Bad Portraits by Karlee

Bad Portraits is the perfect experience for a high-energy event where guests will be moving freely throughout the party. The tone of this experience is light and playful, with sweet and sentimental moments.

The ideal place for me an at event is somewhere visible, like near a bar, gift table, or entrance. Anywhere but a dark corner or right next to loudspeakers.

Guests can come and sit with me at their leisure. Each portrait takes about 7 minutes, or 10-12 minutes for a couple. I give them the original hand-drawn portrait in an envelope. As the event host, may request digital copies/scans of each portrait if desired.

I call them Bad Portraits because when I started, I was not good at drawing portraits. It was all about the experience. I've gotten a lot better, but people love the name and find it disarming. These are not a typical caricature with exaggerated features, but more like a cartoon as you can see by my photos.

I have always been very curious about people and loved making them smile since I was a kid. Drawing portraits was a practice I began in 2017 just for fun and I became obsessed with it even though I wasn't very good. When I floated the idea to draw at events, I started getting hired at weddings and company parties. It is always an incredibly fun and sweet experience. I also offer an illustrated guestbook option for weddings, which includes copies of every portrait along with handwritten messages from guests.

I grew up in Oregon and have lived in or around Portland for most of my adult life. I've now drawn thousands of portraits around town.

I don't need much! Just a table, chairs, and decent lighting. Since I have conversations with my portrait subjects, be sure to keep me away from any loudspeakers!