My latest Client Review was from a Surprise 70th Birthday Party that I did last weekend. My Client said:

5 Star Rating out of 5 Stars VERIFIED REVIEW Caricatures are a big success

Alison did a great job with the Caricatures at our party. This was a perfect fit for the party and a really big hit. It was an adult birthday party, so I wasn't sure ow it would go over and to my surprise it was a huge success.

Expertise *****
Communication *****
Professionalism *****
Priced Fairly *****
Adaptability *****
Reviewer: Patty O. Event: Birthday (Adult) in Nesconset, NY Event Date: Apr 23, 2016 Hired as: Caricaturist

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I was really On that night. In The Zone. I felt so comfortable drawing with these people.

I feel amazed at what comes out sometimes. Here I was, needing a distraction, drawing from random photos on the web as usual, and look at what came out of me.

I used lighter colors that I usually would have. Even Orange, which I never (never? I did just now....) use as skin tone, Orange which I never use for Men's lips. And it looks Great! I feel so pleased.

Once again, here I am, trying to figure out if it's better to prethink the exaggerations or if it's better to let the exaggerations happen whenever they do.

Which way make better Artwork? Which way is easier to do? Which one works better in a Party situation?

Contemplating this while drawing from some random photos on the web.

The first 2 pictures that I drew here are from the same photo. The first time I drew it, I did not prethink any shapes/ideas. At the beginning of my drawing experience, my picture was looking so whitebread, so lifeless, that I planned on drawing it again as soon as I'd be done. But I saved the picture ~ I liked it after I added that lovely curl at the bottom and I went back into the hair/face to 'make it work'.

The 2nd time I drew it, I predrew a circle because the photo depicted a woman with a very round face. I stylized the hair and I emphasized the cheeks by making the mouth smaller. Looks real cute. Either picture is good.

The 3rd picture is just a straight on ~ No prethinking, enjoy filling in the blanks with lovely confident lines. It's okay. I imagine the person would feel fine about getting this picture during a Party. And it's stress-free for me. La-de-dah. But is that what I want to be doing? Pretty pictures with no 'heart'?

So I decided to prethink the exaggerations in my 4th picture ~ but still keeping the approach more like fill in the blanks. I predrew the eyes to stick out of the 'face' (something that can't be done in real life). Then I predrew the rest to be handled with the approach of letting more exaggerations only if and when they do.

I still don't have The Answer, but I like the approach I used on the 4th picture. It felt like just the right amount of being enveloped in the experience with just the right amount of simply drawing what it's 'supposed' to be.