About Celeste Draughn
Hi there! My name is Celeste, caricature artist local to Southeast Virginia—Chesapeake, Virginia Beach, Suffolk, Portsmouth, Hampton, Newport News, Isle of Wight—and I am available for travel to areas outside of this.
I've been drawing my entire life! No, seriously, I have. My parents have told me the story of when I was really little (like diapers little) and they had just painted their kitchen walls white (are you seeing where I'm going with this?). I got up in the middle of the night by climbing out of my crib and, black permanent marker in hand, scribbled on that freshly painted wall as high and far as my little arms could reach!
And then, I woke up my parents eager to show them my masterpiece. As I'm sure you can imagine, they were less than enthused by my artistic endeavors but gamely took a photo of myself standing proudly, grinning from ear to ear, offending marker in hand, before that pivotal moment in my artistic life.
And I haven't stopped since.
Sketchbook after sketchbook, school paper margin after margin, and even one school desk, attest to my continuing passion.
Fascinated by any artist in action that I could find, Bob Ross on TV, caricature artists in theme parks, portrait artists at the local fairs, mini-documentaries of Disney artists in action, it all captivated me.
Amazingly, it wasn't until I watched Belle and Beast waltz across the silver screen that the light bulb finally went off and I knew what I wanted to be when I grow up. An animator.
And my parents could not change my mind. Even the suggestion of becoming a graphic artist was rebuffed as I hated the idea of drawing on a computer (and this was loooooong before Adobe or any of the fancy and amazing technology that currently exists) and coveted only pencil in hand and paper before me.
Off to VCU went I to pursue my BFA in animation and video editing. And it was a summer job at a theme park that roped me into the world of caricatures. And a friend who introduced me to hiring myself out as an artist at after-prom parties, and another who introduced me to event planners for even more events, and the next thing I know, it's been over 15 years and I haven't stopped.
But, now, I'm delving in deep and creating more than just the standard caricature that you'll find at the local amusement park. Sure I still do events—I love meeting all sorts of people and drawing in front of huge crowds doesn't faze me at all—I knew there could be more.
And so, in the late fall of 2017 (Thanksgiving weekend, to be exact) did I make the spur-of-the-moment decision to launch my line of custom caricature ornaments. And y'all love them!!! (find them here: https://tinyurl.com/y74pjrv2)
And I'm over the moon happy to bring my art into new forms and different options and I'm just getting warmed up.