43
Drawings a hit with All-Star crowd
By Dan Hiner
Cleveland
Some entertainers packed baseball bats and gloves. Some brought instruments and musical equipment.
However, Boardman resident Paris Chrisopoulos packed light-blue colored pencils, a chalk pastel kit and paper.
He was contracted to draw caricatures during the 2019 MLB All-Star Game festivities. He began on Sunday and will continue today until 4:30 p.m.
Chrisopoulos sat at his booth in downtown Cleveland, next to the Huntington Convention Center, drawing customer after customer.
At 4:15 p.m. Monday, Chrisopoulos disappointed several people after telling, “I only have time for one more drawing.”
Diane Cerri from Wickliffe was one of Chrisopoulos’ last customers for the day. She sat in a chair in front of the tent, facing the artist with his supplies on the table.
“I wish the players could come out and he could draw them,” Cerri said. “That’d be fun because you’d have all the them over here, and that would really draw everybody over here.”
Look at the subject and draw. Look at the subject and draw some more. Large head, large eyes, a thin body. Each line needs to be perfect for his naturally imperfect style.
But that’s no excuse for Chrisopoulos.
“Honestly, every drawing I make I think looks terrible, but I’m a very harsh critic of myself,” Chrisopoulos said. “I’m probably the wrong person to ask, I just hope that it’s passable. Usually people like it.”
Stroke after stroke the blank page starts to come alive. Basic shapes turn into anatomy.
After the drawing’s complete, it’s time for black marker to bold the linework.
When Chrisopoulos is complete, he signs his name, picks out a rubber band and rolls up the drawing for the client to take home.
He took photos of each drawing he completed through the first two days. Chrisopoulos estimates he’s drawn 100 people.
“I felt the urge to start making more money with it,” Chrisopoulos said. “I mean ... you work all day for minimum wage, it’s for hardly nothing. If I do one of these events, I make more doing this.”
Chrisopoulos was always an artist.
He graduated from Youngstown State University with a degree in graphic design. He also studied at The Art Institute.
He worked for The Jambar, YSU’s student newspaper, as a designer while in college.
But graphic design wasn’t his passion, so he tried to continue to find ways to put his talents to work.
“I hate graphic design. I’m not gonna lie, it’s so boring,” Chrisopoulos said. “If I wanted to work in an office somewhere, being like a computer monkey all day, I have a degree to do that. It’s not fulfilling and it’s not even fun.
“I’d much rather go out and about, travel, meet people. That’s like a 1,000 times better.”
For the past 11/2 years, Chrisopoulos has been drawing and selling his art online. He sold watercolor drawings early in his career.
Potential clients messaged him over social media for jobs. As time passed, Chrisopoulos was asked to draw at events. He said the crowd at the Play Ball Park was nothing new. He’s had to turn people away at weddings.
“I have to turn them away at the end of the night,” Chrisopoulos said. “They think I’m a drawing robot or something.”
Now the hard work is paying off.
After years as an admitted starving artist, the money is slowly starting to trickle in. It doesn’t hurt getting subcontracted out by Kingsford Charcole for the All-Star break.
“I’m starting to see a return on it,” Chrisopoulos said.
“Any time your monetizing your artistic skill, it’s a miracle. If you sell one drawing for $20, it’s amazing.
So with the drawing taking off, what’s the next step in Chrisopoulos’ future?
“I’m interested in so many things,” Chrisopoulos said. “I might be doing something completely different. For now I’m riding high on this.
“I like comics, I do that a lot on Facebook. I don’t know ... just kinda go with the flow, to use that cliche.”
Chrisopoulos can be contacted at Caricatures by Paris on Facebook and Instagram. His website is parisadrian.com.