Thanks for Supporting the Children's Miracle Network!

Thank you to all the guests that patiently waited for their turn to get drawn at the Caricature Stand at Costco and generously supported the Children's Miracle Network 2011 fundraising campaign. For the kids interested in attending my upcoming ARTSCool summer art camp Cartoon Sketching classes at The von Liebig Art Center, these are my scheduled 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm class periods:

• June -13-17,
• July 11-15, &
• August 1-5,

for further info and registration instructions check the ARTScool page. To view related blog posts of the class materials used, promotional events, and photo galleries of past ARTSCool classes simply click here.

UAC Immokalee Summer Art camps Tentative schedule 9:30 am to 12:30 pm and 1:30 pm to 4:30 pm

• July 1 - Asia
• July 21 - Antarctica
• July 28 - Africa

More Cartoon Portraits drawn at Costco for the Children's Miracle Network

Thanks Sandee for taking the picture shown above last Saturday, for I often tend to forget to take a picture of myself in action once I get a rhythm going at a given event. Today I spent a few more hours at the Naples Costco continuing the fund raising efforts for the Children's Miracle Network 2011 campaign.
Missed the "Pirate Crew" by a half an hour on account of rain. Thus had to set up by my lonesome to a slow start given the reduced crowds. Not surprisingly people do not seem to go out to shop much in the rain. The first few cartoon portraits were drawn from family photographs that associates had on hand.Drew two versions of Ava: one using the smaller 0.6 mm Sakura Pigma Sensei pen that allows for depiction of finer detail. Incidentally this was the version preferred by her father.
Drawn with a Sakura Pigma Sensei 1.0 mm marker pen. The thicker line strokes seem to give this version a cleaner cartoon look that also appealed to the following guest that also requested another Princess portrait.
Not surprisingly, "Princess" and "Butterfly Fairy" portraits were particular popular with the girls.
Requests from boys: rockstar, ninja, pirate, and dragon knight. You may view most of the cartoon portraits drawn today in my Flickr photostream: photo 1 through photo 15.
The only adult guest that modeled for her cartoon portrait today was also one of the top CMN fund raiser associates. Seemed quite appropriate.
Despite the rain, we still manage to raise some funds for a worthy cause. The number of guests willing to sit for 5 minutes to get their portrait drawn picked up quite a bit towards closing time. Might be able to make it to Costco for a few hours tomorrow afternoon in case you might want to get a couple of cartoon portraits drawn while supporting the Children's Miracle Network 2011 campaign.

Daler Rowney Simply Oil Pastels Set of 25 Quick Test

Searching for alternative coloring art materials for upcoming kids' summer art camp classes, decided to try a set of 25 Daler-Rowney Simply Oil Pastels found at a local big box retailer.
Color chart drawn on white card stock and a couple test doodles. Compared to colored pencils and fine point markers, oil pastels can cover the same area with bright color more quickly and can even be partially blended on the paper given their softness. Yet I found it harder to draw fine details with them, for they really lend themselves for a more expressionistic approach.
These oil pastels felt fairly smooth, delivered color quickly, and could be partially blended into each other. They crumbled more than wax crayons but they could be layered on top of each other a bit more easily even on smooth card stock. Would probably be a good idea to have a sink nearby or at least a tub of cleaning wipes to keep potential messes at bay. While messier than my usual choice of classroom art supplies, I think I will add a few oil pastels boxes to the pool of coloring tool options for my upcoming summer art camp classes.

ARTScool Prep: Getting the RoseArt Color Blanks samples ready

Since the test run was so much fun, I picked up a few more sets of RoseArt Color Blanks 2-packs at Target for the upcoming ARTScool cartoon sketching classes. During brainstorming sessions, students will doodle and explore possible characters and creatures until finding a favorite that could then be turn into a 3-D model using the Color Blank figurines.
To save storage space until ARTScool starts, I condensed all the packages into two class tubs separating the blank figurines and the permanent marker sets. Each student will work on their own character throughout the week of the summer art camp, and the completed figurine could be used as a reference model for drawing custom comic pages. Picked one of the blank walking figurines as a second sample.
After doodling a few possible designs for a ninja dragon, I used a black Shapie marker to lay down some coloring outlines on the Color Blank figurine. Using the 5 available surfaces on the cuboid head piece, four different ninja face plates were drawn on the sides and a screaming mouth was drawn on top. This should offer students more ideas for their own character development projects. Naturally for a given character, it would probably be best to stick to a single face on one side of the cube and then work out the proper corresponding sides, rear, and top views.Additional views of the coloring outline drawn on the disassembled figure can be found in my Flickr photostream: photo 1 to photo 10.
Going to let the black coloring outlines dry thoroughly before putting the figure back together. Will probably keep it unpainted until the first day of class since I already got a finished colored sample.Update 24 hours later: put the walking ninja figurine together and took a few photos from multiple angles.Main tip would be to take the figure apart before drawing or coloring it for smoother lines and less chance of accidentally smudging the fresh paint before it gets a chance to dry.

RoseArt Color Blanks and Sharpie Permanent Markers Rainy Day Fun

Found this forgotten carded set of 24 Sharpie Permanent Markers while cleaning out some old boxes, so spent some time doodling with them this evening.
Naturally had to try doodling a dragon on the included canvas bag.
Might used this custom decorated canvas bag as a prize in one of the cartooning classes.
Got this RoseArt Color Blanks 2-pack on clearance at Target, and thought that it would be a fun project to customize them with the set of 24 Sharpie Permanent Markers
Considered briefly to make a ninja in the planning stages, but ended up laying down the coloring outlines for a dual-headed monster instead.
Found the included mini permanent markers to be rather dull, so used mostly the Sharpie permanent markers to decorate the first Color Blank figurine.
"Altered Beast" head and rear view.
Pretty happy with the "Creature of the Black Lagoon". Fun activity for a rainy day. Just take adequate precautions to protect furniture from the permanent inks. Recommended.

Pirates at Costco - Fundraising for the Children's Miracle Network 2011 Campaign

Spent much of the afternoon raising funds for the Children's Miracle Network at the Naples Costco with this jolly group of pirates. Thanks for a very amusing afternoon guys. I think the team up was pretty successful since we managed to collect over $400 for such a good cause.
Oversize portrait of pirate couple #1: Jenn & Lee.
Amanda & Chris.
Oversize portrait of pirate couple #2.
Individual portraits of the Costco Pirates drawn as warm up for the day.


Many guests followed the trend set by the pirate troupe and asked to be drawn as pirates themselves.
In addition to the usual mermaids, fairies, and ninjas, we also had a few original requests. Judging form the remaining bags and boards (I started with 48, and had only 7 by the end of the day) used to package each finished cartoon portrait for their trip home, I probably drew 31 letter size cartoon portraits and 2 oversize portraits of the pirate couples between 11:50 am and 4:30 pm.
Siblings' cartoon portrait. This was Ryan's second sitting for the day. His reaction to his first cartoon portrait was priceless. Sadly none of us were ready with our cameras to capture that moment.
This young model could not make up his mind, so we ended up going with Alien -Hunter Wizard cartoon portrait.
This request from a teenage girl was a first: Medusa cartoon portrait.
Rabbit hunter. Plus it is the Chinese Year of the Rabbit. If there is enough interest, we might try a repeat performance this coming weekend.

Next Live Caricature Drawing Event: Participating in the Children's Miracle Nertwork 2011 Campaign

Attention Naples readers. I will be drawing live caricatures (manga-style cartoon portraits) tomorrow from 11 am -1 pm at the local Costco to raise funds for their Children's Miracle Network 2011 Campaign.Hope to see you there!

Pentel Color Pen Fine Point S-360 Gray Set

Thanks to George from My Supply Room got to try these vintage set of Gray Pentel Color Pen Fine Point Markers. While these markers were made in Japan in the past, it seems that the current version available in the market hails from Taiwan. They work well for writing and doodling for fun, so they would make a nice addition to kids' sketching kits. Yet from the product information and reviews, it seems like their water-based inks and bright colors might be prone to fading so use them accordingly. Besides online sources, they can often be found in wallet sets in the drafting section of office supplies stores.

Lighting for My Caricature Station: Ott-Lite TrueColor Clip-On Lamp

Searching for a lighting solution for my table easel used for drawing caricatures at events, I tried an inexpensive college clip on lamp from a big box retailer, but it soon proved to be inadequate.
Th adjustable flexible neck of this value lamp was rather weak and tended to sag blocking the view of the work surface.
This is the solution I found on sale at the local Jo-Ann store: the OttLite TrueColor Clip-on Lamp.Clear advantages of this Ott-Lite lamp: more streamlined profile is less obtrusive, and its sturdier flexible neck holds the angle of the light source steady where you want it.
Attached to the table next to the easel, it can provide adequate lighting both for the work surface and illuminating a sitting model at the same time.
Quite versatile choice for tight spaces with its adjustable flexible neck and portable enough for event sketching kit.
It worked quite well last night at a caricature drawing event to provide adequate lighting for my clip board and the models later in the evening. Still will have to test the durability of the plastic clip in the months to come, but its inital performance was quite satisfactory. Might be worth trying if found on sale or at online retail prices.