Do you want to laugh? Just follow along with what I was drawing today.

Doing a lot of business, didn't have much time to sit and draw. So, missing that activity, I had to stop for a quick moment when I was inspired to draw a Caricature of the photo of the Postmaster that was displayed in the Levittown Post Office:

When I got home, I decided to dress it up a little - to add some lighter lines:

Then I remembered that I wanted to try to darken the outer contour. I have been seeing that around, and I think it looks good:

Hmmm. Should I continue around the shoulders? Okay, I'll try that. (If you can't take chances with your pictures, where can you take chances?) So I continued the dark outline around the rest of the picture. Yuck. Gotta save it, I thought. So I made the outline around the face even thicker. Agk! This is horrible!:

But I can still try to save it. I just eliminated the dark outline by coloring in the background altogether. Better. Useable. But weird. I didn't mean to separate the head from the body, but now that's how it looked. because the dark line under the beard now connected the dark backgrounds on both sides of the picture. Well, I tried to color a little more, but it was just getting worse. So I stopped with this picture. I was wanting to add color, but now it's not worth it. This picture, still useable, but I'm not happy with it anymore. It's not what I wanted to say.:

But. It's disheartening on the paper, But I have it in the Computer! I can go back to my favorite one, and color it in Photoshop!

I took my camera out with me all weekend. Four gigs. I want to post more from today's>br> 30th Birthday Party, but I don't have much time here just now. I just want to be sure to show you -
I think MR CLEAN WAS AT MY GIG! In the flesh.

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I finally remembered to take pictures at a party this weekend. It was a Sweet 16. I was adversely affected by the low-light conditions and the small paper, but such is the nature of Art and Work. Work is that we don't always like everything about a situation. And Art is that we have to produce in real time. In the moment. At least the people were interesting, the party was fun, and we all had a good time.

I had to lighten the photographs so you could see the reference people. (It was so dark in there that this is practically the first time even I saw the pictures, lol.) Unfortunately, that also lightened the Caricatures, washed out the color that you see here. Hmmmm. Such is the nature of photographs.

I have such a good time when I Face Paint in Central Park. It wasn't easy to get my spot at the Children's Zoo. Then it's not easy to get the first few people to stop each day. So when the ball starts rolling, when people start seeing a few of my 'paintings' walking around and they start lining up to be painted, I feel successful. That's the result of trying to do something that's hard.

So, last Saturday, even though I was booked to draw Caricatures at an evening Confirmation Party,
I woke up real early and took my spot in Central Park. I could barely pull myself away to go the the Caricature gig mid-aftnoon - I was having such a wonderful time right where I was. But it turned out to be another wonderful experience. I was all hyped up from the successful Face Painting, so when I got to the Caricature gig, I was energetic and entertaining. My pictures flowed effortlessly while I talked to the people who were watching. I was so ON. It was uplifting. Energizing. Happy-making. I love my job(s).


Here are some photos of some of the faces I painted last Saturday, mixed in with a few that were still on my camera from previous days:

While I was scanning those pictures to put onto this website, I was talking on the phone with my friend Elgin. It was too complicated to write these words while talking other words, so I ended up doodling. DooDaLinGah. Doodling. The best way to make real art.

Two of the drawings were quick little sketches of the faces painted above. And then one was just a little baby that just came out of me. Ah, Creativity. Lol.

Drawing and Painting. Always been part of my life. By playing with the word 'doodling' (that is a funny word, isn't it?), I was reminded of a long time ago. A cartoon series that my little friend Joyce used to make when we were VERY young - still in grade school! She named her cartoon character Miss Doodles! Joyce is now a financial wizard out in CA. I'll try to get in touch with her. If she can manage to draw Miss Doodles again, I'll post her onto this website. Friends and Artwork. They go together like following your heart and earning a living.

A dayful of Business. Calls and Clients, Literature and Supplies. Calendars and Setups. Agents and Emails. Agreements. Banks. PapersTeachingListsLaminating. My only breaks were
one Yoga class
and several hula hoop breaks. Whew! I can't take too much of this. It could dull me out.

It isn't just that I, duh, don't like to work too much. It's that it really affects a person. To be an artist, to be an entertainer, you can't be marching in line just doing the business and the homework and the organizing. You have to spend time doing the extra things. Just for fun. That's the job. Really.

Here' the only pictures I drew today. I drew them while waiting to get a sample laminated at Staples:

I could work forever and still not get all my work done. So I just decided that it's time to ignore the work for a while. Maybe I'll

Juggle! (I'm up to about 16 passes with 3 balls before they fall.)
Or or put together two dance steps - can I wave my arms while gliding my feet?
Or maybe I'll just move to music. I like 'Pink'. Bought the album because I turn up my party smile when I hear it.

Let's belt it out:

I'm comin' up so you better get this party started
I'm comin' up so you better get this party started

Get this party started on a Saturday night

Everybody's waitin for me to arrive
Sendin' out the message to all of my friends
We'll be lookin flashy in my Mercedes Benz
I got lotsa style, check my gold diamond rings
I can go for miles if you know what I mean
I'm comin' up so you better get this party started
I'm comin' up so you better get this party started

Pumpin up the volume, breakin down to the beat

Cruisin' through the west side
We'll be checkin' the scene
Boulevard is freakin' as I'm comin' up fast
I'll be burnin' rubber, you'll be kissin' my ass
Pull up to the bumper, get out of the car
License plate says Stunner #1 Superstar

I'm comin' up so you better get this party started
I'm comin' up so you better get this party started

Get this party started

Makin my connection as I enter the room
Everybody's chillin as I set up the groove
Pumpin' up the volume with this brand new beat
Everybody's dancin and their dancin for me
I'm your operator, you can call anytime
I'll be your connection to the party line

I'm comin' up so you better get this party started

I'm comin' up so you better get this party started
I'm comin' up so you better get this party started
I'm comin' up so you better get this party started
Get this party started
Get this party started right now
Get this party started
Get this party started
Get this party started right now

Simple faces tonight. What I was working on was an idea for this weekend's parties. I do that sometimes - think ahead of time about what I might draw.
Sometimes it happens that I do draw what I imagined,
sometimes it doesn't.
But it always makes me feel more prepared to have thought about the party ahead of time.

This weekend, two of my gigs (Just recently, I started taking more than one gig per day - when the time and distance work out.) Anyway, this weekend two of my gigs are Christenings. For boys. Probably will be drawing faces only, but if there's time to draw something special for the new babies, perhaps something like this would be welcome: