Napa Grad Nite 2007

Last Friday night, June 8, I worked from 10pm until 5am doing portraits for the local High School Graduation Party. I think it was my 15th straight year of getting home as the sun was coming up.

Here are a few of the 37 ink portraits I did (you can click on them to see them BIG! and then hit your browser's back button to get back here):




Each year it's a similar routine. Get to the job site (formerly Napa Fairgrounds, but for the past several years Napa College), check to make sure they have what I need (outlets, lights, table, chairs), get comfortable (I've learned to bring pillows!), wait for the first customer to sit down, and then wonder if I'll still be able to do it. Each year the possibility looms — perhaps this year it won't work.

Some years it has taken two or three portraits to get in the groove, but the last few years, for whatever reason, they seem to come out well right off the bat. It's not like I spend much time practicing — in fact, I hadn't done any since the Grad Nite last year. But all was well.

The crowd this year didn't seem to get into the swing of things as immediately as usual — no one sat down for a portrait until maybe 10:30pm, and frequently I'd find myself looking for customers, taking breaks to eat or wander around. I can remember years when I literally didn't get out of my chair from 10pm until 5am, and helpful volunteers even brought food to me. But I can also remember when I was the only "artist" on site. The last several years, besides me, there have been two caricaturists, Doug Shannon and Dale Axelrod, and this year there were three, the third being Rene Pulido, and they attract much more attention than I do. But we all ended up with a lot of satisfied customers.



Dale Watches Doug

However, after being caricatured, several kids stopped by my table somewhat disappointed at how "unphotographic" their caricatures were, hoping my drawing would be more realistic. They apparently didn't understand what caricatures are all about — these guys are terrific caricaturists. But those kids were my best subjects. They posed like statues, and were rewarded with good portraits.