An award-winning caricaturist with over 25 years of experience, Roger works live averaging 12-15 caricatures per hour at parties and is always willing to travel, having gone cross-country and even overseas for select events. Engaging, quality entertainment that will give your guests a fantastic memento and experience from your event!
We couldn’t be happier. So personal and talked to every one of our guests that had portraits done. Excellent caricatures. Would definitely recommend him. Thank you for being so flexible and making lifetime memories for our friends and family.
Photos from this event
What can I say. Hurtado is an unbelievable artist and an incredible guy. He did our wedding and people LOVED it. His drawings were hilarious and phenomenal. Cannot recommend him enough. Thanks so much for adding such a special touch to a special day.
Allie & Scott
Hurtado Arts was just what we needed at our event. He was a class act! Arrived on time and accommodated all needs and requests.
Made sure the everyone was having a great time and did amazing work! I am still hearing from everyone how enjoyable the event was because of this.
I will for sure book in the future and highly recommend him to anyone looking for a solid, reliable and fun professional.
Thanks again for everything!
Our post prom event had a line at the caricature station the entire evening! The students were so appreciative of their drawings. The work was fabulous!
Response from Hurtado Arts:
Thank you for all of your help and for providing the accommodations afterward! You students and staff were awesome :)
Hurtado Arts was a class act! He arrived early, which allowed himself time to set-up and be ready to start drawing at the allotted time. He was personable and really recreated images that party-goers LOVED!
He was gracious with his time and did not make this feel transactional at all.
Thank you for assisting in making this a memorable event!
We hired him for my child’s birthday party, he was so friendly and wow what a great artist! Everyone loved it! Would definitely hire him again for other functions.
He did an AMAZING job! His caricatures were spot on in terms of likeness to the subject! He was working nonstop the entire time, and all the guests loved watching him as well as getting their caricatures done! If I could change one thing, I would clone him because, of course, the drawings do take some time, and we had over 100 guests! Looking forward to having him at our party next year! ☺️
I cannot say enough great things about our experience with Roger! He was engaging, professional and so talented! He worked tirelessly to ensure everyone had their picture drawn at our party. He was excellent with both children and seniors and everyone in between. He’s not only quick, but also pays extreme attention to detail. We will recommend him to anyone looking for a fun addition to a party! Thank you so much Roger!
Photos from this event
We had such a blast with Roger! He is a great conversationalist and his art turned out great! I would highly recommend his services to anyone looking for something fun to add to any event!!
Everyone loved the caricatures. Fun and easy to talk to. Thrilled everyone - Kids to adults. Would so recommend him for you events!
Roger provided incredible services for our bachelorette event. Everyone loved their caricatures. He was very personable and a great addition to our party. Highly recommend!
Response from Hurtado Arts:
Thank you, Ellen! It was a pleasure drawing you and your beautiful friends!
I would recommend and already have to everyone. He make my event a huge huge success
Mr. Hurtado was a huge hit at our party. His work was great and he was super easy to work with. I would definitely book with him again!
Rodger did an amazing job at our Post Prom event. He worked quickly and diligently. He was fun to talk with while he worked. He was very personable with the high school students. The students LOVED their drawings and I am excited to hire him again in the future for many other events.
Roger came to my 30th birthday party and was such a hit. He made the party extra special. He is super talented and great. He also does his work very fast. Will be hiring him again!
We had an amazing experience with this artist for our Valentine's Day event in downtown Chicago. He produced great work!
The artist was very friendly and engaging. He was also very quick with each drawing and everyone absolutely loved them.
Photos from this event
I booked Roger for our small casual wedding. He was on time, polite, worked diligently, and was involved with our guests as he drew them. He added so much fun to our wedding. Everyone loved him! His work was great and really captured who our guests are. We look forward to the possibilities of booking him for other events again in the future!
Roger was great. His art is playful and fun and his attention to detail captures people perfectly. Everyone at our party loved him.
The caricatures were perfect and very funny
The artist arrived early to the event and stayed until he drew everyone.
He was really nice and fun
I would recommend him to private events. This was a perfect addition to the party
Thank you
Roger was on time, did a fantastic job and delighted my guests. It was a surprise for my husbands 60th birthday party and he loved it also.
Hired Roger to help with a how to draw activity books project. He never delivered. He kept saying he would get to it - I kindly asked him to please just let me know if he wasn't going to do it so it didn't hold up the project (which the graphic artists, video team and others had to wait for the illustrations to get their jobs done)... he kept saying he was going to get to it but NEVER did.. it cost us time and caused us genuine frustration... not to mention delaying our amazing project from getting to the kids for many months due to Roger not simply saying I changed my mind and am not going to do what we agreed upon!
Roger was great! Professional, interactive, entertaining, and is a great artist. We had about 25 people at our event. Everyone had a great time and enjoyed their drawings. He was a big hit with all age groups.
Roger really turned our party into a 5 star event! Everyone LOVED his work & how entertaining he was! Our BEST Christmas party to date (and I've been here 19 years!!) Very highly recommend!!!! Loved you Roger!!!!
I had hurtado arts for my wedding as well as another artist come. I created placecards for my guests so they could be reused to mark their place in line for the drawing. That way guest could dance and have fun instead of standing in a long line at the wedding. I told this to roger and I heard from several guests that after I walked away he immediately said that's stupid I'm not doing that. You don't disregard what the bride says. Also my brothers went up to him and told him he needed to be doing the placecard thing and he blatantly told them no that's stupid I'm not doing that and started badmouthing them to my guests in front of them. He is BEYOND unprofessional and rude! If I knew during the wedding he did any of that I would have kicked him out of my wedding. Also he made the men look like creepy feminine ventriloquist dolls. We had another artist there who was very nice, added color to the drawings and added personal touches about the person she was drawing. Stark comparison.
Response from Hurtado Arts:
The name-placard idea was placed in my lap well into my third or fourth drawing, and I did my best to briefly explain that it wouldn't work because it would require me to get up after every drawing and hunt for the person next in line. This is impractical because a) it wastes time in between drawings, b) I very well can't yell the names out over the loud music and c) I didn't know anyone at the reception so *how* am I to match names with faces? It didn't make sense and a line had already formed before the idea was presented to me, so it was guaranteed to fail.
Yes, choice words were exchanged with your brother because I refused to tolerate his intoxicated aggressive manner.
I also won't dignify your cheap-shot critique of my work. Your guest's opinions of my work were a stark contrast of yours.
Rogerr did an excellent job for us at our company party. He was engaging, accomodating and best of all a superb caricaturist. He took soem prompts from us about attendees and used it in his pictorals and everyone loved the final product, thanks Roger for a super event.
Very professional and great at what he does. We are going to book him again to come back and draw the associates that didnt get a drawing at our party.
Everyone loved their drawings I would recommend him for party's
Price Range: Contact for rates
Gig Length: 120 - 720 minutes
Languages: English, Spanish
Insurance: $1,000,000 - Limited Liability Insurance available upon request
Roger is one of the highest rated caricature artists in the Greater Chicago area. He works live, averaging 15-20 caricatures per hour at parties, and is always willing to travel, having gone cross-country for select jobs.
His clients have included Live Nation, MetLife, GE, Texas Roadhouse Restaurants, Sweet Baby Ray’s, Apple Vacations, The Limbaugh Letter, ABC Television, Clear Channel, U.S. Army, US Navy, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Navigation Technologies (Mapquest), the Chicago Fire Department, The Salvation Army, The City of Chicago, Sister Cities International, and numerous private commissions.
Roger is a freelance artist from Chicago, Illinois. He has worked at Six Flags Great America as a caricature artist since 1996. He operated a caricature concession at Six Flags, Kentucky Kingdom in 2000, and subsequently went on to Universal Studios in Florida over the following years.
Roger Also served on the NCN board as Vice President for one term and President for two consecutive terms.
Winner of the prestigious Golden Nosey (the highest honor at the NCN annual convention and competition), Roger has accumulated 19 awards overall. Among his other awards were the Silver Nosey, Caricature of the Year, Studio Caricature of the Year, Best Color Technique, has placed second for Best Portfolio and has consistently placed in the top three for numerous divisional awards.
Roger specializes in highly rendered studio caricatures. His work was featured on the cover of the July-August issue of Airbrush Action Magazine, as well as on the cover of the premier issue of Car-i-ca-ture magazine.
He can work live as well, averaging 15-20 caricatures per hour at parties, and is always willing to travel, having gone cross-country for select jobs.
His clients have included MetLife, GE, Texas Roadhouse Restaurants, Apple Vacations, The Limbaugh Letter, ABC Television, Clear Channel, WDJX radio, U.S. Army, Navigation Technologies (Mapquest), the Chicago Fire Department, The Salvation Army, The City of Chicago, Sister Cities International, and numerous private commissions.
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| May 16, 2025 • 4:00pm - 7:00pm | Festival |
| October 10, 2025 • 6:00pm - 9:00pm | Wedding Reception |
| February 15, 2025 • 8:30pm - 10:30pm | Birthday Party |
| January 24, 2025 • 9:30pm - 11:30pm | Cocktail Party |
| October 16, 2024 • 4:00pm - 7:00pm | Festival |
| August 09, 2024 • 2:00pm - 4:00pm | Corporate Event |
| April 18, 2024 • 6:00pm - 9:00pm | Corporate Event |
| March 23, 2024 • 5:00pm - 6:30pm | Wedding Reception |
| October 18, 2023 • 5:00pm - 7:00pm | Halloween Party |
| October 17, 2023 • 4:00pm - 6:00pm | Corporate Event |
| October 13, 2023 • 8:00pm - 10:00pm | Dinner Party |
| September 16, 2023 • 8:00pm - 11:00pm | Wedding Reception |
| August 12, 2023 • 9:00am - 12:00pm | Corporate Event |
| July 28, 2023 • 12:30pm - 2:30pm | Camp Event |
| June 24, 2023 • 1:00pm - 4:00pm | Wedding Reception |
| June 10, 2023 • 8:30pm - 10:30pm | Teen Birthday Party |
| May 06, 2023–May 07, 2023 • 11:00pm - 2:30am | Prom/After Prom Party |
| December 31, 2022–January 01, 2023 • 8:00pm - 12:00am | Restaurant/Bar Event |
| December 06, 2022 • 6:30pm - 8:30pm | Corporate Event |
| December 02, 2022 • 6:00pm - 8:30pm | Corporate Event |
| October 23, 2022 • 2:30pm - 4:30pm | Children’s Birthday Party |
| October 15, 2022 • 6:00pm - 9:00pm | Halloween Party |
| October 01, 2022 • 3:30pm - 6:00pm | Children’s Birthday Party |
| September 30, 2022 • 6:00pm - 9:00pm | Cocktail Party |
| September 18, 2022 • 11:00am - 3:00pm | Corporate Event |
| July 30, 2022 • 4:00pm - 6:00pm | Bachelorette Party |
| July 10, 2022 • 2:00pm - 5:00pm | Birthday Party |
| June 04, 2022 • 7:00pm - 10:00pm | Birthday Party |
| May 15, 2022 • 2:00pm - 4:00pm | Children’s Birthday Party |
| May 13, 2022 • 7:00pm - 10:30pm | Prom/After Prom Party |
| May 07, 2022 • 6:00pm - 8:00pm | Personal Occasion |
| April 09, 2022–April 10, 2022 • 10:30pm - 1:00am | Nonprofit Event |
| March 05, 2022 • 9:30pm - 11:30pm | Birthday Party |
| February 12, 2022 • 7:00pm - 10:00pm | Holiday Party |
| January 14, 2022 • 6:30pm - 9:30pm | Teen Birthday Party |
| October 10, 2021 • 2:00pm - 4:00pm | Children’s Birthday Party |
| September 25, 2021–September 26, 2021 • 10:00pm - 12:00am | Cocktail Party |
| September 09, 2021 • 5:30pm - 7:00pm | Wedding Reception |
| July 17, 2021 • 10:00am - 6:00pm | Nonprofit Event |
| May 27, 2021 • 6:00pm - 8:00pm | Birthday Party |
| March 25, 2021 • 6:30pm - 7:30pm | Birthday Party |
| November 21, 2020 • 7:30pm - 10:30pm | Birthday Party |
| August 15, 2019 • 11:00am - 3:00pm | Corporate Event |
| June 23, 2019 • 1:00pm - 3:00pm | Children's Birthday Party |
| September 22, 2018 • 7:00pm - 9:30pm | Wedding Reception |
| July 03, 2018 • 6:00pm - 8:00pm | Graduation |
| December 16, 2017 • 5:00pm - 7:00pm | Christmas Party |
| December 03, 2017 • 12:00pm - 3:00pm | Christmas Party |
| January 16, 2016 • 5:30pm - 11:30pm | Corporate Event |
| December 07, 2015 • 12:30pm - 2:30pm | Holiday Party (Other) |
| August 26, 2015 • 6:00pm - 9:00pm | Corporate Event |
| June 12, 2015–June 13, 2015 • 7:30pm - 12:30am | Birthday (Child) |
| May 30, 2015 • 8:00pm - 11:00pm | Birthday (Adult) |
| April 30, 2015 • 7:00pm - 10:00pm | Corporate Event |
| May 10, 2014 • 1:00pm - 3:00pm | Birthday Party |
| February 09, 2014 • 10:00am - 2:00pm | Bar/Bat Mitzvah Party |
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Mad magazine artists, Al Hirschfeld, Tex Avery, Gary Fasen, The National Caricaturist Network, The International Society of Caricature Artists.
Chairs
access to outlet in low light situation
Wheeling, IL 
Caricaturist
206 Verified Bookings Julia W. said “Marlene was such a gut among kids and grown ups a like. Professional, in time and friendly too! I’d hire her again in a heartbeat. Thanks, Marlene!”
Chicago, IL
Caricaturist
23 Verified Bookings Ashli said “Ellen, Thank you again for all the drawings they are all amazing! People couldn’t stop talking about it on Sunday and even today as we were leaving to…”
Chicago, IL
Caricaturist
51 Verified Bookings Thomas G. said “Barton was very professional, entertaining and exceptional at his work. All the party guest had a great time with him! Highly recommend!”
Kenosha, WI
Caricaturist
38 Verified Bookings Jenni S. said “Paul and his colleague Bill were great! On time, pleasant and personable. The guests at our event had a wonderful time and Paul & Bill helped create…”
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