Live event illustrator
Live event illustration is drawing made at an event while it happens, in front of the people it is about. Rui Charnock works in ink and watercolour across Portugal, producing about two finished illustrations per booked hour, or between fifty and seventy quick guest portraits in three hours if the brief is to draw the people rather than the room.
Same hand, same speed, a different reason for being there. At a wedding the drawing is the keepsake; at an event it is usually the thing that makes people stop walking.
Which format suits which event
| If the objective is | Book | Typical session | What people leave with |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stopping footfall at a stand | Guest portraits | 3–6 hours | A drawing of themselves |
| Something for guests to keep | Guest portraits | 3 hours | 50–70 portraits handed out |
| A record of the event | Event illustration | 4–9 hours | 8–18 finished pieces |
| Social content the same week | Either | 3+ hours | High-resolution files |
| Co-branded artwork | Event illustration | 6+ hours | Originals and print files |
What actually gets booked
Two formats, and most briefs are one or the other rather than both.
Guest portraits are the crowd format: two to three minutes a face, handed straight over, fifty to seventy in a three-hour session. A queue forms within about ten minutes of starting and it does not stop, which is either exactly what you wanted or a problem — worth deciding in advance.
Event illustration is the record format: about two finished pieces an hour, drawing the room, the speakers, the moment the thing was unveiled. It is quieter on the night and it is what you still have in March.
What it needs from the venue
One square metre, somewhere with light, not directly under a speaker. No power, no table, no rigging, no load-in. I arrive with a board and a bag and I am working within five minutes of walking in.
That is not a boast about being low-maintenance, it is a scheduling fact: it means the drawing can move when the event moves, and events move.
What you get, and when
Guests keep their portraits on the night. Everything else is finished in studio, scanned at archival resolution and posted within two weeks.
High-resolution digital files come sooner — usually within the same week, because for an event booking the files are half the point and nobody wants them a fortnight after the campaign closed.
What this is not
It is not graphic recording. Graphic recording — visual minutes, scribing, sketchnoting — is real-time visual summarising of talks onto large boards, and it is a genuinely different craft with a different deliverable. I do not do it, and a page here claiming otherwise would waste your time and mine.
It is also not caricature. Guest portraits are drawn straight: recognisable, quick, and not at anyone's expense.
Tell me the date, the venue and roughly how many people. I will come back with a number.
Check your date WhatsAppBy event type
Check your date
Tell me when and where. If I am free, I will come back with what it costs and roughly how the day would run — usually the same evening.