I just realized what a pleasant surprise I had today. Tom Doyle came over and played some really fine music on one of Bobcat's guitars. It was a personal impromptu concert just for me, and the music had a peaceful energy that I could feel.

After he left, I realized that Tom Doyle had played with John Lennon (Beatles). So, duh. Of course the music was going to be the real thing.

Tom was so surprised because the guitar that I let him use was actually the very same type as the one in a picture that he showed me on-line. Playing with John Lennon - Did he say that that picture was taken in Ann Arbor?

http://projecttomdoyle.tripod.com/id8.html

Anyway, here's what Tom looks like now. Striking. Powerful.

My favorite of the songs he played was something about "The Luck of the Irish".

Here are a few simple pictures that I drew for FAO Schwarz. That's an amazing Toy Store! I was set up right next to the Giant Piano.

Here's a quote, something I wrote on this blog. From September 27th.

"Makes me feel like I should be going in to something else - like cartoons. But we can get so scattered. I'm happily busy round the clock doing Caricatures, Face-Painting, and Balloons. Sometimes other work when it just lands at my doorstep."

I just came across this entry. And I realized that I just had one of those times. One of those times when I ended up 'doing something else'.

A producer from CNN recently asked me to make a small black/white 'Caricature' of him and his boss. He described the story of his boss telling him a story about using graphics in the olden days. Not the writer, I suggested ideas a few ideas for him.

But he had his own ideas, so I drew what He wanted.

Here's his response:
"The event we were at was CNN Heroes: 2008.
Maybe we could make that the title of the piece or incorporate it in the sketch.
Let's go with:
Boss ' In Providence we used cartoons for graphics.
Me ' Funny, I just use them to kiss up."





Here's the picture I came up with based on his photos. His ideas. The woman in the magazine was standing next to my client in his photo. [thumb "cnn.jpg" size="medium" /] This was a little outside my box. Outside of the things I usually do. As I wrote: "other work when it just lands at my doorstep."

A new restaurant catering to celebrities is opening here on the East Coast. About a month ago, they put me on retainer - so I'd be available to draw whenever they want. They like the Caricatures relatively tame, so I'm just getting the feel for it. Here are the first three that they wanted:

Mayor Gerald Jennings, Robin Williams, and Jeff Spurber: