The Wedding Gift

Posted on 22 April, 202022 April, 2020 by MattKahl1

It was either this or a toaster…

OK, so I know it’s a bit wrong to go on about a gift that you’ve got for someone, or something that you’ve done as a favour. However, there is a purpose to this article other than blowing my own trumpet.

The number one service I get asked to carry out as an illustrator is custom caricatures – usually as gifts for a friend or relative of the customer. In this article, I will show you my process for creating a custom caricature gift for someone, using a gift I made a few years ago as an example. I’ll tell you about the thoughts and details that went into it. I’ll also explain a bit about a technique for creating backgrounds that I’ve been using and perfecting recently.

The Famous Kahl of Disney

Posted on 7 October, 20197 October, 2019 by MattKahl1

Another Cartoonist by the same last name, except this guy is actually important

Milt Kahl By Source (WP:NFCC#4), Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=51123791

You’ve already thought it, I’m sure – my last name is a bit unusual. The more people I meet, the more I become aware of this, as I often find my surname misspelled or mispronounced. At least it’s unique.

Anyway, when you have a slightly strange or uncommon name, you notice it when you see it elsewhere, and from a young age I saw my weird Germanic surname in a prominent place – Disney cartoons.

The Treasure Hunt

Posted on 6 August, 20182 September, 2018 by MattKahl1

decorating a stag for a school project

Every now and again I get a request for something a bit different. Last winter one of those requests landed in my inbox, and I thought I’d give it a try.

A local Primary School was planning a treasure hunt all over my home town as a fundraiser, which they would hold over a couple of weeks during the summer. The plan was to get the kids to decorate a wooden deer head for each class to hide around the town. People could then pay £2 for a map to follow and collect clues, with one lucky family winning a prize.

The school also wanted to get some local artists involved to decorate their own wooden deer heads, and I was one of the names that came up.

The Clarkson Caricature

Posted on 25 April, 20152 September, 2018 by MattKahl1

How I put together a Caricature

(Originally posted on 26th April 2015)

At the time I was last renovating my website, Jeremy Clarkson was in trouble for bopping his producer in a “fracas” about food. Specifically, the lack of hot food after a day’s filming somewhere in Yorkshire. Now, Clarkson has one of those faces that lend themselves very well to caricature, so I thought I’d give it a go.

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