This month, we at About Faces Entertainment interviewed Erica M. Here’s a peek into the life of a caricature artist:
Describe the type of entertainment you provide.
I’m a caricature artist! I entertain folks at events and parties by drawing them while spectators look on in rapt amusement. It’s a likeness of you with a tweak here and a tug there – so it’s you but a bit cartoonier. Funny but not fierce – to my knowledge, no one has needed years of therapy after getting one of my caricatures. I sometimes refer to myself a ‘kinder and gentler’ caricaturist.
When and how did you get into this business?
Well, when you spend time in jail, you can make license plates or draw caricatures. . . . :). All kidding aside, I went to college to study Studio Art and Animation. My favorite art professor first suggested the idea of caricatures to me and I still jokingly blame him for my comedic career craziness ;). I worked in the animation industry for a few years on films, video games, and animated shorts (“Space Jam” being my favorite for bragging rights), but I soon found that drawing caricatures at parties and events was a heck of a lot more fun and threw my energies in that direction.
What is the most memorable event you have ever worked at?
In the nineteen years I’ve been drawing caricatures, I’ve worked at so many memorable parties that it’s impossible to recount my absolute favorite. I love drawing at every kind of event, but I do have a soft spot for weddings. Something about people decked out in their finest, eating, drinking, toasting, roasting, and dancing terribly to the ridiculous, popular songs of the time, is undeniably fun and puts victims(aka, customers) and myself in the perfect frame of mind for caricaturing.
What is one thing you’d like everyone to know about you?
I absolutely love my job as a caricaturist. I love to entertain and consider myself very lucky that I get to do this for a living. I’m also a musician (drummer and singer) for the band Monkeysoop, which I love doing as much as drawing. Between art and music, I think I have the coolest jobs around.
