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Created page with "{{Infobox book | italic title = Remembering Buddy Rose<!--(Article title goes here and in the 'name' field below.)--> | name = Remembering Buddy Rose | image..."
{{Infobox book
| italic title = Remembering Buddy Rose<!--(Article title goes here and in the 'name' field below.)-->
| name = Remembering Buddy Rose
| image = EFSpring2015_Page_28_Image_0001.jpg <!--(If no good single image is suitable, use a screenshot of the first page of the article)-->
| image_size = 260px
| border = yes
| alt =
| caption = <!--(If the infobox photo needs a caption, that can be put in this field.)-->
| author = Rod "Al Rod" Rodriguez<!--(use {{unbulleted list|Author One|Author Two|Author Three}} to list multiple authors or subjects)-->
| illustrator =
| subject = Buddy Rose<!--(who or what is this wiki entry about?)-->
| genre = Member Spotlight<!--(acceptable genres include: Editorial, Op/Ed, Article, Interview, How-To, Member Spotlight, etc. Multiple subjects see multiple authors above)-->
| published = [[EF Issue 2015.2]]
| pub_date = <!--(Should match EF Issue Published date)-->
| media_type = <!--(Digital or otherwise both {{unbulleted list|Print|Digital}} )-->
| pages = 26-31<!--(Page number(s) of the issue the article appears on)-->
| preceded_by = <!--(Previous article in the issue)-->
| followed_by = <!--(Next article in the issue)-->
| notes =
| website = {{unbulleted list|[http://wiki.caricature.org/wiki/EF_PDFS/EF201?.?.pdf Full Issue PDF],|courtesy of {{URL|caricature.org}}}}
}}
This article honoring [[Buddy Rose]] was written by Rod "Al Rod" Rodriguez and appears on pages 26-31 in Exaggerated Features issue 2015.2.
==Article Transcript==
[[File:EFSpring2015_Page_31_Image_0004.jpg|266px|thumb|right|Photo from the 3rd NCN convention in Las Vegas
(March 14-21, 1994) at the American Legion Post #8
on 773 Veteran’s Drive in Las Vegas.
Over 50 caricaturists and their partners registered.
President Koji Akihisa-san of Hoshinoko Production,
Ltd. and artist Golden Nosey winner Eiichi Miyamoto
traveled internationally from Tokyo, Japan. About 85
people attended the award recognition banquet on
March 21st.
Many artists drew at the Boulevard Mall Maryland
Parkway in Las Vegas. Channel 13 gave media attention.
Donations for the caricatures at the Boulevard
Mall raised money for The Key Foundation charity for
the homeless.
NCN founder and then current president Buddy Rose,
who spent over 20 years working at theme parks, recognized
the need to highlight caricature as an artform.
And to help quality caricaturists find good work. At
that time, Buddy and some others wanted to form an
official trade union or guild of artists.
Photos and words on this page courtesy]]
[[File:EFSpring2015_Page_30_Image_0003.jpg|266px|thumb|right|Photo by by Brigitte Ford]]
[[File:EFSpring2015_Page_30_Image_0001.jpg|266px|thumb|right|When fellow ISCA member, Tomoko
Ogawara, heard the news of Buddy’s
passing, she sent this photo of her 1996
watercolor nigaoe done at an NCN Con.]]
[[File: EFSpring2015_Page_32_Image_0001.jpg|266px|thumb|right|Comic by Sam Klemke, reprinted from the January 2000 Issue of the NCN Exaggerated Features newsletter.]]
[[File:EFSpring2015_Page_33_Image_0001.jpg|266px|thumb|right|Comic by Sam Klemke, reprinted from the January 2000 Issue of the NCN Exaggerated Features newsletter.]]
I first met Buddy Rose in the spring of
’89. I was 23 and just moved to Texas,
looking for something, not quite sure
what that was. I think I was just looking
to get outta Florida and see what else
was out there. I’d already had a few years
of drawing caricatures under my belt at
Busch Gardens in Tampa and some gig
experience, but wasn’t sure if that was
going to be part of my professional future
at that point. I just knew I needed to find
work when I moved to the Lone Star State,
so I started with what I knew how to do,
and that was drawing big heads with tiny
bodies.
So, finding myself living near Six Flags
Over Texas in Arlington, I naturally stopped
in there and asked who I needed to talk to
about drawing caricatures. I was referred
to Mike of M Enterprises, who had the
concession at the time, and he seemed
pleased with my samples, so much so
that he thought I needed to hook up with
Buddy Rose. “Who’s this Buddy Rose you
speak of?” I asked, and Mike told me Buddy
was the man in Dallas I needed to meet
if I wanted to start working gigs in the area,
and he gave me his number. Mike hired
me, but I also called Mr. Rose to see if he
could offer me anything. Next thing I know,
I’m driving into Dallas and meeting Buddy
for the first time. Buddy welcomed me
with open arms (figuratively, not literally).
Pretty sure it was just a hand shake. But I
felt quite welcomed nonetheless. Buddy
was very much established by this time. In
fact I’d go as far as calling him the Caricature
Baron of Dallas (my term, not his).
From what he told me, if there was an
event in Dallas where they wanted a caricature
artist, most likely he was going to
get called for it, either directly or indirectly.
He was the main source for caricaturists
in Dallas. And before I knew it, Buddy was
booking me on gigs. Sure, he made me
wear that damn beret, tuxedo shirt with
black slacks, bow tie and suspenders to
every freakin’ gig, even those hotter-thanhell
picnic ranch gigs where they’d make
us sit under a tree and draw, but hey, I was
working as a caricaturist! It was still better
than what they made you wear working at
Six Flags.
Now, before I met Buddy, I could probably
count all of the caricaturists I personally
knew on one hand. But working with him,
that number definitely multiplied, and I
saw for the first time how this caricaturing
thing could be more than I ever thought.
For the next eight years, Buddy was my
main source for caricature gigs, and I
learned so many things along the way.
Buddy had taken me in and practically
made me a family member. Some of my
earliest memories of my time with him are
going out to eat with him and his family.
His boys, Wally and Harrison, were just
small kids at the time. I’m Cuban and Puerto
Rican, so to make me feel more at home
after just meeting him, Buddy took me to
a TexMex restaurant. Not at all the same
food, but I appreciated the sentiment.
I had so many firsts with Buddy. With him,
I worked my first bar mitzvah, my first
state fair, my first trade show, and my first
gig in Vegas. And with him, I came into contact with so many other caricaturists.
This was before the age of the Internet
and cellphones. We didn’t have websites,
Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. Advertising
back then was pretty much the Yellow
Pages or ads you’d run in magazines or
newspapers. In some ways, this was a
golden age for me. I was in my 20s, learning
and evolving so much. I wish I could’ve
appreciated it more at the time.
But Buddy wasn’t one to just coast along.
He was like this mad scientist of caricatures.
He often dared to dream things
most were too timid to consider, or not
crazy enough to, at least. He was always
looking for ways to grow the business,
not just for him but for all the other artist
friends he knew. He always wanted everyone
to benefit with him. Thus was born the
idea for the National Caricaturist Network
(NCN), later to become ISCA. Now,
perhaps I remember this differently, but I
recall the NCN starting out as a national
booking agency of caricaturists. Over the
years, Buddy had collected contacts of
artist all over the place and thought if he
could advertise in major markets around
the country and get an 800 number, he
could book artists all over the place. This
is when I first started to realize how many
working caricaturists there were in the
U.S. and abroad. Problem is, it was still
Yellow Page advertising back then, and it
was expensive, especially for any kind of
display ad. So that idea didn’t get too far,
but what else could we do with all of these
caricaturists?
I remember thinking how crazy a convention
for caricature artists sounded back then. “Like really?” I laughed. But Buddy
was serious and moving forward with it.
He talked about planning the first convention
and competition in Cozumel, Mexico.
Still not sure why Mexico was the place to
do this, other than him liking to visit there
a lot and having a nephew who lived there.
Seems like organizing something like this
for the first time would just be made more
difficult in a foreign land with a different
language and culture. But what do I
know? Of course, it wasn’t just planning a
convention. He had a lawyer pal helping
to designate the NCN as a union, and then
a nonprofit? I don’t remember it all, much
of this being a blur now. There was a bit of
pot smoking at Rose Studio back then.
But the NCN also needed a face for the
rest of the time when caricaturists weren’t
at a convention. None of us really knew
anything about putting a newsletter
together. But it just so happen around
this time that I was trying to figure out
this whole “desktop publishing” thing. I’d
gone to school for graphic design and
commercial art, but the whole industry
had changed overnight. The ebbs and
flows of gigs had forced me to revisit my
initial career path, just to find out that I
was ill-equipped to do so. So I bought my
first Mac, a Mac Classic at the time, and
got a copy of PageMaker and began to
teach myself how to work this stuff. And I
thought there was no better way to learn
the software than to take on the very first
NCN newsletter. So I volunteered to do it.
It wasn’t much to look at. But it was clean
looking. I spent hours working on it with
my 9-inch monochrome display and 40MB hard drive. And so, the NCN was born and
artists were joining. Not sure what the
numbers were at the time, but I do recall
there being 15 artists in Cozumel for the
first convention. I didn’t make it to Cozumel
for the first or second convention but
did for the third, and the first one in Las
Vegas.
That Vegas convention was a hot mess, 75
artists spread out all over town, meeting
at the mall to draw every day. Why? Was
this a competition or experiment gone
wrong? But the seminars in the evenings
at some school were interesting. Nonetheless,
this convention literally changed
my life. I can go on and on about all the
artists I met there who are still a part of
my life today or have had some influence
on me since. I met some of my closest
friends there.
Meanwhile, Buddy’s life was all consumed
by the NCN, and not in good, healthy
way. It was taking a toll on his marriage
among other aspects of his life. I had
done that first newsletter, but I’d gotten
too busy to work on the following ones,
and Buddy was doing them himself. God
bless him, those were some hideous
looking newsletters. I’d try to help out at
times, going to his house, trying to fix the
design nightmare he’d created. But they
were often too far gone in most cases
for the little time I had to spend on them.
Either way, Buddy forged ahead until the
following year when he decided to turn
the NCN over to the control of the artists
themselves.
The fourth NCN convention, right after Vegas, was set to be in San Antonio, and
Buddy had it all arranged to transfer the
ownership of the NCN from him to the
members. This required all sorts of paperwork,
meetings, elections of officers and a
board of directors, and documents to sign.
Buddy selected Kid Cardona, Dan Dunn
and myself as the officers to sign the
original constitution for the NCN, which
we did in front of the Alamo before the
official elections of the officers and board
of directors. It was an exciting time, and a
huge gift that Buddy Rose was giving to
all of us.
Buddy wasn’t always the most tactful
person. His ego and passionate approach
often rubbed many people the wrong way,
and, like most of us, he had his own insecurities.
To many who didn’t always play
well with him, the NCN was often referred
to as “that Buddy thing.” But Buddy
wanted it to be a “caricaturists’ thing.” He
truly sacrificed so much to get the NCN up
and rolling. The first few years of the NCN
after that were pretty rocky. Some wondered
if it would survive, myself included.
But Buddy was always willing to step in
and save it if he needed to.
After that, Buddy and his wife split. He
had that strange, long episode with the
accident that hurt his drawing hand. He
moved to Colorado and eventually to Vegas,
where he remade himself as the Las
Vegas Caricature Baron (my term, not his).
Found love again and became a father
all over. He pursued other ventures but
always stayed close to caricaturing.
I ran into Buddy a few years back in Vegas while working a trade show, and we got
to hang out some. He was still the same.
Doing what he did. Running their caricature
business and talking about the next
great thing he was gonna do to provide
more work for artists. I was the one there
who was different now. No longer the
inexperienced artist. In so many ways, I
had become a version of Buddy. I now
run my own caricature business in Miami,
booking myself and other artists, doing
my best to be fair and honest with all
whom I work with, and I learned to do this
by watching Buddy all of those years.
When I was asked to write this piece, I was
kind of hesitant. I felt, and still feel, like
I only knew a small part of Buddy Rose.
Surely I’m not qualified to write this all
on my own. This is only my impression of
who he was. He was a complicated man
who came into contact, befriended and
helped countless artists over the years.
He wasn’t perfect but always tried to play
fair and do his best. So many of the artists
I know who knew him surely have their
own Buddy stories.
Buddy lost his long struggle with pancreatic
cancer. He didn’t go without a fight. In
the end, I hope most will remember him
for all the good he did for the art of caricatures,
as well as that squinty eyed smile
he’d get when something tickled him just
right. I’ll miss ya, Buddy.
From Dave ‘Bippy’ Boyer, Rochester, New York -
Buddy Rose was an artist and
a man of vision. Buddy wanted
to elevate caricature to a higher
level so the general public could
understand that these artists are
hard-working. And the caricaturists
are creating truly amazing art
that’s one of a kind.
I served a short time as treasurer
of the National Caricaturist
Network (NCN). I remember the
day that I received the treasury
from Buddy. Naturally I expected
a check. Instead he gave me an
envelope with several thousand
dollars cash in it. I was taken
aback. I even wondered if I could
bring that kind of cash on a plane
trip. He simply smiled and said, “I
trust you. We trust you. You’ll
take care of it.”
That was pure Buddy.
From this group photo taken
at the third annual caricature
convention March 1994, to the
detail that Buddy Rose and his
editor assistants did on the copy
paper stapled quarterly newsletters,
one can see that there was a
very high amount of energy and
people participation to grow NCN
which would later become ISCA.
For me, Buddy Rose took a very
personal interest in my growing
the skill of caricature. I think Buddy
did that for almost everybody
who joined the organization. That
personal touch meant a great
deal for me. I’m not sure that all
officers find the time to go out of
their way and reach out positively
to fledging individual members.
But Buddy Rose did that very
consistently.
Myself and many others will miss
Buddy’s encouragement and
affirmation.
==See Also==
* [[Relevant Wiki Link]]
* [[Relevant Wiki Link]]
==External Links==
* [http://caricature.org/join-us External Link if needed]
<!--(check the issue number in the navbox template below)-->
{{2015.2Navbox}}
| italic title = Remembering Buddy Rose<!--(Article title goes here and in the 'name' field below.)-->
| name = Remembering Buddy Rose
| image = EFSpring2015_Page_28_Image_0001.jpg <!--(If no good single image is suitable, use a screenshot of the first page of the article)-->
| image_size = 260px
| border = yes
| alt =
| caption = <!--(If the infobox photo needs a caption, that can be put in this field.)-->
| author = Rod "Al Rod" Rodriguez<!--(use {{unbulleted list|Author One|Author Two|Author Three}} to list multiple authors or subjects)-->
| illustrator =
| subject = Buddy Rose<!--(who or what is this wiki entry about?)-->
| genre = Member Spotlight<!--(acceptable genres include: Editorial, Op/Ed, Article, Interview, How-To, Member Spotlight, etc. Multiple subjects see multiple authors above)-->
| published = [[EF Issue 2015.2]]
| pub_date = <!--(Should match EF Issue Published date)-->
| media_type = <!--(Digital or otherwise both {{unbulleted list|Print|Digital}} )-->
| pages = 26-31<!--(Page number(s) of the issue the article appears on)-->
| preceded_by = <!--(Previous article in the issue)-->
| followed_by = <!--(Next article in the issue)-->
| notes =
| website = {{unbulleted list|[http://wiki.caricature.org/wiki/EF_PDFS/EF201?.?.pdf Full Issue PDF],|courtesy of {{URL|caricature.org}}}}
}}
This article honoring [[Buddy Rose]] was written by Rod "Al Rod" Rodriguez and appears on pages 26-31 in Exaggerated Features issue 2015.2.
==Article Transcript==
[[File:EFSpring2015_Page_31_Image_0004.jpg|266px|thumb|right|Photo from the 3rd NCN convention in Las Vegas
(March 14-21, 1994) at the American Legion Post #8
on 773 Veteran’s Drive in Las Vegas.
Over 50 caricaturists and their partners registered.
President Koji Akihisa-san of Hoshinoko Production,
Ltd. and artist Golden Nosey winner Eiichi Miyamoto
traveled internationally from Tokyo, Japan. About 85
people attended the award recognition banquet on
March 21st.
Many artists drew at the Boulevard Mall Maryland
Parkway in Las Vegas. Channel 13 gave media attention.
Donations for the caricatures at the Boulevard
Mall raised money for The Key Foundation charity for
the homeless.
NCN founder and then current president Buddy Rose,
who spent over 20 years working at theme parks, recognized
the need to highlight caricature as an artform.
And to help quality caricaturists find good work. At
that time, Buddy and some others wanted to form an
official trade union or guild of artists.
Photos and words on this page courtesy]]
[[File:EFSpring2015_Page_30_Image_0003.jpg|266px|thumb|right|Photo by by Brigitte Ford]]
[[File:EFSpring2015_Page_30_Image_0001.jpg|266px|thumb|right|When fellow ISCA member, Tomoko
Ogawara, heard the news of Buddy’s
passing, she sent this photo of her 1996
watercolor nigaoe done at an NCN Con.]]
[[File: EFSpring2015_Page_32_Image_0001.jpg|266px|thumb|right|Comic by Sam Klemke, reprinted from the January 2000 Issue of the NCN Exaggerated Features newsletter.]]
[[File:EFSpring2015_Page_33_Image_0001.jpg|266px|thumb|right|Comic by Sam Klemke, reprinted from the January 2000 Issue of the NCN Exaggerated Features newsletter.]]
I first met Buddy Rose in the spring of
’89. I was 23 and just moved to Texas,
looking for something, not quite sure
what that was. I think I was just looking
to get outta Florida and see what else
was out there. I’d already had a few years
of drawing caricatures under my belt at
Busch Gardens in Tampa and some gig
experience, but wasn’t sure if that was
going to be part of my professional future
at that point. I just knew I needed to find
work when I moved to the Lone Star State,
so I started with what I knew how to do,
and that was drawing big heads with tiny
bodies.
So, finding myself living near Six Flags
Over Texas in Arlington, I naturally stopped
in there and asked who I needed to talk to
about drawing caricatures. I was referred
to Mike of M Enterprises, who had the
concession at the time, and he seemed
pleased with my samples, so much so
that he thought I needed to hook up with
Buddy Rose. “Who’s this Buddy Rose you
speak of?” I asked, and Mike told me Buddy
was the man in Dallas I needed to meet
if I wanted to start working gigs in the area,
and he gave me his number. Mike hired
me, but I also called Mr. Rose to see if he
could offer me anything. Next thing I know,
I’m driving into Dallas and meeting Buddy
for the first time. Buddy welcomed me
with open arms (figuratively, not literally).
Pretty sure it was just a hand shake. But I
felt quite welcomed nonetheless. Buddy
was very much established by this time. In
fact I’d go as far as calling him the Caricature
Baron of Dallas (my term, not his).
From what he told me, if there was an
event in Dallas where they wanted a caricature
artist, most likely he was going to
get called for it, either directly or indirectly.
He was the main source for caricaturists
in Dallas. And before I knew it, Buddy was
booking me on gigs. Sure, he made me
wear that damn beret, tuxedo shirt with
black slacks, bow tie and suspenders to
every freakin’ gig, even those hotter-thanhell
picnic ranch gigs where they’d make
us sit under a tree and draw, but hey, I was
working as a caricaturist! It was still better
than what they made you wear working at
Six Flags.
Now, before I met Buddy, I could probably
count all of the caricaturists I personally
knew on one hand. But working with him,
that number definitely multiplied, and I
saw for the first time how this caricaturing
thing could be more than I ever thought.
For the next eight years, Buddy was my
main source for caricature gigs, and I
learned so many things along the way.
Buddy had taken me in and practically
made me a family member. Some of my
earliest memories of my time with him are
going out to eat with him and his family.
His boys, Wally and Harrison, were just
small kids at the time. I’m Cuban and Puerto
Rican, so to make me feel more at home
after just meeting him, Buddy took me to
a TexMex restaurant. Not at all the same
food, but I appreciated the sentiment.
I had so many firsts with Buddy. With him,
I worked my first bar mitzvah, my first
state fair, my first trade show, and my first
gig in Vegas. And with him, I came into contact with so many other caricaturists.
This was before the age of the Internet
and cellphones. We didn’t have websites,
Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. Advertising
back then was pretty much the Yellow
Pages or ads you’d run in magazines or
newspapers. In some ways, this was a
golden age for me. I was in my 20s, learning
and evolving so much. I wish I could’ve
appreciated it more at the time.
But Buddy wasn’t one to just coast along.
He was like this mad scientist of caricatures.
He often dared to dream things
most were too timid to consider, or not
crazy enough to, at least. He was always
looking for ways to grow the business,
not just for him but for all the other artist
friends he knew. He always wanted everyone
to benefit with him. Thus was born the
idea for the National Caricaturist Network
(NCN), later to become ISCA. Now,
perhaps I remember this differently, but I
recall the NCN starting out as a national
booking agency of caricaturists. Over the
years, Buddy had collected contacts of
artist all over the place and thought if he
could advertise in major markets around
the country and get an 800 number, he
could book artists all over the place. This
is when I first started to realize how many
working caricaturists there were in the
U.S. and abroad. Problem is, it was still
Yellow Page advertising back then, and it
was expensive, especially for any kind of
display ad. So that idea didn’t get too far,
but what else could we do with all of these
caricaturists?
I remember thinking how crazy a convention
for caricature artists sounded back then. “Like really?” I laughed. But Buddy
was serious and moving forward with it.
He talked about planning the first convention
and competition in Cozumel, Mexico.
Still not sure why Mexico was the place to
do this, other than him liking to visit there
a lot and having a nephew who lived there.
Seems like organizing something like this
for the first time would just be made more
difficult in a foreign land with a different
language and culture. But what do I
know? Of course, it wasn’t just planning a
convention. He had a lawyer pal helping
to designate the NCN as a union, and then
a nonprofit? I don’t remember it all, much
of this being a blur now. There was a bit of
pot smoking at Rose Studio back then.
But the NCN also needed a face for the
rest of the time when caricaturists weren’t
at a convention. None of us really knew
anything about putting a newsletter
together. But it just so happen around
this time that I was trying to figure out
this whole “desktop publishing” thing. I’d
gone to school for graphic design and
commercial art, but the whole industry
had changed overnight. The ebbs and
flows of gigs had forced me to revisit my
initial career path, just to find out that I
was ill-equipped to do so. So I bought my
first Mac, a Mac Classic at the time, and
got a copy of PageMaker and began to
teach myself how to work this stuff. And I
thought there was no better way to learn
the software than to take on the very first
NCN newsletter. So I volunteered to do it.
It wasn’t much to look at. But it was clean
looking. I spent hours working on it with
my 9-inch monochrome display and 40MB hard drive. And so, the NCN was born and
artists were joining. Not sure what the
numbers were at the time, but I do recall
there being 15 artists in Cozumel for the
first convention. I didn’t make it to Cozumel
for the first or second convention but
did for the third, and the first one in Las
Vegas.
That Vegas convention was a hot mess, 75
artists spread out all over town, meeting
at the mall to draw every day. Why? Was
this a competition or experiment gone
wrong? But the seminars in the evenings
at some school were interesting. Nonetheless,
this convention literally changed
my life. I can go on and on about all the
artists I met there who are still a part of
my life today or have had some influence
on me since. I met some of my closest
friends there.
Meanwhile, Buddy’s life was all consumed
by the NCN, and not in good, healthy
way. It was taking a toll on his marriage
among other aspects of his life. I had
done that first newsletter, but I’d gotten
too busy to work on the following ones,
and Buddy was doing them himself. God
bless him, those were some hideous
looking newsletters. I’d try to help out at
times, going to his house, trying to fix the
design nightmare he’d created. But they
were often too far gone in most cases
for the little time I had to spend on them.
Either way, Buddy forged ahead until the
following year when he decided to turn
the NCN over to the control of the artists
themselves.
The fourth NCN convention, right after Vegas, was set to be in San Antonio, and
Buddy had it all arranged to transfer the
ownership of the NCN from him to the
members. This required all sorts of paperwork,
meetings, elections of officers and a
board of directors, and documents to sign.
Buddy selected Kid Cardona, Dan Dunn
and myself as the officers to sign the
original constitution for the NCN, which
we did in front of the Alamo before the
official elections of the officers and board
of directors. It was an exciting time, and a
huge gift that Buddy Rose was giving to
all of us.
Buddy wasn’t always the most tactful
person. His ego and passionate approach
often rubbed many people the wrong way,
and, like most of us, he had his own insecurities.
To many who didn’t always play
well with him, the NCN was often referred
to as “that Buddy thing.” But Buddy
wanted it to be a “caricaturists’ thing.” He
truly sacrificed so much to get the NCN up
and rolling. The first few years of the NCN
after that were pretty rocky. Some wondered
if it would survive, myself included.
But Buddy was always willing to step in
and save it if he needed to.
After that, Buddy and his wife split. He
had that strange, long episode with the
accident that hurt his drawing hand. He
moved to Colorado and eventually to Vegas,
where he remade himself as the Las
Vegas Caricature Baron (my term, not his).
Found love again and became a father
all over. He pursued other ventures but
always stayed close to caricaturing.
I ran into Buddy a few years back in Vegas while working a trade show, and we got
to hang out some. He was still the same.
Doing what he did. Running their caricature
business and talking about the next
great thing he was gonna do to provide
more work for artists. I was the one there
who was different now. No longer the
inexperienced artist. In so many ways, I
had become a version of Buddy. I now
run my own caricature business in Miami,
booking myself and other artists, doing
my best to be fair and honest with all
whom I work with, and I learned to do this
by watching Buddy all of those years.
When I was asked to write this piece, I was
kind of hesitant. I felt, and still feel, like
I only knew a small part of Buddy Rose.
Surely I’m not qualified to write this all
on my own. This is only my impression of
who he was. He was a complicated man
who came into contact, befriended and
helped countless artists over the years.
He wasn’t perfect but always tried to play
fair and do his best. So many of the artists
I know who knew him surely have their
own Buddy stories.
Buddy lost his long struggle with pancreatic
cancer. He didn’t go without a fight. In
the end, I hope most will remember him
for all the good he did for the art of caricatures,
as well as that squinty eyed smile
he’d get when something tickled him just
right. I’ll miss ya, Buddy.
From Dave ‘Bippy’ Boyer, Rochester, New York -
Buddy Rose was an artist and
a man of vision. Buddy wanted
to elevate caricature to a higher
level so the general public could
understand that these artists are
hard-working. And the caricaturists
are creating truly amazing art
that’s one of a kind.
I served a short time as treasurer
of the National Caricaturist
Network (NCN). I remember the
day that I received the treasury
from Buddy. Naturally I expected
a check. Instead he gave me an
envelope with several thousand
dollars cash in it. I was taken
aback. I even wondered if I could
bring that kind of cash on a plane
trip. He simply smiled and said, “I
trust you. We trust you. You’ll
take care of it.”
That was pure Buddy.
From this group photo taken
at the third annual caricature
convention March 1994, to the
detail that Buddy Rose and his
editor assistants did on the copy
paper stapled quarterly newsletters,
one can see that there was a
very high amount of energy and
people participation to grow NCN
which would later become ISCA.
For me, Buddy Rose took a very
personal interest in my growing
the skill of caricature. I think Buddy
did that for almost everybody
who joined the organization. That
personal touch meant a great
deal for me. I’m not sure that all
officers find the time to go out of
their way and reach out positively
to fledging individual members.
But Buddy Rose did that very
consistently.
Myself and many others will miss
Buddy’s encouragement and
affirmation.
==See Also==
* [[Relevant Wiki Link]]
* [[Relevant Wiki Link]]
==External Links==
* [http://caricature.org/join-us External Link if needed]
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