Keeping me awake !!

Ever get those jobs where you're champing at the bit to get at the Wacom - this is one such job.

After a week of toiling over wedding caricatures - nice but tame cutietures - this is like R & R !

The bearded Julia Gillard ...

Amongst the game playing in the first week of Parliament Prime Minister Julia Gillard expressed her disapproval at a couple of members who had returned from summer hols' with beards. (Story HERE)

Well curiosity got the better of me - Julia the Musketeer - I think it suits her.

Hello sailor .......

One of those jobs you enjoy doing - saw the photos for a 21st caricature from Mum and Dad - and they said 'go for it' - AND - Mum enthusiastically approved !

Vinny !

A bit of play in CS5 with multiply and a pencil brush on a parchment background.
A caricature of Vin Altamore an American caricaturist I have the utmost admiration for - and a nice bloke to boot !
He's the king of the cross hatch check out his stuff HERE
My unworthy attempts at emulating his style - sigh !

A belated Happy New Year !!

A belated Happy New Year to my three readers - first resolution for 2011  'I must regularly update my Blog ' - Fail !!

I have, for no reason I know of, had an unprecedented upsurge in commissions - in fact it's trebled from last year - there's a switch been flicked somewhere. I turned off Google Adwords two weeks ago ( that'll do for January I thought ) and they're still coming in. I've declined eight jobs this week alone, referring them to other caricaturists. As of 1st of Jan I also put all my prices up across the board - could that be it ?
I re jigged my website a couple of months ago and it certainly seems to have helped - I mustn't complain or the 'switch' might get turned off !

Here's a few of the faces from jobs passing through - jobs booked through until next year and 'chokker' until March - you beauty !

On a more sombre note yesterday I 'celebrated' my 60th Birthday - the kids want me to apply for a role on Grumpy Old Men because I sound like - and agree with - all of them !

I promise to update again very soon .......................... but if I forget you'll know why !

New blog - 'West Coast Smirks'

Well the Christmas rush is over and I've managed to put together a new blog, which I will run in conjunction with this one. Over the years I've had a go at a few local West Australian characters - union leaders, politicians, sportspersons etc. 

I've always thought it would be good to keep them all together in one collection - good for business too !

It will also force me to add to it - I have a list !

Probably of little interest outside this great State but here it is anyway -

http://perthcaricatures.blogspot.com/ 

Roll on January ................

Every time the phone rings it's " Tell them I've nearly finished it - I'll email them soon !"

Don't know why I took all these 'Chrissie' jobs but I'll be so happy when the big day has been and gone ......... merry .... baahh humbug !!

Christmas commissions ....

It's that time of year again where the gift caricatures are thick and fast - with a few live shows as well - make hay while the sun shines I guess.

Here's a few of the first batch - some serious underquoting on the trail bike one. Pleased how it turned out though.

Back into it ............

I'm BACK !!!

After many thousands of miles on Qantas (Rolls Royce engines 'an all !), cruise ships (without a fire in the engine rooms) and just a small dose of food poisoning in Morocco - I'm home !

Just had time before entering into a pile of commissions and live events to finally complete a total update of my website HERE.

Just wanted to get the Blog in action again ..... I'll soon bore you all with the holiday photos.

Blog hiatus ........

There will be an interlude in postings on the 'ol blog as next weekend Nola and I leave on a European holiday - a 12 day cruise of the Western Mediterranean, a week in Rome and the rest of the time visiting in the UK.

With the Aussie $ at all time high's against the Euro and Pound Stg should be less damaging than the last one.

We get back early November and then off to Melbourne for the ACA's Stanley Awards - looking forward to that - Jason Seiler et al !!

Bon Voyage ....... someone's got to do it

Weddings, weddings ........ it's Spring !

It's that time of year, Spring is in the air and weddings are the business !

Collage of recent wedding commissions two of them I also attended and did live caricatures at the reception.

I really must put together a formalised package for that and promote it.

Ronnie Burns

This is a commission from Tasmania for a Birthday gift for former Aussie 60's Pop star Ronnie Burns. I wasn't familiar him having grown up in the UK in the 60's where we had serious pop star overload and I think the only downunder stars to get a look in were The Easybeats and of course the BeeGees - hang on they were Poms !!

Ronnie has had a varied, but very successful career Pop star, TV host and then a builder. He settled in Tasmania and now runs Appin Hall which is a children's foundation, home and hostel for kids that have been neglected and suffer trauma.

He was a recent recipient of Tasmania's Australian of the Year.

Wayne Swan dressed down ..........

We've just had an election and the incumbent Labor government may, or may not hang on, it's that close. We have a strange system of preferential voting that may allow a party that get almost half a million less votes stay in power on blocks of second hand votes from a minor party ........ but I love this.

Wayne Swan, the treasurer, who has been proudly telling us for months he has saved us from the GFC, getting a well deserved bollocking ........... 'save and Labor treasurer' in the same sentence is an oxymoron.

Found this on Jason Chatfield's blog.

Whoops .......... !!

Had one of those days - the day before Friday the 13th - my wife driving to work when all the alarms went off in the car, overheated. A leak in the radiator - $515 later and a new radiator - all's OK !

Settled down to catch up on the work I hadn't done running around organising cars - over goes my coffee all over the Wacom and the keyboard ( I know no drinks near them - just like you don't !) The Wacom light flickered and then went out, opened the, case hair dryer etc - no good it won't resurrect. I thought the keyboard was OK until the Finder started getting a mind of its own - I mean opening 100 web pages at once, refusing to reboot and then also gave up the ghost.

That'll be expensive tomorrow - I'll have a quiet red to end a bad day. Opened a Shiraz, it fizzed when I poured it, smelt strange, a quick taste confirmed - yuk !! Down the sink.

Went to bed.

Sitting here wondering what today will bring after the small ceremony for the keyboard and Wacom .........................

ADDENDUM : Intuos 4 and new keyboard in place - an expensive couple of days !!

ADDENDUM 2 : put the Intuos 3 back together - one last try - it works !!

Now I'm being accused of a deliberate ploy to get a new tablet

Anyone want a pre loved Intuos 3 - smells a little of coffee ?

Case of good Shiraz will cover it.

News Ltd - who writes these headlines !!

Next month I'm off to the UK in one of the new Qantas A380's - looking forward to it.

Imagine my concern when I read the headline above online in WA Now - " shit an A380 has crashed !! "

The story is, en route from LA, it had to land in Noumea to take on extra fuel because of bad weather on the Australian Eastern seaboard. A normal precautionary procedure that caused a flight delay - not news at all really.

That is 'landed' not 'down' - strewth I'm glad I no longer buy newspapers - the old adage ' never let the truth get in the way of a good story '

I will point out News Ltd has had a long term anti Qantas vendetta - I don't really know which airline Mr Murdoch wants us all to fly but it's certainly not Qantas !

Matt Preston caricature

I had the misfortune to watch a couple of episodes of Masterchef during the last season - the first time to see what the fuss was about, the second because I was out of my comfort zone - ie didn't have control of the remote !!

Truly awful crass melodramatic commercial crap, the fact that it's the top rating show in the country makes me a little concerned about my fellow Australians and to make it worse both of my kids are victims too - ' ssshhh Dad - the souffle is a winner !!' - strewth.

This bloke, Matt Preston is one of the judges, they're all pompous bastards who really deserve to 'wear' a dish or two. Anyway here's my rendition of the said Mr Preston - I don't know why but my first view of him reminded me of Mr Creosote.

............ did I mention I wasn't really keen on the show !!!

For those that don't know Mr Creosote here's a clip - he's a food expert too.

'Send Off' commission ...

A 'send off' caricature for a long time employee in the AV industry - they loved it.

Did a four hour corporate 'live show' on a river cruise last night - usual trick, forgot my camera and my watch and my mobile ...

Live work ....

Just a couple of samples from a corporate show for a mining company at the Breakwater Tavern, Hillarys Boat Harbour - finally remembered my camera.

Worked with fellow ISCA member Jeremy Goodchild - no one was game to tell him he had a tea cosy on his head all night !!

.. another ho hum job !!

I try and make a genuine effort to keep the old Blog populated with some recent stuff, but, of late it's all been fairly hum drum jobs. This one turned out well with limited input from the client - ' here's a couple of photo's, put him in a nice suit and a glass of red, oh and no background'.

They were really happy with it but you can't help feeling apprehensive when given no direction - been there before !

I want one of those Gillard Goose jobs ..........

A few more commissions ............

A few recent commissions - the faces anyway - just so the 'ol Blog doesn't rust up !!

All Photoshop - of course !!!

One for Queensland, one for New South Wales and the four good looking ones for West Australia - you can't work them out can you ?