Six Years of Boo at the Zoo

Since 2002, I've been the caricaturist for the Cleveland Metroparks Boo at the Zoo. It's a Halloween event for kids that the Zoo holds the two weekends before Halloween. It's been a blast. It originally was a two day event, and over the years has become a four-day extravaganza over two weeks. And, while drawing 100 kids a night for four days straight, sometimes in the rain, wind and cold, isn't the easiest way to spend an evening, it was always one of the most fun. The attendees were great, and it was always the most humbling event as more than a few people would tell me that they ran to my station to make sure they got in line for the free drawing that had become a family tradition. There are people who have six years of Thom Zahler caricatures on their wall, and that's just great.

Sadly, I won't be back this year. The Zoo has contracted with a new gift shop vendor this year, and their contract gives them the license to sell caricatures at the event. I'm disappointed I can't be there this year, and I'll miss the kids and the great people at the Zoo. But, I understand the business end of things, too, and know that these things happen. No hard feelings there, and hopefully we'll be able to find other things in the future. And, if things ever change, I'll be back Booing and Zooing in a heartbeat.

I figured I'd mention it here because there are those loyal throngs of people who show up, some of whom read this site, and want them to know that I'd still be there if I could. My lines were frequently over an hour and a half long, so maybe this will give those kids a chance to see some parts of the Zoo that they'd skipped because they were in my line.

It's been a great six years! Thanks for everyone who came by and made it one of my favorite events to do. Hopefully I'll see you somewhere soon.

The Drawing Machine

For some reason, I've been doing a lot of caricature gigs lately. More than I have in a while. Sunday was particularly busy, as I had both a morning and afternoon event to do. Still, it keeps me busy and keeps me paid, so that's all to the good.

The second Sunday event was for Lake Erie College, a frequent client. I love high school and college gigs in general because it's just so cool to talk to people deciding what to do with their life. As someone who's always known what he would do, the whole process of figuring things out and what other people decide what to do is just endlessly fascinating.

These photos were taken by the multi-talented Bob Zyromski, late of the YMCA and as always an ace photographer. (You should hire him to photograph something for you, too. Give him a shout here.) He was out taking pictures, and they are pretty cool, aside from my ugly mug. It's interesting to see what I look like when I draw, too. I didn't realize that I looked so intense.

With all of these photos, you can click and embiggen!