Milwaukee's Daily Magazine Sunday, Dec. 6, 2009

Sign in | Register now

By paulm Community Blogger Author bio | report All blog entries by paulm

Published Dec. 1, 2008 at 1:46 p.m.
Category: Arts & Entertainment
Tags: great big faces, Irish Fest, zombies

I've drawn people at Milwaukee's Irish Fest, Labor Fest, Sprecher Fest and more other festivals than I can remember, and the one constant unchanging rule I've learned is this:  You're only as good as your last drawing.

Drawing people hour after hour, face after face, requires a combination of skill, patience, discipline, physical endurance, mental focus, and an insatiable appetite for public abuse.  Check your ego at the gate and don't look back.  It’s not for the faint of heart or stomach.  It’s an acquired taste, an addiction.  It punishes and rewards, often during the same gig.  An endless line of drunk zombies may yield the holy grail of faces - the face you wait for, the face you pray for.  The freckles or the scar or the wrinkles grooving the brow of a hairless head.  The slanting smile, splitting the face like an equator.  The eyes - always the eyes - hiding, inviting, daring you to draw them. 

It’s a dance.  It’s a duel.  Back and forth, jab and parry, look and draw.  Stay in the groove.  Don’t lose the rhythm.  Just draw it.

 

DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed in this and other user-submitted content do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of OnMilwaukee.com, its staff, its advertisers and/or its partners. This user-submitted content has not been checked for factual accuracy, and any photos uploaded have not be verified to be copyright-free. It is the user's responsibility to post text and/or photos that belong to that user and do not violate any copyright or intellectual property laws. If you feel this content is abusive, offensive or otherwise inappropriate, click to report and we will review this blog entry.

3 comments about this blog. Post your comment/review now

Recent Talkbacks ...

Posted by sandstorm on Dec. 2, 2008 at 12:43 p.m. (report)

i think he means when you draw poorly rendered caricatures you just might get your ass kicked by the person you've made look like a boob.
such as the sweet little girl in the picture.
she may know karate or something.

---

Posted by Shcro1 on Dec. 2, 2008 at 10:24 a.m. (report)

Explain to me why drawing is not for the faint of heart or stomach?

---

Posted by sandstorm on Dec. 2, 2008 at 9:10 a.m. (report)

that just might be the worst caricature i've ever seen.

---

Dining | Bars | Music | Movies | Sports | Entertainment | Marketplace | Family | Politics | Milwaukee Buzz
Visitors Guide | Hotels | Events | Weather | Scoops | Postcards | MyOMC | Readers Blogs | Message Boards
E-mail Newsletters | Text Headlines | Terms of Service | Help | Advertising Info | Feedback | About Us
Contact Us | RSS | Privacy Statement