Ever since I was a little kid I’ve enjoyed caricatures. My first exposure to them was on the cover of the TV section of our local Sunday newspaper, The Indianapolis Star. Most Sundays the cover on the TV section was a photo but every now and then there would be a caricature, or caricatures, of stars from a weekly TV program. I absolutely loved looking at those covers, it was fun to do so. It seemed magical how an artist could capture the essence of a likeness of a person. Having the ability to do that was a dream I never thought would become a reality for me.
Fast forward many years… okay… many, MANY years. I became an artist and public school art teacher but never pursued becoming a caricaturist. Though I still found them fascinating I just never pursed becoming one. Then the motivation struck me and struck me hard. It was at an art materials conference in Detroit and I was standing in line at a felt marker booth where a caricaturist had been hired to draw caricatures of conference goers. Who wouldn’t want a fun caricature, especially if provided compliments of a marker company? Then a question for the caricaturist came from the lady in line in front of me that I’m sure had a greater impact on me than it did on anyone else. She informed the caricaturist she worked for a nearby college and wanted to know how much he would charge to come to do caricatures on campus. This is where I must help give some context by interjecting something I did on the side back home. To help with household bills while living on a young teacher’s salary I painted houses. It was work I enjoyed but it could be hot and sweaty and I never liked fighting with the wasps as I got close to their nests… especially two and three stories up outside on a ladder. Now back to the question presented to the caricaturist concerning his fee. He pleasantly answered the question, in part I’m sure in hopes of getting the college gig. I’m equally sure my jaw dropped at his answer. The amount he said per hour was exactly twice the amount per hour I charged for painting houses. My thinking immediately went to the fact that he was working indoors, in air conditioning, on carpet and talking with fun people. Painting houses I would often be outside, in blazing hot sun, three stories up on a ladder and fighting wasps. Yeah, I wanted to do what he was doing.
Having graduated with an art degree, working in an art field as a teacher and with several portraits already under my belt, I decided I was going to teach myself how to do caricatures. Looking back, I really don’t know how long it actually took to teach myself to do caricatures, working from magazine photos of celebrities and randomly having friends sit still for me, the time and practice went quickly… I’m sure because it was fun. Eventually I felt confident enough to hire myself out to do caricatures at a special event. The event turned out to be a post prom, one of those party-after-the-prom hosted by parents, at a nearby high school. Of course I was nervous, but everything went really well and the students seemed to have great fun with being caricatured and having a caricaturist at the event.
So there it is. Caricatures are fun to look at, fun to learn to do (for those inclined and determined to do so), fun to have done and a fun addition to virtually any special event. Though I enjoyed caricatures a lot as a child, there was no way for me to know back then how much the art of the caricature would make such a fun impact on my life, or add fun to the lives of those who have sat for me to get caricatured.
John Essex II is the artist/owner of EssexArt ABC, LLC, an art and entertainment company that specializes in art, bagpiping and caricaturing. https://www.facebook.com/EssexArt/
My daughter and I with author Ron Base at the Bimini Bait Shack… which is mentioned in the book. 🙂
EssexArt ABC 