Husky Du/Shoot Out at the Crayola Factory

This past Saturday, along with my buddy Patfreak Harringtoon,  I drew up some fluffy Huskies (and other breeds too, such as the strange and rare homo sapien) as a retail vendor for an event for Tails of the Tundra Siberian Rescue (http://www.siberescue.com/) in Warminster park. While it wasn't the busiest we could have been, it was fun for the 5-6 hours, and we learned more than we ever thought was possible about Husky markings, eye colors, uh, fluffiness...okay, there wasn't all that much to learn about them but damn they're some beautiful animals, and you should adopt one today (that is of course, if you don't mind dealing with all that fur...)! I also got a nice sunburn down the right side of my neck and arm, as the sun kept seeking me out, only to destroy (that's a Stooges reference for ya, what you didn't know that?), even under my tent. Pat's lillywhiteness wasn't touched, but a crazy wind kept blowing off his hat - haha! Anyway, here's a buncha photos from the event, starting with the sign I drew to replace the well-intentioned but uh, not exactly accurately spelled (and way too small)  'cariacuture' sign the event promoter had for me, but oh well! Great people, great faces, great fur, great heat and wind...

A couple hours later, I met up again with "Pat Trick Hair In Tongue" for a crazed Sweet 16 event at the waxy-smelling Crayola Factory in Easton PA, the place where the crayon was invented (okay, I just pulled that one out of my a$$), where we melted down some faces (I can't resist bad puns, can I? No I can't). So did I draw with crayons? No, but what the hell, I should have! Anyways, it was some good fun we had with those always hilarious teenage faces (who were very receptive to me and Pat's weird and twisted styles), as well as some adults, kids, and waitstaff too.

 Once again I apologize for the grainy picture quality...iphone cameras still suck ...

The Ambiguously Gay Duo, in the flesh

I love how the dude painted on the wall is gawking at the Sweet 16 Birthday girl. Creepy!

Can't You see I'm busy?

Good times are here again with a midnite gig for a student fun event at  Rider University, followed the next day with a big 4-artist mindblower of a company party in the Philly area...

People Pleasin'

I've been a bit busy in the last few months so here's a little catch up of some gift caricatures I did recently:

A Retirement caricature for a teacher at the school I work at, which was presented at the year end teacher's meeting last June. She loved it!

This is a nice guy who won my 'free gift caricature' giveaway at my facebook fan page - since I got backtracked, it took me about 3 months to actually do the drawing, and by that time, he'd broken up with his girlfriend, the one in the picture....uhhh, so I'm drawing up the new girl who replaced her now...hopefully things are still good with her by the time I finish it...

Cracker was a beloved dog who passed away last year, and this commemorative gift was commissioned by his owner while I worked a fair in NJ. I had no time to complete it on the job, so I finished it at home. It turned out better than I thought it would since the client requested a little more 'realistic' depiction than I would normally do. I think I found a decent compromise, and represented the sweet, loving qualities of this dog rather than it's funny or goofy side, while keeping it somewhat cartoony.

The last three were requested by a client who'd hired me for a barmitzvah in August, and though I was non-stop busy for the entire four hours, somehow her son, the barmitzvah boy, her daughter, and parents didn't get drawn. It was no problem for me to whip these up free of charge, but the client wasn't having that and insisted on paying me! She gave me probably the nicest, most effusive praise I'd ever received on my live caricature performance, too, which was posted on GigMasters, the site she hired me through...here's her comment:

"John was completely professional and uniquely talented. All 110 of my guests commented on his unusual talent. I wish i had two of him at my party! All i know is from the time he began to the time he left, there was a continuous request for his artistry. I cant wait to hire him for my next event! He was completely independent and didnt request anything from me but a glass of water and only when I asked him! What a complete gentleman and most professional! Thank you John!! U helped make my son's bar-mitzvah a HUGE hit! Leslie Harris (new york city resident, NJ party)"

http://www.gigmasters.com/Caricaturist/Caricatoonz-By-John-Sprague/

 

Please contact me today for a gift caricature or illustration and I'll be sure to provide you with a fair rate, awesome quality, and a quick turnaround time!

Back in Action

Hello again! I've been away from the blog for about a month, but I've been pretty busy so I've got lots to share. Here's some photos I got a chance to take from a gig  a couple weeks ago. These are from a SEVEN hour gig I did for Children's Miracle Network and WOGL at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Lots of fun for a great cause (and lots of money raised for sick kids) and made lots of kids and their families happy. Oh, and I had some fun too...