Tough 10 days!

Well, the 10 days of Stampede are over....great! About four days before Stampede Week, I drew at an international sporting event. Behind me, this young girl kept sneezing on me, then I finally had to ask her to please move somewhere else....I even got "the evil eye" from her mother.

So just at the start of Stampede, I came down with a terrible flu. My first gig that day started at 6:45am, and the last one ended after 11:00pm. Most days (except one or two) I had three gigs a day. I had everything done up in contracts and there arn't many available caricaturists around for fill ins, though one day I was able to get a fill in.

It was the toughest ten days I've had in memory. Looking back, I think that the first time some kid sneezes on me once, I'm asking them to move NOW!

Though, with my red nose and droopy eyes, I think most of my guests just thought I was Stampeding too much....

This weekend I'm drawing up in Edmonton on a riverboat, which should be interesting.

The Toony Bin

If you're into cartooning as well as caricatures, why not submit a cartoon each Sunday for the blog "The Toony Bin". This is a display blog looked after by Michael "Locoduck" Duron and Kenny Durkin. The site is at

http://toonybin.blogspot.com/

Lets give these guys some support and submit some cartoons.

Stampede is here.

I've been so busy doing pre-Stampede events, now Stampede is here for ten days starting tommorrow morning. I have to be up at 4:30am to get downtown to start the events, then jump from one event to another all ten days. So, to anybody that's here....have a great Stampede time!!

Just heads...new look!

Happy Father's Day! I decided to try a new style the last two gigs.....just heads! For the last eight years I've always drawn the subjects favorite hobby, sport or bad habit, but even though I was fairly fast, I've always wanted to switch to just head and shoulders.

I drew last night at a resort town in the Rocky Mountains called Canmore. It was at a wedding for a fantastic couple, Bree and Aaron (a GREAT group of people!). Hopefully by not having to draw the full bodies, now I can spend more time studying the face. I do like the look of the larger head drawn, and it sure takes the pressure off having to always come up with bodies and gag situations....makes each gig much more enjoyable this way.

I've pretty well dumped the prisma color stick as well.

Stampede's "a comin"

I've been so busy, but I thought I'd put this pic up. This is the city center where I do most of my caricature gigs....Calgary, Alberta, Canada. A lot of people from other countries still have the idea that we live in igloos, ride snowmobiles, etc....forget that. When all the new towers are finished being built that are presently started, any building you see in this picture will look small compared to what is now being built.

The forefront of the picture is a kind of "fairground".....that's where each year for 10 days, everyone in Calgary goes "cowboy." It's called The Calgary Stampede. Approx. a million people in a ten day span will occupy that small area you see in front of the picture. When I have downtown gigs, between the traffic problems and parking it can be quite stressful by the time I find the address of the gig...ever try walking 15 blocks in cowboy boots?

This is the time where us caricature artists are doing two to three corporate gigs a day all over the city. I don't drink "Red Bull" usually...but for these days I stock up on it.

Every night major bands from around the world are playing all over Calgary, breakfast is free (if you want to wake up that early), and everyone, from CEO's to government workers wear tight bluejeans, cowboy hats and don't look out of place if they holler an occasional...YEE HAW. Not a lot of work gets done in those ten days, hangovers are rampant (we're talking about the public now....NOT the caricature artists)

Back to the caricature artists....we're hired for any of the events starting with 6:30AM breakfast gigs, right up until the evening gigs (this is where the Red Bull comes in). Scheduling the traffic problems and timing of gigs can be real tricky.

Now I must go practice my...Yee Haw's......

My other job!

I thought I'd throw this pic in of the second last gig I played. I had to give notice to my band that I played with for quite a few years. My party caricatures just went through the roof and I couldn't be available when needed. This group did more high profile, larger events, some with media involved, and I couldn't always guarantee that I wasn't already booked for my caricature gigs.

Lately I've been getting caricature requests from one to three a day and pretty well am booked to the end of December.

Hopefully next year I can get back to playing and perhaps slow down the caricature jobs a bit.

Oh...ya...here I'm "warbling" the old 60's tune "The Letter"......

Cartoons "gone wild"

You'll have to excuse me on these...I'll explain. We have a cat that isn't allowed outdoors ever. Every now and then she tears around the house, jumps up on everything and pretty well goes crazy...for about 3 minutes.

That's what I've done here.....I've been drawing at lots of family events lately and have lots coming up next month as well......I just wanted to draw some...."different folk"......... sorta cut loose...... just like my cat!