Culling through the photos photos photos that I take here. And I came upon these. Why did I take these?

I remember. Driving along Manhattan. What life is like from a city perspective.

I thought how much excellent Artwork there is all around us. How they had an Artist working at this store - creating This for us - while some people think they have to go to a museum or gallery to find Real art.

This is it. This is an Artist's statement. Whether it be a Caricature Artist or a 'Real' Artist or someone who makes Storefront Displays, if the Artist is making a Statement, creating something to express her interpretation, her response to what s/he sees (visual artist), then it is Art.

Want to be a Connoisseur of the Arts? Then you have to learn how to see. How to understand what a Real Artist is Doing.

I felt that this Artist was making a Statement about people's separate hearts yearning for each other - something like that. It's hard to put it into words because it needed a picture. It needed This display. I couldn't just go right by without hearing the Artist's lonely(?) voice.

To Hire Alison (the Artist who Interpreted this Scene for you):
(516) 579-4706
optidust@gmail.com

Line-work. Interpretation.

I was warming-up in the car before going in to a gig. Drew the following two pictures based on the same photo. Intrigued me that the same picture, which could be described as:

wide close-set eyes big long nose long chin prominent cheeks long eye-lashes

could each look so different.

I hope I remember this when I look at MySelf in the mirror.

Still pretty Quick, but I was really enjoying practicing that Black/White stuff that so many people have been requesting recently. I guess it's difficult economic times or something, but so many people have been asking more about 'how many can we squeeze in per hour' than about 'how much Fun can we have at the Party' - So many people have become focused on 'What Things Can I Get?' - instead of 'Let's take time off to Hang Loose, to Have Fun'.

So, in trying to accommodate them, I've been doing a lot of Black/White Parties. Obviously, it takes less time to draw a face than it takes to both draw a face And color a face. Still, even if the customer asks me to just get a paper to as many people as possible, I want to Enjoy the Art. I want to See and Experience each person. Here I was practicing to Both See well And draw quickly at the same time. The first three needed a predraw. But the last two were drawn directly with the marker:

I'll be drawing at a 50th Birthday Party tonight. At a local pub. Client requested Black/White Caricatures.

So I'm thinking - Perhaps I'd like to make them simple. Direct. Clean. To keep the Party moving - which is probably why they specified Black/White Caricatures.

Here are a few practices. This is fun. The pictures just roll right out of the marker. Not as wild as my usually Exaggerated Color Caricatures, but so much easier to make. And I think they look great in a little frame by the door. in the den. in the kitchen......

BTW, I timed myself drawing these simple Caricatures. Each one was done in 2 - 3 minutes. That's about 25 pictures per hour - much more than the 10 per hour that I usually recommend planning for. I'm sure it would take longer at an event than from photos - guests are human beings - but I'd still be confident of making more pictures this way.