Oh boy ~ My Agent wants 4 new Party Samples. That's Only 4 Samples to represent myself with him. Could you imagine? Choosing only 4 Samples from the Thousands here on my website?

I looked through some recent posts. So far, I narrowed it down to a possible twenty:

Now, which four? Which four? Does it even matter?

Practicing quick body/hobbies. Not my favorite thing to do, but I have to be ready for it. For the Few times when my clients request it.

Started with some bodies, but they kinda disappeared as I just played around with my papers here. I especially liked playing with my lines on the last picture.

I rarely recommend body/hobby for Party Caricatures. Because, of course, it takes at least twice as long to draw both a face and a body/hobby as it takes to draw just a face. And people at Parties usually want to get their picture quickly. And clients usually want me to draw as many people a possible in the limited amount of time we have at the Party.

Besides, the Body/hobby usually has nothing to do with the Party. Like, I'll have a young man in a suit telling me that he likes to play baseball. Or a young lady in a Party Dress telling me that she hopes to be a librarian. Like, like, aren't we there for the 'title' of the Party? If that young man is at his friend's Bar Mitzvah, his focus should be his friend's Bar Mitzvah. And if that girl is at her family's Christmas Party, we should be encouraging her to focus on Christmas. And her family. Let them do the Party when they're doing the Party. And play ball when they're playing ball. And listen to their science teacher when they're in science class. Do what you're doing when you're doing it.

So I'm not watching a baseball game when I'm asked to draw him playing baseball. And I'm not in a library when I'm asked to draw her as a librarian. That means that the face is drawn based on what I see. But I kinda dream up memorized symbols to draw the scenes that are not what I'm looking at. Switching back and forth between two different types of Artwork.

Parties only last a few hours. We can only do whatever we're going to do within each hour.

It had always been physically difficult to handle Manhattan events ~ because it felt like i was carrying a Ton of stuff. I couldn't seem to lighten my load enough. Long walks and long staircases when I'd travel by train and subway. Because driving and parking in midtown Manhattan is expensive and it's faster to walk.

Finally cut supplies back to a large backpack, a small wallet, a bag with lights, and a bag with my easel. To carry on top of my winter-jacket, hat, and gloves. Still couldn't stand it. Was thinking of also carrying a luggage cart.

But I finally figured out what works for me.

I got a huge backpack with supportive construction ~ adjusted it to fit snugly around my waist. And I gave up trying to keep my hands free. Only the small wallet worn as a shoulder-bag. Then I could easily carry the easel in one hand and the lights in the other.

I even gave up my lovely high-heels. I want to look like those beautiful New Yorkers at those swanky parties. But carrying and hiking for hours ~ foolish. I changed to flat Party Shoes. Nobody cared ~ It didn't make any difference. Except I was amazed about my comfort as I rode back home on the train. Funny that they look like they're practically the same shoes in this picture. Yet when you wear the flat ones, you can lose that 'strut' ~ which works better with a huge backpack.

I've been doing this job for albout 17 years, and I finally figured out how to be comfortable when using public transportation.