A self-taught artist who sold his first portrait at the age of 10, Stephen Bridges was commissioned six months ago by Downtown Vision, Inc. to do caricatures at Friday Fest.
RATING HIS WORK
Bridges said his caricatures fall into one of two categories: mild, with a “G” or “PG” rating; or spicy, with a rating of “M” or “R.” Along with being a caricaturist, he has worked in a variety of other jobs, including battle planner, electronics technician, tour guide, bodyguard, meteorologist, singer, inventor, cook, prayer leader, intelligence officer, sniper and goose herder.
A STINT IN THE ARMY
“I was in the Army for 20 years. Fifteen of those years were spent in active duty. When I enlisted I was supposed to be a computer repairman, but somehow I ended up in the infantry, instead. Ultimately, I got tired of being shot at so I figured I’d better find myself another job.”
INTO THE FRAY
“Beginning in 1983, I was a gunfire liaison officer for the Navy, assigned to the Marine Corps. That October, when terrorists destroyed an entire Marine compound in Beirut, even though I was in the United States at the time, within 24 hours I was in Beirut, where I took over a team for a buddy of mine who was killed in the bombing.”
DRAWING ON HIS EXPERIENCE
“I’ve been in Jacksonville since January 1987. Ten years ago, I started my own business. I had two choices: either go out and flip burgers or become an artist. I’d been interested in art ever since I was eight years old, when I wanted to draw a picture of my family. Unfortunately, at that time I had a highly incompetent teacher. She said, ‘This is how you draw an eye, and she drew a circle with a dot in the middle of it.’ I decided to go to the bookstore and buy a book on art. As it happened, the one I ended up with was a college textbook. Actually, I think I got set up. Nonetheless, I ended up selling my first portrait at age 10.”
A PRECOCIOUS BEGINNING
“When I was 14, I decided I wanted to become a forensic artist. I went to the police department to see if they would hire me. After the police officer blew me off, I went to the watch commander. I must have had a forlorn look on my face because he asked me what the problem was. When I told him, he described the watch commander who was coming in after him, whom I’d never laid eyes on, and told me to draw him. As I was drawing, everyone started laughing because they all recognized him. That was when I sold my first caricature.”
IN YOUR OPINION, WHAT QUALITIES SHOULD A GOOD CARICATURIST POSSESS?
“Most important, a good caricaturist has to be a Renaissance man. He should know a little bit about everything. If, for example, someone says, ‘Draw me a lacrosse player,’ obviously, I have to know what lacrosse is. Also, he has to have a sense of humor.”
THE TRUE MEANING OF SUCCESS
“Between one third and one half of my income comes from drawing caricatures and entertaining at parties. Another third comes from doing portraits. The remainder comes from illustrations, which I do for a number of clients, including Smith and Daniels, a local publisher. Someone once told me I was very lucky because not only do I love what I’m doing, but I get paid for it. That, they said, was the true meaning of success. I think that’s true.”
WHAT ABOUT YOUR FAMILY?
“Not counting the neighborhood kids I’ve helped raise, I have seven children, from age 30, on down to 15. Two of them are still at home. The rest got thrown out of the house. I have four grandchildren . . . so far. Unlike me, my children are all extremely talented [artistically]. Folks don’t realize that it’s not talent that makes an artist, it’s just practice. Especially with faces. I’m not talented, I just have thousands and thousands of hours of practice.”
FAVORITE MEDIUM?
“Pastel, definitely. But that’s not practical. For my caricatures, I use a variety of primitive pens, and then color them with pastels. That’s the fastest, most mobile way to do it. I also carry charcoal, pencil, and inks — lots of different colors of inks. Although I’ve experimented with all different kinds of paper, now, I stick with the standard 11-by-14 inch Bristol, with the plate surface. Even though it’s the most expensive, it’s the best for what I do.”
YOUR STRONG SUIT?
“Faces. Faces are my forte. That, and keeping people amused. If I’m drawing someone’s face only, in black and white, it takes me about three minutes. For a face, with color, about five minutes. That’s on land [as opposed to on board the gambling ship, La Cruise Casino, where he’s worked for eight years]. Between the boat and the parties, I probably draw between two and three thousand faces a year.”
HIS OWN WORST CRITIC
“I don’t display my own work in my home. Never have. That’s because I’d see a flaw, and end up taking it down and working on it.”
MOST OUTLANDISH REQUEST(S) YOU’VE EVER GOTTEN?
“Several come to mind. One guy said, ‘Draw me, barbecuing.’ I drew him on a spit. Another time, I was commissioned to do a classic nude of me. Then there was the time I went to a party and said, ‘I can work in virtually any medium.’ So, the host showed me all the food on the table. Then he directed me to this slab of cement, and said, ‘Draw [using the food from the buffet table].’ So I did. He made me come back and clean it up.”
MENTAL CALISTHENICS
“My signature is a red beret and my own glasses and mustache. As I’m driving from my house to the boat, I do mental calisthenics. At Atlantic and San Pablo, just as I’m hitting the Intracoastal, I put my beret on. Then I put on the smirk. By the time I step out of truck, it’s showtime.”
A SURFACE THING
“One of the things I say is ‘If you’re willing to bare it, I’m willing to draw it.’ My limits, are the same as what Vargas were when he was doing Playboy. I’ll draw nudes, but not with anything showing. I can draw just about any kind of temporary tattoo. In fact, about half of what I do is to let people see what a real tattoo would look like. The other half I do to irritate peoples’ significant other.”
MOST FREQUENT REQUEST?
“All the men want to be buff and all the women want to be D cups. In my job, I have to be a plastic surgeon, a dermatologist — you name it. Of all Americans, the touchiest, by far, are the balding men. No matter how much I put up there, it’s never right.”
MOST HARROWING?
“Four or five years ago, I was commissioned to do the faces on [the nightclub] 57 Heaven. Not only were the faces seven feet high, but they were 15 feet off the ground, and I hate heights. I had to do it at night, on old, rickety scaffolding. I had not only the owner, his wife and all the employees out there, but also the police and all these people pulling up in their cars and asking, ‘What are you doing?’”
HIS BIGGEST CHALLENGE
“The hardest part is drawing fishnet stockings on the women. That’s because it’s a pattern of ‘s’ curves, constantly verging and diverging.”
A LOT OF MILEAGE FROM CLINTON
“People used to constantly ask me to do Bill Clinton. During his eight years in office, he probably was one of my best subjects. So far, nobody’s asked me to do [President George W.] Bush. That’s because Republicans have no sense of humor.”
— by Patti Connor