Caricature artist Todd Stahl using free time to hone his craft

By Mark Ribble

LEAMINGTON — When Todd Stahl found himself laid off from his job at Southwestern Ontario Gleaners on March 13, he paused to reflect on what he might do to fill his time.

The 15-year veteran of the Leamington Fire Department then immersed himself into one of his lifelong passions by literally going back to the drawing board.

Stahl has a following in this area for the caricatures he creates. Some of those caricatures have graced the pages of the Southpoint Sun in the past.

With new-found time on his hands, Stahl says it was an easy transition.

“I ramped up my drawing to fill time,” he says. “I’m just happy to bring a smile to people’s faces.”

His wife, Sherry encouraged him to reach out more and offer the caricatures full time until he goes back to work.

“Sherry suggested I get it out there more,” he said.

The time at home has also given him an opportunity to brush up on his Canva and Photoshop skills and allowed him to update his website.

Leamington artist Todd Stahl is busy drawing caricatures at his home. Stahl recently turned his layoff from COVID-19 into a chance to ramp up his artistic endeavours. He creates caricatures for birthdays, retirements and other celebrations.

Photos from Todd Stahl collection

He also spent time teaching an online cartooning course to kids from Lakepoint Church, which has been rewarding.

After all, he was a kid once too. He’s been drawing since he can remember, but started to get serious about it a few years back.

Fellow firefighters and other area friends and family were usually the subjects of his caricatures but he’s decided to branch out and offer his services to the general public.

“Each drawing takes about three hours,” he says. “I try to capture the subject’s interests and lifestyle.”

The process starts with two or three photos of the subject, and Todd asks for accompanying information, such as hobbies, sports teams and other interests.

He then completes a caricature that includes all of those things.

“People really like that I capture their personalities,” he says.

One of Todd Stahl’s recent creations.

His talents have been shared by word of mouth and through social media and he’s had a busy last few weeks.

He’s done a number of birthday, retirement and Mother’s Day/Father’s Day caricatures recently.

His most recent creation involved an 18-person caricature for a neighbouring fire department’s recruit class.

As for the future, Todd Stahl is hoping to get back to work soon, but in the meantime, he’s spending more time drawing.

His website, www. toddstahl.ca has samples of his creations and an order form. If you’d like to call him for information, he can be reached at 519- 999-3885.