Inspiration drawings

I've been working really hard on my character design. Between Joe and stephens books, I've been disciplining myself to draw a few new zany characters each day. I'm not as free with the face parts as Stephen Silver is, but then again I just started doing these toon people back in January after I got Stephens book in the mail. These books really help alot, especially on days when you feel like you have no oomph to draw. Some days, It's like my hand has never used a marker or pencil before. It sounds crazy, but there are days like that. Some days when I don't even want to LOOK at a marker. But latley...that hasn't happened so much.



I've been using the Faber Castell Pitt Brush pens to color my characters. I'm not crazy about the way they blend, but it works for now. Just to get the idea's out of my head. I really don't want to get the copic sketch markers, or the prismacolors because of how bad they smell. I have enough headaches. So I've been doing extensive searches on Dick Blick and other websites, to find good quality artist illustration markers that DON'T SMELL. I found a few that I'm still thinking about. I did buy a couple different flesh toned Tom Bow markers. So far I like them mainly for the skin tones.

8 year old Mermaid-princess

So, I went to the post office across the street from my house to mail the "Naked enchilada and pineapple princess mermaid" caricatures(go past the last posts to view the caricature) a few weeks ago. And when the mail lady saw it....she ordered one of her daughter. Now, Sarh knows me well from all the shipment I sent years ago when I was a military wife and I used to send my husband many boxes overseas, so ya...she knows me. So anyways...

Heres her daughter logan.....


And here's the caricature....

Flight Attendant Caricature

Another caricature through my e-mail. This guy lives in London, UK, and I guess a friend of a friend of a friend that was in vegas who had a caricature done by me, gave him my card. So this is his girlfriend, and he wanted a flight attendant style, similar to a picture he saw in a dr.s office. Soooo...

Heres his girlfriend.





Here is the drawing the guy sent me to go by. (I changed it a little when I drew it)


And here is what I came up with....

Caricature through e-mail

Okay, so I drew this lady Kristi and her "other half" Randy, back in september, and I gave them my business card. They were a great couple! So then, I get an e-mail from her, saying she wants me to draw TWO original caricatures in a "different" style. Apparently, he likes to make her Enchilada's at 4am, and she gets to sit in his office chair with a perfect view of his "perfect" behind. However, she loves mermaids, and he calls her his "pineapple princess. Soooo....this is what I came up with....

Letting go...and Angelina Jolie

I've been a Caricature artist now for almost 2 years, and I'm "letting go" and experimenting a little bit more everyday. Thus, my caricatures are getting better every day that I let go a little bit more. I exaggerated quite a bit tonight, and people loved them all. Unfortunatley, I did not take any pics tonight. Grrr...Oh well.

Sometimes it's hard for me to loosen up, because well...I worry about the customers reaction. Sometimes I care tooooooo much about hurting the customers feelings....and yes, yes I know...being a caricature artist I really need to develop thicker skin. So far it all seems to be going ok.

So I'm going to post some of my best, but these were done a few months ago. I have to say that Joe bluhm is my inspiration. When I started working as a caricaturist in April of 2008, a great artist that was one of my co-workers at the time( sadly he doesn't work there anymore) showed me Joe Bluhms "Rejects" book. Funny, my co-workers name was joe too, and I guess Joe got the book at a signing event or something, and joe bluhm drew a quick caricature of my friend joe in the book. SO AWESOME! So this is when I began getting inspired, however I was still learning how to be comfortable with the marker, so I wasn't even thinking of trying his style out.

It is now over a year and a half later.....and while I have in no way mastered the damn marker...I am quicker and more confident in my strokes. However, I have to agree with Mr. Bluhm. It gets soooooooo boring doing the "cute" "generic" "average" and overall "plain" caricatures day after day. So I started playin around earlier this year.

When I started exaggerating a little, my first "victims" were brad and angelina. Seriously, you know they have awesome faces. I don't know where my first ones are but, here is my most exaggerated Angelina a la' Joe Bluhm Style (which I'm no where near as great, but...I'm trying



I think this is my favorite of all my pieces because it's my first real exaggerated celebrity that still LOOKS like the celebrity. :) Makes me proud of myself, considering how my first few drawings were!!! lol