DOUG SHANNON caricature artist

Judging from the Prudential Realty group I drew caricatures for at Oyster Point, the real estate market is back. Lots of smiles here, mortgage rates are dropping, God bless us every one!

The French Laundry throws an annual party for all its foodie friends and they invited me to draw caricatures. Here are two shy lovelies. I also drew their parents too, and they were pretty good looking themselves,

Saltbranding dreams up brand identities for the products we buy—”Vista” for Microsoft for example. They took over a room at the E&O Trading Company for the evening, where I drew caricatures. This picture demonstrates why I need to be careful about drawing women in the nude—the guy often looks happier about it than she does.

Owens Corning threw a kids holiday party, so I drew caricatures here—about 65 kids in three hours.

This was a combination of business acquaintances and friends holiday party in a south-of-market highrise. The caricature pictured here is a lovely lady who is holding her Tony the tiger by the tail.

Catalyst Biosciences is probably one of a handful of biotech companies that can get funding in this economic climate, and they threw a party. This caricature was my fave of the evening. Sigh…oh, to be young  and cute and brilliant and in on the ground floor!

It is very strange being at an two-party election party. half the room is jazzed and the other depressed. This subject was an Obama supporter, but as you can see, he wasn’t gloating. Note the template with both the candidates.

Bank Of America hosted a party for employees and their families at AT&T Park. I was out in left field but they found me and kept me busy drawing caricatures all night. The best part was before the party started, when I got to test how it feels to run into the wall while trying to catch an imaginary fly ball. Turns out it is padded pretty well, though I wasn’t tempted to try it a second time. As a note of interest, the handsome group of five you see below was drawn in about 8 minutes, the last of the evening.

This large event at the Hilton was marvel comics themed so everyone got a superhero body, like the “Hulk” pictured here. With a couple thousand in attendance the lines were too long for drawing much detail. These averaged about 2.5 minutes each.

This “Island” themed event was held poolside at the Hyatt Regency in Santa Clara. Here are a few of my favorite caricature subjects. You can see more at the client web site.

This well known venture capital firm threw a big bash for their partners and staff at a veritable palace of a venue. They thought of everything—pool, waterslides, even a caricature artist! I could use an angel, but alas, everyone left their wings at the office.

The International Brotherhood of Electric Workers threw a big bash with everything from rock climbing to pony rides to…well, you guessed it—caricature artists! Marc Schmid and I drew nonstop for five hours or so and it was great fun. here are a few of my favorites.

Loopnet threw a bash at AT&T park for 250 of their employees, a bright eyed and happy bunch, most of whom were born right about the time I started drawing caricatures. Here are a few of my favorite “quick sketches”. There were also a few videos taken at the end and I will post them (with a link here) as soon as possible.

Richard at A Sound Explosion hired me and a second artist, Zach Trenholm to draw caricatures at a Lafayette health club’s annual open house. It was a huge crowd and kept us both busy all night.

Crissy Field has to be the toughest venue for a caricature artist in the city, with no shade and lots of wind. But CCI, a general contractor firm made the best of it with a great band, pictured here, and great catering, along with Franco’s Family Fun Tattoos and me. Here are a couple of my best caricatures of the afternoon.

“…we have received rave reviews of the event from attendees and Google Employees.  Thank you again and I do hope we are able to work together in the future.” Elizabeth Wright, Maritz Travel

Google hosted a couple thousand clients on their Mountainview campus and brought in Angie Jordan and myself to draw live digital caricatures. I love the 60″ screen they provided although some of the noses looked a little largish up there. This was the biggest event I can remember doing and the line stretched as far as the eye can see. I found myself leaving out a lot of details, including the theme stuff I had planned, in order to move things along. These pix average 5-6 minutes each.
As a bonus, subjects can download soft copies of their caricatures (without the branding) at this page to be used any way they like from Facebook to coffeemugs.

Sequoyah Country Club is a regular client; they have me doing caricatures every year at their employee party and funny thing, every year the lines get longer. Here are a few faves.

Marc Schmid and I drew caricatures for a Northbay Entertainment at a carnival sort of setup in Rohnert Park. We both drew nonstop for three hours—kids, family groups, lots of smiles here. This was my first cartoon subject, luckily I got a photo because later I would have been too busy.

Charles Krug winery in St. Helena had me back again to draw caricatures for their employees.

This was the second night this week drawing caricatures with this group at the Hilton.

Fireman’s Fund threw a bash for their employees and families. Marc Schmid and I  drew caricatures for a few hours.

2000 financial agents at the Hilton kept me and four other caricature artists busy for four hours. This was a particularly fun bunch to draw for. The smiling gentleman on the left, in particular, really made the night special. His colorful commentary on the caricatures I was drawing really energized the crowd, eliciting peals of laughter the like of which I haven’t heard in a while. If he ever wants to quit his job in high finance, he’s got a job with me, working the crowd. He’s a genius in his own right!

I draw caricatures for Sonnen BMW every year at Piper Park in Larkspur. It’s always a fun family-oriented group. Here’s one of my favorite quick sketches of the afternoon.

Hudson Health Care is a regular caricature client so they know what to expect. These faces get better looking every year.

A few hundred insurance agents and their spouses were at the SF Marriott at a 60’s themed party. I was decked out pretty hip but forgot to take a picture. Here is a couple I did at the end of the evening when I was drawing at a four minute per couple pace.

Blue Cross took over Bistro Boudin on Fisherman’s Wharf for a few hours so I organized a crew of caricaturists for them. Zach Trenholm, Marc Schmid, Big Al and myself cranked out a couple hundred caricatures for a happy crowd. Here are two of my favorite caricatures.

150 or so Microsofties (is that the correct term?) invaded the Cartoon Art Museum and I drew digital caricatures on my tablet. We had it set up to deliver to the printer and cell phone simultaneously but turned out I couldn’t get reception. The softcopies are still available for download on the web however.