One of the most frequently asked questions for our staff is “How many drawings can your artists do in an hour?” or, phrased a bit differently, “How long does it take to get a caricature?”
While every artist works a bit differently, and that unique style and flow is part of the value they bring to your party, we are lucky to work with a high enough volume of talented artists that we are able to split the averages and give some general advice!
TL;DR Depending on how detailed you want the artwork, between 3-15 minutes per drawing.
Want more info? Scroll down to read more!
Quickest: Black and white headshot caricatures
These are sometimes called “quick draw” caricatures and are the default choice for most high-volume events. If you want your artist to produce as many drawings as they can while they are at your event, this is what you want to go for. These simple, lively drawings can be completed in as little as 3 minutes if your artist is speedy!
Medium Speed: Color Headshots or Black and White Full Bodies
These options split the difference between the quickest and slowest options. Artists can offer full-body caricatures still done in black ink on white paper, or they can limit the drawings to headshots but still take the time to color in the image for a more polished finished product. These drawings can take anywhere from 5-10 minutes to complete depending on the particulars.
Slowest: Full color, full body background gag caricatures
These caricatures are the whole shebang – fully shaded, fully detailed caricatures with cute background details showingย the subjects’ hobbies, passions, and other details they’ve chatted about with the artist. You may recognize this style of caricature from retail stands set up in malls, boardwalks, and festivals. These caricatures are an amazing keepsake and often end up in frames, but they can take quite a long time to complete, up to 15 minutes apiece.
There’s like six different answers on this blog post to the question “How long does it take?” So what is the point of this page?
SEO, mostly! Thanks for reading, folks! I’ll close out with a thought from one of our many talented artists who work here in the office, Saijin Rovansek:
For our caricature artists, while they are amazing artists, they specialize in doing quick and funny drawings with minimal color/shading. When booking a caricature artist for an event you are not just getting a piece of art to take home at the end of the night, but also an amazing experience that allows you to be entertained by our artists while you sit and wait for them to draw you, your, family and friends.ย
So, no matter what kind of drawing is created at your events, take Saijin’s word for it that the experience will be a treat for everyone no matter what!
