This is more what I had in mind for the upcoming Caricature Event for Cirque. I practiced this at home with a reference photo from a previous Party. Colorful and Playful. Hmmmmm....... I'm wondering now if it is enough.

Good thing I try out my ideas firt at home. For example, I photographed this Caricature before adding the darker accents. And the biggest thing I learned is that, regardless of whether I use this Simple Style or not, I would Not want to Color whole areas with the Markers. In the 2nd picture, the darker-yellow triangles were colored with the yellow marker. It looks blotchy and it felt difficult. I switched to the yellow color-stick to continue coloring the triangles. Much better.

This is the sort of stuff I like to do before a unique Event. Checking out what I think are great ideas. So I'm not taken by surprise when I'm 'On'

Getting ready for one of this week's Events. I was hired to draw some Fun Colorful Caricatures. That's my thing. That's what I like. But since I've been toning down a little lately, I figured I should warm up before this upcoming Event. I felt like it was going to be easy.

I chose a photo at random from my website ~ I don't look for the best one for the job because I can't choose which people will sit in front of me at Parties either. I just have to make it happen regardless of what the person looks like.

Turned into a bigger study project than I expected.

First, I got my basic idea for the Caricature to have a wide mouth, and I figured I would do a quick Predraw ~ just for the placements. First pass (peach colored) didn't squash the face enough, so I redid it in pink ~ still didn't squash it down enough.

Started a 2nd drawing. Too high with the pink predraw, so I moved it down with a blue predraw. Hey ~ I didn't leave enough room for the big hair ~ which was so obvious to me (That's what my focus was at the Party where I originally drew this woman.

Start again. 3rd page. Nope. I did the Same Thing. No room for the Hair.

Still not enough room for the hair on the 4th paper.

Better on the 5th paper where I finally did only a little bit of a predraw. But I wanted to turn the face to be more of a 3/4 view, and I didn't quite Do it. I did like the Eyedea to make the eyes more Star-like. It's the right idea for this upcoming Event.

So on to the 6th paper. Front view? 3/4 view? I can't even tell What I was doing here. And the exaggerations are done, but not very strongly. It's like I didn't have the confidence to really Do it. And increasing my Idea about the Stars for Eyes? Didn't work afterall. Hard to look at. btw, you probably can't tell from this photo of my Caricature, but I tried to fix up the eyes by using White Sharpie Paint Marker. Looked plenty white when I applied it, but then it dried to practically nothing (except mushing up the black). It would probably feel better if I shook the marker more, but I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to use that.

By the 7th paper, I finally really skipped all that Predrawing drawing. I Have to know what to draw by now. I just put in 3 guidelines for the 3/4 view face. But I forgot to 3d it.

8th paper ~ Maybe better re 3/4 3d, but i messed up the nose. I meant to keep the center of the nose thin and straight, just widening the bottom of the nose to stretch along with the mouth.

9th paper ~ Yay! I finally got something that I like. Did I stick with the likeness that I was originally focusing on? I don't even know anymore. I just felt so caught up in my picture's development.

Why oh why oh why oh why oh why is it that as soon as I touch on one thing, I get a reason to switch to something else. I guess that's why they call it art Work.

I really wanted to continue with the Digital Caricatures tonight, but I also have to get ready for this week's other jobs. The one I focused on tonight is actually very exciting. It's for Cirque. I was hired to draw Fun Colorful Caricatures.

So the first thing I did was to put together a palette of Bright Colored Markers. I just knew that that was the direction to go in for this Event. I got my striped hat and socks, and my bright markers, and..... Yes! This is what is Fun!

But I didn't use my Colored Markers. Because the first reference photo that caught my eye at my website ~ it did Not lend itself to that idea. So what to do with it? I stay with it because I can't control who will sit for a Caricature at the Event. It's good practice to deal with it.

Got it. Not with the Bright Colors, but still quite Cirque-like. Balancing and Quirky.

I felt like the Caricature was finished, but I could do more with the Artwork. I decided to add a Dark Line aroud the edge of the forms. As soon as I messed up the Dark Line, I figured ~ Ahah! When it's done, it's done, and Stop. Good learning experience.

But now that I'm looking at it, hmmmmm...... maybe I do like the heavier black line afterall. Oh judgements. I just do whatever I do. And this is what I did tonight. Aaaahhhhh

Yay! I was the Featured Entertainer for a big Nationwide Entertainment Company.
This is what he wrote about me in this month's newsletter:

Drum roll, please...
The Featured Entertainer of the Month is Allison G!

What type of entertainment does she provide?

Alison G is a skilled caricature artist and a amazing face painter. She's patient with everyone, and her energy is going to make your party awesome!

When and how did she get into this business?

Alison G started working with us as soon as we went nation-wide. That was over 10 years ago, and it's been quite a successful alliance. Alison loves people. She loves to use her skills and sense of fun to help them intensify their important experiences.

What was the most memorable event she ever worked at?
Alison has a hard time answering this. She likes to really get into whatever event she is currently at, so for her, her recent event is the most memorable......
When we asked her this question, Alison G recalled an event from last weekend. She had been given the honor of drawing a caricature of a 94-year-old woman. Getting past the wrinkles and seeing the emotion instead. While thinking about this touching event, Alison G has been remembering many of the cute kittens, graceful tigers, beautiful princesses, and brave Superheroes that she's face painted in the past.

What is the one thing she'd like everyone to know about her?

She's had a lot of experience, and cares about you. She can only hope you will give her the opportunity to do as much as she can for you.

This is some of Alison's work as a face painter and caricature artist.

Now that you've read this, book Alison for your party!