'Here We Gooooooo.....'

First let me say that this bloggin' thing works somewhat backwards when you load a ton of artwork all at the same time. I probably should have started with my oldest work last and my newest stuff first but that just seemed backwards to me. Alas, you can scroll down and see some of my best efforts to date pic by pic. They are a few words of explanation below each pic that I encourage you to read. If not, just go thru and enjoy the scenes! ~WmD. ~p.s.~ as you get to the bottom of each page just click on 'older posts' to see the rest of my work.

Michael Jackson 1958 ~ 2009

'Michael Jackson dead at the age of 50' ...wow... I can still hear the announcement in my head. I'll never forget that day. I'll never forget how he inspired millions with his music. I'll never forget the day that I finally got the 'MoonWalk' down to a science.....May the 'KING of POP' rest in peace. ~WmD.

Yao Ming

There was a time that I joined the NCN.org (National Caricaturist Network) because I'd seen some of the members work on-line. It was a very rewarding experience and I'm thinking about joining them again in the near future. There was a retreat in Orlando FL back in 2003 that I was fortunate to attend. WoW! I'd never been around that many artists before in my life! It was absolutely amazing. At that time I was heavy into my computer-styled caricatures but was slowly realizing that I missed good ol' fashioned DRAWING. So much so that I did this illustration of Yao Ming just based on memory. It was really fun to 'draw' again after spending so much time illustrating on my computer. The over exaggeration was inspired by fellow artist Glenn Ferguson who is defintely one of the Best in the Biz! ~WmD.

Ms. KEYS

Here's my 'Toon of another VERY GIFTED individual. I remember when Alicia burst on to the scene with her song 'Fallin' -WoW. My Fam and I became instant fans and I remember thinking someday I'll get around to doing a caricature of her. One of the things I teach my students when we are working on caricatures is to always 'compliment' females. With guys the sky is the limit as far as exaggeration goes. But females are very sensitive about how they look (even as a cartoon/caricature). This illustration is one of my personal favorites and it was inspired by her song 'Butterflies.'
My Wife and I agree: Alicia + hair braided + behind the piano = UNSTOPPABLE! ~WmD.

Tiger

I guess one could say that my ol' 'Creative Juices' were flowin' on this one. Here's my 'Toon of Tiger Woods out on the course. You'll note that he's wearing gear from my future clothing line 'Original Kreationz' (like Lauryn and Alicia). It was around this time that I started to experiment with exaggerating the features more and more. The results of his face (in caricature) sort of reminds me of his Dad. ~WmD.

Martha

Somewhere around '02-'03 Martha Stewart got into a bit of 'hot water' due to some bad business decisions. It was such a big deal that I was inspired to 'Toon her. If you look closely you'll see she's wearing some pretty fancy clothes. I figured the black and white stripes might be a bit 'over the top.' Glad to see she's back doing the 'Home Decor' stuff that made her famous. ~WmD.

Morgan Freeman

Hey if you remember ol' Morgan from the Electric Company back in the day raise your hand...(raises hand and notices the puzzled look on most peoples faces). Yep, ol' Morgan used to be one of the 'stars' of a show similar to Sesame Street that was based on teaching kids how to read. As most know, he's now a big time Actor with many movies under his belt. I was inspired to do this illustration from the movie he and Brad Pitt starred in as detectives called 'Seven.' ~WmD.