Festive Caricature Fun!

The feative season is upon us and we caricaturists get a final surge of bookings before the quiet months of January and February. Unlike the summer season, when most of the work on offer is for wedding entertainment this time of year is characterised by private and corporate Christmas celebrations.

Caricatures for Children in Need.

The Portcullis Hotel in Chipping Sodbury asked me to come along and support their Children in Need fundraiser with my quick caricaturist skills last Saturday.

When I arrived, the first thing I noticed was was a couple of my caricatures from a while back hanging on the wall. It turned out that I had drawn the landlord and his wife at an unrelated event the year before last and it was great to see my work having pride of place!

I spent the couple of hours dashing out as many drawings as I could for contributions to thecollection pot. It really went down a storm and I was kept busy throughout producing about 35 caricatures (18 caricatures an hour!) which I thought was good going.

Here are a few snaps.

On the spot caricatures and Speed Art at the Fast Signs Awards Dinner

I was booked by Fast signs to entertain with some on the spot caricaturist action at the Fast Signs awards dinner last Friday and found myself working alongside Jon Hicks the speed painter and pavement artist.

Jon put on an impressive show creating two outsized celebrity portraits in amazing bold strokes and splashes of paint applied with utmost confidence and perfect precision. Each piece (measuring some 5 feet in height) Took no more than 5 minutes and the second was created upside-down!

I did my usual thing and drew caricatures  of around 35 guests over a couple of hours pausing for the award giving and, of course, to watch Jon.

These pics are courtesy of another Jon who was at the event; Jon Head the Photographer

Wedding Caricatures at Tracey Park near Bath

I was booked through Finesse Caricaturists to attend Rob and Lisa's wedding at Tracey Park last Saturday. I kicked off before the wedding breakfast by doing caricatures of the children who were being entertained in a seperate room. Here is one of the bridesmaids - the photo was taken later when I was able to ask her parent's permission. As you can see - she had changed into something more comfortable

I took a short break while the main course awas being served and had the chance to draw some of the hotel staff...

Once the main course was over I worked around the tables drawing another 16 or so of the guests. Everyone was in a great mood and clamouring to be next!

Squeezing between the tables isn't the easiest way to work but it provides a lot of fun for the "victims" and onlookers alike!

Once the speeches were over I followed eveyone downstairs to capture yet more of the happy crowd!

Choosing A caricaturist for your wedding.

Wedding caricaturists are increasingly in demand these days and can provide great value entertainment at a special occasion. Despite their growing popularity, on-the-spot caricatures are still a novelty for most people and with the right choice of artist and a little thought as to the timing and situation, they can really go down a storm!

I freely admit to being not entirely impartial on this subject as I earn much of my living as a wedding caricaturist myself but if you are considering hiring a caricaturist for your wedding (or for any other event for that matter) then you will do well to consider a few basic points.

First and foremost there is the tricky issue of choosing the right caricaturist. You will want someone who will mix easily with your guests, produce attractive drawings with good likenesses and do them fast (you should expect at least 10 heads per hour).

Fast on the spot caricaturing is a very specialized and difficult skill to master. There are dozens of websites on the internet advertising on-the-spot caricaturist services but not all can actually deliver the goods. Look for real examples of on-the-spot work. Don't be taken in by examples of work done from photos. However good they look, examples from photos give no clue as to how good an artist is at drawing fast, live and under pressure. Photos taken at real events with subjects holding up their own caricatures to the camera are a good indication

On the spot caricature by Charlie Everett

– but also bear in mind that a situation where the artist is charging for each caricature such as at a fair or on the street is also not representative as the artist is not under the same pressure to work quickly (10 or 15 minutes for a street caricature is quite acceptable).

Testimonials and other credentials are helpful and personal recommendation is great. Many people choose to pay extra and go to an agency that can recommend a good artist. In any event you should be cautious about choosing the cheapest. A typical fee for a 2 or 3 hour performance is usulally between 2 and 3 hundred pounds depending on travel time. Artists may be willing to work for less near to home or on week days.

So you have chosen your caricaturist. What else is there to consider? This rather depends on what you want from him/her. Sometimes the host's primary desire is for entertainment other times there might be more of a focus on volume. A caricaturist walking about or standing in the crowd is decidedly more stylish and entertaining than one sitting down but many artists will be more productive if set up with a couple of chairs in a convenient spot. It may also suit your event better for guests to be able to come and find the caricaturist rather than wait for him to come and find them.

The quantity and quality of the caricatures done is nearly always important to some extent and to this end you should consider how you can make things as easy as possible for the caricaturist. The things that make the caricaturist's life easier or more difficult are probably counter-intuitive for a lot of people. The first thing people often think of is lighting but from my own experience it is often easier to draw well in the dim lighting of a late party than in glaring bright sunlight.

On the whole lighting is less important than you might imagine. What is important – particularly in a walkabout scenario is for the artist to have enough space to operate (particularly around tables) and for there not to be too much else going on for the artist to hold the attention of his subjects. Schedule the artist to work around speeches and other performers where possible and avoid having them work the tables during the main course and getting in the way of the waiters.