Belgium

Today my wife and I are in Belgium in the town of Mechelen.

We are visiting our good friends Jan and Emi, who are opening a brand new Caricature shop in Mechelen, the town where they live!

Please click on the images to view full size:

 Above is a nice view of the town square:

I shall be taking some photo's of the event on my iPhone and shall post them here once we get back and I have time to create the post, this weekend I have 3 weddings to entertain at!

The good news is I shall be sampling a new beer in Mechelen, the Gouden Carolus, here is a picture of the beer:

To be continued.....

Meerkat & Zazzle

I am confused? I use Zazzle.co.uk to upload my own images to sell on their site and earlier this year I had some success and everything seemed to be going smoothly.

Then I uploaded at the start Of the summer my meerkat caricature come carton illustration.

Meerkats are a popular animal with people and even more so with the adpverising campaign run by an insurance company, but my meerkat was based on actual meerkats and not another image.

My meerkat is my own creation.

Well I have had some images removed from zazzle due to a violation of some kind.

I can only suspect that the compare the market gang think I am stealing their work, but I am not.

So I feel that later this fall I shall have to shut down my zazzle store. I will have to get my meerkat printed on products that I can sell direct myself.

A few examples

Some recent caricatures drawn at weddings and events...

Sometimes I make people into animals and it usually gets a roar of laughter!

I love drawing at weddings as my work has a lasting impact as couples often frame and hang their caricature in their homes! It is wonderful to be a part of such a fantastic celebration of wedded bliss!

Messing about

Today I am messing around with images for my website as I am working on a refresh of the look and design.

Here are a couple of images I have prepared:

This image will be the hot link button for my celebrity page, it is Obama and Bono together!

This image will be the hot link button to my live caricature example page

Here is the new idea for the website header:

I am having fun doing this and will let you know how I get on!

Ed Miliband

Labour have a new leader and he has a good face to draw!

Later this coming week I shall post my first sketch of Ed but for now, I have weddings to attend too and get ready for, so not much time today but please do pop back tomorrow!

Enjoy the rest if YOUR weekend!

Can you help me?

I am always trying to improve my main website for my visitors and customers and primarily to keep the search engines results high when people search on google et all!

I ran a website grader to check how www.drawn4u.com is doing and received a nice surprise:





The score above is pretty good but could be better!

So here's what I am asking, could you stop by my website at www.drawn4u.com and let me know if:

a. How long was the page load on your computer, quick or fast or maybe slow?

b. Did the text content read OK for size and grammar and did the message of what I provide seem clear to you?

c. In a general sense, did the site look cool and fun or dull and boring?

I would really appreciate your honest feedback and if you are able to help me out, then I will send you a postcard of Sebastian Kruger's work!

Click here to visit my website for your analysis and to answer my questions above

Please make sure you post back your results and feedback and email me your home address so I can send you the Kruger card: infowithsteve'at'googlemail.com

MANY THANKS in advance for your help!

Inside the Shed

How to draw the ear, a quick tutorial to get you started quickly!

Meerkat Christmas Card!

Yes, NOW available to purchase, my brand new exclusive Meerkat Christmas Card:

You can view and order from my zazzle store by clicking here with the card priced at 2.95 GBP plus shipping, and there are discount offers for bulk orders of 10 or more cards!

NOW is the time to buy your Christmas Cards and get ready for the coming holiday season!

Photography

This morning I am out on a photographic shoot to brush up on using my camera.

Here are a few of the photo's I shot on location at Watt Tyler Country Park in Pitsea, Essex:

The cottage above is very old and here I wanted to show you how I edited the photo's to create an older sepia feel to the top two using the edit functions in iPhoto on my iMac

The above wooden carvings represent the peasants revolt led by Watt Tyler in the year 1381

Last night I was in London with Wayne Savage and Mike Carlon, two caricaturist friends and we had a few beers and dinner together and a really great time catching up.

Caricatures, Hospital and fun

Yesterday I had the pleasure to donate my services to the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, London where I was invited to draw the children on the wards. It was a wonderful experience and the children really enjoyed the caricatures and has some fun and I managed to out a smile on their faces.

I was not able to get any photo's due to privacy laws and time restraints, before we knew it, time had run out! I hope to be able to go back again sometime and draw for them again and maybe snap a few pictures of the staff when I draw them!

Here is the main entrance to the hospital:

I feel very humbled to be able to do this for the kids and staff at the hospital. It is sad to see the children who are ill, some with very serious conditions. To put a smile on their faces was a priviledge.

OK, below are some photo's from the corporate gig I was drawing at last Saturday, enjoy!

As you can see with on or two, I exaggerated a bit further than normal as I was asked too by the young lady who hired me, she wanted the managers torn apart for the office wall!

Caricatures from London

Here are some more photo's from the London event I was drawing at last week, a member of staff at the company I was working for, was going around taking photo's and very kindly emailed what she shot!

As you can see, its a tough job drawing beautiful young ladies!

And of course, some funny faces as well...

Yes I REALLY do LOVE my job!

Carl Brind

This year I have had the pleasure to make a new friendship with a local artist who lives nearby.

Carl Brind has a great talent and works in many different mediums, from pop art to caricature!

Here is just a few photo's of his work that I really love:

Carl has informed me that prints from these pieces are available for sale and you can contact Carl through his website here: http://www.carlbrind.com/, if you are interested in adding his cool work to your collection

I am sure you will like his work as much as I do! Be sure to visit his site and say 'Hi', tell Carl I sent you over, he is a really nice guy and very friendly!

Basildon District art Trail

At this very moment in time, the Basildon District Art Trail is in full swing!

Yesterday the official launch took place at the art trail display inside the Eastgate Shopping Mall and below are some pictures from the event, I was lucky enough to get an invitation!

There is a wide range of art, styles and mediums that artists have worked in on display on the art trail, these are just a few of the many wonderful pieces of art on display in and around the district!

Above is the very talented Natasha Vickers next to two of her portraits on display, below is a close up, her work is fantastic:

The art is on display to share and showcase to the local communities and general public and the art is also available for sale as an original and or prints may also be available to purchase

Everyone enjoyed themselves! It is great what art can do!

You can find out more on the website by clicking here

Dean Smith, seen above in the middle of the photo, is the man behind the Basildon District Art Trail and made it all happen, so a big thank you to Dean for all his hard work! Also a BIG thank you to the Eastgate Shopping Mall for their support and encouragement and sponsorship for the launch party, it really helps when such a body as the Eastgate gets behind a project like this!

You can also visit the Basildon District Art Trail blog by clicking here

Inside the Shed

This weeks show - how to draw the eye:

London yesterday

A couple of pictures form yesterdays corporate event I was drawing at...

Please click on the images to view full size

London Blog Club

Last night I attended the London blog club meet up in Soho, London. Hosted by Talk Talk at their Soho HQ building. (Thank you Talk Talk!)

It was an interesting meeting with a guest speaker who blogs about music.

The best part as always is the networking and meeting so many interesting people.

I shall give a full report soon as today I have a corporate event back in central London and have to get off soon to be there for the event.

Tomorrow I shall be filming the next webcast for Inside the Shed so keep an eye out for that please!

OK, catch you later and trust you all have a great day!

Large birthday cartoon!

A good friend of mine had arranged a 40th birthday party for his wife that took place last Saturday. They both decided that they wanted a theme on India and put together many ideas like a cake in the shape of the Taj Mahal etc etc.

He wanted to surprise her with a large drawing that she did not have any idea about. She had been involved in much of the planning of the party but he wanted to throw in a few things for her as a surprise.

So he asked me if I would do a large cartoon for him and of course I agreed...

Please click on the images to view full size, it is his wife on an elephant running around the Taj Mahal...

The paper we used was flip chart paper that you normally find in a business meeting room!

Paul, my friend and minor celebrity of my webcast, Inside the Shed (were going inside the shed...) is a professional photographer and we have worked together at many weddings over the years.

The 40th party was a big success and I sadly was unable to make it myself due to weddings booked in to entertain at.

Maybe I will catch their 50th birthday celebrations next time around!