George Edwards  Caricaturist from Essex, MD

I have a college degree in art from the Maryland Institute College of Art. I draw the large head with small body caricatures. I use a black marker on white paper. The subject tells me something about himself that I can work into the caricature, maybe it is hobby or sport, maybe it is something he makes up as an original idea. I pride my self on being able to improvise many 'on the spot' requests, not restricted to a preplanned pose like hitting a baseball, etc. I do not use gross exaggerations very much, I would not give a woman a huge nose for instance, like some artists do, unless of course the sitter says "go ahead make it outrageous". I have never had a subject complain about that. I will exaggerate more if requested, however, it has never really come up. The large head on the small body with the cartooning style always gets a laugh, which is the idea, to make people smile. I do have colored chalks to add color, but since speed is of the essence here that is rarely used as it takes longer. I bring my own setup, and supply a plastic bag for each drawing which is done on a heavy stock paper. I see so many caricaturist use a thin paper that they just tear off from a clipped pile and just hand it to the subject, but in a festive situation I worry about protecting my work and having it last, a lot of people get them framed. I try to take precautions so the drawing won't end up stained or crumpled. I do see myself as an artist, I always want my work to be appreciated and saved.