Drawing at Parties ~ It's my chance to make people happy.

Look at how much this girl Enjoyed being drawn. And her Family Enjoyed being drawn along with her

Awful experience I had today.

An Agent booked me for an Event mid-August. As usual for him, he doesn't tell me details until the last-minute. All I got was Time/Date/Town. And Digital Caricatures. Yes I'm available.

Then I realized that it would probably be Outdoors. Re Summertime. and Corona Virus. Outdoors. I'm guessing.

I hope it won't rain on my Expensive Equipment.

My own pricelist says that Digital Caricatures are Not recommended for Outdoors. I just realized that I hadn't made that clear with the Agent. So I took my IPad out into my own backyard today to check out the experience. Right in the middle of the yard. No shade. Because that would be the worst-case scenario at a Party.

I COULD BARELY SEE THE SCREEN. Because of the Sun shining on it. Hot, sweaty, uncomfortable. It took me 15 miserable minutes to make this first Caricature. Quite Unpleasant for me. And I wasn't even further encumbered with a Mask This time because I was alone in my own backyard.

It probably wouldn't be this unpleasant at a Party. I just feel like a Professional Entertainer should be ready to handle anything that does come up.

I've felt this sort of worry before, only to find a Much more pleasant situation at the Event. Because Clients are People, too. They want to be Kind and they want everybody to be Happy at their Party. It's just because I'm so Experienced that I can come up with things to worry about.

And what about Electricity? I'll bring a backup battery, and This upcoming Event does not require Printing, but.....

and then I moved into the Shade and drew this little girl. Probably not so bad, but I was already so stressed from the picture that I drew in the Sun, that I just forced myself through the drawing. Awful experience today ~ because I expect to Enjoy drawing. Art is for Fun.

I recommend Estimating 10 Faces per Hour. But I try to accommodate my Clients when they ask me to draw Faster. So here I am ~ practicing from photos before my next Really Big Party.

Obviously, I can't do what I can't do. But there are ways to get more people drawn (if they all sit for their Caricatures very quickly ~ I can't very well Rush the Guests). I can approach the Artwork very simply. I can just draw Lines without Shading. I can skip the Color. And I feel that the way to keep them Simple is to just draw what I see ~ with not much in the way of Artist's Interpretation.

Still, the Artwork takes on a Quality of its own. Not the Whole Symphony, but a Simple Beauty in its Simplicity. Kind of Classy.

Man's 40th Birthday Party. We were supposed to wear Super Hero tshirts. Just be do something different. It felt good. (I was Super Girl)