Sheridan College Open House 2009

I'm falling behind with my blog posts, I'm afraid, as I'd meant to post these up soon after I'd drawn them. These caricatures were sketched at the Sheridan College Open House, held on May 2nd as the school year was winding down for summer holidays and this is the annual last hoorah to show the community what the college has been producing. This year, they'd commissioned several of my Animation students and I to sketch caricatures in the main hall of the college. My usual method is to work with marker on 11 x 14 pads of smooth bristol paper, but for this event we were all working on large manilla pads set up on easels. Admittedly, this isn't the most comfortable way for me to draw and it's bit too large for my liking, but they came out pretty well for the most part. I've put up all of them on my Facebook site, but here's a sampling to show here too:



These first three above are of a young lady currently enrolled in the Sheridan Music Theatre program along with her proud mom and dad!














Before I started to draw him, this fellow requested, "Make me wacky." I did the best I could... :)

By the way, my friend and Sheridan colleague, Mark Mayerson has written a couple of posts on Sheridan Animation's annual Industry Day that was held on April 30th. You can find them here and here. There were quite a lot of strong films with fun character animation this year, and I'm glad to say that most students are aspiring to full keyframe animation.

Another Sheridan Year Wraps Up!

Here's a few pics from this year's 2nd Year of the BAA Animation course at Sheridan College. As the year was winding down to its conclusion last week, the students started to smile with joy once more as the shackles and chains were removed from their ankles and a window or two were cracked open to let in a whiff of fresh Oakville air:
Here's Vanessa and "Shoeless" Johnny from Class 'A' enjoying the way I've made fun of their faces.

Agnes, Nicole and Jen seal their pact to be Best Friends Forever with a caricature from me of all three on one page. You girls better stay friends now, because I'm not drawing you again separately, y'hear!

Here Class 'E' would seem to be a very sensible group of earnest young animation students...

... before showing their true colours as the wackiest class of all!

Earlier this evening I uploaded a bunch of the caricatures I've drawn of my students this year which can be seen in this Facebook Album. (I hope everyone can access that album - I'm not sure how these Facebook things work!)

For all of you crazy 2nd Year students reading this blog, thanks for a fun and lively year. I've enjoyed my classes with you and seeing all the talent on display in your assignments. Mind you, the endless hours spent grading them I didn't enjoy so much....

Anyway, I hope you all have a great summer and a well earned rest. See you next September, 'ya rascals! :)

Party Caricatures!

Since last summer, I've been getting more and more into doing "Party Caricatures" again. I used to do these types of events regularly years ago, prior to when I moved down to work for Disney in Florida. I'm real happy to be doing them again, as I enjoy the spontaneity of working from life, as well as being essentially a "performer" with paper and marker. Some caricaturists start out right away with the marker, but I must admit that I need to lightly rough it out with pencil first before finalizing the sketch in a black, flexible tip Markette. That's the only way I feel I can maintain control over the likeness.

Since last summer I've been working through a very good agency called CaricatureCan, based in Ottawa and created and managed by a great guy by the name of Pablo, who's a very talented caricaturist himself. The subjects with their caricatures pictured here are all from an event I did this past Wednesday at a private party in downtown Toronto put on by the TD Bank. There were actually four of us working the event and we had a terrific time with it.

For the record, I am available to work at corporate events, trade shows, weddings, bar mitzvahs, etc. in the greater Toronto area, including points west like Mississauga, Brampton, Oakville and Burlington. If interested in booking me, please get in touch with Pablo at CaricatureCan to inquire about availability and rates.

Recent Party Caricatures

I still quite enjoy doing "Party Caricatures" at various events, whether they be corporate events or smaller private parties. Today I was hired to draw at the bridal shower of Carole Ratulowski and her husband-to-be, Ollie (who wasn't allowed to show up until the end, poor guy!). The happy couple are pictured in the first two photos, with several of the guests pictured after them. I wish I'd taken a lot more photos, but I'd forgotten I'd brought my camera until I was well into drawing them. Unfortunately, by that time I was also having problems with the bright sunshine streaming through the window playing havoc with the balance of the lighting. I've adjusted several of them to lighten the guests, while keeping the caricatures as untouched as possible. I'm afraid I'm no photographer!







This last young lady was so pretty - somewhat reminiscent of Audrey Hepburn with her big eyes and angular little jawline.

The following three pics are of Lesley and Peter Skingley and their son Connor. I'd sketched at Peter's birthday shindig about a month ago. I am certainly open to drawing at any events in the Toronto and Mississauga area, so for those in the GTA who might be interested in booking me for upcoming events, please email me for rates and availability. Remember, Christmas is coming up soon!

Sheridan College Open House 2010 (Part 3)

Here is the third and final batch of caricatures I drew during Sheridan's Open House a couple weeks ago. These first two ladies pictured are Sheridan office staff, Susan Anderson-Wilcox and Paulette Geffros:









These last three are Sheridan students, Leisha-Marie Riddel, Omar Noori, and Hai Wei Hou: