On Saturday (November 5th), I was invited to attend a charity event for the International Myeloma Foundation in Los Angeles. (Visit the website here: https://www.myeloma.org/) The Foundation was started by the widow of actor Peter Boyle, who lost his fight with the disease in 2006. The charity event consisted of a reception with a silent auction followed by a comedy show featuring Ray Romano, Jeff Garlin, Dom Irrera, Bill Burr, JB Smoove, Larry Miller, Fred Willard, and the musical duet of Michael McKean and Annette O'Toole.
In attendance was Luke Skywalker himself, Mark Hamill. As a huge Star Wars fan, I was hoping to get the chance to meet him. At the reception before the show, there were open seats at the table where Mr. Hamill was sitting with his wife and a couple of friends. Long story short, I ended up sitting at the table alone with him. I figured I better speak up now or never.
"Mr. Hamill, my name is Steve Rampton and I'm a caricature artist. I've been a big fan of yours ever since I was a little boy and I've drawn a caricature of you that I'd like to show you." He smiled and said he'd love to see it. (It's below, from the movie Return of the Jedi.) We chatted for about two minutes about the caricature process and about the event itself.
They say you should never meet your heroes, because you'll be disappointed. Well, I'm happy to report that Mark Hamill was very gracious to all his fans, including me. The comedy show was great, but the highlight for me was meeting my childhood hero. Sort of.
The bottom caricature is the one I showed him; the top caricature is a new one, inspired by my meeting with Mr. Hamill. Can't wait for Episode VIII!
Caricatures make great gifts. Contact me at http://www.caricaturesbysteve.com to discuss yours. I also have pop culture merch for sale at BinaryGod.com Thanks for reading!
