Don Gilboe

Life is a cartoon for Don Gilboe of Fountain Hills.

An accomplished artist and teacher, Gilboe is a well-known caricaturist.

In fact, caricature portraits he has done are hung on walls all over the world.

By day, Gilboe is an art teacher.

“I just kind of fell into doing this,” Gilboe says of his fun “other job,” caricaturing.

More than 25 years ago, Gilboe did the art fairs in Tempe and Carefree, selling his watercolors of desert landscapes and nature.

“Then we had that recession, and the middle market just dropped out of the art business,” he says.

To pay for his booth space, he started doing pencil drawings and portraits of people.

Then he started doing them for school kids, the Pop Warner football league and the 10K runs, first from photos and then, by request, on the spot.

“I was able to do it because was I fast and accurate,” he admits.

One day someone asked him to do it at a party for entertainment.

“I had never done that, but I said I would, so I did -- and then I was hooked.”

Around the time of Desert Storm, in the early ‘90s, he was making more money doing caricatures than he was as a teacher, and almost left his teaching job, but decided to hold out a little longer. After Desert Storm the economy plunged, and he was glad of his decision, both because of the economy and because he always loved his teaching job.

“I feel very blessed that I’m doing two things that I just love to do,” he says.

A good ol’ Montana boy, Gilboe got his Masters in art education at University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, where he taught art and coached football for 10 years.

“That was in the days when I had to wear a wig on the west side of the campus for the (arty) long hair and then take it off halfway over to the (physical education) department with my crew cut,” he remembers, laughing.

“That was before a time when an artist and athlete were synonymous. Now I think it’s more acceptable, but that was over 40 years ago. It’s quite a difference.”

Gilboe coached football for 20 years at high schools in Iowa and then the Mesa School District, where he also has taught art for the past 29 years.

In addition, he teaches art classes at Scottsdale Community College and, occasionally, at Fountain Hills High School.

Over the years, he has become a familiar presence at many restaurants, events, house parties, company parties and celebrations where he has been repeatedly asked to set up his easel.

He has entertained guests with his caricaturing at all the major resorts in Arizona including the Princess, Phoenician, Boulders and the Riata Pass Restaurant at Greasewood Flats. He returned to Rustlers Roost for 16 years.

He says he frequently does caricatures for international tourists at restaurants and resorts who want a special memory to take home.

Gilboe remembers an occasion that still tickles him.

 “I did it (caricaturing) at Rustler’s Rooste (a Phoenix steakhouse) for so long, one day a lady came up and said, ‘This is the last time you’re going to do my son.’”

The woman went on to remind him that she had brought her son back every year since he was a boy.

“He just graduated from law school at ASU,” she said. “You’ve done him as a baseball player, a guitar player, a swimmer, and all these different activities, and this is the last year, so now draw him as a lawyer.”

Gilboe did caricatures at Rustler’s Rooste for more than 16 years.

“Funny things like that have happened through the years,” he says with a happy grin. “Because the people keep coming back.”

Gilboe says that he has found the caricatures are a treasured keepsake for his customers.

“It’s more of a Kodak Moment than a Kodak Moment is. I love that about it.”

He adds, “That’s the fun thing about caricatures. I have found that people keep them better than their ‘Kodak Moments.’ They always have a framed caricature someplace, (usually) on the wall, that they had done on their honeymoon or a birthday party.”

Gilboe, who is booked for large events a year or more in advance, says he is often flown to the locations and lives well wherever he goes, through one of the dozen entertainment agencies in the area. He is asked back repeatedly for events.

“The job offers a lot of opportunity to meet different people and go places,” he says. “I work at events, usually, in five star hotels.

“And when people sit down to have their picture done they always have a smile on their face, and they’re there to have fun, so it’s a nice work environment.”

This former athlete with a soft voice sits tirelessly for hours creating portraits that are unique to each person.

“I’m fast, I do one drawing every five minutes,” he says. “And I’m concerned about being professional. I do quality work and I guarantee my work.”

A family or group caricature might take him 10 to 12 minutes.

With perceptive ability and an artistic eye, Gilboe captures the inner person and adds something to each picture to catch the personality of the poser.

“I pretty much pick up the eyes,” he explains. “It seems you see everybody through their eyes, with their personality and so forth.

“And each drawing is a surprise to me, because I don’t look at the whole, I look at the parts, and I just keep adding all the parts until all of a sudden there it is. So sometimes I’m as surprised as they are when it’s done.”

Gilboe works in multimedia including chalk, watercolors, magic markers and pens --whatever it takes to complete the picture to his satisfaction.

Through the years he has enjoyed a countless variety of situations in which to create caricatures, from Bar Mitzvas, weddings, house parties, sports events, conventions and reunions to high school proms, graduation parties, school children, families, employees, fire departments and Christmas parties.

“When I’ve finished a caricature I’m real proud of it,” he says. “It’s the type of thing where I can become (part) of somebody’s life for a long time.”

Gilboe’s dry sense of humor is evident in the sign he hangs wherever he sets up his easel, which reads, “Remember, I’m an artist, not a magician. If you’re looking for a miracle, go to church.”

“It’s my disclaimer,” he says with a chuckle.

Gilboe can be contacted at 816-8737 or through most local entertainment agencies.

 This artist was featured July 2007