Before I moved to California, I took a trip around the country in my Dodge Grand Caravan and visited San Francisco, staying in Mike’s place . Two days before I was supposed to leave, I got hit by a car while riding my bike, separating my shoulder and breaking my collarbone. Thanks to the fine folks at San Francisco General hospital, I was on painkillers that zonked me out.

Mike was so incredibly kind to put me up for a couple days before my flight back to New Hampshire to recover. He worked from home while I stayed up and watched nothing but Kathy Griffin’s “My Life on the D List”. Like I said, I was on painkillers and zonked out.

Thanks, Mike!

Number one is that, in every single formal picture that he’s in, he does this fake half-smile where he shows his top teeth, but only at the corners of his mouth. He looks like a passive aggressive Tiger, threatened but too timid to strike. It’s pretty silly.

Two is that he’s sensitive about his eyes. I originally had dark circles under his eyes as part of the caricature, but he asked me to make him look “less Night of the Living Dead”. Fine fine, requests requests…

Three is that he wanted to look less “like a douche”. I’m still not sure what that means. I fake-airbrushed his cheeks so he looks like a Hollywood star.

As a revenge for the “notes”, I put him in the shirt that I stole from him about 9 months ago. On his wedding day. And I was a groomsman.

Here’s lookin atcha, buddy!

Right now the plan is for donations to go to Free Arts NYC, a non-profit that delivers creative arts programs directly to low income, homeless, abused and neglected children. I’ve done some volunteer work here in the LA area with similar programs (including one down in Compton), and I can tell you that Art & Animation are incredibly powerful tools in establishing bonds with kids. I’m open to other charity suggestions, however.

The technical details: Send me an email at pixelpolaroids@gmail.com with…

- A picture (or multiple pictures) and an idea for a background. For instance, I put my friend Phil on a picturesque Jersey Turnpike background, my lovely girlfriend Errrca on a UCLA court, and my Schoolism prof. and recent UK transplant Kris Pearn in London on a typically lovely day. Of course, some of them don’t read perfectly, so the simpler the idea the better.
- The dimensions you need. The portrait window is 23px x 22px, and the Polaroid as a whole is 30×35 including the drop shadow. I can export any format you need at whatever size you need, as long as it’s larger than 30 x 35 and in the 30:35 ratio. The portaits you see below are 300×350.  I can also export with or without the Polaroid frame. your choice.
- What name you want on the bottom. Please keep it short; I’m working with limited space here!

Once it’s done, I’ll email you back a screenshot with a watermark so you know it’s done. After that, Paypal me the money, and I’ll send you back a donation receipt from Free Arts NYC so you know right where the money went.

I’ll totally do group portraits. We’ll arrange something special for that, so email me!

If anyone could let me know if there’s an easier transaction process, I’d love to hear it. I’m doing this completely on the fly, so any help is appreciated. Here are some portraits that I’ve done…

Me.

America’s Favorite Uncle, Phil Rynda!

JibJabber Amanda Rynda!

Badass, fire-breather and all around great Girlfriend, Erica Sin!

Storyboarder, storyteller & tremendous instructor, Kris Pearn!

Special Bonus, Jake & Finn from Adventure Time! (see previous blog spot)

 
Thanks for reading! Hope to do your portrait soon.