People ask me all the time on how I get my caricatures signed. The easy way out of it is just me shrugging my shoulders and saying “Idontknow.” That does not fly about 100% of the time.

I guess the real answer to to snag some autographs is just meeting the celebrity. On occasion I have caught a few stars performing at the local theater. The majority in my collection have been just writing to Mr. or Ms. Star. That would mean the celebrity not an actual person with the last name Star. Although Bart Starr is on my “caricature to be signed list”, but that is another story…

The real way of getting the autographs I need is fairly obvious. I subscribe to StarTiger.com. It used to be called Star Archive, but the guy who runs it thought changing the name would be a better way to differentiate it from other sites. I would have to say that 90% of my collection is from this site. But that is only part of the way I get my signatures.

You see, it is not only the writing of the celeb you have to do, but making your requests stand out. I have read about people sending in custom made baseball cards, or photos they Pro-Painted on their computer at home. For me it has always been the caricature. I draw all the details and basics by hand. I color and paint the whole picture by hand. I airbrush the background, by hand…and an airbrush. It is about 4 hours of work to get one painting done. But that is not the whole process.

I guess you can call me a show-off. I want the celebrity to sign the original painting and get more of a reaction then just a signature. So I make plenty of room for a comment or salutation from him or her. Now in the autograph business, that is looked down on. You never want any personalization on the item. It ruins the resale. You know what? I don’t care. I am not in the market to see my caricatures that are signed. I like to keep them. The celebrity took the time to read my letter and look at my painting, they can sign their name and add a comment too. I even tell them too if they want. I have no qualms about a returned painting with a personalization. To me that is a bonus and an honor to have.

Don’t get me wrong. I am not a complete narcissist. I include a copied print of the painting for the celeb to keep. Sometimes they like it so much they sign that one instead of the original. Or they might send them both back signed. Or they never send anything back.

Now lately I have been in the convention market. I send my caricatures to appearances at conventions and whatnot. So far, not that good. Most of the stars are there and you know where and when they will appear. You also know how much they charge. That is the kicker. By writing through the mail, it is essentially free. (Except for the fact that you are paying postage twice, one going out and another hoping to come back. Don’t get me started on the numerous paintings I had lost due the fact that the celebrity holds on to it forever. Or chucks it)

Getting back to the convention scene, I have done this 3 times and I am not totally sold on it. By being in the StarTiger.com community, you know who will be at certain conventions and who will go. I have mailed my caricatures to these nice people and for a minimum price they will bring my caricature to get signed. They do their job, don’t get me wrong. They truly helped me out.

BUT….

The old expression “If you want the job done right, do it yourself,” definitely is true. No offense but the Star Trek universe people must have warped into a different dimension. My Spock, who I paid a pretty penny for is useless. I specifically painted an area for Leonard Nimoy to sign and he goes ahead and signs his oil-based pencil colored uniform. With a big space to his right totally devoid of a signature; it’s open. I also had a Star Trek character sign the detailed hands I had worked on meticulously. Why? I guess they decided that man has gone nowhere before in signing caricatures, so an oil-based rendering of furry hands is the optimum space to sign a very well used sharpie marker on essentially colored oil. Yeah that works out real well.

Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the help that my fellow collectors have given me. It just is a big letdown seeing a half-done signature on a caricature that I really researched and took time to do, compared to just buying a photo off the web.

One last experience: I was going to send a caricature to a professional purveyor of sports signatures. I won’t mention names but it is close to what Germans drink beer out of. Anyway, they had Hank Aaron, the Home Run King and former Milwaukee Brave/Brewer icon signing items. I thought great! I will draw Hammerin’ Hank and send it in with my check. Granted it was much more then I expected to spend but Hank was worth it.

I drew a young Hank ready to hit a homer out of Old County Stadium in Milwaukee. I researched his uniform to the pinstripes and brave patch on his shoulder. Drew him up, colored him, and added a neat background. All ready to send. I looked back at the website and the German beer drinking device name, doubled the price. You got to be kidding.

Needless to say, I won’t be able to send my Hank to meet the real one. Too bad as I was ready to take down my Ron Dayne to show off Mr. 755. But like the title of this blog states, sometimes it is all about luck and that also includes bad luck.

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