I do like this job. Every year, a man in a Big Company hires me to make illustrations to punch up his Power Point Presentation. He gives me wild complicated ideas, sends me one small front-view face of each person to be drawn (each one with a little smile or a deadpan expression), and I have to jump in and make it happen. I have to imagine how the bodies would pose and how the face would change with different expressions. I even have to imagine what their bodies and clothes would be because my client only sends me a little picture of their faces. I draw them alone in my Studio (and everywhere else for the duration of the project ~ Offhand, I remember taking it to Starbucks this year. And while waiting for my car at the mechanic). I use paper and markers, PhotoShop on my Computer, and ArtStudio on my IPad. I feel especially thrilled to see how my skills developed on the IPad. Yay IPad! Yay ArtStudio!

UPDATE 2017: Egads ~ When I remember how crude it felt to use those old styluses on the IPads, I feel thrilled about our New Technology. These days I've switched to the White Pencil and the ProCreate App, and I would never consider working with the Supplies that I had when I made these CARICATURES.

Here are my client's instructions for the first picture: One of our key hires was to bring in a person who formerly left our firm to work for ---------, but after a couple of years there, decided to return home - to 'mamma' so to speak. And that is exactly what I'd like to slide to show. The person who came back, Mr. A (you had drawn him in an earlier year) essentially leaping over the Atlantic into the arms of Ms. B, the head of our group (you have drawn her several times). So the slide can show Mr A leaping, big arms spread and shouting "Mamma"!! and on the other side is Ms. B, a slighter person in stature with her arms open, maybe wincing as she prepares herself to catch this big man leaping at her. One side can show a building, ------ where Mr. A left and the other side behind Ms. B should be our Company's building with the words -----------. Since Mr. A left --------'s London location to come to Asia, the side he is leaping from should indicate some signs that it is London and the side where Ms. B is on should have some indications that it is Asia, other than the name on the building.

Whew - Here's what I condensed these instructions down to. After discussing it on the phone with him and clarifying that he didn't really mean the Atlantic ~ because the Atlantic is not between England and Asia. Here's what I condensed these instructions down to:

Mr. A leaping over Europe into the arms of Ms B.

Mr A: big arms spread shouting "Mamma!! yes bonnet and diaper (as client said on the phone) maybe even a bib showing other company's building. Indicate this is England.

Ms B: slighter in stature arms open maybe wincing (as client said on phone) as she prepares to catch this big man leaping at her. The Client's Company Building with the words ----------- (covered up for my blog). Indicate that this is Asia.

Here is the picture I came up with. To tell his story and have impact during his presentation. I was absolutely thrilled that I figured out how to import my line-drawing into ArtPad AND MAKE IT TRANSPARENT. So I could work in layers beneath the linework. That's one of the best features of digital art equipment (Remember ~ you can click on some pictures in this blog to see them Bigger):

Finished. I was pleased to get a note from my client saying "As always, brilliant designs!" That made me feel good.

Here are my client's instructions for the second picture:

This picture is about 'Growth doesn't come without consequences." Quality Control. Mr. E was holding the leash in the picture you drew last year. And you drew Lady C previously ~ she was the one who was doing tug-of-war with the Gorilla). Lady C has long hair.

Lady C and Lady D are about ready to toss Mr E off the top of the Client's Company's building in NY which should have the name and address of the building in small print but noticeable. There should be a view down to the street where there sits a safety net to catch him. He has a scared look on his face, the ladies should have a devilish type of look I'm thinking. Of course, I covered up the name and address of building for posting this picture on this blog

Lady C and Lady D are on top of our tall building. Street below. "Failure is not an option." Depth perception ~ seeing the little people on the bottom. Safety net at bottom.

Here's the picture I came up with. To tell his story and have impact during his presentation. Please make sure you click on the picture, as on other pictures here, to see it larger. I was particularly thrilled with how I handled the transparencies of the lightrays that I added to the scene:

Update ~ written the following night: Oh dear. Overnight revisions needed. Client said that Mr E doesn't look like him. I guess it's a mystery to me :-) Mr E. Mystery. Get it? Anyway, all I had to go by was this little reference picture and the instructions to make him look 'scared'. I felt like I handled it quite well based on the information that I had. But if it doesn't work, well.... I'm glad my client said that I could just reuse the picture I drew of this guy last year. And now he tells me that the man has blonde hair. How was I to know? Some spots on the photograph-hair actually look Black.

And here are my client's instructions for the 3rd picture:

At end of presentation, he will end with The Most Valuable Player. Ms F transcended problems. She runs the Sarbanes-Oxley. That's SOX. It's legislation that was put into effect after the Enron fiasco which required financial stuff to maintain a level of control..... Ms F helped them continue through all that stuff. Show her with MVP award. It is a 14" statue of a woman body builder standing on top of heavy weights oooh ~ I see that I forgot the heavy weights. I didn't catch it because my client had a pretty quick deadline for these complicated pictures and and....... well, I didn't draw the heavy weights, but the picture feels like it tells the story that my client wants to tell. Pregnant Mom with another baby attached to her foot following behind her (4-year-old girl has brown hair). Belly and muscles. She is holding a Globe. Multitasking. One arm really muscular holding up the world. MVP means Most Valuable Player. She's on the SOX team. Can manage it all.

and on the phone, my Client also said that he wants the words AB SOX and SSAE on the Globe.

Here is the picture I came up with. To tell his story and have impact during his presentation. Whew. Finished a day earlier than his absolute deadline. To give him time to put it together into his Presentation before he flies overseas.

Whew. Whew. Here it is 3:40 a.m. and I am done. Whew. I have been swimming in this stuff for weeks. My head ~ as I go to sleep, first thing upon waking up, while driving and while shopping. Papers all over my desk, all over my car. Notes every which where. Wow.

Good Night.

Update the next day: But Wait! Client wants revisions on picture 3 also. He said that my picture of Ms F looks weird (ummm.... I'm a Caricature Artist? We exaggerate?) Anyway, he asked that I eliminate the buck teeth and crossed eyes. Okay. I want to do what will work for my client. Even though my response to the only reference photo of her was to see her as an absolute bunny. Very very cute. I might have even lifted the nose a bit and added bunny ears, but it didn't fit with the strong weight lifter idea. And I thought the wild eyes, one eye on the child and the other eye on the world, depicted what we feel like when we're 'multi-tasking'. It's more than a word. It's a crazy feeling of how much a person might have to handle. Soooo, I redid the face as my client wanted. And while I was at it, I added in those weights that I had forgotten the first time.

Good Night again. Stayed up late drawing pictures the 2nd night in a row to do the revisions. Communication can be difficult. A picture is worth a thousand words. But I'm the one who has to come up with those pictures. When it's just Someone Else's words. I have compassion for my clients. I do like to do this. Yes. But perhaps I'll have to take up weight lifting with my eyelids.

CLIENT'S RESPONSE UPON RECEIPT OF THE COMPLETED PICTURES: THESE ARE EXCELLENT ALISON. THANK YOU!

alRiiiight. That's what I like to hear. Best Wishes to You on your Successful Presentation, Dear Client!

CLIENT CONTACTED ME AGAIN ~ RIGHT AFTER GIVING HIS PRESENTATION: HI ALISON, JUST WANTED TO WRITE YOU AND THANK YOU AGAIN FOR THE FABULOUS ART WORK THIS YEAR. MY SLIDE PRESENTATION WENT VERY WELL AND CAPTURED THE RIGHT BALANCE OF BUSINESS NEEDS WITH HUMOR.

Oh I feel good. My job gives me so many opportunities to feel so Joyful.

It feel so good to finish difficult projects successfully. To get the thumbs up from my client. Good. Done.

Do you remember that Power Point client that I had last year? Did some really neat illustrations for him.

UPDATE 2017: Egads ~ When I remember how crude it felt to use those old styluses on the IPads, I feel thrilled about our New Technology. These days I've switched to the White Pencil and the ProCreate App, and I would never consider working with the Supplies that I had when I made these CARICATURES.

He called again this year. To prepare for the Presentation he gives the employees. So much intensity. Talking with him ~ all the business stuff he knows ~ so intense brainstorming with him ~ of figuring out what he wants me to draw.

He has really intense ideas. And thinks that everyone knows what he knows. Like, like, do you know what a Bee Swarm is? In business? I'm just a freelance Artist here ~ I sure didn't know. As he's throwing words like Pricing Controls, Valuation Troubles, Pricing Discrepencies to me fast. Fast fast fast. And he wants all sorts of this stuff Written onto his pictures. Writing? I thought we were Drawing here. But okay. I'll include whatever he wants.

So first, he's describing all sorts of stuff to me. Including things like turning 6 people into dogs in a backyard. Digging for bones. Tossing them around. A pile of bones with those words on it. One of them chasing a bone all the way to China where a person says something specific....

Then, after I send him my quote, he whoa, didn't realize what it involves. Has a budget - What can we do? So I, after ruminating on the 6-person picture, had to redesign. stop. So he could switch to 2 dogs and 1 person. I drew the picture.

Then, Revisions. Take the ears off the dogs !?! 'Naturalize' the purple face. Bone that's going to China needs A Lot of Words on it.... Practically overnight production. I don't think he realizes what this all involves. We don't just erase things and find the 'lawn' behind it.

Here I am - middle of the night. Again. And here's the 2 pictures. The first one I designed with everything he said. And the 2nd one with the Revisions stuck on. Fun for me to do, but I don't think revisions are good for the integrity of the picture.

And the 2nd picture. He wanted TWENTY-EIGHT NAMES WRITTEN on puzzle pieces that come together in the form of a bee. Another complicated picture with a beehive with more types of business expressions, etc..... When he wanted to bring down the price, he cooled his coals. Beehive no longer needed (but I did manage to surprise him with a hint of a beehive in that first doggie picture - just for fun.)

Anyway, it was real hard to tone myself down to just write the names legibly. I also have grandiose ideas of my own. Wanting to do more than I have to (like it wasn't complicated enough?). Wanting to be more clever than I am. Then, I finally had to just GET IT DONE. and READABLE. Just USEFUL FOR MY CLIENT. Instead of trying to make Myself better than real. A little humility sure makes the job easier. would make Life easier.

Then, client received finished picture. And requested Revisions. Again. ??? Wanted me to write something on the bones. Not too much to change here. But on my own, I had to go back into it and fix the wings. Having sent him the pictures On Time, having met my client's really tight deadlines, I had to stop drawing when they were good enough, But since I got a little extra time that magically appeared when my client wanted revisions..... Well...... Wings!

And his 3rd picture. I was supposed to come up with a tug-of-war. With a small woman winning against their Competitor who was to be represented as a gorilla I can draw a gorilla?

I created the picture. Figuring out poses for winning and losing tug-of-war. Figuring out how to describe what the client wants...(Note: there's actually their logo written in the eureka-star. and their competitor's logo written along the bottom of the sweater. I chose to change it here to protect their privacy. I have nothing against either company.

Sent it to client and

Revisions! Again! Make the competitor's logo larger - on the back of his sweater. Make the girl heftier (How was I to know? He only sent me a little head-shot. Didn't even show the length of the girl's hair which I had to guess). And turn the sky-star into a blue-ribbon. Oh. I was thinking ~ How is that going to affect the Colors I had chosen..... AND - the gorilla had to be wearing pants. That's what my client said:

Oh. It's so satisfying to finally send it off the the client. And to receive his note of appreciation:

Quote: Well done and Thank You!! UnQuote.

It was great when I printed out the first versions at the Office-Supply store so I could make Revisions. I can't afford a Cintique. Or even a Wacum Tablet at these budget prices So I printed out the pictures and got to see a really good finished product. I like my style of Coloring in PhotoShop.

Good Night. I'm tired. The good kind of satisfied tired.

Did I say Good Night?

2 a.m. - I'm emailing pictures to my Power-Point client. 9 a.m. - Ring, ring - me: Good Morning

client: "fantastic job. listen, because of snowdates, I have another day before the presentation. Can you do another picture?"

me, thinking that I have a 1:30 appointment at the spa, and a 3:30 appointment with my trainer, and I'm on to cook dinner for company tonight....: "Sure. What do you have in mind?"

client: "one face leaning forward on muscular arms......" My client is UP. Talking faaaast. Snap snap, so many ideas...... "Good Morning......"

We hang up, I go to wake up, morning routine..... Luckily I didn't start the picture yet, when,

Ring, ring - "Hi! What's up?"

client: "Could we make that a 2-person Caricature? The first guy leaning over a brick wall. He's in the U.S. - talking to our associate in the U.K - You'd have the Atlantic Ocean in there, and a phone in his hand ..................... ......................... ........................."

then later, middle of the night - I draw the picture first in pencil, then in marker. While erasing the pencil for this upbeat picture, I flip on a movie - Ahhhh "Escape From Alcatraz". Point, Counterpoint.

Crazy day, Wild night, and I'm just sitting here alone. It's a good life:

I do have an interesting job. I have to dream up all sorts of visions based on whatever my clients come up with. This one was for a client who wanted some pictures to perk up his Power Point Presentation.

At least the first picture was a Caricature. That is what I do. I just emailed him jpeg images of what I drew. A smart man in his office who works with numbers (did he say the guy was an actuary, maybe?) And very tall and skinny. And the man is also into meditating.

UPDATE 2017: Egads ~ When I remember how crude it felt to use those old styluses on the IPads, I feel thrilled about our New Technology. These days I've switched to the White Pencil and the ProCreate App, and I would never consider working with the Supplies that I had when I made these CARICATURES.

But the 2nd picture - It was different. My client wanted me to use his actual photos and create a Wanted Poster - like Bonnie and Clyde, he said. But then he was talking about something else. Sounded like he was thinking Mafia. Or Gangster. Trying to ascertain what's in my client's head, trying to do what he wants.... This is what I came up with. It's real camp. Real fun.

I'm hoping that the first picture of the man meditating, the picture with the bright pink background - I'm hoping that will catch his audience's attention. Make them sit up and notice.

I'm hoping that the 2nd picture will bring, the Wanted Poster, I'm hoping that it will lighten the atmosphere. Playfully drawn.