Live sketch artist for parties
For a birthday or anniversary party, Rui Charnock draws guest portraits live: two to three minutes a face, fifty to seventy in a three-hour session, in ink and watercolour, handed over on the night. He works anywhere in Portugal from a studio in Lisbon, and three hours is the shortest booking that makes sense.
The shortest booking on this site and the one people are happiest about afterwards. Nobody has ever had to be persuaded to sit down.
What three, four and six hours get you
| Hours | Guest portraits | Also fits | Suits |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 50–70 | — | Up to about 70 guests |
| 4 | 60–80 | One larger illustration of the room | A milestone birthday |
| 6 | 90–130 | Two or three larger illustrations | A whole evening, 100+ guests |
How a party booking runs
I set up somewhere with a bit of light and no speaker directly overhead — the end of the bar, usually. People come over. They sit for two or three minutes. They take the drawing away.
There is no announcement needed and no host duty involved. The first two people are curious, and after that a queue runs itself for the rest of the session.
Where it goes in the evening
The best slot is the hour after everyone has arrived and before anything formal starts, or the gap between dinner and dancing. Both are moments when a party is at its most stationary and least sure what to do with itself.
The worst slot is after midnight. The drawings get worse and so do the sitters.
Milestone birthdays and the drawing for the person
For a sixtieth, a seventieth or an anniversary, the thing worth adding to the portrait session is one larger illustration of the room — everybody in it, drawn on the night.
It takes about an hour of the booking and it is the piece that ends up framed. Guest portraits go home in fifty different directions; that one stays.
What it costs and what it needs
Party bookings use the same rates as everything else on the pricing page, starting at three hours. Nothing is gated and there is no separate private-event price list.
It needs a square metre, some light, and a chair. Not a table, not a power socket, and not a meal seat.
Send the date and roughly how many people. Party dates are usually free at shorter notice than weddings.
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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.