Caricatures for The Travelodge Staff Christmas Party

I had a blast drawing some of the staff at the Travelodge Staff Christmas Party.

Every once in awhile I draw one that makes me laugh out loud myself. Here is one of them, when I’d finished drawing this lady with her hair tall up on the top of her head … oh what fun! Then I wanted to do the other lady’s done just as well. I’m so glad that I got a photo of them with it so I can look at it again at times. 

And then the other photo here with her fabulous, big smile! 

Another event finished and enjoyed.

Friends show their Caricature at Edmonton Travelodge Staff party

Edmonton Travleodge Staff Christmas party gift - Caricature

 Caricatures by Edmonton Artist Laurel Hawkswell

Jubilee Auditorium staff Christmas party

Back at the Jubilee Auditorium for a second year, drawing caricatures for their staff Christmas party.

Seeing friendly familiar faces is always nice. It was even more fun to run into an old friend after years gone by and to see he and his family doing so well and so happy.

And then I met a nice couple who knows a caricaturist friend of mine. It's a small world.

Here are a couple photos from the evening

Jubilee Auditorium women pose with their Caricatures

Jubilee Auditorium Staff Party couple

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 Caricatures by Edmonton Artist Laurel Hawkswell

Caricatures for Thurber Engineering Christmas Party

Some photographic treasures I found on my camera from Thurber Engineering’s Christmas party in December. 

Caricatures for Thurber Engineering Christmas Party at the River Cree Casino

I truly love looking over photos from past parties...

Hope they mean as much to them as they do me!

 Caricatures by Edmonton Artist Laurel Hawkswell

Sheraton Edmonton South staff Christmas party Caricatures

Four Points by Sheraton Edmonton South had their staff Christmas party and asked me back to draw caricatures for them for a second year. Had a great time drawing these fun people! God, do I love creating this stuff! Thank you for letting me. 

Four Points by Sheraton Edmonton South had their staff Christmas party

back to draw caricatures for them for a second year

 

Had a great time drawing these fun people

 Caricatures by Edmonton Artist Laurel Hawkswell

Paintings - A Palm Leaves canvas series

A painting series that belong together! 

This painting changed from having a lot of burgundies in it to just a hint of that. This, group of three, hangs in a family room that has a lot of windows and a view of trees, bushes, and grass. I see this painting as bringing the green inside as well. Once I brought the paintings over the the client’s home to see the change to lots of green, we knew it was right. This is something I would love to have kept myself! I guess that’s what I strive for in all my paintings - that I’m so happy with them that it’s hard to say good bye to them.

Painting for a private collection - Edmonton Alberta

Paintings by Edmonton Artist Laurel Hawkswell

doodling for fun

So, it seems that when I sit down to doodle for fun (and getting more comfortable with drawing on my tablet) that I tend to draw kids. Like this little girl here. I'm not sure why but here is another one! I'm not sure if I managed to learn anything else while drawing this one specifically but last night I did learn how to use a couple more tools on the Sketchbook Pro program.

I promise I'll draw someone older next time! till then ...

Any suggestions?

A girl with her Dog

Graphic Art by Edmonton Artist Laurel Hawkswell

My First Digital Caricature (From a Photo)

Very excited to show you my very first caricature (and coloured caricature at the same time!) using my new Cintiq Companion! It's been a long time coming. This is something I've wanted to be able to do for I don't know how long ... to be able to do a coloured caricature without having to use markers. The downside of using markers: they'd dry out, I was always running to the art store to buy new ones ... but the worst part was that I'd have it almost finished and I'd look and I'd have a marker smudge where I wasn't supposed to have one (marker would get on my hand and rub onto the page).

Of course drawing caricatures on the tablet is new and exciting as well. Drawing an initial sketch on the background layer then choosing the lines decide I want, on the top layer.

So welcome to my new world of digital caricatures! Still all me, all artistic, just crisper, cleaner, with better colour.

My first Digital Caricature

This caricature was done from a photo that was sent to me. I often do caricatures from photos. Sometimes they are just head and shoulder drawings like this one and other times they are full body drawings. I can include as little or as much detail about the person as you'd like. Of course the more detail it is, the more work it is and thus would cost more. People enjoy seeing all the little details about them that you (and I) have captured in the caricature.

Woman Model - Caricature from Photo

Caricatures by Edmonton Artist Laurel Hawkswell

Wacom Cintiq Companion

I received a Wacom Cintiq Companion from my husband for Christmas this year! It was just what I wanted! Just the thing I was hoping for for a couple years now. I'd felt stuck in an artistic rut. I was busier than I'd ever been work wise but as some of you may know, if you are self employed, taking time away from earning money to learn something new is a hard thing to do. During the learning process, we aren't being paid.

The Learning Curve Fear Monster

Roll up your sleeves and learn something new today

Happy New Year - first snowball fight of 2014

So a couple months before Christmas I had a conversation with my husband on how I wanted to get a
Wacom Cintiq tablet to start doing coloured caricatures ... and who knows what other art that would
come about from it. With no hesitation, he was all for it. He's a computer guy so another computer in the house is a good thing, besides something that could further my career is an even better thing! I've always thought of myself stronger in the drawing side of art than the computer side of art so getting
this new tablet was both exciting beyond belief AND scary beyond belief.

Since I opened it up and my husband got the feel of it for himself, to give me technical pointers (not artistic ones!) if I needed it, I've become increasingly in the mindset that I'm eager to see what this or that symbol will do. What if I try this or that. I am definitely in the infant stage with my Wacom Cintiq Companion but I am so excited for 2014. To look at my beginning work and what stage I'm at at the end of the year. I hope to post a doodle a day but please don't hold me to it, I may have a load of work to do at times where I can't do it ... after all, a big part of me is art but I believe in a balanced life: I like to do things with my family, exercise, the odd walk/coffee date with a friend, clean my house ... oh wait, that's on the list of "have to's" .... and I even want to try meditation this year.

So come along with me on my Cintiq Companion journey!

Graphic Art by Edmonton Artist Laurel Hawkswell

My first caricature event of 2014!

Third year being back at the Snow Valley Staff Christmas Party in January. Nice to see familiar faces and new ones too.

The neatest thing of the night was a girl who I was drawing for the third time, said that her iPhoto face recognition feature on her computer actually recognized a photo of last year’s caricature as her face! How cool is that?!

Yesterday I drew husbands and wives, girlfriends and boyfriends, good friends that work together and at the end of the night I drew a couple of the staff at The Derrick Club who’d been working all night and walking past on a regular basis. Look how happy they were to get their caricature … they are the two girls doing the thumbs up.

Thank you Snow Valley, for having me back!

Caricatures by Edmonton Artist Laurel Hawkswell