I Know This Face

In terms of doing caricatures, Tonya's face has got to be the one that I've illustrated the most. She's a very busy blogging young lady, and this is the forth time that I've recreated her face with pen & color pencil. Not that I've minded (Tonya) it's just a matter of fact. I KNOW this face!!

In addition to her personal and crafting blogs, Tonya has a party organizing blog as well. She also has some very specific taste when it comes to doodles. Which, I must add, I don't mind, because I want to please my customers very much.

So, with some general instructions from her, I went to task on creating a(nother) Tonya doodle. This was what I sent to her first.

Tonya's response was kind, but there were some things about it that didn't quite meet her expectations. She liked the concept, but the colors were a bit too bright for one thing. She said that she was wanting it to look a bit more "classy"—her word. So, that evening I went to "classifying" her doodle up a bit. That's hard for me, because I'm kind of an un-classy guy.

Now, here's the funny part - hee, hee. I spent the evening working on the doodle, and then I get an e-mail from Tonya around mid-night telling me that she had changed her mind and that she liked the one that I had already sent her.

(I'm not complaining Tonya. I just saying...)

By then it was too late. I had "classified" all over her doodle. This then is what I sent her next...
Can you see the differences?

1. I muted the colors a bit.
2. I added greenery to the flowers - always a classy touch.
3. I put a shadow effect behind the lettering.
AND!
4. I put a gray swooshie thing behind the entire header.

VERY classy! Wouldn't you say?

It turns out that Tonya liked it. I think she was just trying to be nice about my first try. I was glad that she was happy. Another satisfied customer, only this was the fourth time for her.

Go and check out her blog and make note of the one attempt she did to "classify" the doodle herself. Tell her that you like it—regardless! It's only nice.

A Very Crafty Tonya

You remember Tonya don't you? I certainly do. She is one of my repeat customers. First, I drew a caricature for her personal blog. That was a busy drawing.

And THEN... for her Mum's 60th B-day I doodled her and a whole slew (bunch of) relations. Another very busy drawing.

And THEN!... Tonya came back with yet another request for an illustration for the header of her crafting blog - Currently Crafting.

This was my first attempt, but there were a few things Tonya asked if I could change. One of which was the length of her hair. Fortunately I colored her shirt black and so I was able to give her the hair cut she requested.

Here is the new, shorter-haired Tonya who can currently found crafting at her blog, and a few other places around the internet.

At first I was going to illustrate her with a table full of crafting objects behind her, but I wasn't really happy with that idea. Then I came up with the idea of the "floating" crafting tools around the scarf. I thought it was a better concept for a blog header. Tonya said she liked it, and I believe her.

I think Tonya has set a personal record for me. I have characterized her face more than anybody else, except maybe myself, which I have doodled a number of times, but have rarely published. Every time I draw myself I think I end up looking too old. And you know us guys. We're kind of funny that way.

Drop in on Tonya's blogs. Make sure you use the proper accient when reading her stuff, because, while she lives in the U.S. of A., she'll originally from Australia. Don't they grow them young looking down there?

Thanks Tonya - you're a friend.

Mum's 60th

You might re- member Tonya from the cari- cature I posted of her back in April. Tonya, who lives in So. Cal, is an Australian, and she is heading there next month for a visit.

She requested a drawing of her family to give to her mum (Australian for "mom") to celebrate her 60th birthday. The drawing included Tonya's whole herd: husband and kids, her parents, brother, sister with son; plus a whole slew of family dogs. She suggested a picnic scene with some of the guys getting ready to go kayaking. So, that's what I drew.

This was an involved drawing. For some reason, it took me a lot of time to get it done. There are a number of little details in the drawing. A drawing like this provides a number of opportunities to add little things. I wanted to give them something to look at for a while, and have fun making discoveries.

I hope that you will too.

In other news: My two oldest daughters are coming in for a visit beginning this weekend. We've got to drive up to Portland to pick them up - a seven hour drive one way. It's crazy living on the edge of the earth. So, once again, I'll be out of touch beginning tomorrow afternoon for a few days.

Next week the ladies will be working on wedding plans together. I think I've mentioned that the oldest is getting married in Oct. Good Lord! I'm already wedding'ed out! How will I make it for 2 1/2 more months?

Keep those cards and letters coming - or rather those comments coming. They warm my whittle heart.

A Day In Tonya's Overloaded Life

I'm getting just a bit caught up on my list of request for caricatures. Here's another project...

Tonya contacted me about doing an illustration of her family. At first she wanted me to draw the whole gang, each doing their own thing at the beach - they are SoCal people.

One evening I wrote and informed her that I was ready to start on her caricature. I drew my usual 8x10 frame for the piece, stared at the paper for a while, and then went to bed. Tonya wrote me the next morning and asked if I had actually started. I had to confess that I had not actually, officially, in reality started. Her response was "yippeee!"

(I wish my wife could get so excited by my procrastination skills.)

Turns out that it was a good thing that I hadn't actually put something down on paper because now she had a little different scenario in mind.

She wrote, "Okay, so maybe me juggling my everyday life stuff - husband, twins, teenager, pets, household chores, craft projects, cooking .... all the things I love I guess." She went on to list a number of different things that her husband and children could be doing. I liked the concept because, although it was going to take some time to get all this stuff on paper, it opened up the possibility for a lot of fun creativity.

Here's the finally product...

Anything about all this looks similar to your life?

It might take you a bit to get it all in. Her husband is a helicopter pilot for the Marines, but I put him in a little private one becuase I need him to be flying something close enough to a window so that you can make out his face. In recognition of his service I wanted to put a pic of him flying the real thing. Thank you sir.

You should check out the comments on Tonya's blog regarding her new art, and see all the new frustrated egg hunters that have commented there. I got too much joy out of it. But Tonya got weak (in my opinion) and gave a too easy of a hint for Eggy's location. But, I guess I've done the same thing myself on a previous post. So, you might want to go on an egg hunt here first before you pop on over there.

She also posted a little doodle I did on the back of the envelope I drew while waiting in line at the Post Office.

Thank you Tonya for choosing me for your cartoon needs. I've added you to the list of crazy people that have used my artwork for their blogs. I think it's a fun illustration, and I hope you enjoy it for many years - and I pray your life gains some sanity.