Greg Steele Caricaturist from Naperville, IL

Hi! Let me tell you a little about my experience. I was trained by the late John Johns at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh in 1980. After learning the initial performance details, I set out with my brother, to practice in a local watering hole. We would do all of the patrons for free just to get the feel of the medium. My first break came at Three Rivers Arts Festival in Pittsburgh. We were only allowed to charge two dollars a face, 40% to go to the festival. The first year I was featured on TV as I had inadvertently done a TV personality earlier in the day. They came back with a crew and filmed me. I became the "Cat in the Hat" (I wore a top hat at the time) and was featured in commercials for the festival thereafter. The exposure brought me gigs with corporations and schools. I quit my job at McDonald's and went to school full time funded by my caricature work. I continued working for corporations, such as Westinghouse, doing retirement caricatures in pen and ink with watercolor and working at festivals and schools. Currently, I work at High School Senior lockup parties in my local area and wedding caricatures. Hope this helps.