caricature

Yet Another W.P.A. Departure, Yet Another Caricature | Caricature Corner 12

One more W.P.A. has left the company, I guess to explore more avenues beyond anything apparel-themed (and that, I damn well respect).

So, as per the norm nowadays, the company issued a request for her caricature.

Apart from a few scattered micro chit-chats we had in the break room over the course of 7 years, I really didn’t know much - if anything - about her… apparently, she was an “online specialist”. That could mean just about anything these days.

It has something to do with computers? Maybe? Who knows.

Another W.P.A. Departure, Another Caricature | Caricature Corner 11

Work’s I.T. guy is retiring, so I had to doodle up a caricature.

Didn’t go the usual route by throwing in computers, floppy disks, et al… instead, I used the useless knowledge this person worships a football team, to wit, its mascot is a tiger.

Need I go on?

"SUPER" Quick Caricature | Caricature Corner 10

A favor for a W.P.A.

The whole Superman™ thing was the W.P.A.’s idea (not certain the subject is a fan of the DC character or not); he likes to cook — with a lot of meat! — hence the Sirloin Knight in the background; loves his booze; and is a video gamer.

And below are the photo refs:

"Tower, This Is Ghost Rider Requesting A Slice-O-Cake" | Scribble-Dee-Doo-Dahs #065

Quick birthday doodle to my ex-Creative Manager and Top Gun aficionado, Dora.

Sidenote: I did a caricature of her in late 2020 along the same naval aviator theme - click here.

A Couple-O-Caricatures | Caricature Corner 09

With little time I have nowadays, it’s rare I can find a small corner of a weekend to scribble up a caricature or two.

Below are two examples of semi-rushed work of varied degrees of rushedness(?).

A wedding anniversary theme for my boss.

A somewhat rushed piece for an ex-W.P.A.

What We Have Here Is A Total Lack Of Respect For The Law! | Caricature Corner 08

The latest in a line of caricature requests from my WPAs (Work Proximity Associates), this time with a distinct Smokey And The Bandit vibe.

And, yes, this father (reference photo below) and kids are haulin' a trunk full of bootlegged Coors beer in his most-beloved Fiat coupe across state lines, with a dusty column of law enforcement posse with Sheriff Buford T. Justice in the vanguard.

Update: And, of course, the client wanted another option - replacing the Sheriff and posse with a lighthouse and a winding road.

The new scenery is supposed to be Aireys Inlet, complete with sea captain-manned lighthouse, hence the pirate parlance signage reading “YARRRreys Inlet”.

She's A Multitasker | Caricature Corner 07

Just another overcast Sunday and ran out of excuses not to finally draw up this caricature for a work colleague’s netball lovin’, t-ball sluggin’, ballet performin’ niece.

Featuring Curley (sans Moe & Larry) | Caricature Corner 06

A requested caricature of a work colleague’s ol’ man for Father’s Day.

Yeah… in Australia, this day is celebrated in September… because we’re just darn “special”… click here for more useless info about that.

Things to know about this guy, which are evident in the final comp: he drives a John Deere tractor; harvests wheat; is always covered in a film of dirt after a hard days work; and loves ice cream.

And don’t let the title of this post fool you - this fellow has nothing to do with The Three Stooges… except for his nickname: “Curley”.

Reference images for “Curley”: honestly, I thought these were three separate people!

Why is Father's Day a different date in Australia?

There's no succinct and confirmed reason as to why Father's Day in Australia is different from the US and UL, however, the common theory is that when the Australians decided to adopt it, they chose not to wait a year to celebrate. Instead, the day was simply inserted in later in the calendar, and in a similar season.

You Got Disco Balls And Moo-Cow-Milk? | Caricature Corner 05

A little something that preoccupied most of my fee time this weekend.

A little overboard with, well, EVERYTHING(!!), but everybody was happy with the end result… except for me, of course (as I hate everything I do).

And all proceeds went to animal welfare, so WIN-WIN!

Gamma Radiation And Glitter | Caricature Corner 04

Another recent Caricature commission (for free, or course!).

A family version this time ‘round, clearly with a superhero vibe (licensing approvals pending I’m sure).(#notifIcanhelpit). The family being of my manager’s:

He being Superman; the wife as Wonder Woman; the boy embracing all that is Hulk; and the little girl as her own character: “Glitter Girl”®.

Normally I’d provide a post like this with actual photos of the subject(s) to compare, but I’ll need consent before that ever happens.

Guest Starring Sock Crested Pigeons | Caricature Corner 03

Another commissioned caricature for management at work.

This one is “supposed to be” our now-retired sockwear production manager-type guy, Ian Rose. Hence the two sock crested pigeons in this piece.

As always, I was given the usual poor quality reference photos (like the one on the right), so I had to employ a lot of artistic license to pull this one off.

"Tower, This Is Ghost Rider Requesting A Flyby" | Caricature Corner 02

A caricature requested by management at work - this is 1 of 2 (the latter’s still in development).

Subject’s name is Dora : she was the designers’ wrangler as Creative Manager (among other roles) - she’s moved on to better things, I hope, as a buyer at Kmart.

Why a naval superpower aircraft carrier theme?

Well, from what I learned from Dora when discussing our favorite movies of all time (mine’s “All The President’s Men”, by the way), hers was “Top Gun”.

Yep. You heard right.

So, naturally I’ve depicted a fairy-winged Dora “buzzing” the carrier’s deck crew.

Special guest star : Wilson from “Castaway”.

As previously mentioned in an older post, there’s always that fear I didn’t truly capture the likeness of the subject… I guess I’ll find out tomorrow at work

"Is That Your Boat?" | Caricature Corner 01

People at work have taken notice of my cartoonistic scribble ramblings I unsolicitedly email to everyone - usually as a reply to something emailed out by management. Instead of being reprimanded (or fired!), thankfully, they’re fully appreciative of the humorous break from a sometimes monotonous production workflow. Haven’t been told to stop this practice, so I’ll continue doing it until the higher-pay-grade people tell me I’ve gone too far…. not that I’d comply, of course.

Anyhoo, as the year slowly comes to a close, I’ve seen an uptick in cartoony requests of late.

The above caricature was commissioned by Diann in Accounts Receivable.

At right is the caricature subject : his nickname is “HAIRY”; he likes to fish and is quite keen on American BBQs.

As with all caricatures I do, I always fear the end result won’t look like the subject at all. Thankfully, Diann was happy with the result.


Faux Exuberance At Work

It’s Monday morning.

You arrive at work.

You have in your head a game plan to tackle ongoing job briefs, allocating time and resources to get 'em done.

You're all fired up & ready to go.

Now, go ahead and open your emails.

At the top of the messages list: "Please, Bort, could you do this thing you've already done, but now has to be done again because of some insignificant thing nobody cares about needs to be fixed? Thanks."

Well, that just ruined my morning mojo.

So my response was a parody of annoyance and pain, yet I had to create a portrait of faux exuberance...

You Gotta Have Faith (That Nobody Screws Things Up!)

A simple Post-It Note scribble-dee-doo-dah sent to a work colleague who’d alerted me she’d been tasked in transmitting vital production art out to the factory offshore.

I could’ve replied with a traditional “Yep, sounds fine. Do that!”. But I took 4 minutes out of my “busy” schedule to quickly do this self-caricature and emailed that instead.

I’m quite certain THIS doodle ain’t worthy enough for a blog post - when I draw things and send ‘em out, my normal procedure is to trash the originals (and whatever JPEGS derived from the originals) without even blinking… however, I promised myself this year - either because of vanity or procrastination - to document EVERY doodle I do, no matter how meaningless and/or stupid they are.

Kitty Caricature | From The Abandoned Projects Drawer

As part of my mid-to-late-2009 personal deliberation, months after returning from a memorable 10-day expedition to the US (Nutley, NJ, to be exact) and brainstorming ways to make big wads of cash on the side in order to fly back there! I had nothing to sell, no savings, and let’s not forget the 2008/09 financial collapse (and keeping my job was up-in-the-air)… no chance of a sudden lottery win, I’m sure (although, I’d hoped. Boy, did I hope!). So, what am I to do?

Here’s just one loony idea I seriously thought I could master: iPhones were a new thing at that time - why not learn about app development, create an app, make money selling that app, and live high on the hog? Easy, I’m sure. Turns out… NO! IT’S NOT! YOU IDIOT!

I then turned to finding ways to monopolise skills I’d honed over the years… Starlog Magazine had folded (so, cash for my cartoons was out)… somehow, the idea of drawing people’s pets was floated by my fan/friend in NJ (to whom was a veterinary technician).

Long story short, the below painting was THE first Kitty Kature (yes, THAT was I called them)(patent [not]pending).

And here are a couple more. I signed these with my alternate pseudonym “furbawl”.

There are a few more, I’m sure, lurking away in a dusty hard drive somewhere in the closet. I remember drawing up dogs… anyways, I find ‘em, I’ll add them to this post