Sunday Mailbag: Live Caricature Jitters?

Q: How was your first day on the job doing live caricatures in the theme park? Was nerves an issue at first? Was it weird or uncomfortable having crowds behind you looking at you draw and how long did it take before it became the norm? Is there any advice you can you give for someone wanting to get into live work that may be anxious about the whole process?

A: Honestly I never had any problem drawing in front of people. I know many artists for whom that is a big issue, but for me it was always easy. When I was a kid I would often get a little crowd of classmates gathered around watching whenever I started drawing something in study hall or the lunchroom, so maybe I was used to it. Anyway it never bothered me.

Being able to draw in front of an audience is like doing anything in front of an audience. You have to get over your fear of failure and get on with it. A lot of it is confidence but a big part of it is knowing it’s no big deal if you do fail. It’s just a drawing. You aren’t curing cancer or painting the next Mona Lisa. It’s a 5-10 minute live caricature being done at a party or fair or theme park. Keeping that perspective helps.

Another thing to keep in mind is that for the average Joe the bar for being impressed by someone’s art skills is pretty low. Most people are amazed by anyone who can draw anything recognizable, especially quickly. You could be doing the worst drawing of the day and someone will watch and tell you how great of an artist you are. People are astonished by other people who can do things they cannot do, even if they are not doing them at a championship level, especially creative things. Just don’t start believing them when they tell you how amazing you are. Just smile and thank them for the compliment, and then take the praise or criticism of your peers seriously.

All that stuff is helpful to keep in mind when working live, but for the person who has true stage fright it’s of little solace.

Live caricature is at it’s best a performance art. Those who are the best at it don’t just do really good caricatures, they engage with the audience and make a little show of it. I think the best way to get over the fear of drawing in front of people is to embrace it. Approach it like you are playing a part in a play. Imagine each drawing is a little skit. Don’t just hide behind the drawing board, turn around and acknowledge the audience. Have a few stock jokes or gags you use on the crowd to get them involved like turning to them and saying “It’s easy to draw caricatures when people already look like cartoons in your head!” That’s lame but it makes the crowd part of the process, and when you are “playing a part” it’s easier to be in front of an audience because it’s not really you in the spotlight, it’s a character you are playing. It’s a show… there’s SUPPOSED to be an audience.

Thanks to Dave Mould for the question. If you have a question you want answered for the mailbag about  cartooning, illustration, MAD Magazine, caricature or similar, e-mail me and I’ll try and answer it here!