My final State Fair of Texas....2016

My years of airbrush caricaturing at the State Fair of Texas came to an end, at the close of the Fair in 2016...but what a great experience, one which I will NEVER forget!! Over a span of nine years, I've lived in Texas for almost eight months...longer than any other state except PA. I guess that makes me an "honorary Texan". October won't be the same for me this year, being at home! But my shoulder will definitely thank me for not putting it through another 24-day airbrushing marathon. 

So without further ado, I will share some of my favorite caricature reactions from SFT 2016. 

These folks and their little baby-to-be were my first subjects on the first day. 

Older brother, younger brother. 

His nose was fun to draw.

HAD to include his prize for his lady!!!

Another big bushy beard!

I thought these two resembled famous faces from 150 years apart: Prince Edward Duke of Clarence, and Cara Deleveigne. 

It's hard to have favorites when you caricature so many people, they all have somethng that makes them fun to draw...but these two REALLY made me happy.

And yet ANOTHER big guy with a beard and big chains!  I used my gold marker a lot for this one!

Finally, one that the couple art-directed themselves. I was mad (later, when I saw the photo) that I forgot to add the molding on the Gothic window between them. Oh well, they liked it. 

SFT 2016....Baby Caricatures

I'm still learning how caricature babies well...this year's results were encouraging ;)

SFT 2016 Airbrush Caricature Sample...

My very first sample at my first State Fair of TX was Brangelina. And my final one turned out to be them, too! Not planned, just worked out that way!! ( My colleagues did the political candidates, so I went for the celebrity angle.)

SFT 2016 Family Caricatures!

Family groups!

Didn't get a photo of the little expanding family below, just their caricature...she was expecting twins! See what I did there??

CUTE KIDS! 

SFT 2016 Couple Caricatures!

I draw more couple caricatures than any other demographic at the state fair. :-)

SFT 2016 Singleton caricatures....

Some folks want to star in their own caricature...by having no one else in it but themselves!

SFT 2016 Miscellaneous.

My plane flew right over where I'd be spending 95% of my time while in Texas...our booth is on the far side of the Cotton Bowl (the big stadium, bottom left).

Our final rendez-vous with Big Tex!!!

I cut a silhouette of my colleagues Celestia and Rob...such interesting visages!

Had to do one of the then-Presidential-candidate, who'd just outed himself as a 'grabber' of some sort:

Rob and Celestia did political airbrush samples:

She and I both got to caricature kids wearing poop-emoji hats, last year's must-have accessory:

Hers (above) and mine (below)

(my kid took it off for the photo--???)

Here's a look at our Fair surroundings.

This is a typical line at night!

One of my favorite customers! 

Finally, five tired artists on the day after it was all over! Goodbye Dallas, I won't forget you!

Texan Engagement 2015!

This couple actually got teary when they saw their caricature...they had very recently gotten engaged. This was one of my favorites of the whole fair, of course. :-)

Texas 2015---Misc.

The State Fair of Texas is never dull. This year, instead of one big thing (in the past it's been crazy storms, Oprah coming, Ebola in Dallas or Big Tex burning down-yikes) it was a lot of cool, small things.

Our annual photo with Big Tex 2.0:

Ok, Celestia cropped his head off. She does have the longer arm for selfies, so I'm not really complaining.

Here is my pic of Big Tex in all his cowboy-hatted glory:

Mini-Big Tex says Howdy, too. 

A couple of views of our fair "neighborhood":

There was an eclipse during the fair, but we were so busy we missed most of it!

I got my annual reject:

Mom didn't care for how the drawing was turning out---I wasn't even done drawing it when she told me to stop. I airbrushed it after she left with her disappointed kid. 

This is how I retaliated against Senior Citizens who think caricature chairs INSIDE THE BOOTH are expressly for them to use on Senior Day at the Fair. They get annoyed and pretend not to understand when it's explained that they're for CUSTOMER USE...these ladies took their sweet time masticating their corny dogs (by the way, this photos got MANY likes on my Instagram, hee hee). 

This photo was texted to us by a happy returning caricature customer. His barbershop wall is plastered with them!  We had fun seeing whose artwork we recognized.  (Mine are the color one and the giant-headed, shaded BW.)

We have a long walk back through a parking lot, to the RV where we stay during the fair,  and this windshield decor really cracked me up. 

THIS is our single line which feeds all four artists, late one night towards the end of the fair....yes people are crazy determined to get their caricatures!

And after getting through all that, we still smile!!!!

Well, some of us do!!