Hey all!

Gonna be making some changes to our services. We will have to discontinue face painting for private events and only do them for festivals. Usually my fiance Ruben is the one to do face painting while I draw caricatures at the same time at birthday parties. Lately his day time work schedule has been so unpredictable that it has been difficult to schedule him for any face paint parties. Sometimes I would even try asking one of my friends to fill in on face painting but everyone is so busy with their usual jobs and having kids. Ruben has done face painting with me at art festivals and carnivals and those seems to be the only time it's really worth it, because it's hard to do those on my own. I would always need another artist with me to help set up or cover me when ever I have to leave the booth, and it's more fun to be at a festival with someone else because those days could go really long up to 10 hours of drawing a day. I will let you all know when I have a festival coming up.

So now I am just going to focus on myself and caricatures. I could do both face painting and caricatures but I figured it would be best for me to focus on one craft and get really good at that one thing. I have been practicing caricatures in all kinds of forms and drawing in my sketchbook, phone, and tablet all the time. I will be drawing people I see in public, pet caricatures, celebrities, web comics, and maybe even painting? Who knows the possibilities are endless and one of my passions has always been caricatures and I really want to excel on that. 

If you really want to hire a face painting through me, it still doesn't hurt to ask. I could ask one of my friends or Ruben if they can face paint with me. Ruben really does enjoy face painting when ever he is actually available. I know some really great professional face painters and their rates are on the higher end, I also know some beginners level face painters.  The only way I could let you know for sure if someone is available is about a week ahead of time- because most job schedules are created every two weeks. I know that is an inconvenient time for most party planners but I am sorry, it's just the way things are. I can only speak for myself now and I will try to be available most weekends. Sometimes life gets busy and people need to have more than one job, take care of their kids, or just make time for themselves. ​Times are rough, everyone is busy and there is so little time for everything. :/ 

On a positive note, I adopted a new Boston terrier puppy! I held him when he was a week old. He was the chunkiest from the litter and the only brown one, so I called him a coco puff. He's growing so fast and still likes to sleep on his back! He has also been an inspiration for my drawings and keeps me warm for daily cuddles. 

I have a new page where that you can like and follow my posts. It’s called Comicliz because it’s not only limited to posts about drawing at special events but everything I tend to doodle and create such as comics, crocheting, painting, and sketchbook. Basically similar stuff you would see on this blog but now also on Facebook! 
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I been having fun drawing people on my sketch book and practicing the art of cartooning. :)

I absolutely adore this drawing. In my first or second year of drawing caricatures at family parties, there was one at a little girl's sleep over party. The birthday girl decided to draw me in return and my heart melted when she handed me her drawing. She got all the details about me like my pony tail, bangs, and long sleeve shirt. I am glad I was able to inspire a little girl to make a caricature of me after I made one of her. I will forever treasure this drawing. Thank you Emilia. 

Hello! My name is Liz and I am the one who has been writing these blogs, responding to emails, and updating this website.

Party Doodle has been my adventurous hobby. It has taken me to all areas of Chicago and outside suburbs I have never been to before. I have done a few festivals that were total fails or complete successes. I have met a lot of friendly people who really appreciated my art which I am grateful for. Thank you to all of you. Your positive responses is what keeps me going. Ruben is my boyfriend who does face painting whenever he has free time from his salary job. When ever he comes out to face paint for kids he loves it because making kids happy really brightens his day.

                          What did I go to School for?

People ask me a lot if I went to school for this. I did not go to college seeking specifically to become a caricature artist nor gotten a major for caricature art, I don't think that exists. I went to school to become an Animator which is making cartoons that move on TV like Pixar's Toy Story (3D Animation) or like Classic Disney Lion King (2D Animation). I studied both 3D and 2D Animation and while studying those, I also had to learn how to draw. On one summer day in 2009 during college years, I was on a date at Six Flags where I stumbled upon some caricature artists. I have gotten one before while I was in high school but this time I was looking at it with new eyes. I was suddenly inspired how someone could create concept art in an instant. The next day I started researching caricature artists on youtube, blogs, and google to learn as much as I can to know what it is like to be a caricature artist, how it is done, and how to draw like one. I began practicing on my own which was difficult. I practiced for a year in 2010 and everyone knew that I wanted to become a caricature artist. Then on another summer day in 2011 my brother asked me to draw caricatures at his garage sale to attract people to browse around and I was selling them for $5 per face. It was my chance to test the waters of live caricature and boy I was nervous! Luckily they liked my drawing and I made about 2 or 3 sales. Then there was one man who stopped his car in front of our garage who I thought came to look at the stuff we were selling but instead asked me to draw caricatures for an event at the local church. And there it is, I've gotten my first gig! The event went well and it was a real confidence booster. After that, Ruben's sister asked us to sell at her block party and she suggested to Ruben that he should do face painting while I sell caricatures, and that is where Party Doodle was born. Liz the caricature artist and Ruben the face painter. I started posting on craigslist to get more gigs and we designed this website together.

                                   Theme Park

Shortly after we started Party Doodle I was hired to work at a theme park at Lincoln Park Zoo to draw caricatures in 2012. While working there I learned soo much more about caricature art, how to sell my work, how never to sell myself short, develop thick skin from unhappy customers, how to draw faster and maintain good quality, and met many awesome artists in the caricature community. It has been one of my favorite summer jobs and I would recommend it to anyone starting out. Party Doodle was getting less attention from me while working at the Zoo because I had to commit more to my job than my hobby, which ended up in me rejecting a lot of gigs. I worked at the zoo for three seasons. At one point I realized my manager was the artist I stumbled upon at Six Flags when I first became inspired by caricatures, and he became the one to teach me everything I know. Isn't that interesting how things work out? In the summer of 2015 I did not work at the zoo for the first time but instead was furthering my studies in 3D Animation with online workshops at IAnimate.com and was also able to spend a bit more time with Party Doodle. That summer I did more gigs than usual and experimented with different festivals and craft fairs. It was a lot of fun just doing my own thing. 
                                         Studio

Caricatures at Lincoln Park Zoo wasn't the only job I had during those years. I was bouncing back and fourth between the zoo and in the off season working contract gigs at NetherRealm Studios doing 3D Animation. The skill I actually which I went to school for! I was involved with the famous games "Injustice: Gods Among Us" and "Mortal Kombat X"! That was the dream job, to do 3D Animation and still manage to live in Chicago to be close to my family.    

    (above is a picture of me standing in the lobby at NetherRealm Studios)
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                   Where is Party Doodle Heading Now?

So what am I doing now? It is mid June in 2016 and guess what? I now have a permanent position at NetherRealm Studios and we are working on the next Injustice 2. *jumps up and down in glee* I am so happy! But do not fret! Caricatures still is and will always be one of my passions along with animation. I will continue to do gigs and also continue to improve my craft.

However having a salary job does mean I will have less time to manage Party Doodle and also less time to do gigs. I am sorry if I am slow at responding to emails and this is also why I don't regularly manage things by phone. I plan on updating my website to be simpler for booking gigs and hopefully link you to other artists I would recommend in case Ruben and I are not available for your event. I will continue to update the blog so you can see the gigs I've done, sketches I've drawn, and random things I would like to share with you. I will try my best to stay actively involved with Party Doodle because it is still one of my passions. 

This weekend we will be selling live caricatures and face painting for tips! We will be in the kids section where there will also be other fun activities for kids. Take a stroll through the park with the family and enjoy all the art work there is to see. 

I wanted to quickly share how I grew as an artist during my early years. I have always enjoyed drawing since I was 5 years old but it wasn't until high school that I started to take things more seriously. In my high school I have taken fundamentals of art class, drawing, painting, and graphic design class. I have also taken classes outside of high school and after I graduated which is what I wanted to share with you in case there are teen artists out there that are looking for places to learn more or gain an art job. These are the places that I went to and that I can talk about. I am sure there are many more places in Chicago to learn but here is what I know based on my own experience.



The School of the Art Institute of Chicago
The Early College Program (College Courses for High School Students)
http://www.saic.edu/cs/high_school/highschoolcommuterclasses/courses/

In my junior year of high school I took an Oil Painting class and senior year I took Traditional Animation class. I enjoyed them both. Oil Painting was a turning point in my artistic life because it opened my eyes to the challenges and fascination of paint and mixing colors, making things pop from the picture. It sounds simple but this was my first time experiencing it and it was phenomenal. And of course the Traditional Animation was very exciting since that was the type of career I wanted to pursue. I was interested to make animation inspired by my early childhood from Disney movies. Their classes are more on the pricey side but they do provide financial aid/grants/scholarships so make sure to apply for that when you sign up! They have a variety of courses to choose from so check them out online.


Marwen.org (FREE Art Courses)

This place is perfect for low income artists and it is only for grades 6-12. I took a course during the summer after my junior year of high school and took a figure drawing class. It was a bit weird at first because I was drawing from the nude and I was only 17 years old but I later realized it was a good experience to get a head start on it. In college I had to take more figure drawing classes, and while it was new for everyone else, I was already getting the hang of it. Marwen provides MANY awesome courses and I was sad that I heard of it right before senior year, otherwise I would have been taking all of their courses from the start.


After School Matters / Gallery 37 (Job)
http://www.afterschoolmatters.org/

I was in After School Matters right after I graduated high school and I think After School Matters was fairly new at the time. In this program they educated teens on money management, job hunting, field trips to various industries, art projects, resume assistance and we prepared a job fair. There wasn't an intense art course and they didn't teach us how to draw, we just painted on canvases with what ever skill we had. However the reason I mention it is because a few years later I saw After School Matters kids at a festival and they were painting canvases on easels and it looked way more awesome than when I was in the program. I recently learned that After School Matters now runs Gallery 37 which explains why their art program has improved. I was going to recommend Gallery 37 as a separate place to learn art until I realized that the two companies are now one. Back then in Gallery 37 they use to teach youth art and they also got paid. I remember I had my very first job interview at Gallery 37, no one taught me how job interviews were suppose to go so I did horrible and didn't get hired. I remember they asked me a question and my answer would literally be "I don't know". Anyways, this program has developed a lot over the years and I'm sure it is a great place to go now. Their mentorship was very impactful and you could tell they cared about their jobs and the teens they mentored.

Kaman's Art Shoppes
Caricatures, Face Painting, Handimals, and Photography
@ Lincoln Park Zoo, Brookfield Zoo, and Six Flags
http://www.kamansart.com/


This is a job I gained after I graduated college. It's an art company that trains new artists how to draw caricatures, face painting, handimals and photography. This company is all over America at theme parks and it use to be only at Six Flags in Illinois but in the past recent years they expanded to Lincoln Park Zoo and Brookfield Zoo. I was hired for the first summer that they opened at Lincoln Park Zoo and from there I learned so much about how to draw caricatures, face painting, sales, dealing with rejection and gained friendships that could last a life time. When you join this company, you join an entire community of artists that have a passion for caricatures and face painting. They also train high school students which is why I am recommending this for youth. You get paid commission, and if you practice hard enough, you can make pretty good money. I am not currently working there but boy I wish this was available when I was in high school.  It would be best to apply during the winter or very early spring because you will get the best training in the beginning of the season before the summer starts. However, I do recommend to at least take fundamentals of drawing at your local school, and painting skills is a plus.​

I wanted to share this with you because I have had parents ask me where to take their kids because they like to do art but parents didn't know how to help them or where to take them. Well I hope this information is helpful for you, I know I would have appreciated it during my earlier teen years.