Here are a few of the Caricatures that I drew at the Party where my Agent requested that I draw Tamer Caricatures. It actually turned out to be a marvelous group of people ~ much quite ready to have fun. It was a Childrens' Birthday Party ~ with both Children and Grown Ups. They asked me to draw the Children first ~ only drawing the Adults if there is still time after that.

The children were playing ~ running around the house ~ coming back into the Main Party Room for Caricatures, Food, Costume-play to be like (Kiss?) Musicians, Playing Piano, and Drums ~ one of the Very Young Children just blew my mind at how cool he was ~ seemed to be playing the Drums without having had lessons, not formally 'schooled' in 'drum playing', but HE SOUNDED GREAT!

Anyway, I digress. The Children were there for Fun. And the Grown Ups (including a lot of Parents) were comfortably looking on ~ snacking ~ and obviously entertained with the Caricatures that were coming out. And like I said, the more I stretched the boundaries, the better they get. And the more animated the party guests get. They were very open to Exaggeration, but I kept it toned down. Especially at the beginning of the Party. But the guests (and host/hostess) were encouraging me to make funny pictures.

I never quite let it go. I kept a lid on it because my Agent had same 'Tamer'. Awwww..... the people were very happy with my performance, but if they only knew what I Could have done.....

I'll try to get a chance to post a few more later today.

When I am hired with the instructions to 'tone down my drawings', this is the sort of stuff that we get. It's good, but the more I stretch the boundaries, the better they get. And the more animated the party guests get.

Practicing for an upcoming Party where I would be drawing Fashion Sketches.

In the moment. Real Artwork is made in the moment. It can't be rehearsed. It can't be memorized. So, I make decisions in the moment. It's not a good idea to suddenly second-guess myself.

Just like second-guessing ourselves when we're about to express ourselves honestly ~ unedited ~ to an important person, trying to manipulate the outcome. Not a good idea. It's not authentic. It's not true raw honesty.

I tripped over my own to feet (so to say) when I started drawing this client. Even though I felt like he looked fine, I foolishly imposed my own presumption that he wouldn't want to focus on what I saw. What to draw, what to draw? I had recently been studying different approached for drawing mouths in my own free-time, so I moved my focus to That. But that wasn't where the caricature for this person Was. It didn't look like him. Oh. I tried to save it by writing some Words, but of course still not good.

I didn't have a chance to figure out what happened while I continued successfully drawing the other people at the party. So when my paid-time was up, I stayed late because the gentleman agreed to let me redraw his caricature. Oh what to draw, I just hoped. I drew the 2nd picture here. It's nicer, and I hoped he would like it. But I still didn't like it.

I gave it a go on my time off. No pressure. No worry about pleasing anyone (as though we can ever control that anyway. hhhrumph). I felt more pleased with what I drew here, and it would have gotten good-hearted laughs if I had drawn it at the event. But it still didn't 'speak' to me.

I tried it again. Yes! This one is it. It's not just a matter of exaggerating Something. It's important to exaggerate the Right thing. This particular face was difficult to Caricature. In this case, it wasn't the lips, and it wasn't the frenulum. It was the Cheeks!