Here I was ~ arrived early to Set Up, but the Space that the client put aside for me was almost non-existent. And one of her guests asked if I could draw from a phone-photo because one girl couldn't come to the Party.

"Okay. Of course," I said. "But it's not very Entertaining for me to be drawing from a photo while people are waiting to get into the seat. Would you like me to do it Before I actually start the Party (during the time you are paying for Entertainment), or would you like to me just see if there is perhaps maybe any downtime during which I might be able to fit it in?" I felt like the client understood once the Drawing started. Understood about being with the people who are There. Because she wisely sent one of the guests To Sit in the Chair while I drew her sister from the photo. Not my favorite thing to do, but at least I didn't have an anxiously waiting guest while I tried to pay attention to someone who wasn't there.

This brings me to another point. Some clients are surprised that I didn't plan on sitting quietly in a dark corner (or even another room ~ not in the Party). They're surprised that I try to position myself in such a way that the guests can See the drawing evolve. Surprised that it actually turns into Entertainment at the Party.

I say, you wouldn't go to a Movie or a Broadway Show without giving the Actors plenty of room to do their jobs. You wouldn't be happy to put on Roller Skates if there wasn't a large Roller Rink to use them. You wouldn't expect a dj to dance quietly in the corner (or in another room - lol). So why hire a Party Artist and not want to give her room to Entertain? Maybe even more Space than the Party Decorations and Centerpieces. And Seating Cards. And the Coat Room. Watching the Show is one of the things that the people can do to Enjoy Your Party.

Just some simple pictures drawn at a calm Communion. This was an unpretentious Party ~ everybody knew each other ~ close-family.

Made me wonder about the sense of self that we develop within our own families. It seems to be something that is encouraged for a good solid childhood. What I really liked about this party was how un-self-conscious the people were ~ how comfortable in the group.

But would we feel more confident with ourselves if we only stayed within our close-knit family? Because we would be automatically accepted as One of the Group? Or perhaps less confident? Because we would only know the opinions of one family? Would our child-personality be our label for Life? And most of all, could we change as we grow?

Based on my own experience, we get whatever family we're born into. Whatever circumstances that is. And we grow and develop within those circumstances. Some people are born into neatly trimmed gardens. Some people tossed out like wildflowers. Others have to find their way through a dark forest. But it all comes down to the same thing. To find out why Our Creator made us the way we really are.

Oh Yay ~ I got my first job doing IPad Caricatures. And as usual, I'm not given more than I can handle. This job is for Studio work. So I don't have to be concerned about Speed.

I hope I'll have time to do it all on the IPad. Because I'm trying to get comfortable enough to put together an IPad Set-Up to use live at Events. But I'm not worried about coming through with good Artwork for this job because I can always move it into PhotoShop on my regular Computer if I get stuck. The order is only for a Digital Caricature, so PhotoShop is just as acceptable. I've done that plenty of times before. PhotoShop Caricatures.

And sure enough, before I even got started, I was hit with a complication. I always send digital Caricatures as jpegs in an email. But this client wants it sent as a pdf file. So I tried it before agreeing to the job. And I found out that ArtStudio on IPad doesn't offer pdf as an option. So I tried an experiment.

I drew a quick little picture on my IPad. I emailed that to myself as jpegs. From that email on my regular Computer, I pulled the jpeg picture into PhotoShop. In PhotoShop, I found something called PhotoShop pdf. I saved it as the PhotoShop pdf, emailed it to my client, and told her to only order the picture if this works for her.

I'm going to try to put both files onto this post. To see if it works here. The first one is the jpg picture, the way I usually put pictures onto this blog. The second one is the PhotoShop pdf picture.

Oh ick. They look the same. But when I was uploading them, I got all sorts of messages of things like the pdf picture might not be able to be edited. As always, I'm glad to be able to send my client what she wants. But I would prefer to have it as jpegs if I had a choice.

and why....Why do some people insist on changing their face for the drawing? It just makes my job harder than it has to be, almost impossible to get a good likeness, and makes us feel oh, nervous.

Confidence. We are what we are. And everyone knows that we look the way we look regardless of how I draw them. Most people have enough Confidence to able to have fun. Stretching, playing, exxaggeratinn.... Even people with shakey Confidence are able to loosen up when they see everyone else being drawn too. It helps them grow out of their childish worries.