Did you ever notice that the same picture looks different in different settings? That the same clothes look different when you get to the Party than when you're dressing at home? The same attitude looks different in your family's kitchen than at your friends' Party?

Studying my technique. I felt like I would be able to interpret it better if I saw it posted on my blog. Looks different than when I just look at the pictures here on the papers. I want to see if it's really better if I put in the extra steps.

I think it is. So it makes me wonder when clients tell me to cut back on details so they can get More More More papers. I, myself, would rather buy one picture that I'd want to hang up than buy three pictures that I just think are good ideas. Basically the same artwork, the same vision from the same artist. But the extra steps make the pictures better. And here I'm just dealing with black/white.

The first picture is my direct pass ~ just the Caricature. The second picture is the same picture with an Outline added. Better. The third picture is the same picture with the outline and then also a little bit of Shading. Even Better.

Need we save every scrap of paper?

Everything feels too heavy when I carry it for a long time. So I thought I'd take the unimportant stuff out of my pocketbook ~ Why carry it all around?

And typical of me, I find lots of notes, lots of quick sketches. But where to put them all? Where will I look at them again? They were in my pocketbook because they felt inspiring. Good stuff.

How can I throw that out? It reminds me to exaggerate. It reminds me to make real Caricatures.

I even remember the day that I drew those pictures. Each one less than 2" tall. On a scrap of paper. I was in Church. I even remember the lovely girl with the big glasses and the noticeable lips.

I do not choose to throw out this excellent Artwork. Even though I've been fine ever since I threw out a roomful of fantastic Giant Oil Paintings.

It's an Artist's Life. We can't help but have the real stuff around. Because that's what we do. It's a good chance that our scraps are not garbage.

Why ~ Why do I spend so much time seeking the best ideas for my pictures? I recently received the following email from a client who much appreciated the Outrageous Style that I've already developed:

And I agree with her. I look through this blog and I feel very pleased with the happy fun good-likenesses that I've been making. But just because a Few people are 'afraid to jump into the water', here I am again ~ trying to second-guess myself. Trying to develop the Best 'calm-style' Caricatures that I can.

Here I drew two more Calm-Style Caricatures. Black/white. Nice. But I asked myself, would they be better with a little gray shading?

And once again, I find that I have to make Artistic decisions in the moment. I find that I can't really 'formula'. Can't 'always add gray shading on a Calm Caricature. No. Each decision has to be made specifically for the individual picture.

In this case, I like the gray shading on the dark-haired woman. Her lips even looked more like that slash. But I did not like the gray shading on the light-haired woman. She was supposed to look 'pasty'.

I feel driven to try all sorts of ideas. I still prefer my 'honest ~ in the moment~ Intense CAricatures'. But I want to be prepared to do the best I can for people who want something tamer.

I felt inspired to develop yesterday's post a bit more. I liked the experience of drawing with a pattern. Of eyes, nose, mouth. I had thought that it would be ridiculously easy to draw a Basic Plain Face. As unartistic as washing dishes. But it turned out that it wasn't boring at all. This is surely Caricature. Just as much as the ones I usually draw.

My usual style involves being overwhelmed by some aspect(s) of the person, then using That to guide my drawing. So I don't have anything I can count on. Each face is a unique experience..... I don't know what I will be doing any more than my audience knows. I am letting them see me ' naked ' (poetically speaking).

This new approach that I embraced today is first based on a traditional approach to Portraiture. After predrawing the basic 'oval' with the standard cross-lines indicating proportions, I went to 'fill in the blanks' of eyes, nose, mouth. And I was pleasantly Wowed. Because the only way to 'fill in the blanks' well was to feel the Caricature. Still. Just like what I do when I do my Fun Party Style.

This quieter style is still Very Much Real Art. But it looks different, and it feels different. My usual style feels like I'm running a marathon with my eyes. This quieter style feels like I'm deep into meditation.