A Few of My Favorite Things

I couldn't tell you how many caricatures that I've done over the past four years. I've kept a copy of almost all of them. Someday I've going to lay them all out on a floor just so that I can get an idea of how many I've drawn.  It will take a room larger than my living room to lay them all out next to each other—there are just too many. Even to try and show you all the one I might consider my favorite pieces would make this post far too long. Still, I want to try and show off a few of what I consider to be better examples of my work. All of these have been posted on this blog sometime before, but for your consideration here are a few of my favorite things, or rather doodles.

Drawn for a sweet girl, Christie. She used it as the header on her blog about her journey through serious illnesses.

 Drawn for a client living in Arizona who's husband owns an unusual antique tractor.

Drawn for a client in Florida who's husband enjoys a good round of golf and driving their dog, Daisy, around in their golf cart.

Drawn for a client in England who's grandfather is a retired dentist and enjoyed singing hymns to his patients.

This was an anniversary gift for the son and daughter-in-law of a friend. I spent a long time studying the famous painting, American Gothic, to create this one.

This was a birthday gift for a very good friend of mine that is a minister in New Mexico.

Drawn for a longtime friend that enjoys hunting in the fields of NW Oklahoma. He and I had a successful turkey hunt together one season.

 Drawn for a client in Idaho that owns a potato farm.

Drawn for a good friend that has been kind and generous to me on more than one occasion. This hangs on a wall next to his bed.

 Drawn for a client who's son is a serious poker player.

Drawn for a client with a large family. They are military stationed in Japan. She wasn't sure about my suggestion of a Ninja theme, but liked the way it turned out.

Drawn for a client that has a daughter who owns an unusual pair of pants—very fancy indeed.

 Drawn for a client that is quite a nature lover.

Drawn for a client who's husband is a big Lord of the Ring fan. 

An illustration of my dear departed brother-in-law Jim. His daughter asked God to let her see her daddy one more time. Right after that she got her copy of this illustration from her mother. The Lord works in mysterious ways.

This was one of my few serious portraits, drawn for a good friend that loaned us her cabin in Colorado for a few days.

This is my mother-in-law. Rabbits fear her when she drives the riding lawn mower. As a matter of fact, I do too.

Drawn for a fellow blogger that has become a good friend. One of the few fellow bloggers that I've ended up having the chance to meet face to face. She sent us okra in the mail. I sent her this doodle.

Drawn for another blogging friend. She was about to order an illustration from me, then she had some difficulties which causes her to cancel the order. I enjoyed surprising her by drawing one for her anyways. She uses it as her blog header.

Drawn for a young lady that is a family friend that grew up and became a preschool teacher. I thought this turned out really well and I was especially proud of the way the lettering turned out.

It's not too late to get in an order for a caricature before Christmas. You might be surprised by my rates. If you'd like more information then e-mail me and I'll be happy to tell you what I charge for an 8x10 illustration of that loved one on your gift list—the one that you always have a hard time figuring out what to buy them.

green_rick@juno.com

Ann's Flower Power

Ann is another good friend.  She is one of those kind of people that is so nice it makes you wonder what she's been up to.  This is a photo of her stating next to my wife, Marylynn.  (They both are vertically challenged) 

Ann is the choir director at our church, plus she plays the guitar and sings.  That makes her a triple threat, I guess.

When I first thought about doodling her I was thinking about drawing her as the flying, singing nun.  But, after further thinking, I decided to turn Ann into a flower child tiptoeing through the tulips.

I gave Ann her illustration at the same get-together where I presented Gene (previous post) with his.  In Ann's own words she said that it will be something that she treasures.  I told her that I wanted to see it over the mantel of her fireplace.  Then she told me she didn't have a fireplace.  So, then I told her to hang it in her bathroom.  She just laughed.  (I think that means no.)

I have a "Copy & and Share" Christmas doodle coming next—just in time for the holiday.  So stay "tooned."

Gene, Gene-Ridin' an American Machine

I've been working on Christ- mas gifts lately.  So some of my work I can't post until after Christmas.  But here's one of two gifts that I gave out just this evening.

Gene is a good friend and one of my riding buddies.  I wanted to create something special for him.  He rides a big 'o Harley but recently he told me that he's going to be building a chopper out of a defunct motorcycle that he purchased.  So, when I was thinking about creating a doodle for him I thought, "Why not put him on the most famous chopper in history—the Captain America bike." The motorcycle made famous in the movie Easy Rider.  I think it's a very boring movie, but it has it's moments.  Like this scene, for example.

We're looking for our family being together for Christ- mas. Our youngest comes home for her first Christmas while away at college this week.  We're praying for clear-dry roads on Friday as she makes the 12 hour trip back from Idaho.  Gene opened his gift during a party we were hosting.  I think that it was well received by all the guest, and Gene seemed happy with his doodle.

Daughter number two comes home on the 23rd, and our number one girl with son-in-law number one coming in the day after Christ- mas.  So, at some point we will get to all be together again.  I am really looking forward to having them all together tucked away in their beds at night.  It's a father thing.

A Sundry of Choas

This is a photo of the daughter of some good friends, Steve and Denise. Some months ago I finished this caricature that she is holding. I thought that I had kept of copy of the illustration, but I can't seem to find it in my growing library of faces that I've collected over the years. So, the photo that Steve sent me of their lovely daughter holding the illustration will have to do, until such time that I am able to find my copy.

The illustration portrays their daughter sitting at her desk while a sundry of chaos ensues around her. (I like that last sentence. I think that it makes me sound all egucated.) Maybe you can see some details if you zoom in on the photo. But, otherwise, you'll just have to take my word that the doodle ain't half bad.

Yarn Candi

I know. I know. I've been MIA far too long. It's strange that it's so hard to get back into the rhythm of blogging when you get out of the habit. But I've had so many people tell me that they miss seeing new updates here that I just can't let it go too long.

Christmas is upon us and while I don't have as many request for caricatures as I have in the last two years I still have some pieces that I am working on.

This particular illustration is not a Christmas order, but one that Candi ordered for her blog several months back. She is a return customer. I created a doodle of her pilot husband back in May. I guess she liked it well enough to order one of herself.

This illustra- tion is actually a second attempt by me of her. I created one that I wasn't totally happy with, but then realized that I spelled her name with a "y" instead of an "i" on the end of Candi. That frustrated me so much that I put the project aside and then didn't get back to it until I had finished by little six week vacation. Candi was very patient with me and I am very appreciative about that.

I like the way this one turned out a whole lot more then the other one. She said that she liked it too, and that's what matters the most. Candi is going to be posting it as a header on her blog sometime in the future. It's not up there yet, so I guess you'll have to keep checking back until she gets it up. In the meantime you can order some yard candi from her.

In other news, I continue to add pages to my children picture book project. That's another one of the reasons I haven't been posting as much. I don't want to post any of that work here. Maybe someday you'll be able to order a copy of it off my blog. Just stay "tooned."

Elementary My Dear Principle

Mr. Town is the principle of the Pinewood Community School. Kathy, the school's Instructional Assistant, contacted me about creating a caricature of him to be presented as an end of the school year gift.

She wrote me and said, "He does this funny thing on our morning televised news program where he is 'Mr. Town, Defective Detective'. He plays a kazoo and uses a magnifying glass (much like Sherlock Holmes-type guy)."

So, once again, I went to the internet for artistic direction. This time it was the hunt for images of Sherlock Holmes. (Elementary ain't it?)

Mr. Town, I learned was also a bee keeper, and a Minnesota Twins fan. Thus the bees and the baseball pennant.

This is the finished product. What do you think, my dear Watson?

School's out. I hadn't heard what Mr. Town's response was, but I figure this being summer and all, he's probably a happy little principle either way.

Update: I received an e-mail from Sherlock Mr. Town himself this morning. He said, "Hey Rick, Loved the picture. It will be hanging in a place of honor in my office. My wife thought it looked just like me. I do work in the best elementary in the world. If you are ever out here stop in. Have a great summer! Sincerely, Cris"

Thank you for those kind words Mr. Town. Maybe I should take this opportunity to go back to grade school and do a better job.

Dog Fight

Candi contacted me about creating an illustration of her husband for their 34th wedding anniversary on May 31st.


She wrote me and said... "I would like you to do a drawing for me if possible. I know you hate drawing machines, but this one would have to have an airplane in it—a 45 year old Beechcraft Bonanza P-35."

Well, yes, I don't like drawing machines, but I like helping a couple of love birds celebrate their special day. I suggested the idea of sitting her hubby up in a desperate dog fight with the infamous Red Baron. I had fun searching the internet for images of the plane of the famed Germany pilot. There were even a few Snoopy pics that came up in the search.

I found this illustration of a dog fight and I really liked the clouds, so I decided to try and mimic them in my illustration.

Here's what I put together. Candi liked it. She said, " I received the drawing today and it’s perfect. My daughters also think it’s great (I emailed them the copy you sent me), and I’m sure my husband will love it. I’m going to try to get it framed before Sunday, but if I don’t, I’ll give it to him as is and frame it later. You really did a fantastic job. Thank you so much."

That's the kind of report I love to read! Reading things like "Perfect", "fantastic job" help this poor tender ego of mine. Mark Twain once said, "I can live for two months on a good compliment." Unfortunately for me I can only make it to the next day on a good one. I'm constantly needing image support.

Thank you Candi for your kind words, and for trusting me to help celebrate your anniversary. Congratulations on 34 years of marriage. Call me again when you make 68, and in the mean time, keep an eye on the sky!

We Have Lift Off!!

This is the follow-up attempt at creating a caricature for Katrina's parents. I am pleased to report that this version met with their approval.

Please scroll down to May 8th to make a comparison between the two caricatures. I think that you can see that I took a more "comedic" approach with this one. I feel much better knowing that Mom was pleased with the results.

Each doodle ends up being just a bit different. I never know how they will turn out. I think I like my sunset better in this one.

I really don't know if this is suppose to be a surprise gift for Dad, or if they just wanted a doodle. Either way, I can now rest easy knowing that I have another happy customer.

I'm trying really hard to keep my reputation in tack. (No comments please about the possibility of that happening.)

I'm now on to yet another doodle. Stay "tooned" to see what these little fingers of mine conjure up.

Another Reject

It is very important to me that my customers are satisfied with the art that I create for them. I want them to be able to look at it and enjoy their doodle always.

As I have shared in the past, occasionally I do get a less than favorable response regarding a piece. Here is another example of that.

Earlier I created a cari- cature of Katrina and her husband. That one "passed the mustard." After showing this attempt to Katrina and her mom, this one "died in the ketchup."

The concept is a road trip with their camper trailer to Hawaii—a fairly impossible scenario that Katrina's parents would love to play out.

I am now working on a second attempt. I have prior approval on the pen work from mom and daughter. So, stay "tooned" to see how I redeem myself and pull this one off.

Bob the Principal

Here's the final results on the illustration of Bob the Principal that I've been giving you a sneak peek of.

(Take a look at some of the previous post to see this doodle in progress.)

Now you can also see Bob himself and make comparison to my version of the man. He looks to be a nice enough fellow. I think that I would trust him with my kids.

As I stated before, at one time Bob was going to retire this year, and this was going to be a retirement gift. But, apparently he's had a change of heart and decided to stick around a while.

I think that when it comes for my time to retire (when I can actually afford the life of luxury that I've now come to expect) I'll be happy to do so. How about you?

This doodle is now destined to be a birthday gift for Bob come May 26th. In the mean time you can check out some of Terri's excellent looking recipes on a blog that would make a man trying to lose weight cry. (snif, snif) She's a principal too, so no running in the hallways over there.

Thanks Terri for choosing (use to be) little 'o me to help celebrate your husband's (now not) retirement. I'll look forward to hearing about his response. Please send photos.

Exploring Makayla

Leighann's daughter, Makayla is having a birthday soon. Her mommy and daddy wanted something for a party invitation. Makayla wanted a "Dora the Explorer" birthday. Leighann asked me to draw an illustration that had the both of them exploring together. She was a bit worried about copy right issues. I figured that (and hoped) that Dora wouldn't come exploring for me with her legal representation.

Leighann sent me this photo of her daughter. She's an adorable child and I wanted to get it right for her. This is want I came up with. (Sorry - eggless)

Unfortunately, this was the response I got from Leighann...

"Rick, I have to be honest, I like the drawing itself, but I don't think the face looks anything like Makayla."

I hate to admit it, but I feared that could be her response. I worked very hard to try and capture her face, but I wasn't sure that I had actually captured it. So, I wasn't totally surprised by her reaction.

I asked her if I could get some different photos for a second attempt. Sometimes getting just the right photo helps a lot. She kindly sent me several and this shot was among them.



Despite the fact that I had prac- tically "Dora" myself silly with the first one, I went back to work on a second caricature.

This is my second attempt. Leighann's response was totally different (thank the Lord)...

"LOVE IT! You picked a good photo to go by. I love the bracelet you put on her! We are having the kids make thier own "Dora bracelet" at the party... so that is really cool!"

That was the response I was looking for. Another happy customer.

Thanks Leighann for choosing me to help celebrate your daughter. She looks like a precious child. Give my birthday wishes to her. I hope that she likes it.