A collection of doodles with a bit of commentary by RICK GREEN - your cartooning friend

Friday, June 20, 2008

Oops! My Bad

Now here's a story for you. Since I started getting these request for caricatures because of this blog I've tried very hard to keep the information coming in, straight and in order. A few weeks ago I realized that maybe I wasn't doing such a great job.

Teresa wanted an illustration of her husband, Nick, and their two daughters. She said that he is a "C-130J Mechanic for the Marines." And that their girls loved to hang all over him. Then I got an e-mail from her (I thought) that said he was a HUGE Auburn fan.

Any of this sound familiar? Maybe, like something from my previous post?

So I drew up this piece and e-mailed her a copy even before I was completely finished. (Note the sky is not entirely colored in.)

When I got Teresa's reply my heart just sunk. She, of course, never wrote and told me her husband was an Auburn fan. That was Jodi from my previous post!

(Note that I actually drew Teresa's illustration first, and Jodi's afterward that. I've just posted Jodi's before this one so that you could better appreciation of my error.)

Can you imagine Teresa opening her e-mail and seeing her youngest daughter holding an toy Auburn tiger, her oldest dressed up as an Auburn cheerleader and the plane pulling an Auburn flag overhead. She must have thought I was nuts!

Teresa politely wrote and said that she didn't understand where I was going with the drawing. She said, "I am assuming AU is a university? What are your thoughts? My thoughts were that I had totally messed up on her drawing and turned her family into something that she had no idea they were - "HUGE Auburn fans!"

Teresa had given me her phone number to call her for clarification. After rechecking my records, I realized what I had done, and so I sheepishly called her up and apologized.

(That was interesting talking to one my clients voice, to voice. I'd like to do that more often. So call me everybody!)

I know, it's not like I had turned them into some kind of hideous creatures, but I felt fairly dumb about my mistake.

So, I started over and "de-Aburned" the family. At Teresa's request I put the downtown ballpark in San Diego in the background, and changed the flag to the flag of his squadron.

(Is "squadron" the right word Teresa?)

It was interesting that the youngest daughter had actually been given a stuff tiger by her daddy. So, the toy tiger stayed. (Maybe she's the huge Auburn fan?)

Teresa wrote me the other day and said, "I just wanted to let you know that my husband LOVES the illustration. Thank you very much for drawing it for me!!"

Your welcome Teresa. I'm glad that we finally got it right. But it sure would have been easier if you had changed yourselves into Auburn fans, instead of making me draw a whole new illustration.

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Also: Cynthia, from my June 15th post, put this photo of her husband holding the caricature I drew of him on her blog. Go and check her blog out and tell Dave what a great looking smile that he has. Tell them that Goofy sent you.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you again! I didn't know you had never talked to a client before on the phone =D

Squadron is the correct word. Can't wait for future drawings.

Anonymous said...

Rick - you need a PA to help you now! and you really shouldn't tell everyone to call you on the phone, that will create a whole new problem - ie when will you have time to draw???

It's another lovely piece though. My FIL often sits and looks at his with a smile on his face.

Laura ~Peach~ said...

cool pictures!~ Thank you mr marine! Hi eggy hope you have a string to hold on to so you don't fall out! LOL
Another winner there Rick...i often wonder how you keep up with it all!
HUGS Laura

Brenda said...

I won't make any jokes about your age because I'm righ there. Maybe you need to keep notes. I'm glad it all turned out ok.

Sherry said...

Your caricatures are very nice. What media do you use for the coloring?

Coralyn said...

So what do you do with the drawing that was incorrect? I thought both were great! I'm afraid to ask how much a Rick Green illustration is! I am addicted and really want to get one!

Rick said...

To Sherry: I use pen and color pencil for my illustrations. I purchased a set of Prisma Color Pencils. You can pick them up at any craft store.

To Coralyn: In this particular case, I just kept the illustration that was wrong. So, it sits here in my office at home.

I charge less than you might think. Use the e-mail address I give on the side bar to inquire. I don't like to publish my prices on my blog.

Jodi @ SNAPPED said...

That is hysterical!
Sam said it is NEVER to late to become a true Auburn fan!
WAR EAGLE!
~Jodi