The Caricaturist belly-lands…Crash, boink, boink, boink, scrreeeeeech…ooof!

Dear Readers of Every-kind,

I am back from the past. Here’s what’s been happening since my return.

The Caricaturist’s Hit List Leaked – Causes Bad-blood!

Tom Cruise, and Leonardo DiCaprio weren’t there at the Time-Portal to welcome me home. In fact, I also didn’t see Demi Moore, Penelope Cruz, and Madonna among those who had gathered to welcome me to this timeline. I don’t blame them. I know that your love for me might make you angry at all these actors, I’d request you to exercise restraint. They have a valid reason to feel unhappy about my return – they have found out that they are on the Caricaturist’s Hit-list.

Before you ask my why I didn’t contract Pricewaterhouse-Coopers to keep the list secure, I must remind you that this Caricaturist is the first of The 4 Types of Artists, and that PwC’s price-tag was a tad higher than I was willing to shell out. Nevertheless, I am not concerned. Other than these four, everyone else who’s anyone was there with bouquets of roses (thorns included), boxes of candies, and of course with requests that I shouldn’t caricature them, if possible.

Anonymous Reader and Commentator Makes my Day with a Minus 5 Rating!

… with an Ultra-Caustic review of my Free eBook at Barnes and Noble’s Nook.
Phew! Never thought that I’d get a 2 Star on a book that 4 NON-anonymous readers gave me 5 Stars for! But then I understand that just the way some people who like to donate anonymously, some like to comment anonymously. I appreciate the witticism in the comment, which goes as follows:

“Forgot 5th type of artist…Really bad self-published ones. Don’t waste your time. -5* – By Anonymous”

Hey! Does it say “-5*”?!! *Minus 5 Star”??!!! Oh Boy! I hope that the book didn’t cause any sort of fatal injury to the reader. I mean how terrible the experience must have been! I wish my Zeta reader tons of luck for recuperation. Now, if you are strong enough to stomach the contents of my awful, awful, awful book, check it out here.

If you disagree with my sweet anonymous commentator, will you please make another comment with your persona identified?

I must also mention that this anonymous commentator had the distinction of being the first of his (or her) kind, and so I mention the comment here. All other anonymous comments shall be royally ignored as I tap into the last drops of royal blood in my veins.

On smashwords however this book along with its sister book “The 5Ps of Creativity”, appears on the first page of the highest rated Free books in the Entertainment category. Don’t believe it? Well, here’s the link:
http://www.smashwords.com/books/category/87/highlyrated/0/free/any

Thank you, dear readers, for putting it there.

In the meantime, I invite my blog-readers to share their experiences with anonymous comments. They say that happiness grows when shared…or was it that sorrow reduces…

And finally, I bring you…

The Toony Pretzels – Cartoons with a funny aftertaste!

Well…well! The cat’s out of the bag, the mouse is out of the trap, and the mystery of those missing blogging hours is solved!

I’ve re-discovered my lost love for cartooning, thanks to the Great Ajit Ninan. There’s a lot I need to learn…but then quite like any other artist, I can’t wait to post my cartoons…so don’t go away…I’ll be back after a short break 🙂

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Caricature/Color Portrait – Rihanna, the R&B Singer!

Presenting…
Rihanna, the Barbadian Songwriter and Singer, who blends Rhythm and Blues, a genre of popular African American music that originated in 1940s, with Caribbean music!

Rihanna’s biography:

Rihanna, 22 now, was born in Barbados on February 20, 1988. An year before the release of her first album, she moved to the US. Rihanna began singing when she was barely 7. She had a troubled childhood because of her father’s drug addiction and later the divorce of her parents.

Rihanna formed a girl-band with two of her classmates, at the age of 15. It was around this time that she was discovered by Evan Rogers, the music producer. In about an year’s time Rihanna’s demo was ready and she had moved to the US with Rogers and his wife.

Her debut album Music of the Sun received mixed reviews – it was her second album “A Girl Like Me” which truly launched her in terms of numbers, yet even the second album didn’t please the critics. (What I often wonder is – why we’ve got the critics at all? I think that for an artist, writer, or performers – what matters is the verdict of people…Rihanna’s case proves my point.)

Rihanna however wasn’t in a mood to let the critiques stop her, and so with her third album she decided to change her image. (Image makeovers are extremely important – when things aren’t working out – shock people.) This was also the time when Rihanna dyed her hair black (from brown?) and changed her persona. This album had a song “Umbrella”, which became the worldwide No. 1 hit, and which also featured the American Rapper Jay-Z. Thus began Rihanna’s awards journey – and by 2008 Rihanna had become famous!

2009 wasn’t a good year for Rihanna as she made news as a battered woman who had been beaten up black and blue by her boyfriend Chris “Brown” (Christopher Maurice “Chris” Brown – who is a singer too)! (Chris says that he grew up in a family with domestic violence – but then that can be no excuse for beating anyone up, especially someone you say, you “love.”) She’s currently in a relationship with Matt Kemp.

(Recently, the image of Rihanna’s battered face has become the subject of a fresh Police Probe. )

Other Things About Rihanna:

• She idolizes Madonna and Mariah Carey, and everyone else, including Janet Jackson, Beyonce Knowles, Celine Dion…and so on and so forth. It helps to be on the good side of everyone.
• Her music is influenced by Caribbean Music.
• Her dressing style is considered some what vulgar by many!
• Rihanna’s got numerous tattoos, including a Sanskrit prayer on her hip – now that’s what I’d like to read…really:) I think Rihanna’s hip (tattoo) should motivate many young people to learn Sanskrit. Thoughts?
• Rihanna’s philanthropic efforts relate to children. (I’d recommend that she includes Battered-wives Rehabilitation Programs in her list too.  Women really need to woken up!)

Her Albums:

• Music of the Sun
• A Girl Like Me
• Good Girl Gone Bad
• Rated R
• Loud

Other Links:

• TMZ Gossip
• Rihanna is nominated for Best Song, Best Pop Artist, and Best Female Artist – MTV Awards 2010!

 

Cool Caricaturist – Don Pinsent

Don Pinsent’s self-caricature inspired me to explore his work in detail…and when I did, his sketches had me stumped! The boldness of his lines and his ability to maintain the characteristic expression of his subjects despite applying extreme exaggerations, is awesome.

To the learners and the admirers of the quirky art of caricature, I recommend:

• Don Pinsent’s Blog
• Don Pinsent’s Website and Gallery

Do view his following finished works:

• Rolling Stones
• Albert Einstein
• Elvis Presley
• Shakespeare
• Mr. Bean (Rowan Atkinson)

…and the following visualization sketches:

• Larry King (Note the shoulders, the eye-glasses, and the nose.)
• Paris Hilton (Note the eyes and the lips)
• Brad Pitt
• Madonna