You Won't See It Coming
This artwork is an Artistic Talent Group ORIGINAL!
Designed by our creative development team, Hit & Run™ is not your classic caricature. The only lines here are on the paper!
Our Hit & Run™ artists draw in “stealth” mode out of sight. They move around your event, allowing them to get a good cross-section of the group being drawn (and they can draw guests who don’t want to sit and wait for a “typical” caricature).
When the artwork is complete, the artist “hits” the unsuspecting guest or guests with their drawing, a figure sketch or cartoon sketch rather than a caricature. Then the artist “runs” off to draw their next targets. Guests are always surprised to learn they were being sketched.
This concept was created for extremely LARGE events because they allow the artists to “hide” in plain sight and maintain the element of surprise. The Hit & Run™ concept is offered in a black & white option and can also be enhanced with custom paper or upgraded to digital drawings!
Our black and white artwork is created using ink on 8.5” x 11” heavy stock paper. Some finished pieces may include gray tones.
Digital Hit & Run™
Same great artwork, smaller carbon footprint.
Select our digital Hit & Run™ upgrade and your guests will be given a business card with instructions on how to print or save their drawing.
Plus, digital drawings can include a time-lapse feature which shows the creation process for each sketch.
Gallery
The Story Behind HIT & RUN:
How a New Style of Event Art Was Born
In 2004, Artistic Talent Group owner and artist Keelan Parham was working as weekly entertainment at Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. The resort’s large, family-friendly restaurant featured a rotating lineup of entertainers, including balloon artists, magicians, and caricature artists who strolled from table to table performing for guests.
There was just one problem.
Keelan never felt comfortable standing over guests and drawing them while they were eating, especially when the traditional approach meant lingering at the table and hoping for a tip. So he came up with a completely different approach. Instead of walking up to a table and asking guests to pose, Keelan began drawing them from a distance, completely unnoticed. Once the artwork was finished, he would walk over, surprise the unsuspecting guests with their drawing, and immediately move on to his next target.
One night, a magician friend who was also performing at the resort commented on how much the guests loved the surprise. “You just walk up, ‘hit’ them with the drawing, and then run away!” he joked. The description stuck.
Not long afterward, an entertainment agency contacted Artistic Talent Group about a large upcoming event. They wanted caricature artists, but they did not want long lines of guests waiting to be drawn. Barbie immediately remembered the technique Keelan had been using at Gaylord Palms and realized it could be the perfect solution.
Keelan remembered his magician friend’s description and HIT & RUN officially became a new event concept.
Strolling caricature artists already existed, but what Keelan was doing was something different. Traditionally, strolling caricature artists moved throughout an event in plain sight, approaching guests and drawing them while they posed. HIT & RUN removed the posing, the waiting, and even the awareness that an artist was drawing them. The artist worked in stealth mode, quietly capturing guests from across the room and creating the artwork before the guest ever knew what was happening. That surprise became part of the entertainment!
After the success of that first event, it was evident that HIT & RUN could solve a real challenge for caricature entertainment in the special events industry. Large events often have far more guests than a traditional stationary caricature artist can accommodate, but HIT & RUN allows artists to move throughout the room, creating artwork organically with no lines and no waiting.
From an Orlando Resort to a Nationwide Event Concept
What began at Gaylord Palms in 2004 grew into one of Artistic Talent Group’s signature original concepts.
In 2016, HIT & RUN was selected for Michael Cerbelli’s The Hot List, one of the special events industry’s best-known showcases for innovative event concepts and entertainment.
Fast forward more than two decades, and the concept has taken on a life of its own. HIT & RUN-style artists are now recognized throughout the special events industry, and artists across the country understand exactly what it means to work in this surprise, stealth-style of drawing.
What started as one artist trying to make restaurant entertainment more comfortable became an entirely new way to experience live event art.
HIT & RUN. An original concept invented by Artistic Talent Group.