Day 29 - Self Caricature

"Me, 2019" (Prismacolor markers and art stix, 14x11 inches)

Day 29 of my 31-in-31 posts in January.

Yeah you guessed it, no new painting today. So here's something a little different to celebrate the San Antonio Rodeo coming up February 6-23, 2020. Some of you know that I've been doing caricatures since 1988 with a long history of working in amusement parks, and I still do them each year at the SA Rodeo along with quick portrait sketches.

This is my recent updated caricature, the first one I've done of me in a couple decades. Here's my old one, from (wow) ...18 years ago... Been a long time since I've had long hair and short bangs!

Come on out to the Rodeo if you're in the area! Find my booth in the Freeman Coliseum just down the stairs from the front entrance.

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Yellow Duckling (and a double caricature at the S.A. Rodeo)

"Yellow Duckling"  (pastel, 6x6 inches)  click here to bid

Finally! I was able to get a few minis done for my daily posts late last week while at the San Antonio Rodeo. This is one of my favorites of the batch. I like the severely formal pose contrasting with the severely cute subject! This one's from the Fry's Fun Farm Petting Zoo, same as all my bunnies!

Here are the couple of progress shots I managed to get, in between being distracted by paying guests getting their portraits and caricatures drawn...

Meanwhile, here's a caricature I was rather proud of on the weekend. It's been a while since I got a record of one of my better caricatures. (And I just love how these look in the Rodeo Barnwood frames!)

What a cute couple. Perfect faces for caricatures!

Andy Warhol

 "Andy Warhol" (Prismacolor markers and color sticks, 14x11 inches) click here to bid

Here's a left curve thrown at 'ya. Definitely not a cow, or a Renaissance portrait. As some of you know, caricatures have been one of my major art forms since 1988, and still bring in some good income along with pencil portraits at Christmastime, in the craft show at Rolling Oaks Mall, San Antonio (this year, Dec. 12-24, 2013.)

Each year I try to draw up some new samples for my display. Sometimes people want to buy the display sample. So that I can sell my samples without moaning about how "...I'll never be able to draw 'so-and-so' that good again!" I've started saving my originals, scanning them and laminating a print for the display. Then I replace the print when it sells.

So now that I have a bunch of original caricatures lining a tube in my studio, I've finally asked myself, "What, am I going to save these 'til I'm old and gray, like they're some kind of investment?"

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...Nah.

I decided I would try this one out on the Daily Paintworks auction and see what happens. As an added perk, I'll include the pre-sketch with the finished original.

The pre-sketch is where all the thinking and creativity happens. It's where I think like a caricaturist in order to exaggerate. The peach, blue, and black 'layers' are the order of my visual process, and allow me to fine-tune the exaggeration with tiny adjustments each time. Then I slip this under my final paper, and trace the outline for the finished work.

That sounds like a lot of work, you say? Yes. That's why I don't like re-drawing my samples and why I started scanning them instead.

Do I put this much work into my paying customers' sketch?

...Ah...   No.  (But that's a whole different blog post having to do with the amazing power of speed-drawing while entertaining a crowd.)

Fyi: Here are the photos I found online that were the references for Andy's caricature.

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Alba

"Alba"  (pastel, 8x6 inches)  click here to bid

Alba is my little sequel to Yuki. They are twin baby goats from a petting zoo at the North Texas Irish Fest in Dallas.

Below is one of my better caricatures from last week's ISCA convention. Visit my Art Journal Blog to see the rest of them!

Sunshine

"Sunshine"  (pastel, 7x5 inches)  click here to bid

Back to the cows! This one's on a combination of gold and terra cotta primers. I thought she had the look of sunshine, so I set out to Thesaurus.com where I find names, to look for a synonym for sunshine, when I realized - why use a synonym? "Sunshine" she is!

Below is another favorite caricature of me from last week's convention. See the entire collection of Forty-Four 'Rita' caricatures on my Art Journal Blog!

by Jeff Pecina

Bufus

"Bufus" (pastel, 7x5 inches)  click here to bid

This is a new one from the same set of photo references of the same bison as "Buford" (below) from a few years back. (It was a different photo from the same day.) It's interesting to see my change in style and color use.

On a different note, below is my 'wall' from the ISCA convention last week. These were the few caricatures I managed to get done of some of the other artists attending, during the three days I had there (I missed Wednesday to go to a gallery reception at Brookwood.)

Visit my Art Journal Blog for more wall pics and some of my favorites!

Periwinkle

"Periwinkle" (pastel, 7x5 inches)  click here to bid

I caught a chance to paint today, along with labeling the postcards for my pencil portraits Holiday mailing, finding new friends on Facebook and photographing and cataloging the more than forty caricatures I brought home from the ISCA convention on Friday!

Below is Derek Brennan's winning caricature of me, which was #4 of the Top 10 Caricatures of the Year for 2012.

 See more of the 2012 ISCA (International Society of Caricature Artists) Convention experience on my Art Journal Blog.

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Effie Trinket - Pre-sketch caricature

"Effie Trinket" from The Hunger Games Movie, Pre-sketch caricature (colored pencil over inkjet print, 14x11 inches)

This is my second stage pre-sketch of Effie. I started with the first sketch, below, and realized I needed to fit in her puffy sleeves to balance the composition, and besides, Effie is not really Effie without her fashion statement!

So I put this first sketch into Photoshop, and sized it and printed it on a new 11x14 sheet (above) and continued to sketch the rest of the caricature. I also made some modifications to her hair and giant flower, which I felt needed to be a bit larger.
I'll put the new revised pre-sketch under another sheet and draw the final caricature from it. (Although I really like how the 2cd pre-sketch is looking on it's own... it has a kind of Toulouse Lautrec look to it...)

I also have an impulse, if I have the time, to complete this caricature of Effie as a finished fine-art oil or pastel painting, and submit it to the cover contest for the Exaggerated Features magazine of the International Society of Caricature Artists. They will be selecting one caricature from the "Showcase" entries for the next issue (Summer 2012) to put on the cover. That would be really cool to win!

Katniss pre-sketch caricature

"Katniss" Pre-Sketch  (colored pencil, 14x11 inches)

I had a cute 6x6 squirrel painting prepped in burnt umber and ready to finish today, but instead I got distracted by the characters of one of my new favorite books, "The Hunger Games". Having just seen the movie, I'm determined to get a new triple caricature ready of Katniss, Peeta and Gale for my festival display. It's destined to be the hot image of the summer!

Above is my pre-sketch of Katniss. When I have the pre-sketches of Gale and Peeta ready, I'll put them all in Photoshop to size and arrange them all in an 11x14 composition. This is what I'll set under my next sheet of paper to sketch out what will be the final original caricature.

Below is my pre-sketch of Gale. The one I tried of Peeta didn't work. I downloaded a better photo today and will be doing another of Peeta this weekend.

"Gale" Pre-Sketch  (colored pencil, 14x11 inches)