UK get together

Yesterday we had a great time at the get together and the number of people attending was over 20, I think 25 we counted at one stage but we did have a few drinks!

Above is Paco with the caricature I drew of him.

I will post more in the coming days about the event.

Have to get ready for a wedding fair tomorrow where I have a stand and hope to drum up some more weddings!

What happens if...?

When you spend too much time on twitter the networking site.......... the result is above..!

Today (Friday), we have a gathering of caricature artists from beginners to multi talented artists meeting for a UK get together under the umbrella of the National Caricaturists Network, which I am a proud member of and also play a very active role within the organization.

I shall be posting more about it after the event, with photo's and news of how it goes.

NEW WEBSITE!

I have put together a brand new website that allows people to buy caricatures online!

The caricatures are created digitally and emailed to the customer, fast and easy!

Prices start at £9.99 for a black and white head n shoulders caricature!

Here is the website link for you to visit, take a look and even purchase a digital caricature if you wish!

www.1st-cartoon.co.uk

Enjoy the new site!

Social Networking & Art?

At first glance, art and social networking may seem strange bed fellows. But as you begin to understand the power that social networking has, then you can see why it makes sense to spend time on these internet sites and interact with everyone there. Let me explain more...

For an artist, be he or she commercial, fine, cartoonist, abstract or whatever other type of style, finding people to take an interest in their art and potentially become buyers of art, is a difficult thing to achieve.

Most artists put on a show to gain exposure for their work and you may have even visited a show that was trying to do just this, get you interested in the art and maybe purchase a piece or two.

Well social networking on the internet makes this so much easier and it has other benefits as well.

At the moment I am really getting into Twitter. You set up a profile and then follow people and hopefully, people choose to follow you. If the people who follow you are the one's you are following, then you can engage in a type of conversation with them. Simple but very effective.

Here is my link to my Twitter profile click here

So I have already found that 150 people are following me and I can share with them all about my work and daily life as a caricaturist & cartoonist. I can share other interests as well, it is up to me what I want to share on twitter.

It has great potential for my art.

If you have or will set up a twitter account, please do follow me and I will of course follow you!

See you on twitter!

Daily shout!

Tonight I am drawing for the third year in a row at an awards type celebration event for a successful American company. I am looking forward to it again as they are a great bunch of people and fun to draw. I also get to work with a magician who I know, we have worked this gig together each time and have also worked at other events as well.

Thursday I am working for and at Brunel University during the day, shall make a nice change to be home for the evening as my work normally takes place during the evening and late night period.

So today I am getting the paper ready for these two events.

Friday this week is the UK Caricaturists get together and we have around 20 artists from all over the world joining in for what should be a whole stack of drawing fun! I will of course get lots of photo's and share them with you all next week.

Hope to have a cartoon or something posted tomorrow but for now, I have to get back to printing paper....

Commission progress

Please click on image to view full size

Here is the latest commission I am working on, a loverly couple getting married on the beautiful Island of Margarita and you can guess the wedding date, D'oH!

Once I get the OK, I will work it up into full colour and then post here once it is finished for you to view.

On a sad note, one of my dear Aunts passed away at the weekend. She was a wonderful person and full of life and a real 'London Gal' who was upbeat and always a joy to be around. It is a difficult time as my parents and uncles and aunts are in that time of their lives when age has caught up with them and very sadly ill health can be a real threat to them.

BUSY BUSY!

Had a great night last night drawing at a wedding but a very late finish.

Have a commission to get on with today so I shall post that later on, so please pop back towards the end of today and I should have the sketch up here for you to see!

More Cartoon fun

Another cartoon gag for you to enjoy, I hope!

Click on image to view full size

A cartoon for a change

Here is a 'gag' cartoon. Enjoy!

Drawing live

Thought I would share with you some thoughts about drawing live at weddings, parties and other kinds of events.

It really breaks down into three areas when drawing live. This has been my experience. Let me explain.

You have the caricature which is the art aspect, then you have the person sitting in front of you to be drawn which is the customer aspect and then finally you have the audience watching you draw which is the entertainment aspect.

So you have Art - Customer - Entertainment

By approaching it like this you will find it works out and everyone will have a good time.

The Art is important and I am always trying to constantly improve on my drawing abilities and get the caricature to look 'just like them' so not only will the customer be happy but I will be happy with what I have drawn. There is also speed in drawing as people will wait in line to be drawn but I do not want them to be there too long!

The customer is important as they are often a little nervous to sit for a caricature, so I use small talk to try to put them at ease, so that they will enjoy the experience of sitting to be drawn. While they are talking to me, answering questions I ask, I get a chance to see their features as they move and smile etc etc.

The Entertainment is important as everyone should have a good time as they watch. So I am aware that the audience are just as much a part of me drawing someone as the person who is sitting in front of me. Make them smile and laugh and you can't go wrong. It leaves people with a positive memory of the experience and of myself as well, which often leads on to more work!

So as you can see, there is more to it than just drawing!

Barack Obama

Well it seems he is off to a good start. He still commands a presence and charisma when ever you see him on the television and he clearly enjoys talking and giving speeches.

I like his face and shall be producing more caricatures of him to explore his features and try some new ideas with his character. I may even also put a cartoon or two together about how his new administration get on.

Lets hope that this change and new energy in the Whitehouse CAN have a positive impact upon all of us around the world!

Group Caricature finished

Yes here is the group caricature I posted a few days back in it's progress stages, now complete.

(You may have to click on the image to view full size depending on your screen size)

The central character is retiring this week from his job and his team mates commissioned me to put this together with the theme of Moses parting the red sea.

It was fun and I hope the recipient is happy with it!

President Obama!

Congratulations to the new President of the United States of America, Barak Obama.

We welcome him with eager expectancy and hope and vision for a better future for us all.

Blog changes

Just a heads up as you may have noticed that my blog template has changed. I would love to hear from anyone who thinks it looks OK or maybe if it does not view well on your monitor?

I have added a few more widgets down the side, so please take a peek down along the right side there.

Please check out who is following my blog and I would also be honored if you would like to follow my blog here, just click on the text that says 'Follow'

More cute dogs

This is one I was commissioned for and the client was very happy. Apologies for the poor quality of the photo, it was some time ago and my camera then was not the best.

Tribute To Tony Hart

Yesterday Tony Hart passed away, he was an artist and TV presenter and was 83 years young when he left us.

Tony was a BIG influence on my life as a young boy eager to draw. He will be missed but remembered with fondness and for all that he gave to so many like myself.

The pencil drawing above is something I did a couple of years ago and it was from watching Tony that I first began to learn about art and how to draw. The dog breed is a Japanese Chin.

Here is the wikipedia page all about the Japanese Chin breed

I dedicate this drawing to his memory. Thank you Tony for all you gave to me.

Sketch

Click on images to view full size

This is Verne who is in the Celebrity Big Brother House on Channel 4 at the moment.

Verne is tipped as a potential winner of the show and I hope he does win!

You would have seen him in the Austin Powers movies as MiniMe

Almost there

Nearly all the colour is complete, just have to add more to the skin tones and eye colours, as well as finish the mouth and lips but here it is at the closing stages.....

The client emailed to say that the black and white sketch was "Stunning", so I was pleased to get that message!

It has been fun putting this together!

Click on image to view larger

On the Drawing Board

Here is what I am currently working on, shall post the finished version with colour next week.

Could you eat an elephant?

A new television show here in England that is both fascinating and repulsive!

This is a quick rough sketch of the two chef's who feature in the show

Click here for the show's website

I have no stomach for elephant! How about you?

Cartoon fun

A brand new cartoon from me...... birds seem to be a theme at the moment!

Click on image to view full size then hit your back button!

Paint!

Today I am starting the painting of those cheeky birds that I posted here from my sketch book!

You can see the initial pencil sketch on the paper and the early washes of acrylic paint.

The size of the painting is 7.9 inches by 19.7 inches wide or 20 x 50 cm

I am painting onto Aquarell Cornwall acrylic paper, 210lbs. Using Daler Rowney Cryla acrylic paints.

Shall post more during the week as the painting progresses.

Daily shout!

Yesterday was the anniversary of my Uncle's death, it has been one year since he passed away. He had a big influence on my life and especially with art. I miss him but do have many wonderful memories that I hold close to my heart.

Today is busy with things to do, so I shall have art posted tomorrow, some more from my sketch book.

Wish everyone a great day for a Monday!

Classic live caricature

This is the type of work I produce live at weddings and events, drawing in around 3 to 4 minutes, sometimes less time if my arm is 'drawing hot'....!

The reactions from people are usually very good and I am always very happy when I know people are enjoying watching me and really like the caricature once I have it finished.

My friend Mike

A caricature of Mike Carlon a good friend and great caricaturist who draws at Alton Towers. Fingers crossed he shall forgive me!

Run Free

Sometimes in the mess and frustrations of life, you just want to run free and be separated from the problem's of life..... well it is a dream that I float in from time to time.!

Sketch Book

For Christmas I received a new sketch book! 

Here is a sketch I did last night whilst watching television, had the birds on my mind, not sure why but just had to get them down on paper!

Dr Who

Here is a quick colour study, not there yet, need to spend some more time on this!

The NEW Dr Who

I am a fan of the BBC television series Dr Who. Have been watching it since the early 1960's.

This weekend past the new actor, (Matt Smith) to play the Dr from 2010 was announced. 

He has a GREAT face to draw.

This is my first impression sketch, drawn from memory using no reference whilst drawing!

I will be working this into a final caricature. Hope to have it finished by the end of the month!

Hope you like this initial rough sketch!

Bird from scratch

Here is an example of drawing a simple bird.

1st - Simple line sketch, loose and easy to capture the feel of the overall shape

2nd - Line drawing using the loose sketch as the start point and refining the sketch with some detail

3rd - Simple colour applied with the line drawing as the guide

By drawing like this, over and over you will find it helps with drawing this type of bird shape. There are others of course but the same principle applies. Start with a very loose sketch and progress from there in stages.

Never try to draw the finished bird at stage one! Work through the stages to help you produce the finished artwork.

You can use this process with cartoons as well and almost any other kind of drawing subject from landscapes to portraits!

iPod iPhone

Here is a FREE wallpaper you can save down to your computer and use on your iPod or iPhone wallpaper,

 it is our old friend House M.D.

Hope you have fun with it!