Caricature Artist For A Day!

A few years ago I emailed the Ogden City Fair and asked if they needed a "Caricature Artist."  They wrote back and said yes, they want me.  You'd think I'd jump for joy, but instead I shook in my shoes.  I wrote back saying I wouldn't be able to attend after all.

About a month ago I decided to treat myself to Disneyland this coming July with my friends, and needed to save up some extra money.  I wrote the Provo Freedom Days committee and asked once again if I could do caricature art.  They said I could attend the "Circus Party" at the Provo River Woods June 22nd for free and name my own price!  Shaking again and frozen in my seat, I responded, "See you there!"

So many things to worry about!!

What if I draw someone ugly?  What if I make a girl cry cuz her nose is too big?  What if I can't draw and chat at the same time?  What if my pencil breaks?  What if I have to go to the bathroom?  What if the line gets backed up and 20 angry people are waiting because I'm taking too long?  What if someone requests a crazy pose I don't know how to do?  What if I get a family of 5 who all want to be in the same picture and I take forever?  What if I run out of cash and everyone has $20's?  How much do I charge??

Lucky for me, my roommate Alyssa decided at the last minute to come sit with me.  She ended up staying the whole 5 hours!  My other roommate Sarah showed up for a couple hours later too.  I was so grateful to not be alone and have someone help strike up conversations with people, sharpen pencils, keep track of who was in line next, and take care of all money transactions.  Thanks guys!

Well my first customer was a friend who came to support me.  Thanks Jake!  Way to help me get into my groove.  After that, a cute little girl maybe four years old sat for me, nice and still, with the prettiest smile!

She and her mom loved the drawing, and asked for my info so I could attend the girl's birthday carnival as a caricature artist.  Okay!!!  Now I'm feeling confident.  Then ....an entire hour of no business.  Finally we moved spots so we were closer to people, then I finally lowered my price from $10 to $5, charging $7 for couples.  Wouldn't ya know it, I was drawing the rest of the night after that!  I'm surprised to say I honestly loved every minute.  I feel like I mostly drew children under the age of 6, so they were easy to please.  Big eyes, little noses, cute smiles, and large foreheads.  Want to make something cute?  Big eyes and huge forehead.  I got to draw a few couples and adults too, and that was more intimidating but still fun!  Everyone seemed thrilled at the result, and I even had people standing over my shoulder almost the whole time.  A couple girls sat down and said they had watched me draw a while from behind before getting in line.  Yeah... I never dared to turn around so I couldn't tell you what it was like behind me.  I just kept drawing!

I used black Prisma Color Pencil on white card stock paper and drew on a clipboard.  I drew mostly from 5 pm to 9 pm (an hour after closing time due to the line of people who kept coming which I was happy about).  Now I'm ready to learn markers!  My wrist was killing me by 8 pm!  My hands were shaking and I couldn't take a break.  With markers I wouldn't ever have a reason to push so hard to get dark lines.  I drew about 36 heads all together and made $163!  That's my Disneyland ticket right there!

Two other people asked for my information, and one couple even wants me to attend their wedding reception as a caricature artist.  My head might be a little bigger now...  Anyway, I'm so glad I did it!

Here are some pictures!

This cute girl giggled and requested a huge mouth