All of these are mechanical pencil, except the silkscreen.
Blue Oyster Cult
I started the drawing in the late morning of the day of the concert, Friday, July 25, 2008. I had originally planned to spend the day at the beach with my boyfriend, but then the plans changed and I ended up going with him and his parents late in the afternoon to the concert at the Santa Cruz boardwalk. I drew in the car as best I could, and I drew during the concert, after we got food. The first part of the concert went by; I wasn’t finished, but we decided to go up to the stage and see if they were doing autographs. We found that we had just missed them. We went back to our towels way off in the distance. Then his dad went off to get ice cream, and took my boyfriend with him to help carry it (3 orders), and I drew. Then I ate my ice cream, and finished with the shading of the faces, and a bit of shadows in the clothes. I didn’t bother to color the blackness on everything, except the hair.
Flower (my boyfriend's code name) led the way up to the stage, and we tried to find a good spot to stand; we went up the aisle and got kicked out of there, after standing about at the edge of a scrum that we weren’t trying hard to push through. We went back to the back corner of the stage (our original (second) standing point), where I could only see the drummer, a stage hand, and the other important people off stage, and the 2 guitarists when they came over. But the music was fun. Then 2 tall guys stood in front of us, and I switched places with flower so I could see, and I yelled once, considering doing it often enough to bother them away from me. kate said it was rather piercing, and I was at the perfect angle, right into his ear…but they left of their own accord. So we had nearly front row “seats.” Afterward, people started crowding the fence, and we got in “line.” Flower is taller, so he stood in the front and held the drawing over everyone’s heads. He did this for the first two band members, and the people (audience and band alike) were told by Flower that I was the artist. At his suggestion, we switched places so that “I would get the credit.” We did, and I let a little kid slither in almost in front of me; he was having them sign a drumstick. People were pushing many things into their faces; I felt kind of bad about doing the same, so I held my drawing up rather than out. I think that the drummer, Jules Radino, pointed me out to the guitarist, Buck Dharma. Maybe not, I thought I saw some pointing going on, maybe I’m just being egotistic by saying it was at me. Anyway, Buck made his way through the crowd of papers and albums and a hippie woman’s cast and the kid’s guitar—guitar stick? Drumstick I mean, and then my drawing, and a T-shirt, and some other stuff, and the crowd started yelling “hold the picture up!” so I finally did, and I saw that Buck was holding up an iPhone to take a picture of my drawing. I was grinning like no other, firstly because I had got his autograph, and then it clicked that my work was being photographed. I looked between his face and the camera, not sure what to look at, whether he was getting me in the picture or not, and wondering if I was holding the page up straight (I felt like the corner was folding over). A couple of audience members were excited for me. thinking about it now, someone actually said, “you’re going to be in a picture!” but I’m not sure if this was something to get me to hold up the picture b/c Buck was busting out his camera…I think it was. Then a lady to my left, whom I had helped see if Jules had his own pen and told that he was borrowing people’s pens, said “there you go, now you’re famous!”
But the sad thing is, my signature wasn’t on the drawing when Buck took the picture.
Flower (my boyfriend's code name) led the way up to the stage, and we tried to find a good spot to stand; we went up the aisle and got kicked out of there, after standing about at the edge of a scrum that we weren’t trying hard to push through. We went back to the back corner of the stage (our original (second) standing point), where I could only see the drummer, a stage hand, and the other important people off stage, and the 2 guitarists when they came over. But the music was fun. Then 2 tall guys stood in front of us, and I switched places with flower so I could see, and I yelled once, considering doing it often enough to bother them away from me. kate said it was rather piercing, and I was at the perfect angle, right into his ear…but they left of their own accord. So we had nearly front row “seats.” Afterward, people started crowding the fence, and we got in “line.” Flower is taller, so he stood in the front and held the drawing over everyone’s heads. He did this for the first two band members, and the people (audience and band alike) were told by Flower that I was the artist. At his suggestion, we switched places so that “I would get the credit.” We did, and I let a little kid slither in almost in front of me; he was having them sign a drumstick. People were pushing many things into their faces; I felt kind of bad about doing the same, so I held my drawing up rather than out. I think that the drummer, Jules Radino, pointed me out to the guitarist, Buck Dharma. Maybe not, I thought I saw some pointing going on, maybe I’m just being egotistic by saying it was at me. Anyway, Buck made his way through the crowd of papers and albums and a hippie woman’s cast and the kid’s guitar—guitar stick? Drumstick I mean, and then my drawing, and a T-shirt, and some other stuff, and the crowd started yelling “hold the picture up!” so I finally did, and I saw that Buck was holding up an iPhone to take a picture of my drawing. I was grinning like no other, firstly because I had got his autograph, and then it clicked that my work was being photographed. I looked between his face and the camera, not sure what to look at, whether he was getting me in the picture or not, and wondering if I was holding the page up straight (I felt like the corner was folding over). A couple of audience members were excited for me. thinking about it now, someone actually said, “you’re going to be in a picture!” but I’m not sure if this was something to get me to hold up the picture b/c Buck was busting out his camera…I think it was. Then a lady to my left, whom I had helped see if Jules had his own pen and told that he was borrowing people’s pens, said “there you go, now you’re famous!”
But the sad thing is, my signature wasn’t on the drawing when Buck took the picture.
Dana Carvey
March 2008
Oh my shebus fries, Dana was so cool! i went to his show in sacramento, and he and his opening act were well worth the tickets and the wait. they were absolutely hilarious. i may not have seen most of the first part of the show, but listening to it was just as excellent. the reason for that is that i was drawing him. this, my fellows, is procrastination to the ultimate power. i pulled it off with Max Weinberg, and now with Dana. I do feel guilty about asking them to sign crap, i really don't understand why i couldn't have taken some time during that long wait to draw him. sometimes *cough*often*hack* i'm so lazy, just not paying attention...
anyway, before the show, we asked dana's agent or something (i don't know her authority, but she was standing between us and him and she wasn't the bodyguard) if we could get his autograph, and she said to wait until the show was over; so after the show we asked again, and she came back and said that no, he wouldn't do it. we went out of the place, and tried to see if there was a backstage entrance or something, and we almost gave up; but we hung out with the crowd of people who were waiting by the door, which suddenly thinned out after a few minutes. during these few minutes (and the few minutes after) i tried desperately to smooth out the hideous stark shading i had not been able to see with the light of the single candle. among the thinness of the crowd were me, my two friends, and a lady with her oldest of four sons. one of my friends (kate) asked the lady and son if they were waiting for dana, and he replied yes, unless no one else was, then no, they weren't. *rolled eyes* ah, her son was cute...anyway, we made some small talk, firstly about the entrance and exit of comedians past, and then they looked at the drawing and were awed....hehehe. and finally, dana came out with his rolling bag-cart-thing and some apples in his other hand. (i just realized this is more of a journal entry....oh well, gotta write it where i'm inspired.) "[You're out here waiting for me?] you guys are *crazy*," he said. i was so happy, i was just grinning. there were a few lines of conversation in between bites of apple, and then he looked at me with my clipboard and said, "so there was something for me to sign...?" and the lady and my other friend, rosa, told him it was my drawing. we moved so that he could see it, and asked me something through the apple, "mm hr oom draw it?" i asked "what?" "mm hr mm hr hr hm?" and i laughed; i couldn't help it. no matter what, if someone does that at me i'm going to laugh. but somebody, maybe rosa, maybe myself, maybe both of us said, "tonight, during the show." "You did this tonight?" he asked with a look of surprise. "yeah," i replied. "Wow, you're really talented." "thank you." meantime he was struggling to uncap the pen with one hand, so i pulled off the cap for him, and he signed it. i watched him write "I LO" and then turned my attention otherwhere, i don't remember what to, and then watched him sign his name, and when he handed it back i looked at his eyes and said "thank youuu!" i didn't look at the autograph, i don't know, does that seem ungrateful? are you supposed to admire the autographs, or is it all right to straight up thank the people?
ok, so after that, i listened as the lady held up the conversation while we walked out all together. veet! i walked with dana carvey! eeee! haha, anyway, i listened, and laughed, and rosa took a picture with dana and the family, and then added the opening act...bubbles, i think someone said. kate has his card. i wished for my camera, but it was all right, i had the pen. :"D (i don't know what that expression is, perhaps the wrinkles of such a broad grin, or maybe tears of happiness and excitement...) i also wished for the autograph book, so i could have kept them all together, but i just gotta deal. it was all right.
...ok one last thing: he took the elevator and we took the stairs, yah, he had his suitcase; oh, and he had to drive himself back! maybe someone was driving him back, i dont know, the bodyguard perhaps. cool bodyguard, like a shadow. i didn't even notice him there. probably the reason i was able to keep my cool, hehehe...and dana is kate's and my height! i was a tad taller because i was wearing heeled boots, but still! so cute! ahh! and no, that's not the last thing. the last thing is that after we took the stairs and got into the car, we rolled down the windows and as we passed his group, we shouted "BYYYEE, DANAAAA!"
that is all.
Conan O'Brien
this was a fun one. they always look like they're off center and wrong, for some reason. but it was an exciting story. Skip to the third paragraph to get to the exciting part. There are pointless parts in that too, but I was too lazy to edit them out.
Last night was the coolest night since Jamie Kennedy! Yesterday, Monday April 30 ’07, was the first day of taping of Conan O'Brien in the Orpheum theatre in San Francisco. I had managed to be picked for tickets during the announcement he'd made about "submit your info and win tickets," and then I was not guaranteed admission because what I had actually gotten was a guarantee for a ticket. Anyway I got there at 12, because that was the suggested ticket pick-up time, and I had even wanted to get there earlier to look around for the stage entrance. Turned out not to be that hard to find after all, and after I was in line I was trying to draw Dana Carvey and I forgot all about the stage entrance. Rosa and I were about the middle of the line; I don’t know how far back it stretched, but we were a lot farther back when we first got there. I don’t know how many people actually left the line in front of us and didn’t come back…they were trying to cram everyone as close to the theatre as they could. But this is not supposed to be about the line.
We eventually got in, and while most of the middle section was already filled, we skipped down to nearly the front row of the edge section. (Not really…we were about 15-20 rows back.) The show was very cool, and the “annoying” and frequent audience interaction was…frequent and occasionally annoying. Sometimes I couldn’t hear what they were saying over the people shouting. For the first 10 minutes or so I was trying to finish the drawing of Dana, but I felt like I was missing too much so finally stopped. I really wanted to finish that thing…I thought it would be like when I saw Max in Sacramento, but no, I should not have missed this opportunity…more self pity in my brain. People had snuck cameras into the show and taken pictures—I could have done it too, but didn’t care to risk it. sadness. Should have done that too.
Now for the exciting part. After the show, people started handing up their tickets and reaching out to shake his hand. He started on the opposite end of the stage, and since people started crowding around it, Rosa led the way and forced us in there. I was about 3 people away from the stage, and there were many tickets around my drawing. Another dude had come dressed as the FedEx character, and had sent his fed-ex box up to be signed. I think I was competing with that. The thing I mostly remember was that he started reaching out to my area, and my book was surrounded by blue tickets. The tickets were forcing themselves into his hand; I clearly remember watching him deftly flick them away and take hold of my book. He looked at it, and flashed it to the camera with a nod of approval. Then he signed it and passed it back to me. “Thank you!” I screamed. But I think my voice was lost in the crowd’s chaos. I tried to move out of the way, but ended up sandwiched between Rosa and another lady. Rosa managed to get her ticket signed too. Then she dropped my schoolbooks, gathered them up, and we slithered out of the crowd. I asked a security dude if Dana had already left; he said he didn’t know, but if we went out and waited at the stage door around the corner, they’d all be coming out of there. We went out there, and waited. Rosa went to check and see if there was another stage door, because we weren’t sure if he’d said to go all the way around, and at this one the equipment was being loaded. I tried to finish drawing Dana while I waited. In the meantime, two ladies took digital pictures of Conan (my drawing). I talked with the lady friend of sorts of one of the ones who took the picture. She said the shading looked soft. I’m not entirely sure what that means, although someone said that about one of my Giovanni drawings. But whatever it means, I didn’t use a blender because I hate them. They always make my shading dark and off. And when I showed it to the first lady (the one with the friend), there was a guy next to us that also smiled and said “Wow.” I didn’t end up finishing him, but it turned out not to matter because when he finally came out, he was right behind Conan, and they went straight to the car and drove away. Rosa got a couple of pictures with her phone, one with Conan’s face clearly, one with Dana’s face clearly, and one with Conan’s back and Dana’s hair. I held up my drawing of Dana in hopes of him seeing it and deciding to sign it, but no. They drove off. It’s okay, since it wasn’t finished, but it’s disappointing in its failure. It’s been bugging me just because it was the last thing to happen; if I hadn’t wanted his signature I would be fine, I’d be more elated than I still am over Conan’s approval. Ah, my autograph collection…it is growing well. I just need to find a way to print out the Whose Line signatures—and get Ryan’s! Dangit! Anyway, I need to get those printed so I can put them up on the wall.
Last night was the coolest night since Jamie Kennedy! Yesterday, Monday April 30 ’07, was the first day of taping of Conan O'Brien in the Orpheum theatre in San Francisco. I had managed to be picked for tickets during the announcement he'd made about "submit your info and win tickets," and then I was not guaranteed admission because what I had actually gotten was a guarantee for a ticket. Anyway I got there at 12, because that was the suggested ticket pick-up time, and I had even wanted to get there earlier to look around for the stage entrance. Turned out not to be that hard to find after all, and after I was in line I was trying to draw Dana Carvey and I forgot all about the stage entrance. Rosa and I were about the middle of the line; I don’t know how far back it stretched, but we were a lot farther back when we first got there. I don’t know how many people actually left the line in front of us and didn’t come back…they were trying to cram everyone as close to the theatre as they could. But this is not supposed to be about the line.
We eventually got in, and while most of the middle section was already filled, we skipped down to nearly the front row of the edge section. (Not really…we were about 15-20 rows back.) The show was very cool, and the “annoying” and frequent audience interaction was…frequent and occasionally annoying. Sometimes I couldn’t hear what they were saying over the people shouting. For the first 10 minutes or so I was trying to finish the drawing of Dana, but I felt like I was missing too much so finally stopped. I really wanted to finish that thing…I thought it would be like when I saw Max in Sacramento, but no, I should not have missed this opportunity…more self pity in my brain. People had snuck cameras into the show and taken pictures—I could have done it too, but didn’t care to risk it. sadness. Should have done that too.
Now for the exciting part. After the show, people started handing up their tickets and reaching out to shake his hand. He started on the opposite end of the stage, and since people started crowding around it, Rosa led the way and forced us in there. I was about 3 people away from the stage, and there were many tickets around my drawing. Another dude had come dressed as the FedEx character, and had sent his fed-ex box up to be signed. I think I was competing with that. The thing I mostly remember was that he started reaching out to my area, and my book was surrounded by blue tickets. The tickets were forcing themselves into his hand; I clearly remember watching him deftly flick them away and take hold of my book. He looked at it, and flashed it to the camera with a nod of approval. Then he signed it and passed it back to me. “Thank you!” I screamed. But I think my voice was lost in the crowd’s chaos. I tried to move out of the way, but ended up sandwiched between Rosa and another lady. Rosa managed to get her ticket signed too. Then she dropped my schoolbooks, gathered them up, and we slithered out of the crowd. I asked a security dude if Dana had already left; he said he didn’t know, but if we went out and waited at the stage door around the corner, they’d all be coming out of there. We went out there, and waited. Rosa went to check and see if there was another stage door, because we weren’t sure if he’d said to go all the way around, and at this one the equipment was being loaded. I tried to finish drawing Dana while I waited. In the meantime, two ladies took digital pictures of Conan (my drawing). I talked with the lady friend of sorts of one of the ones who took the picture. She said the shading looked soft. I’m not entirely sure what that means, although someone said that about one of my Giovanni drawings. But whatever it means, I didn’t use a blender because I hate them. They always make my shading dark and off. And when I showed it to the first lady (the one with the friend), there was a guy next to us that also smiled and said “Wow.” I didn’t end up finishing him, but it turned out not to matter because when he finally came out, he was right behind Conan, and they went straight to the car and drove away. Rosa got a couple of pictures with her phone, one with Conan’s face clearly, one with Dana’s face clearly, and one with Conan’s back and Dana’s hair. I held up my drawing of Dana in hopes of him seeing it and deciding to sign it, but no. They drove off. It’s okay, since it wasn’t finished, but it’s disappointing in its failure. It’s been bugging me just because it was the last thing to happen; if I hadn’t wanted his signature I would be fine, I’d be more elated than I still am over Conan’s approval. Ah, my autograph collection…it is growing well. I just need to find a way to print out the Whose Line signatures—and get Ryan’s! Dangit! Anyway, I need to get those printed so I can put them up on the wall.
Dante Basco
Got to see him in Pittsburg on Saturday (in November 2007). What a weekend it was...lots of driving, but this made it worth it! :D Let's see if I can remember a decent story.
Colin Mochrie and Brad Sherwood
The show was in January 2007, but I believe I silkscreened it in advance as a class assignment, in the fall of 2006. I don't have a diary entry for these guys either, so will do my best from memory:
Shaun White
I went to the Dew Tour in San Jose in an attempt to get him to sign this. What happened? He didn't show. Always my luck. I think my friend and I found him on Myspace though so i sort of ragged him out there...
oh yeah, this is a description of the drawing. so yeah. it's hideous. i scanned it and saw it smaller than it really is, and it's all crooked and hardly like a normal face. but whatever, i would have asked him to sign it just to get his autograph. effer.
September 2006
oh yeah, this is a description of the drawing. so yeah. it's hideous. i scanned it and saw it smaller than it really is, and it's all crooked and hardly like a normal face. but whatever, i would have asked him to sign it just to get his autograph. effer.
September 2006
Rupert Grint
It's a drawing of Rupert Grint, I found the picture on the internet, I was originally doing it for him on Myspace because he said that he wanted some fan art to put on his profile, but I didn't (and still don't) know how to e-mail pictures, so it only stayed on as long as my comment showed up on his front page. Boo hoo. It was a rushed job anyway. Maybe one day I'll meet him and he'll sign it.
March 2006
March 2006
Max Weinberg
I don't seem to have a record of this experience anywhere, so here goes from ancient memory:
October 2005
Jamie Kennedy
There is swearing in this description, not excessive, but honest. I wrote it quite soon after the original event in September 2005, so it's the best record available. It looks long, but I'm sure it's no longer than the others if I had written it in the same style.
He has made the biggest stink so far about the drawing, holding up the last 25 people or so for approximately 5 minutes, maybe less. It felt like a long time.
I remember very well that at first, he was going to pass me off as another person in the crowd. He was talking to Al, or to somebody off to his right, and he got his little red paper ready to sign, so I just tossed the book in front of him. Rude of me, yeah, but also a tiny bit rude of him. He was about to sign the paper, so I pushed the pad closer to him. I think the slight movement caught his eyes, so he glanced up, and then, “Woah!”
And he dropped his pen and nearly snatched it up and stared at it. “Holy shit, this is amazing!” The camera guy was in our faces immediately, so I glanced at it, but otherwise ignored it (till later, anyway).
“This is amazing,” Jamie said again.
“Can we see it, over here?” the camera guy said.
Jamie turned it to him, looking like, I don’t know how to describe it, my vocabulary is insufficient to portray his expression. But whatever it is, it is a good reaction to get for any kind of work. I think it was something like awe, but that’s too powerful a word.
“Thank you,” the guy said 2.5 seconds later.
Jamie brought it back to himself, and Al leaned over to see, so Jamie angled it for him. “That is fuckin’ amazing,” Jamie said. “That is exactly what I looked like in Australia.”
“That is amazing,” Al interjected to me.
“Look at that, she even got the broken cheek bone in there,” Jamie went on, pointing at the shadow around his temple, and then rubbing his own face. “My face is asymmetrical, so it’s not perfectly even,” he said to me, making an oval shape in the air with his finger to indicate his face, “but you probably already know that…” he added, as if I really did, and went back to the drawing. “It’s not even a caricature. It looks like a photo(g)—did you do that from a photograph?”
“Yeah,” I said, and added, “I cheated like that.” Of course I couldn’t draw anywhere near that without something to look at!
“Wow,” he said a few seconds later. “What’s your name?”
“Stefanie,” I said. “With an ‘f.’ ”
But he turned to talk with Al, and he got “S-t-e” before pausing for talking. I forgot what he was saying here because I was watching his letters. He finally came back (just a couple seconds later), and as the pen approached the paper, I mouthed, “With an ‘f—’” he made a vertical line— “with an ‘f—’” he put the pen tip down to make another line— “with an—”
It was a “p.”
“Oh!” I mouthed, and turned to Rosa, who also “Oh!”-ed disappointment. But I wasn’t too distraught (especially not after what I did later) over his ignorance, and I watched him write a little spiel in big letters down the side of the drawing. I think he was talking to me as he was writing, complimenting and appreciating it. When he finished, I started to pack up and move off, but Kate said, “WaitPicture?! Picture—”
“Oh yeah, picture!” I put down my stuff (namely I let go of my computer bag strap and put the drawing back on the table, face up, right side up for the picture).
“Sure, sure,” Jamie said. “Come on around!”
“Yeah, people have drawn a lot of shit for me,” he said. “You wouldn’t be-lieve how many people have drawn stuff for me, isn’t that right Al? How many people have drawn me? [Yeah, I’ve gotten so many] drawings, but nothing like this. This is just amazing.”
“Thank yew,” I said. I said Thank yew (with a slight accent, which is why I spelled it “yew”) after each compliment (or each “amazing”, rather).
“Well thank you for doing that, that is really amazing. [Keep drawing, okay?]”
“Okay.”
“Bye.”
“Bye.”
I had been inching over to the other end of the table, where Al had come. I was so worried, I had felt so bad that I didn’t draw him too. I turned the page, set it down for him, and slid it toward him.
“I didn’t—get a chance to draw you,” I said quietly, almost uncertainly.
“It’s okay, you don’t know me,” he said, and started writing.
“What’s yer name?” the camera guy said.
I turned to him.
“Stefanie,” I said.
“What’s yer last name?”
“Fayard.”
And this is where I messed up my name, this is why I’m not too upset over Jamie’s misspelling: I said Fay-erd. Fei-erd! How could I have mutilated my own name so badly when it is probably going to be recognized as far as the college DVD is sold?! How? Why!!!!!
“And what’s yer number?”
I hesitated a second before “____,” at the same time that he said “Yer phone number—”
“Go ahead, say it again.”
“_____.”
“And what’s the area code?”
<Dammit!> “_____.”
“Okay. Thank you very much.” And he turned off the camera and went to talking to somebody to his right.
<Yeah, whatever.> I turned back to Al, who I think at this point had finished writing.
“[Yeah, that is pretty amazing],” he said. And I forgot what else he said. But I remember the end, the last thing I said and he said and whatnot. He said “Okay you guys, take care.”
I said “(k) You too!”
I almost had an okay in there, I should have put the okay in there, god, the way he just stared at us as I tried to return the greeting, I think he took it the wrong way or something.
<ûps.>
He has made the biggest stink so far about the drawing, holding up the last 25 people or so for approximately 5 minutes, maybe less. It felt like a long time.
I remember very well that at first, he was going to pass me off as another person in the crowd. He was talking to Al, or to somebody off to his right, and he got his little red paper ready to sign, so I just tossed the book in front of him. Rude of me, yeah, but also a tiny bit rude of him. He was about to sign the paper, so I pushed the pad closer to him. I think the slight movement caught his eyes, so he glanced up, and then, “Woah!”
And he dropped his pen and nearly snatched it up and stared at it. “Holy shit, this is amazing!” The camera guy was in our faces immediately, so I glanced at it, but otherwise ignored it (till later, anyway).
“This is amazing,” Jamie said again.
“Can we see it, over here?” the camera guy said.
Jamie turned it to him, looking like, I don’t know how to describe it, my vocabulary is insufficient to portray his expression. But whatever it is, it is a good reaction to get for any kind of work. I think it was something like awe, but that’s too powerful a word.
“Thank you,” the guy said 2.5 seconds later.
Jamie brought it back to himself, and Al leaned over to see, so Jamie angled it for him. “That is fuckin’ amazing,” Jamie said. “That is exactly what I looked like in Australia.”
“That is amazing,” Al interjected to me.
“Look at that, she even got the broken cheek bone in there,” Jamie went on, pointing at the shadow around his temple, and then rubbing his own face. “My face is asymmetrical, so it’s not perfectly even,” he said to me, making an oval shape in the air with his finger to indicate his face, “but you probably already know that…” he added, as if I really did, and went back to the drawing. “It’s not even a caricature. It looks like a photo(g)—did you do that from a photograph?”
“Yeah,” I said, and added, “I cheated like that.” Of course I couldn’t draw anywhere near that without something to look at!
“Wow,” he said a few seconds later. “What’s your name?”
“Stefanie,” I said. “With an ‘f.’ ”
But he turned to talk with Al, and he got “S-t-e” before pausing for talking. I forgot what he was saying here because I was watching his letters. He finally came back (just a couple seconds later), and as the pen approached the paper, I mouthed, “With an ‘f—’” he made a vertical line— “with an ‘f—’” he put the pen tip down to make another line— “with an—”
It was a “p.”
“Oh!” I mouthed, and turned to Rosa, who also “Oh!”-ed disappointment. But I wasn’t too distraught (especially not after what I did later) over his ignorance, and I watched him write a little spiel in big letters down the side of the drawing. I think he was talking to me as he was writing, complimenting and appreciating it. When he finished, I started to pack up and move off, but Kate said, “WaitPicture?! Picture—”
“Oh yeah, picture!” I put down my stuff (namely I let go of my computer bag strap and put the drawing back on the table, face up, right side up for the picture).
“Sure, sure,” Jamie said. “Come on around!”
“Yeah, people have drawn a lot of shit for me,” he said. “You wouldn’t be-lieve how many people have drawn stuff for me, isn’t that right Al? How many people have drawn me? [Yeah, I’ve gotten so many] drawings, but nothing like this. This is just amazing.”
“Thank yew,” I said. I said Thank yew (with a slight accent, which is why I spelled it “yew”) after each compliment (or each “amazing”, rather).
“Well thank you for doing that, that is really amazing. [Keep drawing, okay?]”
“Okay.”
“Bye.”
“Bye.”
I had been inching over to the other end of the table, where Al had come. I was so worried, I had felt so bad that I didn’t draw him too. I turned the page, set it down for him, and slid it toward him.
“I didn’t—get a chance to draw you,” I said quietly, almost uncertainly.
“It’s okay, you don’t know me,” he said, and started writing.
“What’s yer name?” the camera guy said.
I turned to him.
“Stefanie,” I said.
“What’s yer last name?”
“Fayard.”
And this is where I messed up my name, this is why I’m not too upset over Jamie’s misspelling: I said Fay-erd. Fei-erd! How could I have mutilated my own name so badly when it is probably going to be recognized as far as the college DVD is sold?! How? Why!!!!!
“And what’s yer number?”
I hesitated a second before “____,” at the same time that he said “Yer phone number—”
“Go ahead, say it again.”
“_____.”
“And what’s the area code?”
<Dammit!> “_____.”
“Okay. Thank you very much.” And he turned off the camera and went to talking to somebody to his right.
<Yeah, whatever.> I turned back to Al, who I think at this point had finished writing.
“[Yeah, that is pretty amazing],” he said. And I forgot what else he said. But I remember the end, the last thing I said and he said and whatnot. He said “Okay you guys, take care.”
I said “(k) You too!”
I almost had an okay in there, I should have put the okay in there, god, the way he just stared at us as I tried to return the greeting, I think he took it the wrong way or something.
<ûps.>
Whose Line Is It Anyway and Other Carey Crew
(These details were written about 1 am, right after the show) it started a little before 7 am, when my roommate and I left sacramento to get to the show. I went to my first comedic performance to/last night with Kate. I had been working all day—since about 9:00 am to 9:00 PM almost straight—on the drawings, and I still did not get them finished. I drew Ryan, Wayne, Kathy, Jeff, chip, Greg, and drew; I wanted to get Colin, brad, and Sean, but I didn’t have time; the lady in the box office said to give it to her and she would give it to the guy who would give it to the stars during their break between shows, so I worked till nine, just enough time to finish drew. We got into the show, and after losing the B seats, we had managed to get 2 tickets front and almost center, row D, four from the special rows that were right in front of the stage. Who turned out to be there were drew, Linda (I forgot all about her! I feel so bad), Jeff, Greg, Kathy, Chip, Sean, and a new guy (I think) named Jonathan (I think again). I knew I should have drawn Sean! But there was nothing I could do. I enjoyed the show very much. I was still stressing while I waited for it to start, wondering if the drawing would get signed, and if I would get it back…but I forgot about life when the show started and I got to see them so close, yet so far, yet so much better than I would have had we kept the original B seats, which were on the end (although we would have been so much more likely to have been picked for one of the things on stage). As it was, the people looked almost…what, half-sized from our perspective? We managed to sit behind two tall guys (just my luck!), but I was able to periscope with the cameras (I hope the digital ones came out okay). I was laughing almost the whole time, just like watching the episodes of “Who’s Line” on TV. Only this was straight through the hour, and watching live, and part of the audience where we could make noise and clap without looking too foolish.
But even if I hadn’t been able to see at all, it was all worth it; everyone that was there that was in my drawing had signed it. (Drew even added his own little touch to his portrait—extra teeth, tongue, and stitches on his forehead.) I left a little note like Kate said to, to make up for not having all of them on there, saying I didn’t know who all would be there. I forgot to say thank you in the note, and I forgot to thank them after the show.
See, we were told to hustle after the show to the stage entrance (we circled the building once before we went to look again, down the little walkway which we had passed as unimportant the first time, but which was where the actual entrance was). There we would look for a Mike Kelly, who would have my drawing, “…signed or not I don’t know.” So we hustled, and then we waited. We asked a guy that was guarding the door about this Mike, but he said he knew nothing. I put on my sweater part-way, just to keep my arms warm. So we waited, and the crowd got a little bigger before the first person came out. It was the new guy, and he was on his cell phone. I think Jeff came out afterward, but then Kathy came out with Greg. She was looking slightly uneasily at the crowd, at us; we were just about staring her down, or at least I was. But I smiled, and Kate asked her if she happened to see a picture back there. I went on to describe it to her, since she answered/replied. I said it was a drawing, a really big drawing, and I rambled and stuttered a bit. “Oh yeah, there’s one back there,” she said. She moved back toward the door, and Greg came over. “Oh, Greg, I’ve seen you at like three shows! But I don’t have anything for you to sign,” Kate said. He shook our hands and was drinking beer. “Lovely drawing,” he said. “Am I really that fat?” or “Do I really look that fat?” he kidded. I just smiled and laughed a little like a bitty girly-girl. Kate answered “Nawww, you’re not fat, you’re thin,” or something close like that. “Not as thin as I used to be,” he replied. He moved off, still drinking out of his red cup. I dunno, maybe he said “lovely drawing” here; but I know he said it at some point. (I also missed some conversation.) He also said “You’ll have to catch Wayne and Ryan on another train.” Come to think of it, it’s great that he could tell that it was Wayne; in fact, I was surprised Chip could recognize himself, I had a bad picture and he was hard to draw. I was the most hurried with him, I think, second to Drew’s sweater/jacket thing.
I don’t know if Drew came out next or first; I think he came out…I dunno, never mind. He shook our hands, but didn’t comment. (Maybe he didn’t hear that I had done the drawing?)
Okay anyway, after a bit, Chip came out, and Kathy did a presentation signal toward me. (I had moved closer to the door too.) He came over to me and held out his hand. “You did that drawing?” He asked. “Yeah.” (Frick! I didn’t say yes!) Then he like, held it for a long time as we made a little conversation. Shebus, he’s huge! And then the light was right behind him so I was looking at a silhouette, or just about; I could barely see his face. I guestimate he held my hand about 10 seconds or so. He asked me what I was studying, I think; I told him art. “Do you know what kind?” “I’m not sure yet; [I like to do all kinds].” … “How long did it take you to make that?” I wasn’t sure how to answer. I was embarrassed, and in fact I still am. “I…had to do them all today,” I said. He dropped his jaw and looked at Kathy. I was doing a little dance. Kate added, “She got up at like, seven…” “Wow,” Chip said. I think he asked here about my study. “How old are you?” It took me half a second before I said, “Seventeen.” “Oh yeah, you’ve got a long time to go.” Or to decide, or something. “Well, it was nice of you to do that for us,” he said. “Thank you—” “It’s very good.” “Thank you,” I said. And there were a couple more compliments, and I thanked him for those too.
At some point in the paragraph Kathy received the drawing from someone who brought it out and she handed it to me, and said, “Drew had to add his little thing in there.” I wasn’t sure what she meant, but she pointed at the paper, so I decided to open it and look, and lo and behold, there was the extra teeth, mouth, and stitches, drawn in with a sharpie. “Oh-ho ho,” I said, looking at her, and she nodded somewhat apologetically, I think. I said “Ah, it’s okay,” and I might have said “I think he improved it, I didn’t do a very good job on the mouth,” or something like that. No, wait, I don’t think I did. I might actually have said something about it being his marks, so that’s why it’s okay. And also at some point within this paragraph and the last, somebody came out with an index card for Kate, saying, “You didn’t have something for Greg {or somebody} to sign?” So she got the card, and with my marker received the autographs of Greg, Chip, and Drew, I think. She got about…well, yeah. I don’t remember if she got anyone else. So there’s Chip’s spit on my marker’s lid (he held it in his mouth as he signed the card for Kate) (“Let’s lick it!” Kate exclaimed when I pointed that out), and Greg’s hands, and Drew’s slight fumbling with it as he opened it and then gave up on trying to get the lid on the back end.
Then the stars were gone, loaded up into the limo. We walked alongside it to the end of the short parking lot, and I wanted to wave at them. They would see it, although I wouldn’t have seen them wave at me. If they did wave at me. I looked at the windows, and held my drawings and autographs like they were my most prized possessions (which they were at that moment, and almost are now, though I left them in the car—face down, of course, wouldn’t want anyone stealing the first signatures of my collection). I wonder if they remembered me beyond the parking lot, if they said anything in the limo? God, I feel bad that I forgot—er, didn’t realize that that John guy was there, and that I didn’t have time for Sean! Oh my frick, why didn’t I do a little more research and see that Ryan and Wayne weren’t going to be there? Why didn’t I do a whole bunch of things I really should have done instead of what I did…well, not instead, or wouldn’t have gotten done what I did, all those portraits, but maybe I would have got done the ones that were there!
I found Wayne Brady at a separate affair, after Colin and Brad. I believe the same John was at this show, and I had, once again, neglected to draw him. I felt really guilty about that. I was also a little embarrassed because Kate and I were the only fans waiting for Wayne; everyone else was family or friends. I tried to get John's autograph on a pamphlet of some sort, but wayne stole it, and actually it has gone missing...it may be in one of my boxes of school papers somewhere.
September 2005
But even if I hadn’t been able to see at all, it was all worth it; everyone that was there that was in my drawing had signed it. (Drew even added his own little touch to his portrait—extra teeth, tongue, and stitches on his forehead.) I left a little note like Kate said to, to make up for not having all of them on there, saying I didn’t know who all would be there. I forgot to say thank you in the note, and I forgot to thank them after the show.
See, we were told to hustle after the show to the stage entrance (we circled the building once before we went to look again, down the little walkway which we had passed as unimportant the first time, but which was where the actual entrance was). There we would look for a Mike Kelly, who would have my drawing, “…signed or not I don’t know.” So we hustled, and then we waited. We asked a guy that was guarding the door about this Mike, but he said he knew nothing. I put on my sweater part-way, just to keep my arms warm. So we waited, and the crowd got a little bigger before the first person came out. It was the new guy, and he was on his cell phone. I think Jeff came out afterward, but then Kathy came out with Greg. She was looking slightly uneasily at the crowd, at us; we were just about staring her down, or at least I was. But I smiled, and Kate asked her if she happened to see a picture back there. I went on to describe it to her, since she answered/replied. I said it was a drawing, a really big drawing, and I rambled and stuttered a bit. “Oh yeah, there’s one back there,” she said. She moved back toward the door, and Greg came over. “Oh, Greg, I’ve seen you at like three shows! But I don’t have anything for you to sign,” Kate said. He shook our hands and was drinking beer. “Lovely drawing,” he said. “Am I really that fat?” or “Do I really look that fat?” he kidded. I just smiled and laughed a little like a bitty girly-girl. Kate answered “Nawww, you’re not fat, you’re thin,” or something close like that. “Not as thin as I used to be,” he replied. He moved off, still drinking out of his red cup. I dunno, maybe he said “lovely drawing” here; but I know he said it at some point. (I also missed some conversation.) He also said “You’ll have to catch Wayne and Ryan on another train.” Come to think of it, it’s great that he could tell that it was Wayne; in fact, I was surprised Chip could recognize himself, I had a bad picture and he was hard to draw. I was the most hurried with him, I think, second to Drew’s sweater/jacket thing.
I don’t know if Drew came out next or first; I think he came out…I dunno, never mind. He shook our hands, but didn’t comment. (Maybe he didn’t hear that I had done the drawing?)
Okay anyway, after a bit, Chip came out, and Kathy did a presentation signal toward me. (I had moved closer to the door too.) He came over to me and held out his hand. “You did that drawing?” He asked. “Yeah.” (Frick! I didn’t say yes!) Then he like, held it for a long time as we made a little conversation. Shebus, he’s huge! And then the light was right behind him so I was looking at a silhouette, or just about; I could barely see his face. I guestimate he held my hand about 10 seconds or so. He asked me what I was studying, I think; I told him art. “Do you know what kind?” “I’m not sure yet; [I like to do all kinds].” … “How long did it take you to make that?” I wasn’t sure how to answer. I was embarrassed, and in fact I still am. “I…had to do them all today,” I said. He dropped his jaw and looked at Kathy. I was doing a little dance. Kate added, “She got up at like, seven…” “Wow,” Chip said. I think he asked here about my study. “How old are you?” It took me half a second before I said, “Seventeen.” “Oh yeah, you’ve got a long time to go.” Or to decide, or something. “Well, it was nice of you to do that for us,” he said. “Thank you—” “It’s very good.” “Thank you,” I said. And there were a couple more compliments, and I thanked him for those too.
At some point in the paragraph Kathy received the drawing from someone who brought it out and she handed it to me, and said, “Drew had to add his little thing in there.” I wasn’t sure what she meant, but she pointed at the paper, so I decided to open it and look, and lo and behold, there was the extra teeth, mouth, and stitches, drawn in with a sharpie. “Oh-ho ho,” I said, looking at her, and she nodded somewhat apologetically, I think. I said “Ah, it’s okay,” and I might have said “I think he improved it, I didn’t do a very good job on the mouth,” or something like that. No, wait, I don’t think I did. I might actually have said something about it being his marks, so that’s why it’s okay. And also at some point within this paragraph and the last, somebody came out with an index card for Kate, saying, “You didn’t have something for Greg {or somebody} to sign?” So she got the card, and with my marker received the autographs of Greg, Chip, and Drew, I think. She got about…well, yeah. I don’t remember if she got anyone else. So there’s Chip’s spit on my marker’s lid (he held it in his mouth as he signed the card for Kate) (“Let’s lick it!” Kate exclaimed when I pointed that out), and Greg’s hands, and Drew’s slight fumbling with it as he opened it and then gave up on trying to get the lid on the back end.
Then the stars were gone, loaded up into the limo. We walked alongside it to the end of the short parking lot, and I wanted to wave at them. They would see it, although I wouldn’t have seen them wave at me. If they did wave at me. I looked at the windows, and held my drawings and autographs like they were my most prized possessions (which they were at that moment, and almost are now, though I left them in the car—face down, of course, wouldn’t want anyone stealing the first signatures of my collection). I wonder if they remembered me beyond the parking lot, if they said anything in the limo? God, I feel bad that I forgot—er, didn’t realize that that John guy was there, and that I didn’t have time for Sean! Oh my frick, why didn’t I do a little more research and see that Ryan and Wayne weren’t going to be there? Why didn’t I do a whole bunch of things I really should have done instead of what I did…well, not instead, or wouldn’t have gotten done what I did, all those portraits, but maybe I would have got done the ones that were there!
I found Wayne Brady at a separate affair, after Colin and Brad. I believe the same John was at this show, and I had, once again, neglected to draw him. I felt really guilty about that. I was also a little embarrassed because Kate and I were the only fans waiting for Wayne; everyone else was family or friends. I tried to get John's autograph on a pamphlet of some sort, but wayne stole it, and actually it has gone missing...it may be in one of my boxes of school papers somewhere.
September 2005
Nu-Clear, My Brother, and Me
I was hoping that they would sign this for me, but I had already drawn a photo of them with my exchange student brother and they had signed it...This photo was when they came to my school for a special event, and I mailed it to them, and received various souvenirs in return. I wish I knew where it was now.
May or June '05.
May or June '05.
These three drawings are Giovanni Ribisi. I had a crush on him for a while in high school, and wanted to mail him these three and hope he would sign one and send it back. They never left my home.
The top left is from "Saving Private Ryan." The one above is just a normal picture, and the left is a frame from "Flight of the Phoenix" remake. All were made somewhere between 2003-2004. |