A Full Roster

This was a BIG project. When Larry, my good friend from school days, sent me an e-mail asking about an illustration of his ENTIRE family I thought, "This will never happen." Even with the friends and relatives discount I thought the number of caricatures would make the project too costly for him to actually commission me to draw. I guess Larry has got his wife, Lisa, working pretty hard because he went ahead and placed the order.

What he wanted was their family illustrated as the WHOLE, ding dong, Chicago Cubs Baseball team! The family makes up a full roster, and then some. That's Larry on the mound. He's a pastor and he's getting ready to make his pitch. (Knowing Larry it will probably be a sinker.) This is a gift for "Pappa Bear" (aka - Harry Carey on the mic), and "Momma Bear" on the organ. Note that even the opposing team members are Chicago Cubs - just wearing the blue uniforms.


This particular drawing took a lot of my Christmas illustrating time. I spent a lot of time studying each one of their faces. I had to do it on a larger than normal size of paper. It is so big that I couldn't do the usual scanning of the art on my personal scanner. It was even too big for the place where I normally get my color copies done. So, this is a photograph that I took - my only personal record of the piece.

I was very glad when I finished drawing it, but more than that I was very happy to hear that the drawing made it on time. It arrived there on Christmas Eve - just in time. Larry said he thought that it was "outstanding." I trust that the rest of the team liked it as well.

REALLY BIG GIVE-AWAY BEGINS TOMORROW!: Don't forget to drop by January 1,2,3 or 4 to post a comment. I am giving away two prizes to celebrate my one year anniversary of blogging. The rules are spelled out on my Dec. 27 post. I will be announcing the winners on January 5. It is my way of saying thank you to all you bloggers out there that have made this year the fun run that it has been.

Be kind and tell your friends and neighbors about the give-away. I know that it decreases your chances of winning, but wouldn't it be nice to spread the love around.

I must add one more rule: My family members are excluded from the contest. Sorry, but I must avoid the "appearance of evil."