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.

Oh ~ I wish I could remember all the wonderful places that my career has taken me to, all the wonderful people I've met. If I could tell you how exciting my career is.

This time it was Steinway Pianos. A veritable icon of the finest. My event was for Early in the morning. Egads. After a very late night event, there I was, hoping to be at least a litl early for this beautiful event.

I feel so fortunate to be chosen. To draw At Steinway Piano. To be part of the finest places in NYC.

Can't think. Just wake up and get out there. Keep moving. But where? Where is Steinway Hall?

Oh, I know this place. As I got off the subway, I saw Carnegie Hall. Yes ~ I've previously been hired to draw there:

so I passed by Carnegie Hall. I feel like I'm in a dream. good morning

contininuing down the road ~ where is Steinway Piano ~ oh, there is the Russian Tea Room. I had previously been hired to draw there too. So many famous places. I must be near. Must be 'getting warmer'

Oh there's that sign for 6 1/2 Avenue. Always intrigues me. A real sign between 6th Avenue and 7th Avenue in NYC.

There's so much construction on the street today. Where is that Steinway Hall? Being such an Early morning event, I was not able to allocate several extra Hours to find the place in case I made a mistake. Looking. Looking.

What is that? I think the flag says Steinway Piano. Even though the building says The Economist. Hmmm. Memories of "Atlas Shrugged", if you know what I mean. The era. The 'Economist'. What could it all mean? Is it Steinway Piano?

I cross the street, walk up to The Economist Building. Success! There's a sign in the doorway for Steinway Piano:

I'm here. I feel like I've been through such an adventure just to get here, that I'm ready to relax:-) But, lol, it's time to work. I'm On.

Happy to sync into my drawings. What makes it ARTwork instead of just a craft is that we become one with the drawing. Sync into the activity. Like a child. And what makes me Professional is that I bring Skills to the activity. A good Artist is like a child who has developed skills (like line quality and shading and knowing our materials and being able to find the venue :-)

To me, Art is something to DO. As much as an end-result with which to be affected. I feel great about bringing it out into the World. To be paid to be part of these magnificent places.

Steinway Piano is going to be moving this year. It's been on 57th Street since 1925.

When I was setting up to draw at the Staff Holiday Party this year, I was told that this magnificent building had just been sold. That this was one of the few chances left to experience such real magnificence.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steinway_Hall

I was set up in the front Rotunda. This place, this instrument of sounds, was something that i wouldn't have understood if i hadn't experienced it. I feel so blessed to have heard such Sounds. The most beautiful, most crystalline, yet deep. And melodic. Sounds like i had never heard before.

Even though I'm uneducated in music, I was blown away by the acoustics in the room. If I spoke in a normal voice, I heard a hollow sort of echo. And later during the Party, a woman sat at the piano that was next to me, quite nonchalantly, just to play a few bars, and the Music ~ the Sounds that came from that Piano. The best way I could describe it is like Crystal. But not the high pitched sound that I'd think of for Crystal. More like that sort of clarity and pureness in deeper toneS. Fullness.

I'm actually a person who like Silence. So I can concentrate. Unless I have a specific use for the sound. Like relaxing music for only when I'm doing Nothing Else But Relaxing. Or fast Upbeat music for only when I'm Jogging. But the sound that this woman made on this piano in this room was different. I actually desired the Sound for the sound itself. I wanted IT.

Oh, I feel so fortunate that I had been called to draw at their event. So fortunate to have experienced a perfect Steinway Piano in the 57th Street Steinway Rotunda. And I had fun with the drawings too. At first, they tried to get me to include too much ~ but once they started understanding what Real Art is, they loosened up their rules and let me do my thing.

I'll be traveling to CAlifornia this week. I hope I can find the Caricatures from this event and post them when I get back.