On the day that the heavens opened and covered the world in a thick layer of dandruff early this month I found myself caricaturing at a spectacular union between an american navy guy(with all his gung-ho colleagues in tow) and the daughter of a millionaire entrepreneur, in whose grounds the wedding was taking place. Characters were not in short supply then, from the overbearingly flirtatious to the pompous to the frightening to the cute!
Here are just a few;
I must update this blog more frequently! Many cartoonifying-people japes have occurred since my last post. Like the time in january when I was caricaturing on Hungerford bridge and three friends get caricatured. I ask them ‘Where are you off to now’ and they tell me about a friends’ party in her flat just by the london eye. Ever cheeky I imply I should be caricaturing at that party. 3 hours later I’m there, at the party(!). Here are some of the results below;
Yes, that IS a bed
Yes, that IS the star of channel 4 documentary ‘The Hotel’
…and I ended up working/showing off! Trawling through the 2011 archives I came across this photo, which is of artist Evangelos Kaimakis whose studio in Kerameikos, Athens I popped into with a friend(He was participating in ReMAP, where buildings over the whole area give themselves over to displaying art).
He was extremely friendly, and showed me a way of making portraits that involved a projector and enormous sheets of paper. Obviously I jumped in there and did a caricature of him. But as you can see he had a great face for it! 
In honour of our continuing dogged existence despite living in separate countries(!), I have drawn all the members of my band, Ben & the Immigrants(lead singer sold separately).
GIORGOS - Drums
JORGE - Lead Guitar
KOU - Rhythm guitar
ALBERT - Bass
VASILIS - Keyboards
Here are some of the caricatures from my ‘Help for Heroes’ charity gig I did before Christmas. Irrespective of rank, everyone got the same ridiculous treatment, as you will see below;
They asked for it like this, honestly!
I can now say I have worked with a Marilyn Monroe impersonator, a magician(with insane ‘triple-beard’) a chorus of showgirls and one other caricaturist. I could tell he was good from the moment I saw him, he had a bowtie.
Mechanical engineers are fun. Let no-one ever refute this fact. I had a ball at the Institute of Mechanical Engineers christmas bash, a good 3 hours caricaturing(My hand! My hand!!), the highlight of which was caricaturing a boy who looked exactly like Justin Bieber(Who everyone in earshot had nicknamed ‘Bieber’ accordingly).
My longest distance caricature jaunt yet, to remotest Charlbury I did go, suited, booted, and ready for the Paradigm Services* Masquerade Ball!
Many hilarious headresses, masks, wierd hairstyles and cummerbunds were drawn that night, but here is the cream of the lot. Tonight’s prize goes to…..
…crazy georgian couple!!
*Not, suprisingly, the front for Dr Evil’s nefarious operations
It was a blast from the past to meet the whole staff of a primary school the other day for their xmas party, as it was about this time last year that I left working in a school myself. School staff definetly know how to have fun, and the crowd were in good form.
I caricatured my first ever christening party the other day!
Here is what Chanelle Hunte, the mum said about the caricatures;
‘Just wanted to once again say thank you for caricaturing at my daughters christening on Saturday! The caricatures added something a little different to the day and was well received by everyone!
Sorry about all the chaos on the day I was running around like a headless chicken however you got on with it and interacted well with everyone regardless.
I won’t hesitate to include you in my next event and to recommend your services to anyone!’
As I walked up the foggy canal toward the Cornelius restaurant, it looked just like an old shack on the bayou, and I thought, ‘What the heck am I just about to walk into’?! As soon as I entered however I was greeted warmly by Julia, whose son’s birthday I then proceeded to chronicle through the medium of cartoon, and a right royal russian knees-up it was too!
The other day I was emailed by the How-to Website Videojug, and they asked me if I could present a short video on how to make a caricature. It sounded like an awful lot of fun so I jumped at the chance, and here are the results!
(P.S; The video should be out in feb!)
I was invited to draw at a birthday in South Kensington last night, and upon getting there I was asked by the organiser if I could draw EVERYONE THERE. I took the challenge, and drew every 30 of them while they ate, though tricky, I cannot resist a challenge!
Ashford, Kent, and caricaturing the very lively bunch who work at Eurostar was a blast. This time I bought Henry, my hedgehog mascot, and the caricatures improved considerably, someone even had a caricature with him in their arms!
Kate Moss.
Self-portrait by Joost Swarte, 2011.
oh man my hopey jacket is gonna be done any minute now
claire! your L+R posts reminded me of this jacket....
Michael Kiwanuka warm up sketch. Came across his album a few days ago, really good stuff.
Just gonna leave these here…
