Caricatures with Attitude

Chris brings the caricatures, I bring the attitude,” Sara Rovetto laughs. Her business partner, Chris Knapton, started the business back in 2016, drawing caricatures from photographs for commissions before branching out into weddings and other live events. While Chris loved the art side of the business, the admin side of things weighed him down; luckily, he met Sara seven months ago.

“We met online through artist friends and we got along really well,” Sara explains. “I was working in Earby as an admin. Chris was struggling with that side of his business, so I started helping out a couple of times a week,” Sara explains. Born in Milan, Sara had previously studied art in Paris and London before life got in the way. Joining Chris helped spark her creativity once again.

“Being the bossy Italian I am, I wanted to get involved. I started doing the colouring in his caricatures. It would take too long for one person by themselves to do the pencil work and the colouring when at live events. So, the two of us together worked really well.”

“When I met the wife at the wedding, I realised that he’d given me a really terrible photo!”

While Sara has settled happily in Colne, Chris was born and bred in Blackpool, so the two have thoroughly acquainted themselves with the M55. As well as travelling to see each other, the job also involves travelling across the North to different events. “The variety is incredible,” Sara explains. “Every day is different; Monday, you could be at freshers’ week at university, then a fancy wedding, then a children’s party.” The team try to attend all the events together. “It doesn’t feel quite right when I’m doing it by myself now,” Chris admits. “Even when Sara isn’t there though, I still hear her voice in my head saying ‘no double chins!’.”

“That’s a firm belief of mine,” Sara laughs, “if there’s one lady, there should be one chin!” While Chris and Sara do their best to create laughter, caricature is one medium where offense is almost guaranteed, though luckily for them, only one person has been visibly affronted.

“No double chins! That’s a firm belief of mine, if there’s one lady, there should be one chin!”

“For each wedding, we do a picture of the bride and groom in advance,” Chris explained. “There was one time when the groom booked us, but I’d never met him or the bride. He’d sent me a picture of him and his wife-to-be. They looked around 50 years old,” Chris explains. “When I met the wife at the wedding, I realised that he’d given me a really terrible photo! She had a daughter who was about six, and the little girl thought the drawing was of her grandma!”

Mostly, though, Chris and Sara bring plenty of laughs with their drawings. “This is our calling. It’s something that makes people smile, there’s not many jobs where you can make someone smile on a daily basis,” Chris beams.

The drawings don’t just represent a moment of laughter. They act as keepsakes that bring back memories of special days. “Our work is on people’s walls. We’re on many fridges!” Sara says. “Some people might think it’s not true art, but it makes me happy. You get to mess about with paints and colours. I love the experience; if I won the lottery tomorrow, I would still do this job.”

For Chris, his love of caricature began as a teenager. “I remember my first caricature was of Margaret Thatcher at college in about 1988. Then, in the early nineties, I was out of work and got involved in The Prince’s Trust. They had a convention near Great Yarmouth, and I represented the Lancashire group. I met Phil Collins, who was an ambassador, and he quite liked my work. I ended up doing a drawing of him, and he liked it. He got me some work with a company in London that designed record sleeves – Genesis, Radiohead, and lots of big artists. It was my first jaunt to London and it was on the basis of this one drawing. That was a good starting point!”

“Caricatures have given Chris and Sara “the best job in the world”

In 2010, Chris approached his friend Steve Marsh about writing a book on the Premier League. The plan was for Steve to write it and for Chris to provide the illustrations. They expected to have it finished for the Premier League’s 20th anniversary. The book’s title, La Prem De La Prem: A Celebration of 30 Years of Premier League Football, should show that things went awry and that the book took longer to complete than expected.

“Steve got quite poorly towards the end,” Chris explains, “When we eventually got it published, it was bittersweet, as Steve’s health had deteriorated. A couple of days after I showed him the first printed copy, he passed away. We owed it to him to get it out in the world. It’s a labour of love.”

“Bringing smiles to people’s faces is great. It’s the best job in the world.”

Caricatures have given Chris and Sara “the best job in the world”, hurrying to and from castles and stately homes up and down the UK and helping to create special memories through art. Not bad for someone who only got into caricature as he was, according to Sara, “a rubbish portrait artist” due to his tendency to exaggerate features – a perfect quality for a caricaturist.  “I’m working with my best friend now. That’s the nicest thing. It doesn’t seem like work. We’re a good team and we love what we do,” Chris explains. “Bringing smiles to people’s faces is great. It’s the best job in the world.”

 

NorthernLife March/April/May 24