www.LukeSki.com

the Official Website of "the great Luke Ski" and GNOME Productions

Caricatures by Luke Ski!

Luke Ski?  A caricature artist?  You're darn skippy he is!  Just look at some examples of his work:

What's that you say?  You want to hire him?  No problem!  Here's the 411 on that...

There are two ways to hire Luke Ski as a caricature artist: Individual Drawing or Party Artist.  Individual Drawing is for when you're wanting just one drawing done, or a series of specific drawings done.  I charge individual prices for those, and are typically done through the mail.  Party Artist is when you'd like to me to come to where you are and draw as many people as I can at your function for a specific amount of time.  So, just skip down the page to the details of the type of Caricature job you're looking to hire me for.

Individual Drawing

The drawings are on 11" x 14" paper (you can find frames that size everywhere for not a lot of money), and will include the names of the persons depicted.  The 3 price-determining factors of your individual drawing are as follows:

Factor 1: "Head & Shoulders" or "Full Body & Background"

"Head & Shoulders" is a drawing of the person's head & shoulders with their name in big block letters underneath it.  This is a basic drawing, and by it's nature does not have any special details.  "Full Body & Background" is a drawing of their head on a body of your choosing with a corresponding background.  The body and background is of your choosing, and can be anything you like, with as much detail as can reasonably be fit into it (for very specific details, you may need to provide me with additional pictures or other materials).

Factor 2: "Black & White" or "Full Color"

This one should be self explanatory.  "Black & White" is in black & white with no color.  "Full Color" is in full color, done with Prismacolor Artstix, which do not smear.

Factor 3:  Number of people in the drawing

Another self explanatory one.  Keep in mind that the more people that are in the drawing, the smaller each of their heads will individually be in the drawing.  For this reason, it's hard to add full bodies & backgrounds to drawings that have more than 4 people.  The highest number of people I've ever worked into one standard size caricature was 12.  Feel free to e-mail me if you'd like to ask questions concerning your group caricature portrait ideas.

Use this chart above to determine the price of your Caricature (don't forget to add the $5.00 shipping & tube cost).  The next steps are Payment and Photos.  

Unfortunately, I can't accept online payments at this time.  So for now you'll have to order it the old fashioned way, by mailing me a check or money order.  So drop me an e-mail at LukeSki@Juno.com, and I'll e-mail you my snail mailing address so you can place your order.  I apologize for the inconvenience, and I am making every effort to get back my ability to accept orders online.

I am also willing to accept Money Orders, Cashier's Checks, and Personal Checks through the snail mail (Although if it is a personal check, I will not start working on it until the check clears). Make all checks payable to "Luke Sienkowski".  Just e-mail me and I will provide you with the snail mail address to send it to.

Lastly, I will need Photos of the person(s) in the drawing itself.  The photo(s) you send me to base the caricature on must be a clear, not-tiny, facing-forward image of the person(s) I am attempting to draw.  If you're a huge techno-geek, you can e-mail them to me, or you can snail mail me the photo(s) to use and I will return them with the final artwork.  And if that is the case, you will need to e-mail me to find out my snail mail address anyway, so there you go.  Remember to make sure to include Notes on or with the photos letting me know what kind of Caricature you are getting, what name goes with what face, and if you are getting a "Full Body & Background" drawing, to include a description of what you'd like that body and background to be.  I can draw anything you can describe, but if you want something very specific (especially if it is some kind of inside joke or niche fandom related thing) you may need to provide some additional materials so I can make sure I am recreating exactly what you want me to.  No turn-around times are guaranteed, but I will try to get the finished art to you within 2 weeks, or before a specific date if necessary.

So there you go.  They make excellent gifts, so go ahead and order one right now!  You'll be happy you did.

Party Artist

So, you're having some kind of big social event, known in some circles as a "party", and you're looking for something interesting to add to the mix that will outshine your neighbor's and co-worker's lame-o attempts at parties. What do you do? You hire Luke Ski to show up at your party and draw caricatures of everybody there! Wow! Hey! Isn't that exciting!?!

In a situation like this, I usually stick to drawing the "Head & Shoulders" / "Black & White" drawings, on 11" x 14" paper (you can find frames that size everywhere for not a lot of money), and will include the names of the persons depicted. Drawing that style of Caricatures, I can draw an average of 20 people an hour. That's right, 20 PEOPLE AN HOUR! Amazing, isn't it? So all you need to do is figure out how many people will be at your event, divide it by 20, and that's how many hours you'd need me to be there to make sure I get to draw everybody there.

How much does this cost? My going rate is $100.00 per hour (with a 1 hour minimum), plus the fuel cost for the round trip from Lake Geneva, WI. You can calculate this by going to MapQuest and getting directions from Lake Geneva, WI, to your address, take the number of miles and multiply it by $0.25.

Here are some fuel cost estimate examples to major cities in my driving vicinity:
Milwaukee: $13.50 - Rockford: $13.75 - Madison: $18.00 – Chicago(downtown): $19.00
Wisconsin Dells: $29.75 - Green Bay: $42.75 - Springfield, IL: $61.00 - Indianapolis: $64.75
Minneapolis: $83.00 - Des Moines: $83.25 - St. Louis: $85.00 - Detroit: $89.25
Louisville: $93.25 - Cincinatti: $93.50 - Cleveland: $105.00 - Columbus: $108.25
Kansas City: $131.50 - Buffalo: $152.50 - Memphis: $156.25 - Rochester: $169.25
Anything farther away than that, and you might as well buy me a plane ticket to get to you.

Are there any other additional costs? Other than your guest's individual generosity when it comes to tipping an artist, there are no other fees.

Frequently Asked Questions:  

* Would I be willing to add "Full Bodies and Backgrounds" to the drawings? 
Yes, keeping in mind that it does take me more time to do each individual drawing that way. It could mean either I wouldn't have the time to get to everybody, or you would need to plan on me being there longer to accommodate it. 

* Would I be willing to add "Full Color" to the drawings? 
Yes, but that takes even more time than adding the bodies. I am willing to do them in color, but it would really slow down the entire process, especially if they wanted Bodies & Backgrounds as well. So again, we could end up with a situation where either I can't get to all the guests, or you'd need to schedule me for additional hours. A suggestion; If the event is centered around 1 or 2 special people (birthday, anniversary, etc.), perhaps I could draw a full deluxe Body/Color caricature of the guest(s) of honor, but then draw everyone else there in the standard Head/B&W way, as a way to give the special ones something special and make the best use of my paid time being there. 

* Can there be more than one person in each drawing? 
Yes. The Head/B&W drawings can be done with as many people as you like in each drawing, as long as the people being drawn realize that they are only getting one copy that they have to share (but hey, that's what Kinko's is for, right?). Dating / Married couples usually go for this, as do families. 

* What if I book you for a certain number of hours, and at the event when that time is up, I'd like you to stay longer and continue drawing more people? Are you willing to stay longer than we originally booked you for? 
As long as you pay me for the extra added time, and as long as I do not have any other engagements to get to following the event, then yes, I am very willing to stay longer than the time we originally booked. 

* How far are you willing to travel? 
As long as you're paying the travel fee, pretty darn far. However in cases of extremely long distances, I may need you to pay the additional travel fee in advance. If it's more than 200 miles away, I may also need you to provide me a place to stay for the night. 

* How do I pay you? 
Normally, you pay me at the event sometime before it ends.  If for some reason it needs to be different than that, we can discuss it between us beforehand.  I typically get paid for these events with a check.  Make all checks payable to "Luke Sienkowski".  I also accept cash, but who doesn't?

* How do I book Luke Ski as a Party Artist? 
E-mail me, of course!  My schedule is always busy, so the sooner you can get a hold of me and start the booking process, the better (especially during the holiday season between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve).  It's never too early to set things up, so even if you're just considering it a possibility, it's probably best to e-mail me right away and ask if I am available for the date of your event.  If you prefer to talk to me over the phone, leave your phone number in your e-mail (and the best times for me to call you there) and I will call you as soon as I can.  E-MAIL Luke Ski!

So that's it! Thanks for taking the time to read this offer, and I hope to hear from you soon. :) 
~ Luke Ski, 2006

Luke Ski's Public Caricature Appearances!

            Are you connected with a business that serves and entertains a lot of people?  Interested in having Luke Ski bring his portable Caricature stand to your place of business where he can draw caricatures of your patrons?  I, Luke Ski, am always on the lookout for interesting, cool, fun places to go and draw my caricatures for the public.  From January 1997 through April of 2000, I owned and operated a Caricature Stand at Station Casino in Kansas City, Missouri, where I drew thousands of people of all ages over a span of 3 and a half years.  More recently, I have brightened up the Ed Debevic's Restaurants of Chicago, Lombard, and Milwaukee several times over the past 4 years, as well as Lake Lawn Lodge in Delavan, WI, and Christmas Mountain Village in the Wisconsin Dells.  Now, I am looking for more businesses that are looking for something to delight and entertain their patrons.  Just let me bring in my portable Caricature stand, set myself up in your place of business, and offer my caricature skills to anyone who's interested and willing to pay my individual drawing prices ($5.00 and up, see chart above).  I am mainly interested in Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, since this is when most people go out to have fun.  I would also be interested in Holidays (Thanksgiving weekend especially) and any other Special Events that your business may be hosting.  If this appeals to you, please E-mail me so we can discuss the possibilities, and gets things started right away.  Thanks again, and I hope to hear from you soon!

Luke Ski: Cartoonist & Illustrator for hire!

My caricature style is great, but my abilities as a cartoonist are just as great, and are also available to you for a fee.  These independently contracted jobs are all negotiated individually, with my price based on what exactly you're looking for, and how much detail and overall work is involved.  Basically, e-mail me and describe what you're interested in hiring me to illustrate for you, and I'll let you know how much I would typically charge for work of that type.  Here are some recent examples of my work:

I designed this cartoon parody logo for my friend Bill Putt, for use in display signage, poster fliers, and his website.

Coming soon: Hot Waffles Adventures!  My good friend, fellow funny musician, and person who encourages fangirls to shake their booty, Chris Waffle of the band "Hot Waffles" asked me to illustrate a comic book to promote their CD "Will Rock For Food".  This image is the evil our Waffle heroes are fighting against.

This is a t-shirt I was commissioned to design for the convention Maquis Gras Lite 2003.  It's based on the t-shirt I made for them back in 1997, which featured the "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" character 'Morn' wearing a party hat, and holding a martini and noisemaker, covered with confetti, with the caption 'Morn To Be Wild!'.  This updated version has Morn in an easy chair, to represent the convention's much more relaxed theme for this year, and joining him are fellow DS9 characters Leeta the Dabo Girl, Jadzia Dax in her Klingon uniform, and mirror universe Intendant Kira.

As I said before, if you are interested in hiring me to illustrate something for you, please E-mail me right away so we can get things started.  :)

Other "Luke Ski Art" related links:

Luke Ski's "Weird Al" Yankovic Fan Art Gallery

www.LukeSki.com is maintained and © 1998 - 2003 by Luke Sienkowski