Hi, there. Maybe you’re looking for a caricaturist for your party right now, or maybe you just found me while kicking around the web. Since you’re here, we may as well have a chat. By which I mean I may as well write a little about caricature and myself. We can’t actually chat unless you call me, which you could do.
Anyway, there are a few questions folks like to ask their party caricaturists, so giving you my answers to those is probably a good place to start.
How did you get into this?
Probably the most frequently asked question of caricaturists, and it’s a good one. It’s a fun job that I would recommend to anyone. And I’m better at it than selling newspaper ads, which I did for a short time, very ineffectively. We’re all better off when I stick to my strong points, is the lesson here.
The short answer is, my friends in high school drafted me into it. I’ll give you the longer answer too though, because it’s probably at least as interesting as whiling away your free time bouncing around Wikipedia, or the various other diversions the internet has to offer.
I was lucky to have San Diego and its epic Comic Book Convention play a large part in the sun-kissed summers of my youth. San Diego Comicon, if you’re not already part of the subculture, is the Cannes Film Festival of general creative geekery.
It’s a place full of artists, lovable comic book dealers not unlike Comic Book Guy from The Simpsons, writers and animators from said Simpsons and elsewhere, spokesmodels dressed up as various furry animals, and lots and lots of workshops. One of these was on caricature, given by a comic book artist recently of the Mish Cartooning outfit at Sea World. It was an hour that would change my life forever.
Of course, I didn’t know that for quite awhile. It wasn’t until almost a year later that my friends on Prom Committee asked me to do caricatures at the after-party.
“I don’t think I could do that,” I said.
“We’ll pay you a hundred bucks,” they said.
“I think I could give that a shot,” I said.
So I did. I thought it was a disaster. They were delighted. And the rest is history.
So is this like, your full time job?
I get asked this a lot at parties. I actually earn most of my bread and butter these days doing web development, which I love. But being an artist, I find that what I love most is variety. I think we’re all happiest when we’re able to apply our creativity to a lot of different problems, using a lot of different approaches. Caricature and illustration keeps me fresh for web development, and vice versa.
But could it be my full time job? There are caricaturists for whom it is, and who love it that way. I think it’s a matter of temperament, really. Your quick-sketch caricatures are not likely to end up in a museum, or be auctioned off at Christie’s for millions. But they will often be on people’s walls for years. Also live, on-the-spot drawing is a blast in ways that studio drawing just isn't.
Did you go to school for this? How did you learn?
The only formal training I got was that one-hour session given by the guy at the San Diego Comic-con, whose name I have forgotten. Other than that, there was a lot of trial and error, and wandering mall food courts practicing on anyone who would let me.
If you like drawing and think this would be fun, you can probably pick it up. It’s not hard for someone with a little skill and determination to become a good caricature artist. And no matter where caricature fits into your creative endeavors, it’s worth putting in the work to become a great one.
Tell you a little feel-good story. My friends and I had a little caricature company for a while in San Diego, and one of our most determined artists was a Japanese guy who barely spoke English, and whose drawings were so shaky we weren’t even sure we would be able to send him out to parties and charge money. That was Kage Nakanishi, winner of the 2007 Golden Nosey, caricature's highest honor. I’m learning from him now.
That’s what I’ve got for you for now. If you’ve made it this far, thanks for sticking around.
Anyway, there are a few questions folks like to ask their party caricaturists, so giving you my answers to those is probably a good place to start.
How did you get into this?
Probably the most frequently asked question of caricaturists, and it’s a good one. It’s a fun job that I would recommend to anyone. And I’m better at it than selling newspaper ads, which I did for a short time, very ineffectively. We’re all better off when I stick to my strong points, is the lesson here.
The short answer is, my friends in high school drafted me into it. I’ll give you the longer answer too though, because it’s probably at least as interesting as whiling away your free time bouncing around Wikipedia, or the various other diversions the internet has to offer.
I was lucky to have San Diego and its epic Comic Book Convention play a large part in the sun-kissed summers of my youth. San Diego Comicon, if you’re not already part of the subculture, is the Cannes Film Festival of general creative geekery.
It’s a place full of artists, lovable comic book dealers not unlike Comic Book Guy from The Simpsons, writers and animators from said Simpsons and elsewhere, spokesmodels dressed up as various furry animals, and lots and lots of workshops. One of these was on caricature, given by a comic book artist recently of the Mish Cartooning outfit at Sea World. It was an hour that would change my life forever.
Of course, I didn’t know that for quite awhile. It wasn’t until almost a year later that my friends on Prom Committee asked me to do caricatures at the after-party.
“I don’t think I could do that,” I said.
“We’ll pay you a hundred bucks,” they said.
“I think I could give that a shot,” I said.
So I did. I thought it was a disaster. They were delighted. And the rest is history.
So is this like, your full time job?
I get asked this a lot at parties. I actually earn most of my bread and butter these days doing web development, which I love. But being an artist, I find that what I love most is variety. I think we’re all happiest when we’re able to apply our creativity to a lot of different problems, using a lot of different approaches. Caricature and illustration keeps me fresh for web development, and vice versa.
But could it be my full time job? There are caricaturists for whom it is, and who love it that way. I think it’s a matter of temperament, really. Your quick-sketch caricatures are not likely to end up in a museum, or be auctioned off at Christie’s for millions. But they will often be on people’s walls for years. Also live, on-the-spot drawing is a blast in ways that studio drawing just isn't.
Did you go to school for this? How did you learn?
The only formal training I got was that one-hour session given by the guy at the San Diego Comic-con, whose name I have forgotten. Other than that, there was a lot of trial and error, and wandering mall food courts practicing on anyone who would let me.
If you like drawing and think this would be fun, you can probably pick it up. It’s not hard for someone with a little skill and determination to become a good caricature artist. And no matter where caricature fits into your creative endeavors, it’s worth putting in the work to become a great one.
Tell you a little feel-good story. My friends and I had a little caricature company for a while in San Diego, and one of our most determined artists was a Japanese guy who barely spoke English, and whose drawings were so shaky we weren’t even sure we would be able to send him out to parties and charge money. That was Kage Nakanishi, winner of the 2007 Golden Nosey, caricature's highest honor. I’m learning from him now.
That’s what I’ve got for you for now. If you’ve made it this far, thanks for sticking around.
