I remember it as if it were 2010, which of course it was....
The most wonderfully stressful 3 minutes of my career to date as an event caricature artist .
I was the official caricature artist for the TIFF swag room for a week, a secret and magical place where celebs are ushered through by espresso stained and twitchy handlers to pick up free SWAG- uber luxurious hair cremes, fancy jewelery, posh makeup, kobo e-readers and of course Caricatures! by RobWestall at the Sharpie booth!
Sharpie had just released their upmarket brushed stainless steel pen shell for the super sharpie and I was to use it all week on all the A,B,C and D-list celebs who came in to grab some free loot!
The most wonderfully stressful 3 minutes of my career to date as an event caricature artist .
I was the official caricature artist for the TIFF swag room for a week, a secret and magical place where celebs are ushered through by espresso stained and twitchy handlers to pick up free SWAG- uber luxurious hair cremes, fancy jewelery, posh makeup, kobo e-readers and of course Caricatures! by RobWestall at the Sharpie booth!
Sharpie had just released their upmarket brushed stainless steel pen shell for the super sharpie and I was to use it all week on all the A,B,C and D-list celebs who came in to grab some free loot!
I drew bloggers, and comedians, rappers and dancers, newcasters, directors and singers... Captain Christoper Pike aka Bruce Greenwood came in and was a pleasure to caricature. Photographer Caitlin Croneberg popped in, and noted the similarity of our tattoos, I have an ink spash on my drawing hand, she has several ink splashes on the arch of a foot. Kool!
And now, back to that stressful three minutes... She walked into the TIFF swag parlour, the Belle de Jour, Catherine DeNeuve, memories of Chanel, the muse of Yves St Laurent, the Immortal Vampire Miriam, (The Hunger).
Her handler looked more frazzled than others I had seen, bloodshot eyes a twitch, eyes hungering for exit paths, froth stained clipboards and once crisp time schedules well and truly chewed. In the Parlour of Swagg, Catherine was loaded up with all the loot that was her due and was poised to leave when she came across my drawing board and sharpies, 'Caricaturist?' she asked with a surprised smile. Stainless steel sharpie at the ready, I nodded, 'Yes! would you like to sit? it only takes a few minutes...'
I could tell her handler did not like this development, I was slowing down her schedule, I was going to delay, delay, delay her movement onwards to the next thing thing thing... burdened with swag, he managed to place a hand upon her elbow and attempted to usher her out but to my shock and joy, Catherine wanted to sit and be drawn!
She sat gracefully and a zone of quiet grew around us, no fidgiting with phones or distractions, she sat and I drew, for a most stressfull 3 minutes.
I drew the Belle De Jour Miriam Bleylock as fast as I could, trying to make it worthy of her time.
In the end it wasn't the best piece I had ever done, nor the worst I thought, as I tore the drawing from my tear-bar and revealed it to her, in contrast the pleasure in her smile as she saw it was awesome to behold.
Thank you for taking the time to sit for a drawing Catherine Deneuve, it was a pleasure to sit and draw you for a few quiet moments in a hectic Film Festival day in Toronto
Rob Westall
event caricature specialist
And now, back to that stressful three minutes... She walked into the TIFF swag parlour, the Belle de Jour, Catherine DeNeuve, memories of Chanel, the muse of Yves St Laurent, the Immortal Vampire Miriam, (The Hunger).
Her handler looked more frazzled than others I had seen, bloodshot eyes a twitch, eyes hungering for exit paths, froth stained clipboards and once crisp time schedules well and truly chewed. In the Parlour of Swagg, Catherine was loaded up with all the loot that was her due and was poised to leave when she came across my drawing board and sharpies, 'Caricaturist?' she asked with a surprised smile. Stainless steel sharpie at the ready, I nodded, 'Yes! would you like to sit? it only takes a few minutes...'
I could tell her handler did not like this development, I was slowing down her schedule, I was going to delay, delay, delay her movement onwards to the next thing thing thing... burdened with swag, he managed to place a hand upon her elbow and attempted to usher her out but to my shock and joy, Catherine wanted to sit and be drawn!
She sat gracefully and a zone of quiet grew around us, no fidgiting with phones or distractions, she sat and I drew, for a most stressfull 3 minutes.
I drew the Belle De Jour Miriam Bleylock as fast as I could, trying to make it worthy of her time.
In the end it wasn't the best piece I had ever done, nor the worst I thought, as I tore the drawing from my tear-bar and revealed it to her, in contrast the pleasure in her smile as she saw it was awesome to behold.
Thank you for taking the time to sit for a drawing Catherine Deneuve, it was a pleasure to sit and draw you for a few quiet moments in a hectic Film Festival day in Toronto
Rob Westall
event caricature specialist