Here are some of the Caricatures that I drew at Steinway Piano as per my post of December 29, 2013. Can you tell which drawings felt like I was drawing in a strait-jacket and which were my freer renditions?

Luckily I had arrived early ~ I needed the time to accommodate my liason's instructions. She surprised me with a last-minute request to include a reference of the building in each picture. Oh. I wanted to create, I wanted to fly, I wanted to keep the event moving, but now each picture was going to include lag-time while I adapted the unique faces into the building reference. That not only affects the time it takes to draw each person, it also affects the way the people feel when they're standing there, hence affecting the flow of the Party Entertainment. Drawing extras on the spot ~ Not the best idea for Party Entertainment, but I did understand why my client would want memories of the building. Still, wouldn't they remember the building just by seeing the pictures that were drawn here with their coworkers?

And what to draw for the building reference? Everywhere I turned, it was a different scene, and I would have to know what I was going to be doing before I started the Party. When you want to draw approximately 10 likenesses per hour, there really isn't time to Caricature a different background for each one also. So before the event actually started, I drew one scene for my reference. I felt okay about keeping the scene simple because their hallway was filled with original Art from the New Yorker Magazine. Still, it limited my freedom to 'dance' with each picture. I felt so happy half way through the party when the boss changed the instructions and let me draw just the faces, as I usually do. That's why some of these Caricatures are stiffer than the ones that are great. Pictures have a life of their own, and when we try to Control them, we're falling into a non-Artist's trap.

BTW, sometimes references naturally flow into my pictures anyway ~ even when I'm not forcing it to happen. For example, the 'piano keys' in the beard on the 'Best Men' picture. That happened After I was relieved of the extra instruction. and the reason they were labeled 'Best Men' is because they told me that one of them was the Best Man at the other's wedding References happen naturally. And they find their way into a picture naturally. It's part of the Real Experience.

I'm amazed at what comes out of me when I draw at Parties. Sometimes because I'm surprised by some Excellent Artwork that just comes out. This time just because the pictures actually look alright even though my client was practically asking me to draw blindfolded with my hands tied behind my back (well, I know I'm Exaggerating ~ Lol ~ Am I allowed to do that in describing my experiences because Caricature means exaggeration? ).

I feel confident that she had the Bat Mitzvah she wanted. I feel comfortable to see that I had the ability to help that happen. Even though I was not allowed to set up in a place where I could plug in my lights. Even though I had to incorporate a logo with the words chosen by my client: "A Day in the Life of Emily" (Isn't that misleading? Would the pictures be interpreted as though each different person was Named Emily?). Even though I had to make the mats a different color than what i usually like for my style of artwork. Even though I had to ascertain the name/spelling of each person drawn while very loud music was played. Even though I had to include hobby - - drawing things that were not being done at that Party...... And she wanted me to do all that Faster than I usually draw just the Face. Hmmmm

I barely had time to look at what I was drawing. Just keep moving moving. Then, when I could see the Caricatures 'the morning after', whew. The Peace that comes after all the Party Excitement feels good.

Note: Logos stabilize the Party Favours. I print up whatever the client asks, but the best logo designs are Simple and To The Point. A label that does not interfere with the picture. Things like:

(Name) and (Name)'s Wedding Date

or Had Fun at (Name)'s First Birthday Party

or Fine Art from (Name)'s Sweet 16 Date

In this case, the client asked for "A Day in the Life of Emily". That complicated the pictures because I had to clarify that each picture was not a picture of Emily. So I had to Write something about the person who was in the picture, including His/Her Name.

Wow ~ I love how they came out.

I finally got tired of the tedious fill-in-the-blanks style that I had been shown for digital Caricatures. I sat back, made a lot of layers on my IPad, but then just used a few of them (sometimes even just one), and I drew easily/freely ~ just going for the most important parts of the Caricature and then playing with the ArtStudio app. Comfortable. Not sure how long they took me, but I know it was less than the tedious crap I had been shown.

The Caricatures didn't end up as accurate a likeness as I'm accustomed to getting on paper, but the impact more than made up for that. I love how they look.

So I went to the next step in my studies for offering digital Caricatures. I printed them out. Looked great even on plain paper, Phenominol on Glossy Paper. I even sized them to leave a border around the prints ~ looks frame-like. Crisp. Dramatic.

a few more pictures i drew at that Bloomberg event: