Caricaturebizguru

Caricature Tutorials

2011-11-11T17:23:00.000-08:00

Here's some links to some of the better tutorials on caricature out there. Feel free to comment and add your own:

From Tom Richmond's blog. This is the MOTHER of all caricature drawing tutorial sites. Browse around, you'll find it MOST helpful. These are just a few posts that I've found helpful:

www.tomrichmond.com/.../how-to-draw-caricatures-1-the-5-shapes
http://www.tomrichmond.com/blog/?p=1799
http://www.tomrichmond.com/blog/?p=181

Joe Bluhm has some excellent video tutorials. His voiceover is interesting and informative
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uiqvd__4u0&feature=related

Illustrator Court Jones' PDF caricature tutorial:
http://www.courtjones.com/images/Downloads/CourtJonesTutorial.pdf

There are a LOT of you tube tutorials out there, and not all are all that great. These are some of the better ones:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TL7alYFNKsw&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRiJ1ZW8EH4&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vv3NTK8_0ts&feature=related

Tutorials you can buy by experts

Jason Seiler (most excellent, I own my own copy and I'm a pro!)
http://jasonseilerdepot.blogspot.com/2009/06/sketching-with-jason-seiler-dvd.html

Jim VanDerKyl
http://www.sketchme.com/

How to Budget Your Cash for Winter

2011-11-04T11:44:00.000-07:00

Its tough working in our business if only for the fact that most of us don't work year-round at our concessions. And those of us who do don't usually make a ton of cash in the winter. Plus most of us work on a cash-only basis, so there's a real temptation to spend spend spend all summer while the dough is rolling in, but then come November most of us are screwed. Some of us even have to GET A REAL JOB (audible gasp).

Here's a system I learned from a credit counselor on how to avoid those end-of-October blues. Even though it's November, start NOW. If you've saved up for the winter, this is a great way to see if you've saved enough, and will motivate you to market yourself more over the Winter (You DO market yourself, right?)

INTRODUCING: THE ENVELOPE SYSTEM

It's really pretty simple. If all you use is cash (and if you don't you might consider cuttting up that plasic ASAP!) then you basically need to make a budget, put money in the envelopes, and (this is key) NOT TOUCH IT unless you need it. Here's how:

You'll need:

A notebook and pen
A calculator
All your bills
A calendar
A box of envelopes

STEPS:

1. Make three columns in your notebook. The first column should be the biggest.

In The first column, list every single bill that you have (name will do it). You'll also need to list every expense that you have, both business and personal. For a quick and easy template that you can print out for FREE, check out this site: http://frugalliving.about.com/library/pdfs/BudgetWorksheet.pdf

They are missing a few categories, such as birthdays and holidays (like Christmas).
Also they don't have any categories for a sole proprietorship. If you're not a sole proprietor, consider making an entire budget just for your business based on the same model below. If you are a sole proprietor, add categories such as Marketing (business cards, flyers, postcards, adsense) and Materials (easel, markers, colors, paper, etc.).

2. In the next column, list each monthly payment. If you have a bill that is due, say, every six weeks, figure out exactly how much you'll have to pay per month. For now, just use the lowest monthly payment on each bill. Leave the last column blank for now as well.

3. For expenses such as gifts, look at a yearly calendar. On a new sheet of paper, write down each and every person you will get a gift for for their birthday, anniversary or holiday. Estimate how much you want to spend on each person and write it next to the person. Add these all together, then divide by 12 to help you figure out how much you need to save each month on gifts. Add this to your main budget page. You can do the exact same thing with your business expenses. Estimate how much paper, pens and artstix you go through in a typical week, and figure out the cost. Same for Marketing.

4. Now divide each figure by FOUR to get your WEEKLY BUDGET (I find this easier than monthly for what we do.) Place this figure in the last column for each budget item.

5. Take out your envelopes and label one for each and every expense. Write down the monthly and weekly payment on each envelope.

5. Place the envelopes in order of importance (rent and car payments go on top, for example).

6. Place money in the most important envelopes as you earn cash. Fill up the lesser envelopes afterwards. This is much easier in the spring summer and fall than in the winter, which is why it's IMPERATIVE that you don't touch the envelopes!

7. If you're rolling in the dough in July, for instance, consider filling up envelopes for November, December, January and February AHEAD of time. THIS is what will get you through the winter.

8. If your expenses exceed your income... you're screwed.

Well, OK, not really. But you may want to a) cut back and/or b) get a part time job c) market yourself better. Check out one of my posts on how to market yourself at http://caricaturebizguru.blogspot.com/2011/10/10-unique-ways-to-give-out-business.html

Now if I could just get my husband to stop opening the envelopes...

How to do your very First Gig

2011-11-02T20:34:00.000-07:00

So you got your first gig lined up. It's all confirmed. All you've gotta do is...

what?

If you don't know, read on.

First, congratulations. You've embarked on a journey to a new career in life. Gigs are a great way to get paid to do something you love - making fun of people. But seriously, gigs are how I make my bread and butter. Market yourself enough and you can do this full time and actually make a living doing something you love.

So what do you do?

First, make sure you have a written contract. You're going to have to make one up yourself. you need their contact information including phone number the DAY OF THE GIG. You'll need their name and address, AND the address of the gig.

Second, Double check your times and location a few days before the event. I've done thousands of gigs and it's rare but sometimes they give you the wrong information. The hostess usually appreciated a call as well.

Third, make sure you have all of your materials. Put them in your car ahead of time. A Windsor portable easel is great, you can get one for as cheap as $45.00 at Blick, but more often they run in the $75.00 range. If you don't have the dough for an easel, you soon will. Just bring a backboard (about $10.00 for the particle board kind) and rest it on a table. You'll need a backboard if you're using an easel too. Bring plenty of paper and markers, as well as either bags or rubber bands. I prefer rubber bands at gigs. I like to use a fanny pack to keep them in, to hold my markers, and to collect tips. You might want to invest in cheap portable clip-on lights, they're $5.99 at Loews. Also I always bring duct tape. You never know when a floor will be too slippery for your easel, your easel will break, etc. I used to bring chairs too but now I ask the host to supply them.And DEFINITELY bring a bunch of business cards. When I book my own gigs, I hand them out to EVERYONE (including kids; I tell them to give it to their mom.) A little shameless self-promotion never hurt anyone :)

Fourth, the day of your gig, make sure you have all your gig clothes laid out and ready to go. What you choose to wear is up to you, unless you're working for an agent who tells you what to wear. I NEVER recommend jeans. And I always try to look professional. Often I'll wear a dress. If you're female, try not to show too much cleavage.or leg. The men might like it but the hostess probably won't (in my experience nearly 90% of my gigs are booked by women).

Fifth: try to relax. I used to get panic attacks every time I did a gig for the first FIVE YEARS. THIS IS NORMAL. Just breathe deep and know the you can do it! It's not that hard. Really. I promise.

Sixth: Leave extra early. Much better to be early than late. Meet the host/hostess. Scope out your site. Make sure there's enough light and that a) you won't get trampled by traffic and b) you're not totally out of sight so that guests can find you.

Seventh: Set up your kit. Hang a sign if you like that tells your hours. This helps cut down people trying to get "one last drawing" at the end (see my tips for not having this happen).

Eighth: Draw! If you've drawn in a retail environment before, then great. You know how important speed is. If not, try your best to do one sketch every five minutes or less. I like to introduce myself to each person who sits in the chair, give them a little instruction, then ask what they do or where they're from. You'll get the hang of talking while you draw. It's actually a fun part of the job. Hand each person their rubber-banded art along with a business card. You'll be guaranteed to get more business!

Ninth: HAVE FUN!

Tenth: Get paid. This is the BEST part. And what'll keep you doing gigs again and again and again!

Best of luck - and let me know how it went!

101 Ways to avoid Procrastination

2011-11-02T11:39:00.001-07:00

I'll post more on this later.

heh heh.

Resource books for getting better at Caricature

2011-10-30T11:34:00.001-07:00

For pros:

http://www.tomrichmond.com/blog/2011/10/27/praise-for-the-mad-art-of-caricature/
Available only at Tom richmonds site, this is possibly the best caricature
drawing book out there. I recommend it for EVERYONE.

Expressions by Mark Simon. Anybook in this series is very helpful.
http://www.expressions-books.com
A Caricaturist's Handbook: How to Draw Caricatures and Master Exaggeration
Jim van der Keyl, Tracie L Cannon

Rejects by Joe Bluhm

The Complete Book of Caricature
Bob Staake

Live & Learn: Expressive Drawing: A Practical Guide to Freeing the Artist Within
Steven Aimone

Artist's Way
Julia Cameron, Mark Bryan
An excellent 12 week course in a book designed to help unblock the blocked
artist. I highly recommend it.

For anyone wanting to learn HOW TO Caricature:

Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain: The Definitive, 4th Edition
Betty Edwards - This is gra=eat to help teach you how to draw, period.

Drawing the Human Head (Practical Art Books)
Burne Hogarth

Face Off: How to Draw Amazing Caricatures & Comic Portraits
Harry Hamernik
(19)

Drawing Caricatures: How to Create Successful Caricatures in a Range of Styles
Martin Pope

How To Draw Caricatures
Lenn Redman
A classic

Cartooning, Caricature and Animation Made Easy (Dover Art Instruction)
Chuck Thorndike

12 ways to get customers to sit when it's slow

2011-10-30T11:06:00.000-07:00

1. Display a piece of your work on your easel. Or at least have a sign that says
CARICATURES - only takes three to five minutes! Your easel should NEVER be blank. That's missing out on free advertising! Nine times out of ten people look at what's on your easel before they even check out your prices, so why not capitalize on it?

2. Unobtrusively point to your easel or your pricing sign while standing. I like to use a marker to do this so people know I'm an artist ( Maybe it's cuz I'm a girl but often people are surprised that I draw. Which tends to give me a bit of a complex.)

3. STAND. Look like you're ready to draw. Don't be farting around on your iPhone! Kamans policy (the big name in caricatures at amusement parks for those of you who don't know) is that all artists must stand unless drawing. If they do it, it's for a good reason. Standing makes you look ready to roll and customers will more readily approach you if you're standing.

4. Sketch. Either yourself, from your phone, or one of your drawing partners. Looking busy with drawing cam often get a line started.

5. Offer to draw people for free and if they like it they can buy it, but let
them know there's no obligation to buy.

6. Make eye contact and smile at passers-by

7. If you are a sole proprietor, fiddle around with your pricing. Consider lowering your prices if
you hear "It's too expensive" a lot. Or offer a discount for families. Lots of business for cheap = lots of business. No business for more expensive = no business. Consider adding a quickie profile
drawing for $5.00. I can literally make a thousand dollars in a day at my stand in Pennsylvania with "quicksketch" prices. Just make sure you're not doing erlaborate works of art for that price. It's called "quicksketch" for a reason, folks.

8. Make sure your signage is clear and concise. A picture of a sample above the price and what it's called ("black and white head and shoulders" is less confusing to the public than "B & W" or "black and white face") works very well. I fiddled with this formula for YEARS before I got it down pat.

9. Be silly. Sing. Do a little dance. Making people laugh is half the sale.

10. ASK FOR THE SALE. But don't do it too soon, which tends to frighten people
away. Let them look at your prices first. Then let them know you can help them if
they need it. They'll usually ask a question or two, then look at each other.
THAT'S the time to ask "you guys wanna get a drawing?"

11. Use cleverness in your signage. I write "squirmy kids are specialty" on my
signs, which gets a laugh and also get folks thinking.

12. Educate your customers. Most people want to know the price and how long it
takes. If you answer these two questions BEFORE they're asked, you break down their
resistance that much faster.

The key to most of this is to FIDDLE. Fiddle around with signage, your patter, your sales style. Watch how good salesmen do it, even when you're at the mall. You're sure to pick up a few tips

What's in a (business) Name?

2011-10-30T10:56:00.000-07:00

Followers of the ancient Kabballah believe that a Childs' name determines his destiny. I think
this is true of small businesses as well.

So what's your business name? If you don't have one yet, or even if you do, read the article below, you may come up with some new ideas.

You could go the easy way and go with "Caricatures by Joe Shmoe." Most caricaturists I know do this. This works especially well for individual artists since you don't have to trademark your
name. It also simplifies things at tax time for sole proprietors. Pretty straightforward too, which has the advantage of helping to "brand" yourself. You don't have to be a sole proprietor to use this method; Kaman's Art Shoppes is an example of a larger business that chose to go this route.

Then there are those of us who want to be a bit more creative. Or funny. Krandel Newton's "Butt
Sketches" comes to mind. This is a terrific way to draw attention to your business.

My sole proprietorship is named "Making Faces," I have a small caricature logo of myself sticking out my tongue I always place underneath it on business cards. Always got me plenty of attention, which translated into a lot of busine$$.

There are plenty of creative names out there, such as Robert Bauer's "Goofy Faces," a bit of a larger company, and Ron Kantrowitzes "Mugshotz." This method has the advantages of standing out from amongst the crowd, although you'll have to do a little legwork in order to secure your business name.

First go to www.trademarkia.com to trademark your new name. You'll need to do a search to make sure no one else has your name in our field, but you can do that right on the site. Next you'll need to go to your local business licencing department in your area and get an assumed name certificate. And make sure you get the domain name for your website before someone else snatches it up! They're only usually about $12.00 and you can do a free search as well as purchase your domain name at www.godaddy.com.

Whichever you decide - straightforward or creative, its imperative that your
business name makes it self-evident that you're a caricaturist. Or a comic book artist. Or whatever your chosen field is.

Also keep in mind that your name will probably show up alphabetically on agents
lists and on lists on the Internet, so you want a name that will show up alphabetically, for example, A+ caricatures.

The adding of -icatures or -atures to a noun (for example, ipadatures TM) is a trend that seems to be on the downswing. The drawback of this type of name is that it's NOT recognizable to the general public as a niche in the caricature market. When people see this type of hybrid name, they often wind up scratching their heads and saying "huh?" Not very good for advertising when you have to explain your name to each and every one of your customers.

Several of the newer businesses out there such as Sean Garners "Zombie
Caricatures TM", and "Facetime Caricatures TM", are opting not to go in that
direction.

Finally, remember that you'll be using this name a LOT. It's like naming a
child. You'd better be able to love hearing it, saying it and typing it ad
nauseum.

Name your "child" well, and watch it grow into a full-grown adult with pride!

10 Artbiz uses for your smartphone

2011-10-30T10:47:00.000-07:00

Ok I admit it. I'm a bit of a technophobe. Im a gen-exer. I My family didn't get

a VCR til I was 12 years old, i got my first laptop last year, I and until two

months ago, I still had an old flip phone.

I decided to get a new iPhone when I was promoted to marketing director of

caricature cinema. But even though I knew I needed one, I still balked through

the entire process.

I hate salesmen and their transparent manipulations. I have severe anxiety about

trying to learn how to use new technology, especially when it's on something I

USE every day like my phone. (I mean, I put off learning to use my new laptop

til last month).

Let me tell you something. If you're actechnophobe like me, (and in my

experience most artists are not only afraid of technology, they're by and large

a bit neurotic. Not a good combination when it comes to this stuff), and you're

still not using a smartphone, it will CHANGE YOUR LIFE.

I mean, after you get one you'll waste every waking minute of the next month

farting around on it and figuring it out, but that's a small price to pay for a portable hand held laptop.

Which is exactly what my iphone4 is.

You can do all kinds of amazing things on this thing. In fact, I'm typing on it right now. Below, You’ll find some cool things you can do with a smartphone. I HIGHLY recommend you go get yourself one – or you could always ask santa ;)

10 ways to use your iPhone for your art biz:

1. Sketch photos of kids during downtime at your stand to pull in business. I
find kids work best because of the "cute" factor.

2. Find celebrity pics to draw from and bookmark them.

3. Write your next blog post (like I'm doing right now)

4. Update your social networks with actual news about your biz(not just pictures
of your cat). Facebook and twitter, of course, but also deviantart, linkedin, and photobucket are important to update periodically.

5. Sign up for http://www.caricature.org/ if you haven't already. It's worth the $50 fee.
It's always astonishing to me when I meet a caricaturist who isn't a part of ISCA,
but it happens all the time. The ISCA is the INternational Society of Caricature Artists. It's open to anyone who loves the art of caricature (not just professionals - but it may well open the door for you to become a pro!) They have a forum where you can post your work and get critiques, as well as an annual convention held the second week of November. This may well change your life, especially if you go to the conventions. It changed mine - I married a caricaturist I met there!

6. Broadcast yourself drawing live. At least have someone recording you draw. Use this for publicity on your website or blog or even just to show the guy on the subway what you do.

7. Take pictures of your best drawings to use as samples
8. Create art with apps such as MyPaint Free.

9. Use it to market yourself when networking with people. When they ask about
your work, just whip out your phone!

10. Use your maps function to route your gigs. Make a wrong turn? No problem!
Just press "edit" and then "route" using your current address. It'll update your route
immediately. No more mapquest or gps blues! And you'll Never be late to a gig again!

If you haven't got a smartphone yet, seriously, go get one! It'll change the way you do business.

Your Number One Marketing Tool

2011-10-30T10:38:00.000-07:00

For those of us who are self-employed as artists, even if it's only part time, business
cards are our most important marketing tool. It's what gets you noticed - or not. It's really imperative to your business that your card not only stands out from the rest, but that it also advertises what you DO in a clear concise manner.

There are a number of ways to ensure that your business card stands out. In this
article I've taken some ideas from Writers digests' Illustrators guide as well
as from Guerilla Marketing and applied them to caricature.

First let's consider format. Vertical format stands out simply because most
professionals use horozontal. And who says your card has to be stock sized
business cards? You can get 500 postcards custom printed for $63.00 here:
http://www.printplace.com/printing/cheap-postcard-printing.aspx. I recently met a professional who handed me a CLEAR business card. Wow, did that make an impression!
It's DIFFERENT that is key. How many boring business cards do YOU actually keep? I guarantee you, I k ept that clear one.

Another way to make your card stand out is Artwork. It goes without saying that you should use your own artowrk, and your very best at that, although it should be easily reducible to postage-stamp size and yet still retain its visual integrity.

The Artwork you use on your business card should be indicative of your style. If you do illustrations or use alternate media as well as parties and those styles are vastly different,
consider creating two business cards with different artwork.

I highly recommend using a "selfie," (self caricature) for your logo. This helps
to "brand" you to your business name. The drawback is it will need to be updated
as your skills increase.
Using celebrities, even dead ones, can be tricky. For instance, using Elvis as a
logo could subject you to legal action by his estate, and there are plenty of other dead celebrities who are just as tricky to use..

If you've done a really great caricature of, say, brad Pitt, and you want to use
it as your logo, you CAN do it, but the rules are a little tricky. Check out
this site first to learn about copyright law when using a celebrities image.
http://library.findlaw.com/2003/Dec/1/133182.html.

So your very best, preferably color (unless you only do black and white) selfie
that is easily reducible is preferable. I used a black and white line drawing for my selfie for years. THis worked really well for me because I specialize in parties, and black and white is generally what I do.

Underneath your logo (or sometimes over it, you can get creative with the
design) is the Header. This is your business name. (read my article on naming your business for more info on this),. Your name alone can catch you a lot of attention, especially if it's funny, so choose carefully.
When placing your Header, make sure your font is
legible. Many fonts don't reduce well, and some printers (such as Staples) only
allow certain fonts.

Tag lines sometimes go underneath your Header. Tag lines are a good way to incorporate humor into your cards. Mine read "squirmy kids are my specialty" underneath the Headung of my business, Making Faces. Gets a lot of attention!
Next, make sure you include ALL of your contact info. Name, cell, email, blog, website and how to follow you on fb and twitter. great to get people following you who aren't artists, and let's face it, that's how to get sales.

The copy, or the advertising portion, of your card is the most important part.
This is what sells you. Sadly, many artists just place their name and
"illustrator" underneath. Or they don't even explain what they do. If you're doing this, you're missing out on using business cards to your best advantage. If you do parties, SAY SO. My
cards read " perfect for parties, great as gifts." Others list their services. Figure out what makes you the most KA-CHING (parties? Illustrations? Murals? etc) and PUT IT ON YOUR CARD.

Finally, Consider using both sides of your business card. Printing isn't much
more expensive and you can put a coupon on the back for next time or a percentage off
parties. You can also use it to quote your speeds and rates.

Whatever design you choose, get them made and HAND THEM OUT TO EVERYONE. I'll be
posting some guerilla marketing ways to hand out cards in my next post. Til then, happy
designing!

Preventing the "I worked extra time didnt get paid" Blues

2011-10-29T18:07:00.000-07:00

We've all been there. I was there today, in fact. I'll tell you what I did at the end of my post, but in the meantime, read on to see what you can do to prevent this syndrome:

1. Know how fast you draw. This is imperative when booking your own gigs. The first question you should ask your prospective client is "How many guests do you expect?" then you can give them an intelligent estimate for how long they will need you, and if you perhaps might need to recommend another artist.

2. When booking your own gigs, explain beforehand that the above is an estimate, and if they want everyone drawn at their event you might go over, especially if more guests show up than expected (or if adults demand drawings when it's supposed to be kids only). Tell them nicely you'll be glad to pro-rate to the nearest quarter hour, and that they are paying for your time. Then put it in your contract (you do have a contract, right?). More often than not, as long as you explain this beforehand, your client will be happy to pay you for your time if you go over.

3. For agented gigs where you're slated to work for a certain amount of time: Again, knowing how fast you draw is imperative. I know that at most gigs where I'm drawing the public for "free" that I need to cut off the line about a half an hour before I'm scheduled to stop drawing (this happened today). Sometimes it's more if I have a huge line, it's a good idea to keep an eye on your queue for this reason.(It's also a good idea to take a headcount). Whenever I'm ready to cut my line off, I like to enlist the help of a big strong-looking guy at the end of my line. The more tattoos, the better. Briefly explain the situation and ask him to hold a sign that says "I AM LAST IN LINE." If you can get him sympathetic with you, he'll act as your bouncer. Again, I did this today.

But today, I STILL wound up drawing because people were cutting in line AHEAD of my "bouncer". If you see this happening, you can always take a piece of paper and number it from, say, 1-10. Give the remaining people in line a "ticket" and you won't have a problem refusing people who don't have one.

I didn't see this happening because I was too busy drawing today.

So instead, I got shafted.

Which happens.

And when it does, the professional thing to do is keep drawing til you reach the "end of the line" sign. Which I did. And boy, was I glad I did, because the last customer was one of the shop owners for the grand opening I was working. She was happy with my work (even though I was going faster than the speed of light at that point), but more importantly, she was happy with my PROFESSIONALISM. And she said she'd pass on a good word to my agent for me.

You never know when this might be the case. I find a lot of times organizers for an event go last because they were busy during the event. And although it might be a pain, it's still good business. Good word of mouth is priceless, especially in a specialized field like ours where people judge what we do by the one or two artists they stumble upon.

So do yourself (and the rest of us) a favor, be professional, smile, do those last few drawings as fast as you can, and leave with a smile.

Then go home and bitch about it on Facebook :)

Catching a likeness: Expressions

2011-10-28T16:36:00.000-07:00

I drew a guy last night who wanted to look "sexy." "Sexy," he kept saying, "make me look sexy." Aside from the fact that he was really drunk, I also thought that was rather egotistical of him. But, I set out to make him look sexy because I thought it would make him happy, and that would make my agent happy, which would in turn get me more gigs.

When I turned the drawing around for him to see, he said, "Oh! You made me look... smug."

Yeah, I guess that was what I was looking for. Sexy and Smug. I laughed and said "Yeah, well, you want to look sexy, that's kind of smug of you." He laughed too and it was all good.

People throughout the years have told me that I really can capture a likeness well. It's not that I'm a great artist. It's a secret I'm more than happy to share. Here's my secret:

As soon as a person sits down, I think of ONE WORD that describes them. Sometimes, the word is "smug." Sometimes, "Drunk." Sometimes its wallflower, or hippy, or happy, or intense, or sadsack, or even Irish or Italian. Sometimes its cutesy, sometimes it's twinkly-eyed or troublemaker (my personal favorite). But I always think of one (sometimes more than one) word that describes them to a "T."

Once I figure out that ONE WORD that describes the person, I set out to give them an EXPRESSION that exemplifies this.

As soon as I figure out how to post pictures to my blog, I'll post some examples.

I remember a few years ago I was at a seminar where Joe Bluhm was talking about caricature. He said that the person's personality has nothing at all to do with the exaggerations in his drawings. While I am nowhere NEAR the artist that Joe is, I respectfully disagree. Years of studying people's features, expressions, gestures and body language have enabled me to peg a person the second I meet them (or the second they sit to be drawn). And this is what has enabled me to catch that likeness almost every time.

It doesn't cost anything and it's worth a try!

8 TIPS TO MAKING MORE TIPS

2011-10-27T15:34:00.000-07:00

I've experimented a lot over the years and here's my best secret Tips for making Tips. Please feel free to add yours to the end of this post! I expect about 10% to 15% in tips at gigs or at my retail location. If you make more than that, you're doing great! If not, try some of these ideas below:

1. Give Better Service. (see previous post). I've gotten as much as $200 in tips for a three-hour gig because of my SERVICE skills set, which, I'm sad to say, is much higher than my art skills set. Service skills includes your salesmanship, professionalism, and ability to entertain. Your service skills are JUST as important as your artistic skills at gigs, retail locations, and to a degree, with illustration work.

2. Put out a clear cup with a while sticker label that says "Tips are Very Appreciated" on the side. You can also write something funny such as "Starving Artist Fund", though I've found the former to be more effective. "Seed" the cup with money. Higher bills tend to get customers to tip more. The last gig I worked was a "rich" crowd (entrepreneurs) so I put out a twenty. I received three twenty-dollar-bills in tips and many more tens and fives. My drawing partner was aghast. Why? It WORKS.

3. Draw faster. More drawings = more tips.

4.On the back of your drawing board, which customers are staring at anyway, is the perfect place for writing advertising for yourself. In thick black marker, write " Tips Are Very Appreciated." Or pre-print a sign on your computer and tape it to the back of your drawing board. Be careful you don't do this at gigs where tipping is frowned upon - you can always tape a piece of paper over it if necessary.

5. Everyplace you have "Tips are Appreciated", draw a SMILEY FACE AFTERWARDS. It might turn your stomach, but it has actually been proven among marketers to put people in a better mood, and if they're in a better mood, they're more likely to tip. Believe it or not, This actually works.

6. At gigs where youre allowed to take tips but asking for them is frowned upon: Near your tip sign on the back of your easel, place a line of double-sided tape down the back of your easel. Place a twenty on the tape and watch the seed grow!

7. At festivals or small retail locations: Set your pricing so that people are more likely to say "Keep the Change" (example: Charge $17.00 and people will likely give you the extra three in change).

8. Show some Cleavage.

Just kidding. Actually, the point of that was to make you smile. And if you can make people laugh, so much the better. LAUGHTER = TIPS. So use your drawings, your patter, and your OWN laughter to make people laugh. Isn't that the best part of what we do? People will love you for it and you will DEFINITELY see returns in your tips.

A word of caution: Some agents frown on the practice of taking tips. If you're working for an agent, make sure you find out their policy on tips before you take any.

Good Luck! And remember... TIPS ARE VERY APPRECIATED :)

Increase Your Service Skills, Make More $$$

2011-10-27T15:29:00.000-07:00

You can slave away all night and day striving to get better as an artist, you can win award after award at conventions for your art, you can get published on magazine covers... but how does this translate into better retail and/or gig sales?

Mostly, it doesn't. Most people out there think of us as magicians, in a way. They think this about ALL of us, even the beginners and artists who haven't worked much to improve their art. (for tips on improving your art, see my previous post). They'll buy it even if it's not the best because to them, it's MAGIC.

If you want to make more money as a caricaturist (and who doesn't?), you need to pay AS MUCH ATTENTION to your Service Skills Set as you do to the quality of your artwork. If you do, you'll have a leg up on the competition, because many caricaturists don't bother with this aspect of our business.

What, you ask, are "service skills?" Well, I'll tell you, since you asked.

Service skills for what we do can be broken into three major categories:

1. Professionalism (showing up early, being dressed for the event you're working, coming prepared, etc.)

2. Salesmanship (learning more about the art of selling is a key part of our job. I read everything that comes down the pike on sales, which is why I'm consistently the top salesperson on our crew)

3. Entertainment (Laughter=Moolah. But you knew that. Didn't you?)

In future posts I plan on touching on each of these subjects thoroughly, but for now I'll give you some tips to enhance each of these areas immediately.

1. Don't hate on your customers. The first time I heard Adam English sing "The day I killed all the customers," I blew soda out my nose with laughter, but I don't really feel that way. My customers enable me to make a decent living doing something I love. Yours do too. They are your bread and butter, so give them what they want. That's not to say you cant exaggerate, but gauge first whether the person can take it. You can also prevent hard feelings (and a loss of sales) by WARNING PEOPLE AHEAD OF TIME that you re going to mess them up! Do so in a humorous way and you're framing your art for them so that they aren't insulted but instead find it funny.

2. SMILE. SOOOOOooooooo important! Bell telephone company did a study back in the day and found that when the operators smiled when they talked, they had significantly less complaints. Your smile even shows through in your voice on the phone! When talking to ANY potential customers, even over the phone, SMILE.

3. Introduce yourself. People have anxiety about getting caricatures drawn. Introducing yourself sets them at ease. I always state my name, shake their hand (even kids), and ask their name. Then I use it when talking to them. I've received MUCH fewer rejections since I started doing this one simple thing. It connects you to the customer and allows you to form a RELATIONSHIP with them. And people are reluctant to reject my drawings once I've done that.

4. Don't "force" the sale. Don't you hate it when salespeople haunt you at clothing stores? If you've set up your pricing and advertising at your stand correctly, you can just point and then back off. I find backing off to work really well if your pricing is right. If not, experiment til you get it right. Your work should SELL ITSELF. That doesn't mean you shouldn't ASK for the sale. You should. Just don't be pushy. That sets you up for rejections because you're convincing people to sit who didn't want to sit in the first place.

5. Be personal. Ive seen artists barely speak to customers. Sometimes you get a dud who doesn't want to talk, but mostly if you can ask a few questions and get them talking about themselves, you'll have something to talk about.

6. Use Humor. Memorize a few dumb jokes. Ask kids if they're married, or what they do for a living. USE ZINGERS ON HECKLERS. This works really well. Gets the audience laughing and gets the jerk off of your back. I have quite a few that I'll be compiling for another post.

7. Explain what you're going to do. In his book, "The Accidental Salesperson,"author and Sales guru Chris Lytle states that this is paramount to good salesmanship. It puts the customer at ease. I just simply say "OK you can have a seat. Look right at me, and Ill tell you when to smile. This ll just take a few minutes".

8.If you love someones hair or dress or shoes, tell them so. Tell them what celebrity they look like (but not if the celebrity is Wilford Brimley... eck). Everyone loves a sincere compliment. That's the catch, though - its gotta be sincere.

9. This may be controversial, but ALWAYS flatter young teen aged girls. Word of mouth from making a little girl cry is bad business and gives ALL of us a bad name. This holds true for anyone that you can plainly see is either a stickler for details or vain. Mess them up and you'll get a rejection and complaints. Just do a quick flattering sketch and get them out of your chair as quickly as possible.

10. Be on time, better yet be early. Dress professionally. Have everything you need. In short, be prepared. If you do screw up and are late to a gig, own it. Apologize, and then offer a pro-rated discount for the time you were late, or stay later to make up for it.

11. Don't take rejections personally, they happen to all of us. Even Joe Bluhm, author of "Rejects," a book full of rejections he's received on his arawrd-winning artwork. DO NOT TEAR UP THE REJECTION. Not only is it unprofessional, it is rude, and it will guarantee that person never gets drawn again and will give you bad word of mouth. Instead, try this trick taught to me by NCN founder (not to mention my husband) Buddy Rose:

Say "I'm so sorry you don't like the drawing. Honestly, I didn't much like it myself either. Here, it's on the house." Nine times out of ten you'll still get paid. THIS WORKS. Of course, some people are out to scam you, but there really are very few people who do that. For those people (and you know who they are as soon as they sit down if you've been doing this long enough), tell them you can redraw them if you can stomach it, or just give them back their money AFTER they've given you the sketch. If they balk, its a scam, and you can compare yourself to Walmart, Would you get money back from walmart without returning the merchandise first? Of course not. They cant expect any less from you.

12. Being nice goes a long way. Treat people the way you'd like to be treated at a store. Answer questions even if you've heard them 10,000 times ("wheres the bathroom?") Watch salespeople and use techniques you like.

13. Have fun! If you're having fun, the customer will have fun. And you'll make more $$$!

How to Work with Agents

2011-10-27T15:21:00.000-07:00

You've seen it yourself: artists who come to gigs unprepared. Maybe they're dressed inappropriately, maybe they give out their own business cards. Maybe they even (gasp) EAT AT THE GIG. Or maybe this is YOU.

If it is, you're in trouble. Because agents won't re-hire you if you behave in an unprofessional manner. Below is a list of DO's and DON'T's to keep in mind when working with agents:

DO Follow your particular agents rules. Not all agents have the same rules. Make sure you know what they are before you work the gig. They should be enumerated in your contract.

DO get a contract. It should have the name of the event, a contact person. place, time to start and end, what to wear, and HOW MUCH YOU'RE GETTING PAID. IMPORTANT. Most agents are honest, but not all. And you want to make sure that you get PAID.

DO some homework. If you're unfamiliar with your gig site, do a test drive a day or two beforehand. Make sure all your gear is packed in yoru car along with emergency supplies such as duct tape (this has saved me more than once when an easel has broken on me), extra paper, rubber bands and markers.

DO Dress to impress. You're the entertainer for hte evening. Jeans aren't usually acceptable unless it's a company picnic, and even then you're on shaky ground. For event bookings, my company always requires that the artists wear all black, no matter what the event, unless something else is requested by the client. Check with your agent, and when in doubt, dress UP, not down.

DO Arrive early. Here in las vegas, we have something called a "call time", which is anywhere from fifteen minutes to an hour beforehand. You don't usually get paid for this time. Be there by call time, or in the case of a gig that doesnt have one, at least fifteen minutes before the gig is slated to start.

DON'T Eat or drink on the job even if the client offers it unless you have permission from your agent. Drinking of alcohol is ALWAYS prohibited. Often an agent is ok with you eating during a break as long as it's out of sight of the clients. When in doubt, DO NOT EAT. Eat before the gig, or sneak a granola bar and eat it on your break in the restroom.

DON'T act in an unprofessional manner. Smile. Be Polite. Don't swear. Brand yourself as a pro and agents will use you again and again.

DON'T give out your personal business cards or contact information. THis is HIGHLY unprofessional and could get you blackballed. Word of mouth moves quickly. You CAN however give out your agents cards. Some agents even have a slot for you to put your name so clients can request you again.

DON'T take tips unless you have approval.

DON'T take more than about 5 minutes per drawing at gigs. THe client will be unhappy and it reflects porly not only on you but on your agent as well.

DON'T take breaks unless the agent gives you the go-ahead.

and finally,

DO ask the client to give you a good review to your agent if you've done a good job.

More ideas? Add yours below!

Pay it Forward

2011-10-25T20:52:00.000-07:00

I realized today that I'm a success by Anyones standards. I have a husband who
loves me, a decent house, three happy kids and a job I love. I fell into all of
this.

As a kid I remember wishing and wanting to be a cartoonist with all my heart and
soul. I practiced constantly and was down on myself for how poor my drawings were til the kid in third grade who could draw told me a drawing I'd copied was good.

If I'd come across a group of professional caricaturists sitting around a
table eating dinner and drawing on the paper tablecloth like I was doing tonight (yes, weate at Macaroni Grill), I'd have died and hone to heaven. And if I could have seen myself now way back then, I wouldn't have believed it. I would've wanted to speak to them but I would never have dared.

How things have changed. Now, I'm married to the founder of the NCN (which is how I met him and wouldn't have happened if he hadn't started the NCN in the first place. Now THATS a catch 22) AND I'm friends with pros all over the world. I'm so grateful.

And if I had ANY advice for aspiring professional caroonists, caricicaturists or comic book artists, it would be this: DON'T BE AFRAID TO TALK TO PEOPLE. In fact, you can and SHOULD talk to people in the field. They'll encourage you, inspire you, and show you the way. My friends in the art community have done so much for me. I'm happy to give back to beginners in the same way. Most artists are the same way, and they are the NICEST group of people you'll ever meet. And you do the same thing when you start living your dreams - pay it forward.

So jump on in! The waters fine :)

Encouragement

2011-10-25T15:57:00.000-07:00

Encouragement means to give someone courage. Encouragement is powerful. It enables others to follow their dreams. Who's encouraged you in your quest to follow your own dreams? Who's DIScouraged you? Who do you appreciate and respect more? How can you encourage others the same way others have encouraged you? Spreading the light is easy. Discouraging people in my rxperience do so from a "lack mentality." They don't believe in a generous universe and have been discouraged themselves from following their dreams. Have pity on them, try to encourage them yourself, and surround yourself with ENcouraging people. Dont tell the discouragers your dreams, theyll stop you dead in your tracks. And remember the motto of St. Francis of Assisi: There is enough for all.

16 proven ways to get better as an artist

2011-10-23T09:59:00.000-07:00

If you are like me, you've agonized over your work. You've sought others opinions to no avail (all they want to do is "be nice", which actually isn't very helpful), tried to take classes or learn from others but found them less than helpful, and beat yourself up endlessly.

You are not alone.

First, I will not tell you whether your work is "good" or "bad". That's subjective. However, you can always improve, and should strive to. As professional artists (and if you're getting paid, you ARE a pro), we have no certifications or training aside from art school to keep us growing. So self-motivation is key. And I'm assuming you have that if you're reading this post. The rest is just sweat. Trust me, if you try the exercises below, and really work at them, not just try them once or twice, you'll improve. Guaranteed.

Occasionally I still suffer from the "My work sucks" syndrome, but not as much as I used to. Because I've put in the work. You can too. Follow some (or all) of the suggestions below and watch your work improve dramatically. It's all about time and practice. The more you put into it, the more you'll get out of it. PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE. Then, Practice some more. You wouldn't expect to just sit down at a piano one day and be able to play Chopin. It takes years of work. Be prepared for it.

However, doing the same thing over and over ("canned" caricatures) doesn't really seem to help improve peoples work. I know. I followed the same formula for ten years and didn't improve until I joined the ISCA in 2006. Einstein said that doing the same thing and expecting a different result is the definition of insanity. So MIX IT UP. Here's some of the things I've done over the years. Feel free to chime in and add your own ideas for what you've done to help you improve:

1. Draw every day. This is the number one rule. I follow it when I can but I have three small kids so it's difficult. Which is why my work isn't the best it could be. But YOU, you don't have my problem. SO DO IT.

the victim

sniper sketch from a few weeks ago

2. Get a sketchbook and start sketching wherever your go. Restaurants. Libraries. Airports. Bars. (This has the added advantage of giving you an opening with that cute girl or hot guy sitting across the bar). I call this "Sniper Sketching". You don't necessarily have to let the subject see you sketching them, but you can if you like the end result. Some artists I know give their final sketch to the "victim". Some artists get together and do this on a regular basis, even giving themselves challenges to draw a particular person or theme. You can even doodle on your iphone nowadays.

Emulating the style of Ben Burgraff

3. Study artists you like. Face book and Twitter make it easy to connect with other artists. I highly recommend enlarging a drawing you love by a master caricaturist and copying it freehand. Try to emulate the lines, the strokes, the color - whatever you feel you need to work on. Post it on the ISCA forum (more on this in another post) or Face Book and ask for feedback. This is the way artists in the past have learned to improve - by copying the masters. DO NOT, however, re post it and claim it as your own! That's plagiarism and could result in legal action. Instead, use it for exercises for yourself. Keep your old exercises- its great to look back over time and see how you've improved.

portrait of young Marilyn in charcoal

4. Try different materials. Materials are SO important. I used sharpies for years (still do sometimes at gigs) but they gave me a TERRIBLE line quality, Go to your local art store and grab a bunch of different pens. Some people swear by the Markette (Available online at www.cartoonpens.com), but there are many others that are excellent. I myself love a brush pen sold at Michael's. Its called LePlume, and its a bit stiffer than other pens of the same kind. But you can also experiment with color - try painting, pastels, charcoal, even sculpy. Pen and ink is one of my faves. The results may surprise you. Here's one I did this summer using charcoal (yes, I know it's a portrait. That's not the point.)

5. Start out your drawing with the intent of exaggerating as much as possible. STRETCH yourself! Trying to retain a likeness at the same time is the delicate balancing act that sets caricaturists apart from other artists, and it's what makes our art so difficult. But that's what we love about it! The challenge :)

6. Try a different view, such as 3/4 (this has helped me improve my work IMMENSELY) to break yourself out of a rut. Start drawing at a different place than you are used to (its fun to start with the feature you wish to exaggerate the most and then work from there.) Keep in mind the 100% rule - a face can be broken into 100 squares. If you use 90% for the nose, for example, that leaves 10% for the rest of the face and therefore the rest of the face must be smaller in proportion. Otherwise all you get is a "big" drawing.
TO illustrate how much this techniuque can help your work, I'm going to post something a little embarassing (because it's so bad)

before

after

Needless to say, I've been doing the 3/4 view ever since.

7. Set yourself specific goals. If you know you're not up to snuff on, say, hair, make it your mission to improve in that area. Find other artists who excel at your chosen improvement area and emulate them.

8. Take pictures of live work you do that you are happy with. Make sure you include the subject in the picture. Later go back and review the drawing. Try to look at how you could improve it. You might want to actually do a study or even a completed drawing.

I couldv'e made her uglier.

9. Talk to other artists. Find out what they do. Watch them work. A great place to do this is at the International Society of Caricature Artists' convention. Its coming up soon, early November, so check out their website now! http://www.caricature.org

10. Draw from memory. If you see a guy walking down the street who looks like Shaggy on crack, go home and try to draw him from memory. The best Spock I ever did was from memory - and it was for the first painting I ever sold :)

11. Set yourself interesting challenges. For instance, I set out to draw my husband in the cubist style. I was pretty happy with the result, and I might go back and do a painting of this:

12. Try using Underdrawing. THis doesnt always work well at live venues, but it's a good exercise for your sketchbook. it can really help you learn to S-T-R-E-T-C-H the face.

13. Go digital. There are SO many programs out there now, for Ipads I find ArtStudio to be the best. And of course you can get a wacom tablet or a Cintiq. Try looking on Craigslist, one good thing about a bad economy is people are looking to unload stuff for cheap for cash. We got a used Cintiq for $300! I myself haven't done much digital work lately, maybe it's time to go back to the old drawing tablet.

14. Purchase the book "expressions" by Mark Simon and use the more expressive faces to work on exaggeration.

15. Enter contests. Even if you don't enter, drawing as an excercise with a deadline is great practice. on Facebook there are several groups which have weekly contests, including this one where you can post from email, wittygraphy@groups.facebook.com and caricaturama@groups.facebook.com

A Jodi Foster I did for an online challenge

16. Join a sketchgroup. Many of us stopped figure drawing in college. It doesn't have to be that way! Watching other people draw and being with likeminded artists is extremely helpful. Plus you're a lot more likely to get an honest critique than if you asked, say, your grandma. Look on www.meetup.com in your area, or, for the brave, check out dr sketchys anti-art school. http://www.drsketchy.com/branches This is a sketchgroup that is not for the faint of heart , with live models that come in costume. Some of the dr. sketchys I've gone to have feautred Superheroes, Vaudeville, Transvestites, and I've heard they even have had ZOMBIES. Very cool. Very cheap. In a town near you. Look them up!!!

There are probably hundreds of other ways to improve your art, but this is a start. I fyou have any other methods, please feel free to share!

Introduction

2011-10-23T09:51:00.000-07:00

If you're an artist and are self-employed, this blog is for you. I'm not going to toot my own horn on this blog about how great my art is (its not), or brag about my kids (I do enough of that on Face Book). I'm starting this blog because a lot of people have come to me for business advice over the years, and it seems like there isn't one good place to go on the net for info on artists who own their own businesses.

I don't pretend to be the most knowledgeable (I've been at it for 15 years as a caricaturist, which if you know our biz, you know those are the front lines), sure. But there are plenty of other folks with a lot more experience than little old me. Which is why I'm planning on interviewing people in our field and learning their secrets, then passing them on to you. I hope you like it, and aren't too offended - I'm from Philly after all, and we Philly fillies speak our minds! ;) Enjoy!