Caricaturist to headline at CLC art show
Each year, the College of Lake County welcomes an artist to show off and sell his or her work, as part of its Valentine's Day Art Sale.
Normally, that artist designs jewelry. This year, the artist chosen -- Abel Aguilar -- hopes the perfect gift for that special someone will be a caricature.
Aguilar, who graduated last year from the Grayslake college, will be the featured artist at the Valentine's Day art sale, which runs through today at the college's ARTcetera Gallery.
Aguilar started drawing realistic portraits in pencil and graphite following her older brother, Antonio, who liked to draw. After taking art classes in high school, Aguilar enrolled at CLC in 2003 to further his skills.
It was two years ago a friend in a drawing class introduced him to caricatures. Aguilar said he likes caricatures because not only can he interact with people, but he also plays around with a person's characteristics.
"It is fun to see a smile on a person's face and hear them say this guy captured my characteristic," said Aguilar, who lives in North Chicago.
Aguilar will be available to draw caricatures from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the gallery. Black and white portraits will cost $10 and take about five minutes. Color portraits will cost $15 and take about 10 minutes to complete.
The sale will run from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and feature 10 percent off all original art, including hand-made jewelry, scarves, ceramics, sculpture and photography. Friends of the Gallery will receive 20 percent off.
Aguilar attributes his college instructors with helping hone his skills. To be invited to the college to show his teachers what he has learned, he said, is an honor. He said he hopes he also can serve as a mentor to current students.
"I can show them it's possible. You can do more with art than just please yourself," he said.
Just as any artist would wish, Aguilar's response was simple as to what he hopes to receive after a customer receives a completed drawing.
"I hope for smiles," he said.
ARTcetera is adjacent to the Robert T. Wright Community Gallery of Art in the Library/Learning Resource Center, 19351 W. Washington St. in Grayslake.