Tara Tinsley

My latest caricature is of a rising young star heralding from the northern San Joaquin Valley, a talented singer, musician and local celebrity - Tara Tinsley. If you are not familiar with her music you likely will be in the near future. On Saturday, I had the opportunity to meet with her and she autographed the work.

Later, this Custom Caricature was placed on the silent auction table at the Downtown Modesto Harvest Festival with proceeds to benefit United Cerebral Pasly.   ~SWParra

Hawaii, Hockey & Happy Anniversary!

Today is a celebration for Deb and Chris - their wedding anniversary! All the clues to where and when they were wed are illustrated throughout this special gift caricature of the loving couple.

Happy Anniversary kids!

Hahaha, it's so much fun to be able to capture and share their happiness with everyone through Custom Caricatures.

If you are searching for a one-of-a-kind keepsake gift for your special someone then send me

an email or call.
Inquiries welcome. ~SWP

My sister's birthday

My younger sister is a tough cookie - she has to be - one son is currently serving in the US Army and the other completed his tour of duty while serving in the US Navy. To say that I am proud of her boys is an understatement.

She is quite successful within her career choice yet it wasn't easy, there were obstacles but she persevered.

Even when times are tough she can find something good to smile about - people are drawn to her positive outlook.

A sports fan, her favorite team is the San Francisco 49ers (ok, so she has one fault) I blame myself for not being around enough to ensure her undying devotion to The Rams! 

Happy Birthday Chris! ~SWP 

On the spot: At Rustica Kollection

Gift caricatures are such a wonderful and personal present to offer a close friend, that special someone in your life or as a gesture of gratitude and respect to a colleague. Its all about fun.

Typically it takes about a week to compile the research, gather resource material for the illustrative parts and of course capture the essence of the subject or subjects.

On the spot caricatures are a little different. These are essentially "gesture drawings" and performed live with the subject sitting in front of me - I'm also engaged in a brief conversation with them (where I mine for details about that person) the more I know about him or her allows me to develop the environment around the caricature. The finished drawing is now even more unique and personal to that person.

Below is a video that my good friend Bill Haines of Black Shamrock Media made for me while I was working the Rustica Kollection Grand Opening. It absolutely illustrates the process perfectly. If you have questions or are interested in hiring a caricature artist for your next special event, birthday party, wedding or anniversary drop me an e-mail or call me at (559) 930-4411. ~SWP

Steps in the process: Caricature

Here are some of the preliminary steps that I use to complete a caricature.

This one for Baseball 2011 is near completion -- make sure to pick up The Fresno Bee

to check out the finished product. It publishes next week. ~SWParra

Baseball 2011

A treat for my readers. Between assignments I have been working on a caricature as the visual element for the launch of the 2011-12 Baseball Season that will be featured in The Fresno Bee's Sports section next week.

So, my plan is to periodically post throughout the day to share with you the process it takes me to develop the caricature. If you can guess early on who the subject is let me know and I will let you know if your guess is at all close - be aware that it is a developing process and changes and edits are the norm. Good Luck! ~SWParra

Wine 101

Now here's a fun caricature of Pablo, an expert on wine who teaches a Wine Appreciation Class in Fresno. This work was commissioned as a jacket for his booklet that people can pick up when they enroll in the class. Here's a link to find out more about the wine class .

Pablo is also one of the proprietors of Rustica Kollection, a trendsetting outlet of fashionable gifts, crafts, clothing, jewelry and natural gourmet products. You can contact the shop by calling (559) 283-3544 for information about hours.

Also, Rustica Kollection will be celebrating their Grand Opening on Saturday, March 26 after 7 p.m. ~ I will be there drawing caricatures "on-the-spot" around 8pm. ~SWParra

...Those Longhorns

Recently completed birthday caricature for this young man out of Austin, Texas who turned 37 at the end of February. His nickname is "TXMX" an avid fan of Longhorns Football plus he's a celebrated tailgater. This work was commissioned by his sister. Ahhh, don't you just love family!

So, if you are interested in giving a special gift such as a caricature to your dear one contact me I'd love to hear from you. ~SWP

swparra@aol.com

Sounds Like News

One of the talented news editors of the day who orchestrated some key coverage of local and regional news events - The Bee bid farewell this month to one of its senior editors, Jack Robinson.

Not only an avid fan of the symphony - Mr. Robinson was a gifted musician who played the french horn.

This caricature was offered as a gift in parting.

~SWP

Meet over dead bodies

For Valentines Day

I had the wonderful opportunity to create this "couples caricature" of Darrell and Zoua - he a photo-journalist and she a news reporter for a local TV station - they met each other "on the scene" while covering breaking news.

This custom caricature was commissioned by Darrell as a surprise gift for his wife Zoua. According to Darrell it was a hit - wife, kids and even gramma enjoyed it.

This was fun for me too, I love being a caricature artist! ~SWP

Happy Valentine's Day y'all

This work was commissioned by the young man's father as a gift to commemorate the couples first year wedding anniversary, Danny and Rosa. The expression on their faces is a nod to Danny's older brother Michael. The scene is based on "American Gothic" also a request from Danny's father as a way to recognize their hometown roots. Happy Anniversary y'all! ~SWP

On-the-spot ART

Thursday evening I will be drawing caricatures "on-the-spot" at Fulton55 - as part of the Fresno Beehive's Birthday celebration VI. Here's an example of the type of work I do for private parties and events.

For information about the event check FresnoBee.com.

~SWP

Super Bowl XLV point spread

Who will be Super this Sunday, the Green Bay Packers' Aaron Rodgers or Pittsburgh Steelers' Ben Roethlisberger? The current line has Green Bay favored by 2 1/2 points - but what does that mean? Is that a field goal that makes it through the upright but freezes in midair before landing on the astroturf OR is it a safety plus half a "style" point OR is it a new sort of extra point conversion plan tendered specifically for Las Vegas? I'm not a betting man so perhaps someone else can inform me.

Here are my QB caricatures for Super Bowl XLV that published today in The Fresno Bee. ~SWP

Nancy the Librarian

Here is the latest example of my work,
this was commissioned for Nancy as
a going away gift. She had worked as
a Librarian for more than 20 years.
So, I rather saw her as someone
who would ride the wave and
onto a new chapter in her career.
~SW Parra