Ah yes. People. And all their attitudes. What we go through. I particularly liked the attitude of this Communion-boy. Felt so easy-going happy and content'.

Wowwhee ~ Well, blow me down. I had chosen some photos at random from this blog to practice just nice quick Caricatures. More uniform ~ everyone's in practically the same pose. I had thought this quicker approach was going to look amateur, but boy was I surprised.

Easy for me to do, yet they were still Fun. The Caricatures aren't as Wild, the style isn't far-out, there's an almost guaranteed 'nice look' to the face, but they still use my Real Art Skills. The Real Art of harmonizing my vision with the expression in front of me. And best of all, they're easy for me to do. Did I say that already? And quick!

Nothing wrong with the Original Caricatures ~ I just chose these photos because I wanted to see 3/4 view of the face. I used only 2 Black Markers ~ a Charpak and a Tombow. Simple.

I thought I would have been ashamed if I only drew like this at a gig. So I approached the exercise with Humility. Perhaps I shouldn't focus on how Wonderfully evolved my Artistic Visions can be. Perhaps I shouldn't be looking for 'applause'.

So I drew nice plain pictures ~ imposing what I see onto 'fill-in-the-blanks'. And I was so surprised to see that I would not be ashamed of such 'nice' pictures at all. By applying the skills that I had developed while drawing those thousands of Wild pictures, I see that my ability is actually enhanced with these nice pictures. By being willing to step back, I actually lept forward in my Artwork. As well as leaping forward in my ability to love others.

I had only been making simple pictures at Events when a guest or client asks me for a plain less-exaggerated picture, when a guest or client doesn't seem like s/he can laugh at his/her self-conscious worries. But now I see that these pictures are just as good as the more exaggerated ones. 'The moving finger writes' at a gig. Another picture. Another picture. Another picture. Sometimes the more exaggerated ones look better than these nice ones. And I'm so surprised that sometimes the ones drawn with this plain approach actually look better than the more exaggerated ones! And all the time, it looks like these nice pictures would be sure to make our Party guests happy.

I have thousands of wildly exaggerated pictures that I haven't posted yet, but I hope to also start making full parties of nice pictures. I can go back into them if I want to make them 'fancier'. I can add Shading or Color or Background. But the base, the actual Caricature ~ this nice stuff looks like it will be great at Parties too.

Here I am. Going in to the Prom.

I work at a lot of places. I go to a lot of places. I had to take a picture of my foot on the stairs here. I feel like it's time to speak up for people who don't have small feet. It's a pleasure to get in to a place where my average-sized foot can actually fit on the step.

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.