It typically takes me about 3 minutes per face on average. It can take longer depending on the amount of detail certain people ask for, or if they ask for colour or if it’s a digital caricature.

I work on 11 x 17 sized paper so it’s fairly large. I can fit up to 6 people to a page; any more and I find it too squished.

At most, I would need a small table, 2-3 chairs, and if outdoors, a covered space in case of rain or really sunny weather. If a table cannot be provided, I have alternative setups. As a minimum, just chairs would be required.

I aim to arrive at least 15-20 minutes early to set up and I need that time to be acquainted with the hosts, make sure my materials are all ready, make sure any signage or promotional material I have is set up, do one last bathroom break especially if i’ve travelled a long distance to be at your event, and get mentally prepared to draw and interact with guests for the next several hours. I would greatly appreciate having that time and space leading up to the agreed upon start time in order to accomplish these “pre-game” routines. It allows me to provide the best service that I can for your event. In some cases, if there’s a minute left until official start time and I’m ready to go, I allow people to come and start.

I definitely understand that fear people have when they sit down to get a caricature. While traditionally, Caricatures are super exaggerated portrait sketches, every artist’s style is different. I have a background in Animation so I take a simpler, more cartoony, cute approach that appeals to most people and fits into the spirit of a variety of different events. I always tell people that I don’t exaggerate their “worst” features, I capture what makes them unique. I take it as a challenge to change people’s perception about their appearance and their pre-conceived notions about the Art of Caricature for the better. And no, you don’t have a big nose!

Yes, as a matter of fact I do. I studied and graduated from Sheridan College’s Animation program with a Bachelor of Arts Degree. I worked in the industry from 2010-2023 as a Layout/Background Artist, Storyboard revisionist, and Location Designer, and have worked on such TV series as Ever After High, Cyberchase, Creative Galaxy, and most recently the popular Blues Clues & You series. My interest in Caricature has been from the very beginning of my Animation education and I have been drawing Caricatures as a hobby for 20 years.

The short answer is yes, I can and often do draw from photos. However, in events where there are huge lines of people that are present and waiting, I prefer to be courteous and try to get as many people drawn as I can. If it’s not busy, I will sometimes allow for it, but it’s to my discretion on a case to case basis.

While I would love to make you a lovely piece of art commemorating your milestone event or what have you, unfortunately the absolute minimum event I would do is a small party of about 15-20 people and only for events in my city of Kitchener and within a 10-15 km radius. Since I charge an hourly rate plus travel, and have at least a 2 hr. minimum for most events ouside my Region, a personal house visit would not be included in the services I offer. If you like, I would happily create a custom digital caricature for you, and the price and details for that is outlined in my Pricing Section here.

Good question! The real word is “Caricature” but I spell it differently for a reason. I studied Animation at Sheridan College from ’05-’09 and worked in the industry until 2023. I have a different approach with Caricature than traditional artists. I don’t really exaggerate features too much. Instead, I like to capture the CHARACTER of a person; basically translate their face into a stylized cartoon character. Hence, I named it “Charactures By AJ” as a play on words.

I’m well aware of the capabilities of A.I. Image generators. The results are mind-blowing and continue to get better exponentially. I’m also well aware that they are and will continue to replace some real artists and career fields at the rate the technology is going. I just ask, if everyone can just prompt it, is it even special anymore? The unique thing about a real artist is that you are getting their interpretation of how they see you, not just some machine manipulating bits of data to regurgitate an image of you. Every drawing by a human artist is infused with their own originality, style, training, creativity, and soul.

It takes me roughly the same amount of time to draw every face. I normally say that I can draw between 15-20 faces and not people because even if the same person comes to me 3 times times to get drawn, that counts as 3 faces, not 1. Therefore, they just took 3 “slots” against the number of faces I can draw in the time that I have.