Caricatures by Brian Oakes

hello blog...

2011-12-17T19:52:00.000-08:00

I thought about you today. We should hang out soon!

Nick Cave

2011-03-01T11:01:00.001-08:00

Daddy's lil girl

2011-02-12T01:34:00.000-08:00

I observed this guy standing over at the Face Paint stand

Tryin to keep my blog goin...

2011-02-10T14:08:00.000-08:00

I mostly post my artwork on Facebook..so go ahead and add me if u want more and the blogs not doin it for ya anymore.

James Cromwell

2011-02-01T17:10:00.001-08:00

ISCA Caricature Convention 2010 Artwork

2010-12-04T21:18:00.000-08:00

This year I took home the Silver Nosey!!! Congratulations to Yuta Honma winning Gold and Taka Watanabe for taking the Bronze!!!

Kage Nakanishi

Satsu Ushioda

Taka Watanabe

Seo Kim

Tony Tiger

Cloudy Reynoso

Jud Lively

Derek Edwards

Saiedeh Omidghaemi

Aaron Philby and Aida Iam

Nate Kapnicky and Desiree Cadua

Our Caricature group The San Diego Beastheads won a combined total of 16 awards!!!

I also won 1st Place Most Humorous

2nd Place Best Likeness From Slides

2nd Place Outstanding Exaggerated Style

6th Place Caricature of the Year for this piece

This is Eric Goodwin

2010-08-10T23:37:00.000-07:00

...not Tom Cruise with down syndrome

The First Annual AFTERCON Artshow 2010

2010-07-18T23:42:00.000-07:00

An artshow to benefit The Shel Dorf New Talent Encouragement Fund
July 22-24, from 8pm to midnight @ SUTURE GALLERY

Silent auction featuring original art by over 50 professional artists and special live artists, custom Munny's and Dunny's, skatedecks, and downtempo DJs.

Acrylic on 12x12 canvas

Mr. Nate

2010-06-27T00:17:00.001-07:00

Gig Stuff

2010-06-21T17:56:00.001-07:00

another chic

2010-06-21T14:43:00.000-07:00

AJ Scott

2010-06-21T14:11:00.000-07:00

Harvey Keitel

2010-04-27T21:58:00.001-07:00

Had this one finished for a while. I'm so used to completing drawings in the park, I need to work more at home and experiment.

Philip Seymour Hoffman

2010-04-27T21:53:00.001-07:00

I did this back in early 09, you may have seen it in the issue of Exaggerated Features at that time. I didnt feel like it was completety finished though, so I cleaned it up a little and..well here it is.

Keeping creative during down time at the park

2010-04-24T19:55:00.000-07:00

Not sayin' it was a perfect likeness, but it was fun

Sesame Sketch

2010-04-05T01:45:00.000-07:00

CrazyQuad!

2010-03-31T23:20:00.000-07:00

Its great when a group like this comes up and wants a sketch and they've all got some great faces and you dont even have to think about it, you just KNOW that they want a funny one!

I can see a few things I would have done differently, but whatevs, its all good and fun.

Lincoln

2010-03-26T20:27:00.000-07:00

Pretty happy with how this one turned out. Its so much easier to do a caricature from a photo when you dont know the subjects personality or mannerisms. Although normally thats why I prefer not to rely on just a photo. There's just no YouTube videos of this guy ;)

Chics

2010-03-12T18:08:00.001-08:00

Joaquin Phoenix

2010-03-11T18:01:00.000-08:00

From Joaquin's interview on David Letterman last February. Done in kind of a David Levine-ish cross hatching style.

Manny Hernandez and Brian Morante had a baby. He grew up, and then I sold him a demo.

2010-03-05T00:08:00.000-08:00

Quick Sketches from a Casino Event

2010-03-04T23:20:00.000-08:00

All sketches were completed in 2-3 mins

Sylvia Browne Illustration

2010-02-27T13:59:00.000-08:00

I was cleaning out my emails when I found this illustration I did in '07 for the Skeptical Inquirer. The article was about one of Browne's bigger psychic blunders in which she told the family of a missing son who had been gone for four years, he was dead. A spokesman for the family said Browne also tried to get money from the family to continue their discussion. However, the missing child and another boy were found alive shortly after Browne's reading. She was also completely inaccurate when describing the boy's abductor.

The illustration depicts Browne as a carnival "guesser". Obviously not a "real psychic".

Thought I'd share it.

Damian Azul Urzua

2010-02-26T20:11:00.000-08:00

Andy's emo baby, Damian. The coolest baby in the world.

That my baby, Julia. She's pretty cool, too.

"Put a Kap on it"

2010-02-22T10:33:00.000-08:00

For Nate's B-Day

Julia's bff Jen

2010-02-22T10:24:00.000-08:00

More Convention Art

2010-02-17T22:59:00.000-08:00

Eric "Red Face" Smith

Claire("Clear") Atenau

Chris Singleton

Jeff Pecina

Enrique Plazola

Yonie Woo

Cripple Con Threesome- San Antonio

The Management Crew

2010-02-17T21:25:00.000-08:00

Drawing I did of the management staff of caricatures at Sea World. I'll post the color version when it's finished.

(clockwise from top left: Nate Kapnicky, Me, Jeremy Stock, Claire Altenau, Beau Hufford)

Convention Artwork 2009

2010-02-15T01:46:00.000-08:00

Hello again...

2010-02-15T01:36:00.000-08:00

3 months without internet in my apartment. Hey, everybodys got internet somewhere, but I guess I decided to take a break from blogging altogether.

ISCA Convention 2009

2009-11-14T10:40:00.000-08:00

I'll have pictures of my work from the Con when I get back home to San Diego. Right now I'm in my hometown of Buffalo, NY to visit my family until November 23rd.

Be back bloggin' soon!

LA Fair 2009

2009-09-30T00:07:00.000-07:00

This was my second year doing the LA Fair. Had a pretty fun time, it was more like a vacation, I just got to hang out by the pool at the hotel before my shift, and party with the other workers afterwards.

Actual work was extremely slow the first two days, but picked up Fri, Sat, Sun. However I ony managed to get a few pics of ones that I liked, the crowd was cheap and kind of hard to please.
Me, Bird Dwyer(Zoo), John Baldwin(Knotts Berry Farm), and Kim Morton(Worlds of Fun)

Bird

Francesca Nunez

2009-09-02T19:29:00.000-07:00

I finally did it.

Manny Hernandez

2009-08-24T22:42:00.001-07:00

This was my goodbye sketch for Manny. If you havent already seen his blog or any of his art check him out HERE. He's leaving the Beast Head crew to go to school at Cal Arts.
Wish you the best of luck, Manny! You'l be back

U U

-bomderr

Promotion Post

2009-08-19T22:32:00.000-07:00

Hey, whats up. Meet your new Assistant Manager at Sea World San Diego..its ME. And here is some of my work from the past two weeks. Now GET TO WORK!

Yes, I had a reference. And yes, it took forever!

2009-08-19T22:24:00.000-07:00

2009-08-19T22:17:00.000-07:00

Claire Altenau and Sister

2009-08-07T14:18:00.000-07:00

Desiree Cadua

2009-08-04T01:09:00.001-07:00

"Turtle-Kitty" body inspired by Nate

The Summer Stride

2009-07-29T23:32:00.000-07:00

It was a goal of mine this past week to get out of my slump which I refered to two posts back. I feel like today I assured myself it was over, at least for the time being. There is always going to be the battle between money and art, drawing good or drawing bad(not purposefully), as the business comes and goes with the year. But, it is nice for me to know that as fact. That I'm not losing any skill as time goes on. I may have to focus on sales for a period of time and draw fast, but when I feel that I'm losing the quality, I can refresh and push myself to do some pieces that I'm happy with.

2009-07-29T23:27:00.000-07:00

2009-07-29T23:21:00.000-07:00

2009-07-29T23:15:00.000-07:00

2009-07-29T23:06:00.000-07:00

Comic Con San Diego 2009

2009-07-27T14:05:00.000-07:00

Its all over. I had my pro badge, and brought my girlfriend Julia, but due to work I could only make it a couple of days. Tons of fun though, I'll be back again next year.

On the first day we saw JOHN K's spotlight, which was awesome. He showed a bunch of hilarious vidoes including an animatic of a Ren and Stimpy episode never made.

Afterwards, I was invited by JOE BLUHM to draw on the windows of a bar downtown called Bondi with COURT JONES. We drank and ate on the house.

NATE KAP made it out with us Friday night for the KRUGER Exhibition.

Here are some Comic Con inspired sketches I did the past week.

"Thats the way she goes, boys"

2009-07-17T22:00:00.000-07:00

When drawing caricatures, you have your ups and downs. You cant always put out work you are happy with, sometimes you just dont feel it.

One of the reasons this happens is when you are drawing great and fun, and start to loosen up, you get quicker. But, when you worry about speed for too long, you develop tendencies to make each sketch a "stamp" of the last one, and as that continues, they become watered down, and not original.

After the Beastathon I went through a little of that, and now I'm in the process of getting out of it. I had a gig today, and I tallied the amount of faces I drew, which was 53, and I was actually really happy with like 50 of 'em. Hopefully, I can keep this momentum going into this weekend at work.

Anyway, here are the pics I've been holding out on posting for these few weeks. Nothing crazy, just some more fun body situations.

Beastathon

2009-06-20T23:30:00.000-07:00

Whatsup?!! Just so everybody knows, right now I am doing a Beastathon over at BEASTHEADS.blogspot.com

What that means is every day I work I am going to post at least one Beasted sketch for as long as I can. It's been three days running and going pretty good. I hope this encourages the other Beast Heads to quit being so shy/lazy about their sketches at work, and show the world what the San Diego Beast Heads are all about!

I work Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday, so check in on those days!!

Here's a taste:

Quit stalling go to BEASTHEADS!

BODIES

2009-06-16T00:19:00.000-07:00

The Exhibition

Grad Night

2009-06-12T12:47:00.000-07:00

Terrell Owens Caricature

2009-06-03T23:36:00.000-07:00

Get your Popcorn ready!

Huge Pimple on My Neck Day!

2009-05-17T00:09:00.000-07:00

To celebrate I did these drawings

As you can see in the sketch below, I repeated the same body position for the girl as in the top one 'cause I was into the dynamic "Z" shape I gave her, BUT thats not why I liked this drawing... ...I liked the interaction between the two animals and how each of them have opposite expressions as their human counterparts.(grumpy manitee ala Brian Morante)

I know what you're thinking, but she specifically asked me three times not to draw her double chin. I did my best.

These two were totally awesome customers

Coffee Shop

2009-05-16T23:56:00.000-07:00

There's a place and time thats simply referred to as "Sketch Night". I mean the coffee shop is called Filter, and we meet almost every Sunday around 9 or 10pm, but when asked if you are going to sketch night, we know exactly what that means.

J 2 the Free

2009-05-10T01:15:00.000-07:00

John Freeman

(photo of John obviously not taken on same day as sketch, extreme hat-head)

"Oh, my Bic!"

2009-04-27T20:25:00.000-07:00

A few sketches from last night at the coffee shop. The lady was the author of some book that was on the table.

I havent drawn with a ballpoint pen in a while, it felt really good. I missed the soft lines you can get.

Fun stuff today

2009-04-20T02:04:00.001-07:00

This is "Beau's kind of girl"

Here's a quick drawing I did of Jeremy while he went to lunch.

Post Beast Head Day

2009-04-20T01:48:00.000-07:00

Not to sound like all I'm doing now is extreme exaggeration, but I do taste a Beast-y resedue in my sketches the past few days.

Beast Head Day Pics!!!!!!!!!!

2009-04-14T13:04:00.000-07:00

For now, you can hop over to beastheads.blogspot.com

International BEAST HEAD Day!

2009-04-10T22:32:00.000-07:00

Caricature artists, its time for a FEAST,
we are asking you all to bring out your BEAST!

On this Monday, April the 13th,
draw their big gums, his big nose, her big teeth.

Its a day to expand, to try something new,
let their unique face tell you what to do.

Don't be afraid to draw what you see,
"JACK SOME FACES!", says Nate Kapnicky.

Go Crazy, exaggerate, stretch and destroy,
ANNIALATE that sweet little boy.

Just say to the customer "Its all in good fun",
dont forget to take pics so we can see what you've done!

Guess who I met?

2009-04-09T23:55:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite people in the world!! "WEIRD AL" YANKOVIC!!!!! My whole life I've been a fan of his, and there he was. just walkin around Sea World with his wife and kid. I literally ran over, like a teenage girl, to get a picture with him. Once I did, I offered to draw his daughter, and they were into it. He actually videotaped me doing the sketch which was also very cool.

So, Al, if you read this, and you still cant get Kruger to do that album cover, you know who to call.wink wink

Who's that guy?

2009-04-09T23:43:00.000-07:00

Something that we do at work which is really fun to do is draw yourself or one of the other artists in your sketch. Here are a couple examples...

Heres me getting blasted in the face with a volleyball!

Heres Andy totally about to tap out! Me, Nate and Beau are in the background.

2009-04-09T23:42:00.000-07:00

Fun With Bodies

2009-04-07T00:22:00.000-07:00

Its always a fun challenge when customers want their background to be something that you've never drawn before and you know you'll enjoy doing it...

...and then there are the ones that you've drawn a million times but you still find a way to make it different so it feels original. Like thinking about all the different ways you can draw somebody sitting on that Shamu,or whatever...

...but the best is when you dont have to think too hard to come up with a funny idea!

Drawing with speed, confidence and good humor

2009-03-24T15:47:00.000-07:00

Step right up...

2009-03-21T21:08:00.000-07:00

I'll draw ya gettin' eaten by a shark!

Loosey Goosey

2009-03-19T18:37:00.000-07:00

When it starts gettin busier and you're drawin more people, speed it up a little, get loose, and think CARTOONY.

Party

2009-03-15T23:20:00.001-07:00

Just a few from said party.okay, you caught me, I missed the birthmark, you win nothing.
PARTY FAVORITE

Check it out, I also did a couple of these pre-drawn Tarzan bodies by Brian Morante. Pretty "nifty".
And then it got dark.

"Mr. Commish"

2009-03-15T23:10:00.000-07:00

"Kannish"-inDont bust on me too much I did this in a half hour, plus I dont like drawin from a photo too much.

This was done as a suprise for the guy who's Birthday Party I was drawing at. When I got to meet him after drawing him from the photo, I realized a couple things I would have done differently. But, ya know, thats what happens.

Recently, I Doodled

2009-03-13T19:50:00.000-07:00

Been a little while now, huh?

This first one I did in the morning to start the day out good. I got done drawing the little boy, when the Mom said they were going to catch the Dolphin show, so I rang them up and finished it while they were gone. I've always wanted to practice a good sunset.

I liked this one not for its exaggeration, of course, but for the quality and a decent likeness all in a reasonable amount of time.
This one's for Nate. This kid wanted to be making the Super Bowl winning catch for the Steelers.

Did this one at the end of the night working with Nate Kap. These folks were from Kuwait. Their Mom was totally into it and having fun, it was great. The dude on the left had an AWESOME face, sometimes people sit in your chair and you think "I could draw this guy over and over for the rest of my life". I dunno if you can tell from the photo, but man, it was good.

A couple couples and a single single

2009-02-16T00:16:00.000-08:00

I love it when people come up and know exactly what they want.

Group Art Show

2009-02-13T23:52:00.000-08:00

Here are the two pieces I submitted for the "Mixed Messages" show. It gave me the opportunity to work on some paintings, which is something I havent done since high school. crazy. Maybe I'll do some more?

"Peter Vicuna One Day"

"Scared-a-Spelunkin'"

Dream Gig

2009-02-12T23:13:00.000-08:00

So I just got back from this gig downtown. This particular gig called for 10 caricature artists, but get this, 5 drawing in "cute" style and 5 drawing in an abstract/exaggerated style! You can guess the 5 drawing in abstract/exaggerated style was Nate Kapnicky, Aaron Philby, Beau Hufford, Manny Hernandez, and myself. The dream gig that called for JACKIN' FACES! The "cute" style artists shall remain anonymous.

I felt like I had fun with most of them, but none I was too crazy over. I guess cause I still tried not to take too much time on each one.

Lastly, Kelcie and a chocolate fountain. We had to hit that up!

The Eggs Special

2009-02-11T19:23:00.000-08:00

Sketchies

2009-01-31T21:32:00.001-08:00

Cripple Con Part Deux!

2009-01-21T23:22:00.000-08:00

Just got back from the craziest most funnest art bash Excelsior Springs, MO has ever seen. It all took place over this past weekend and I had a great time, as I did last year. Congratulations to Eggs Philby for winning The Crippie Award-Overall Bestest of the Con! Here's my artwork from the convention

Angie Dixon

Casey Falco

Jessica Bloom

Heather Mulligan

Garrett Holt and Lindsey Villareal (Kamans For Life)
Mike Dias

...as I promised

2009-01-15T19:20:00.000-08:00

This was so fun to do, and they totally loved it and bought a big frame and ALL that. Both of them had some great reactions when they saw it, too. The first kid I drew(the one on the right) actually went straight to the ground and was rolling around laughing. They were Awesome Aussies!

Nate Kap!

2009-01-15T17:15:00.000-08:00

When he's not Beastin'

Paul Giamatti

2009-01-11T00:41:00.000-08:00

Yea, you know who he is. Paul Giamatti is not quite a household name, but he's been in a ton of movies you may have seen. Most known for his roles in Lady in the Water, Sideways, American Splendor, and the most recent John Adams HBO series. You may also remember him as the orangutan in Planet of the Apes, or as "Pig Vomit" in Howard Stern's Private Parts. One of my favorite B List celeberties.

Pleasantville

2009-01-02T17:33:00.000-08:00

I'll do some crazy stuff tomorrow, how's that sound?

They only come out at night

2008-12-29T00:19:00.000-08:00

2008-12-28T22:24:00.000-08:00

Here are some sketches I liked from the past couple weeks, I thought I'd post them here , but you may have seen them already on Beast Heads..

Guitar Wierdo

2008-12-12T13:49:00.001-08:00

No Sketch Left Behind

2008-12-11T23:34:00.000-08:00

It seems that I'm finally cleaning house a little bit and posting some drawings that I've had on my computer for a while.

This first one was from a gig, the rest are from Sea World.

These people were really awesome, they both loved it!

For Sean And Lisa

2008-12-11T22:47:00.000-08:00

While I was visiting home for Thanksgiving, I did up this caricature for my good friend Sean and his girfriend Lisa. Sean and I lived on the same street growing up and hung out alot drawing comics during high school. I credit him for being a huge creative influence on me at that time.

A couple o' sketches I did right after the con

2008-12-10T17:53:00.001-08:00

A few cell phone pics

2008-12-10T17:21:00.003-08:00

These were all taken over the past several months.

This one was rejected, they thought the mouth was just too much. I redrew it.

Steve Silver's Life Drawing Seminar

2008-11-14T17:16:00.000-08:00

On the final day of the Caricature Convention, Steve Silver( Kim Possible, Clerks Animated Series) had a very helful seminar that focused on figure drawing but also went into drawing poses and cartooning them from memory. First he had us do 20, 1 minute gesture drawings, then we did 4, 3 minute sketches of the same pose but from different angles. The last exercise, you have to observe a pose for 30 seconds then do a sketch from memory. It all means that sometimes you must put away what you know about reality and loosen up using what you know about making your drawing interesting. To tell the character's story.

This particular model who was hired by Steve to come in, used to work for Hooters and was wearing the uniform. The whole time all of her poses were telling the story of a day at work. She also had props to hold like a tray and a glass.

Anyways, I went ahead and completed the final step which was to come up with a design of the model. I based it on one of the poses from my sketchbook I thought showed her entire "look" the best.

The National Caricaturists Network Convention in Raleigh, North Carolina 2008

2008-11-09T23:34:00.000-08:00

This was the third straight year I've attended the main convention and they just keep getting better.

I had such an amazing time, I really felt like I had a complete experience. I was with friends, I learned alot, and I worked hard. I'll have to post up some more stuff soon but for now here are the pics from my wall (Sorry, some of them arent the best photos but I have some better ones being sent to me). ENJOY!

Sheina

Jerry "Kid" Cardona

Kaylee Choate

Paul McCall

Tomokazu Tabata
Seo Kim

Oliver Merlo

Monty Rhode
Sosuke Narita

Chris Chua

Kunikazu Noguchi

Dylan Glynn

Adam English

Gig Last Night

2008-10-06T00:05:00.001-07:00

This gig was really fun, there was 15 of us all together drawing at the Hyatt in downtown San Diego. I was alongside my buds Eggs Philby and Nate Kap. I thought Aaron was drawing really good but he didnt get any pictures, and then Nate got a funny reject where the lady got up and saw it, screamed "Thats HIDEOUS", then ripped it off his easel and crumpled it up. Everyone was laughing. I also felt pretty good going into this gig, and was trying to do a quality job on most of them while keeping the time down.

Some quick doodles from the fair

2008-10-05T23:33:00.001-07:00

LA County Fair

2008-10-01T00:10:00.000-07:00

Kamans had a few booths in the LA Fair for the whole month. I got to draw ther the final week, and met some cool people from other parks. It also gave me an opportunity to relax and loosen up my sketch a little... here are some sketches I was pretty happy with...

2008-09-05T16:04:00.000-07:00

Some friendly girls on a polar pillow

Footbally

2008-08-29T22:42:00.000-07:00

Wuts up Dan, hope you like this one!

The post with the most...Lil' ghost

2008-08-17T10:40:00.000-07:00

Here are some sketches done over the past few weeks. The top is me and Sam Gorrie, a Canadian artist working in Las Vegas who came to visit last month.

Its been a little while since I've last posted so I have quite a bit to show. ENJOY

This guy had an awesome face I could have gone further.

Who the heck comes and wants to get drawn stranglin' a cat?

Pretty decent sketch. Sam was watchin me do this one. I dont think they liked it though.
He reminded me of a flying squirrel.

Lil' Post

2008-07-21T00:26:00.000-07:00

These three were successfully jacked.

Junior High art teacher that enjoys a fine dribble now and again.

British girl that wanted a skinny body.

This girl said she wanted to be chillin' with dolphins.
This kid, not as creepy as he looks, he was pretty cool.

This guy was veeeery interesting looking.

Wrestlin' a bear is cool.

Back to the kitchen..I smell somethin' BURNIN'!

2008-05-26T01:32:00.000-07:00

Ryan Matias

2008-04-04T22:43:00.000-07:00

I drew Ryan cause he just got into Cal Arts. He does crazy cool figure drawing. Thats a wavy naked lady in the back as seen through Ryan's wormy eyes.

Phone pics

2008-04-04T22:37:00.000-07:00

Spring Break 08

2008-04-03T09:16:00.000-07:00

Well its officially been one year since I came out to visit Sea World San Diego. It got me to move here and I still love every minute of it.

Matrix sketch

2008-03-25T01:20:00.000-07:00

Some stuff from Sea World

2008-03-24T22:28:00.000-07:00

Still drawing, trying to have fun. I can see that my stuff is becoming less exaggerated, less crazy than it used to be for in-park standards. I dont necessarily have a problem with it, I can just tell that its becoming more packaged. At this present time of year I'm focusing on keeping a nice clean sketch as fast as possible and not pushing myself to jack people up. As the years have passed, I've been very into pushing the exaggeration, and its kind of "been there done that". I dont feel like I'm in any type of plateau that is keeping me from doing that, just doing it less in the park.
This is the first time I've worked in a year round park and I'm discovering what its like to fight to make commission. But summer will be here soon enough and I can have all the fun I want.