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Post by vtslim on Oct 4, 2005 21:29:27 GMT -5
I have a friend who is a caricature artist and I want to tell him about this site, but I don't remember how I got here and the address is a little confusing! Is this forum at www.virtualart.com or www.proboards20.com ? Please...I gots ta know! -Slim  |
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Post by dave on Oct 4, 2005 23:23:52 GMT -5
Slim- I had trouble with this at first, too- type in 'virtual art home' and that should get you to the main page.
Dave
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Post by vtslim on Oct 4, 2005 23:36:38 GMT -5
Actually Dave, and the rest of you interested...you need to type in virtual art-home (don't forget the dash) virtual-art-home works too, but just typing...virtual art home...brings it up all right but it's down on the list and would be confusing to any newbie looking for it. That's all. Thanks though Dave, I can tell my friend now!
-Slim
;D
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Post by craig on Oct 5, 2005 3:50:16 GMT -5
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Post by vtslim on Oct 5, 2005 21:29:01 GMT -5
Okay...so, who wants to talk about somethin? Let's have some quality discussion here people! Let's see...should we talk about....shoe polish? No? I didn't think so. How about farm animals? No on that one too...hmmm. How about caricatures? Oh...I see a hand, oh now I see two. Shall I start?
I've seen some really great art posted on this here site but it all seems to be "studio" caricatures. Should I start a thread dedicted to people's LIVE techniques? Mine sure are different!
-Slim
;D
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Post by ScottG on Oct 5, 2005 22:05:41 GMT -5
This sounds great Slim ....lets do it.
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Post by craig on Oct 6, 2005 14:20:44 GMT -5
Slim, or anyone for that matter, I'd love to hear all the tips and trade secrets for live caricaturing. I'm having to turn down a fair bit of business cos I just don't cut the mustard in that field. I may have the opportunity to do some event work at Gleneagles in the future and would hate to miss out on that one! This gig is a definite case of who I know rather than what I know. Would be a shame to miss out all the same.  C. |
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Post by Frank Zieglar on Oct 7, 2005 23:31:47 GMT -5
All of mine are 'live'.
Almost every pic I put up is done straight from marker (no pre-drawing) and drawn in less than 5 min + a couple minutes more if I color it.
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Post by lightshifter on Oct 13, 2005 17:55:53 GMT -5
DO any of you work for Kamans? I think they are at the Orlando Sea World. I have watched some of the artist in the past and they all seem to have a formula of how they do their work? One girl look as if she had a light outline on the paper and followed that initially giving her the right placement for eyes nose, mouth, etc. I would like a little information on this thanks.
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Post by vtslim on Oct 13, 2005 18:50:46 GMT -5
Well Mr. Lightshifter Sir, I did indeed work for Kaman's Incorporated for two years. They are a vast corporation that has caricature and airbrush kiosks in most of the major amusement parks on the east coast. I believe new recruits have some sort of training but I skipped it. I was already drawing professionally for a while when I applied and they didn't think I needed to sit through "how to draw lips 101" The best thing I can say about working at a theme park is it's intense! I drew pretty solidly for eight hours every day I was scheduled! Think how many drawings that is! I also had to draw straight away with a marker, something I had just started doing on my own but was still shaky at. I sure learned how to use a marker in two years! The downside? Unless you are SUPER fast the money isn't too great. I averaged about $400.00 per day but they take 75% so I took home about $100. Better than flippin burgers sure but I can make a lot more on my own. Another problem was shade. Certain kiosks were not sheltered very well and you got COOKED! Anyway...you asked about technique. I have heard "rumors" that some people use underdrawings, basically pre-drawn face shapes on a piece of paper UNDER the paper they are drawing on to use as a guide. I never saw this where I was. The funny thing is...even though people are trained how to draw lips a certain way, most soon discard the robotics and find what works best for them. My manager drew in a way that was TOTALLY different than mine! I draw the cheekbone lines first, then a segment down to the chin, then the chin. Then I draw the ears. Then I go up and draw the hair. I then draw the neck and body or whatever and I draw the face last! First I draw two marks for the bridge of the nose, then the eyes. I then draw the eyebrows and move onto the nose. I finish up with the mouth. I used to do all of this with one marker, the fabled "Design" marker. It was discontinued so now I use a Pitt Brush Pen which gives me a prettier line, doesn't bleed through, and doesn't make me high from the fumes. I also use Micron Pens now for certain things like the facial features and certain other accents. I color with regular old prismacolor pencils, though I used to use their color sticks but they are getting very hard to find in the colors I like.  As you can tell, my "Live" style is quite different than my "studio" style -Slim |
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Post by lightshifter on Oct 14, 2005 8:49:07 GMT -5
Slim
Thanks for the info. I can see the big difference in the two styles studio vs. live.
Kamans pay sucks, I realize they have some expense but as I have heard from others the companys that do this often pay poorly.
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Post by Frank Zieglar on Oct 15, 2005 19:58:21 GMT -5
I was also a Kamans caricaturist.
The pay is % like any sales job - some do good some don't do good. If you sale $400 a day and take home $100 - that aint too bad IMO, espicially for a high school kid working a summer job. Slim says he can do better on his own and I second that, but it takes time to get established and there is overhead unless you do things in a shady like way (cheat on self-employment taxes and stuff like that). Kamans paid for everything and gave me a great location - I don't have a problems with Kamans at all and hope to go back sometime (my problem was with the manager at that park).
We never did any kind of pre-drawing - it was straight from the marker on day one.
There is no 'correct' technique, but since everybody works together all day watching each other draw and 'stealing' tricks from each other and they all to go through the same trainer at their park - they tend to draw very similiar im style and technique.
Our park did encourage everyone to follow a pattern - whatever worked for you. When you get used to a pattern is makes it easier to go quicker - to go to the next person - to make more sales - to make more %.
My pattern is usally - jaw, neck, nose, eyes, ears, mouth, outside of hairline, inside of hairline, otherstuff. When I deviate - I slow down.
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Post by vtslim on Oct 15, 2005 22:58:25 GMT -5
Hey Folks! First of all, I'm not too computer savvy and I don't know all the cool lingo. What does IMO mean? I finally figured out LOL. I think it means lollipop...like I want a lollipop. Either that or it's an abreviation for Loll as in...my tongue is lolling in my mouth so give me a lollipop. Either or. Yes Mr. Ziegler, I am not bashing Kamen's but it is a great place to "start" as I'm sure you wouldn't be able to pay for a decent house or car or whatever. Yes, it is a hassle to do it yourself as I am finding all over again as I have moved away from my client base (I'm following a pretty girl so she can go back to college) Remember to get an accountant folks if you do try it on your own! And keep all your receipts!!!! If you buy a pencil, keep a receipt! Buy a piece of paper, keep a receipt! It could save you SOOOO much money on taxes! I'm trying something new. I don't have a boardwalk anymore and there's a long, cold winter up here in Vermont, but I thought it would be good to go to all the Mom and Pop shops on Main Street and make drawings for them. Then when people ask them who done it, they can have a handy stack of my cards on them. I'm also quite envious of you people with websites and I'm going to make one this winter! That's all blah blah -Slim  (that's me yakkin and yakkin) |
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Post by Frank Zieglar on Oct 23, 2005 18:20:22 GMT -5
I forgot to save reciepts my first year - but I didn't do that much so I remebered most of the major stuff I bought.
Now, I save every reciept - just like Slim said.
I didn't think you were bashing Kamans. Theme parks are really best suited for kids - part time/summer work. It's hard for an adult trying support anybody - unless you move up into managment.
They are great to start though - you learn really quick. You have to.
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Post by chrisneuenschwander on Jan 10, 2006 1:34:56 GMT -5
Hey, bringing up a new thread, I just read about how you guys were talking about under sketching and working for kamans. Well lightshifter, I actually worked for the park in question (SeaWorld Orlando) and at times participated in the so called "under sketching." I`wanna clear a couple of things up about this. It wasn't done to be "robotic." It was actually not a part of our training. It was actually done by a few of the more advanced artists (in my opinion) to allow for a greater exaggeration. We would do a a pre sketch and quickly define how we would like the final sketch to look like, position of nose, size of ears, shape of head, etc... The pre sketch was done with prismacolor art stix. Just wanted to clear this up...It was done to avoid a formula park sketch, not to produce one.
-Chris
(although a couple of artists there DID indeed have a formula face, unknowingly, not mentioning any names...)
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(that's me yakkin and yakkin)