Today we’d like to introduce you to Rich Brown
Hi Rich, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I started in 1994. I had a couple of years of art school and not quite sure what direction I was going. I then saw an artist drawing caricatures at a marketplace in Columbus, Ohio, and decided to be a great avenue for me. I received some drawing tips from the artist and began my mission of learning how to draw caricatures. After about six months of intense training, I started to draw caricatures at parties for a living. I moved to Tampa soon after in the fall of 1994, and I’ve been in the Tampa Bay area ever since. I started richcaricatures.com in Tampa 27 years ago and we’re still going strong. I have a team of about a dozen artists all over Florida entertaining at private and corporate events. All of our artists are members of ISCA (International Society of Caricaturists). A worldwide organization of professional artists that supports continued education etc. All of our artists have a minimum of 20 years of caricature experience. Over the course of 27 years, we have entertained hundreds and hundreds of clients, corporate and private. A few of them include all of the Tampa Bay professional sports teams, Delta Airlines, Raymond James Financial, Lockheed Martin and on and on.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Our business has grown year after year. Some of the struggles that I encountered in the beginning are the same ones that a lot of artists experience; developing the business in the first few years can be a bit of a challenge. But after 27 years in the same industry and the same city, we have developed great relationships with countless corporations and private clients.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Our specialty is drawing traditional and digital caricatures by the hour at corporate and private parties. We draw approximately 12 to 14 black and white traditional drawings per hour on 11 x 14 paper. Each drawing is given to the guest in a clear plastic sleeve. Our digital Caricatures are drawn on a new iPad Pro. The drawings are also projected onto a 32” inch television monitor where guests can watch everyone’s drawing evolve in real-time. Each full color 4 x 6 drawing is printed on-site and is given to the guest in a clear plastic sleeve or lanyard. Each drawing can be downloaded by the guest on our website. All of the drawings can also be put on a jump drive for the client at the end of the event.
Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
As in many industries, referrals and word-of-mouth is the best kind of advertising. We take our funny job seriously! LOL We believe showing up early, being professional, doing a great job, making people laugh, and making our guests and clients happy one event at a time truly is the secret of our success. Another source of our success has been advertising with Google and google reviews. We have a 5.0-star rating on Google Reviews. All of our 40+ reviews are authentic and have helped our potential clients decide to go with richcaricatures.com for a great way to entertain their guests. We also have a great website with tons of sample caricatures drawn on-site at real events. The website is easy to understand and easy to navigate. The website has been a great asset.
Contact Info:
- Email: onerichartist@gmail.com
- Website: RichCaricatures.com
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