but help you formulate a strategy for online visibility and success. Just like Daniel Jacobs here.

Drop me a line at cartoons4u2@aol.com for details

Caricature Quick Tip #14 PROTECT YOUR CONTENT ON FACEBOOK

Listen to a very valuable lesson I learned on Facebook recently. ALL creatives will find this tip valuable, especially if you are using FACEBOOK to build your brand, and position yourself  on that channel. Dont get me wrong, I LIKE FACEBOOK. It is a great social media tool and i support and will continue to use it, but will always remember that
FACEBOOK IS LIKE A MALL. AND I DONT OWN THE MALL. Find out what that means by listening to the audio cast.




Let me know what YOU thinkabout what youve heard!

WOW! I INSPIRE PEOPLE!!

Did some web surfing today, and found this particular site whee my vids are featured. Its an inspirational site, called, "INSPIRATIONAL VIDEOS" (what else?) and a ton of my stuff is cataloged there! Nice to know that I'm inspiring other people enough for my work to be going viral. Sometimes Im so busy just sharing and uploading that I dont stop to take a breath.

http://www.movieplay.biz/inspiration/watch-video/BLb-yzQ6cNc&feature=youtube_gdata/TheSubwaysurfer/http:-www.subwaysur-fer.blogspot.com-creative-caricature-marketing-consultant,-and-professional-caricature-entertainer,-....html

THE FATHERS DAY PRESENT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING

In 2009, I wanted to give my father a gift that was more lasting than a tie, brut aftershave, or a wallet. I decided to give him a memory. I wrote and illustrated a story in a powerpoint comic book about how he helped me to overcome an all too familiar theme today; BULLYING. My Dad gave me a book of self defense, even demonstrated the techniques in the middle of the living room floor, something very unusual, given his conservative, non demonstrative nature. I went on to regain my self esteem as well as a life long fascination with the Asian Fighting arts that gave me so much in terms of personal development, friendships, and of course, personal fitness. The story doesn't end here. I submitted this PowerPoint comic to authorstream.com and it resulted in me winning a ipad computer tablet. The story resonated with so many people literally overnight,m that I was shocked. I  cant tell you how much this little Ipad has helped my work Thanks dad!

All because I wanted to give my father more than a tie, some aftershave, and a wallet.

THE CARICATURE ARTIST SHOULD NEVER BE THE CENTER OF YOUR PARTY

There are some caricature arrays out there who feel they're the greatest thing since cheese and crackers, and that somehow when THEY arrive at any event, "The party REALLY starts!"

When I was younger, I was STUPID enough to believe that, too.  But not anymore.
Listen to this MP3 and find out why THE CARICATURE ARTIST SHOULD NEVER BE THE CENTER OF YOUR PARTY

PLEASE LISTEN  HERE

http://cdn.cinchcentral.com/rec/Recording_129821.mp3

Gary Vaynerchuk Cartoon Caricature By Subwaysurfer

If you dont know who GARY VAYNERCHUK is, you have no business being online. Go and ask your parents permission if you need to be on here.

Im not going to give you a bunch of Gary Stats here. If you wanna know exactly who is he and what he's done and why it's important, that you will do the homework on him, and trust me you will be pumped before youre even three quarters done finding out.

I love Gary because hes what i call a Noo Yawk guy by default! He's from Jersey, but had enough of that Big Apple flavor for me to called him an honorary New Yawker. The first time I heard Gary speak, I thought I was listening to Joe Peshi from Goodfellas. I'm sure he gets that a lot. In reality, when I close my eyes he sounds like a thousand other guys from Brooklyn nabes like Bay Ridge, Canarsie, or Bensonhurst.   Gary has this In your face, take no prisoners, idiot proof way of speaking that even a moron can understand. His blue collar work ethic is more than inspiring, and his rags to riches story (taking his family's history into account) reads like a blue collar fairytale come true. Only Gary's living the fairytale.... which is real. And so can you.  If yew do whut he sez, and boy does Gary Say a LOT!   WARNING you may not appreciate the ... er... "Colorful" way Gary Says some things but you are guaranteed to UNDERSTAND his message once he's done.


You can get your very own cartoon/Caricature avatar for your social media pages, E Newsletters, Blog Article Posts, and Ebooks just like this one i did of Gary. You can DEFINITELY CRUSH IT and stand out in the crowd of everyone using their photos or clipart.  Just  me a jpeg of you with front , side and three quarter view. Tell me the business you're in, and /or what youd like to be doing and I will draw your caricature faster than you can say CRUSH IT!.... okay... I know... im getting redundant....

Email Elgin at

cartoons4u2@aol.com  

FEEL FREE TO DOWNLOAD AND SHARE GARYS CARICATURE! JUST TELL FOLKS WHERE YA FOUND IT!

Anthony Weiner Twitter Caricature by subwaysurfer

FEEL FREE TO COPY DOWNLOAD AND SHARE THIS PIC IF YOU LIKE IT, JUST TELL PEOPLE WHERE YOU GOT IT.  IF YOU WANT TO USE IT ON YOUR BLOG YOU HAVE MY CONSENT! JUST CREDIT ME AS THE ARTIST AND GIVE ME A LINK

http://www.subwaysurfer.blogspot.com  

 Elgin Subwaysurfer Bolling