Testimonials for Caricatures, New York, NY by Dale Gladstone

2008
"Dale came to my husband's 50th Birthday to draw caricatures of our guests. It was really fun entertainment for both the adults and the kids as everyone could look on as Dale drew each person or couple. (We had many options from which to choose and we all were very pleased with the results) All of my guests said that they loved the idea and that is was the best party favor that they have ever had.
People who have seen the caricatures in the homes of our guests have asked them who did the drawings and commented as to how good they were and what a great idea for the 50th Birthday party.
Thank you Dale, everyone is still telling me how much fun it was and how they are still enjoying the caricatures. " *****
- Cindy from South Jersey

2007

"Best decision ever!:
We asked Dale to use his artistic talents at our Communion Party and must say that everyone enjoyed it very much. It kept all the kids occupied. The best was that everyone got to take something home with them from the event. I would certainly use his service again in the future." *****
- Jun 20, 2007 Lori from Smithtown, New York

"Remarkably good service experience:
Dale,
We hired the best, you. Thank you for helping us celebrate my son's Bar Mitzvah. I will always recommend you. Thank you again." *****
- Apr 15, 2007 Seth from Plainview, NY

"Notably good service experience:
Dale is a very pleasant, talented & insightful caricaturist. Guests at our event loved him! Glad we hired him! I'd do it again & have already recommended him to friends & business associates." *****
- Leslie of Armonk, NY

"The caricatures were creative & entertaining:
My Long Island guests were thrilled. Dale Gladstone was personable & therefore able to tailor the caricatures to each subject's personality. My son was thrilled with his "race car" caricature. My event on Long Island, New York was wonderful & every guest was happy to go home with a caricature keepsake." *****
- CL of Oceanside, NY

2006
"Consistent quality & professionalism:
Top quality caricatures from an artist who is sensitive to his clients' requests & exceeds their expectations. We have used Dale Gladstone for a party & three projects & are thrilled with his creativity & work. He always completes work on a timely basis." *****
- Estela of New York, NY

"Best caricatures ever!
Dale Gladstone was able to capture the little characteristics that made each person unique & showed these details through his artistic work." *****
- Tanya, Brooklyn, NY

"The best decision I ever made!
Dale did a great job at our party. Everyone wanted to get one of his caricatures. Our party was located within 10 miles of New York City. We plan to have him at more party events. I would recommend him for things such as trade shows. He was professional in dealing with individuals & designed a great backdrop to go with our party's theme. I would highly recommend his services." *****
- Maria of Hackensack, NJ

"Excellent caricaturist with an uncanny ability to capture his subject's persona. Dale was hired to create caricatures at a big political celebration in Westchester, New York. People there were very happy with his work. He is an experienced, reliable professional with many years of seasoning to his credit. His artistry is really on target. I took a chance & it came out real well!" *****
- Barry of Armonk, NY

Caricatures for an hour or two?

If you want me to draw caricatures at your event for less than 3 hours, I'll charge a flat fee (variable nonetheless depending on what options you choose) instead of an hourly rate. Keeping me 3 hours or more will give you a better value.

No Discounts for agents

In a message dated 3/8/2007 11:06:24 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, john@doesentertainment.com writes:

Dale,
You need to create special pricing for me otherwise I have no financial opportunity or incentive to book you on my events. All vendors in this business create wholesale pricing which would allow me or anyone else to offer the same prices found by coming across your website. Also, I would then be able to sell you as yourself and not just some generic caricaturist which would prevent clients from you looking for you directly.
Thanks,
John Doe

Doe's Entertainment Music, Lighting & Video212.555.7790 Office 212.555.6265 Fax

Dear John,
Thanks for writing. I know there are some contractors out there desperate or stupid enough to give discounts to agents. They enable the establishment of that precedent and you may not even be aware of how unadvisable it would be for me to do the same. I want you to know there are no hard feelings here. You may have no intention of doing anything unfair.

Meanwhile, I give no discounts to anyone as a rule. You will not be an exception. It's nothing personal. This is only how I judge the best way to conduct my business. There are always some people who tell me they should get a discount, I always refuse, and somehow I still pay my bills.

Believe it or not, there are always some other agents who somehow do bring me business without getting a discount. Either way, I do enough direct booking myself not to depend on anyone else, ever. It doesn't make sense for me to compete with myself, which is what you're asking me to do. Only a fool does that. My mother didn't raise any fools. However, most of my colleagues frankly are fools who depend on marketing themselves to agents. Thank God I've never operated by that method. By the way, fools are not the most dependable, experienced, skillful & charming people to do business with. You get what you pay for. You know that.

I sent you that eMail not because I need work, but because I want to avoid what happened recently when someone called me AFTER quoting their customer based on my prices from the previous century. This is only part of my policy of trying to take care of clients as best I can. However, this policy does not include fiscal irresponsibility.

I work with people like you when someone doesn't want to make all the phone calls themselves. They are too busy & have money to burn, so they ask you to plan everything for them. Those people can afford to pay you & me fairly. Those are your customers. You've earned them.

On the other hand, people who have the time to shop around & make all their own phone calls or eMails are my customers. Anyone who wants to compete with me for them has to do what I do. They have to work hard and forget about asking me for special favors. Who does me any favors? Agents used to provide me with good directions in the old days. Now, many do not at all or they only send Mapquest.com directions (only after I ask) which are often terrible. Agents hardly seem to want to do anything to actually earn their cut anymore.

I know it's standard practice for agents to prohibit contractors from handing out their own business cards at these events, but I never have rewarded that policy with a discount and I never will.

Have a great year. Despite what you said, it actually is possible for you to occasionally book me & make an amazing impression on people. Either way, good luck and be well.
Dale
917 443-8787

www.DaleGladstone.com

eMailing Dale

If you ever need to contact me ASAP regarding business or any urgent matters, please address a short, simple eMail beginning with your phone # & name to all three addresses:
dale@dalegladstone.com, dalegladstone@tmomail.net, dgladstone@aol.com

PS- And PLEASE type a subject line that leaves no room for confusion with SPAM.

NEVER WORK ON SPEC

No one with any brains ever works on spec. I can offer a bid including confidentiality & licensing agreements, but you have to decide on my abilities based on my ample portfolio. There are billions of people who want artists like me to do work on spec. I could spend infinite lifetimes rewarding such useless requests and never get paid. Why don't you try spending your life that way? There is some reason you don't, isn't there? I am always paid a deposit before I begin any sketches. If that doesn't help you, waste no more time with me and enjoy the unreliable, litigious experience of working with hacks & losers. Mrs. Gladstone didn't raise any morons. I won't be one of the idiots who buries your desk with free ideas & sketches while you give your nephew an ice cream to steal my ideas and finish the job. What is it about my website that made you think I would?
-Dale

www.DaleGladstone.com

Caricatures New York NY, introduction

Dale Gladstone ( www.DaleGladstone.com/CARICATURES ) is the best trade show, private party, picnic & corporate event caricaturist you'll ever hope to find in New York City or anywhere. His results & options are unparalelled, his prices are fair, his speed is hard to beat and his dependability is top rate. Dale Gladstone's caricatures can even be projected or displayed live with any kind of video system to create an unforgettable, entertaining spectacle the likes of which you've likely never seen. Dale Gladstone's caricature art draws a terrific crowd & is something they'll be talking about for the rest of their lives. If anyone needs extra copies of one of Dale's drawings, they can be made available instantly. Group drawings of practically any number can be composed in surprisingly short order. At the end of the event, you can even have copies of all the caricature drawings Dale did for you on a CD-Rom. Contact Dale Gladstone for prices, options, lots of samples, info, even video about the best caricatures in the world. This is my first ever blogger entry. It'll get better, I promise.

I usually draw caricatures on my "tablet laptop PC" & print the 8.5"x11" glossy caricature drawings on my portable bubble jet photo printer. As far as I know, I'm the first party caricaturist in the New York area (the whole Northeast, really) to do anything like this and only one of a handful in the whole country, or even the world. The frames I offer are black carboard pre-cut mats. The software I'm using is Alias Sketchbook Pro. The PC is just a very expensive tool. I'm still doing the drawings by hand by any reasonable standard. If you prefer something more nostalgic enough to pay extra, I can draw with fast-drying permanent ink felt-tip markers on 11"x14" ledger bond paper.
My tablet PC is a special kind of laptop that allows me to draw, write & do all my computer work directly on the monitor screen with the special tablet stylus pen. When I use the tablet PC instead of markers, it produces results that are in many ways much better. For those reasons plus the fact that I'm tired of working with markers after 17 years, I bought my tablet PC and for customers who prefer marker drawings for some reason, I will charge extra. The PC is only a very expensive tool. The tablet PC also allows me to offer you some other very nice extras I can't deliver any other way: People often ask for extra dawings, especially if they are posing with friends or relatives from outside their household. If I'm working with markers, I usualy have to tell them there isn't enought time to draw anyone twice. With my tablet PC, I can just tell the printer to spit out another copy and I only charge $2.oo (black & white) or $3.oo (color) for extra copies, paid either by the host or the guest, as the host wishes. I can also provide a CD-Rom containing all the drawings from the entire party to the host, guest of honor or anyone else for $50.oo per disk. The software I'm using is Alias Sketchbook Pro.
I can also connect a TV, video equipment or my projector to my tablet pc so the drawings I do are projected live, stroke by stroke, on a big screen or wall. If no such screen or blank wall is available, I can bring an easel & canvas to project on. This practice makes what I do a real spectacle & illicits the most impressive response from people.