Importance of Likeness in Caricatures vs. Portraits and Cartoons.

“Likeness” is a word that almost doesn’t sound like a word. Yet, while other terms such as resemblance, similarity etc.  could be used to replace it, we artists tend to stick to “likeness” because it’s means precisely what it says

The following definition presents the essence of it in words.

Likeness is “The state, quality, or fact of being like; resemblance.”

(Source: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/likeness)

I’d like to present the essence of “likeness” in “your” words. Look at the lady’s face in the following image and answer the question that follows the image.

Scroll down only after you’ve answered the question above.

——————————————————————

Unless you’ve been living in a cave for the last six years or you are more absent-minded than I am, your answer should be (c) Michelle Obama.

If your answer was (c) Michelle Obama, you’ve just understood “likeness.” When a caricature or a portrait doesn’t need the crutches of a name to help you recognize its subject, it has achieved likeness.

I can see a question floating in the air.

Is Likeness absolute? Is there either “full Likeness” or “no Likeness”?

No it isn’t. Sometimes a picture begins to look like someone’s picture when you look at it for a long time. This means that likeness exists but the viewer has to apply his/her thoughts to develop the link. “That nose’s got to belong to Lennon“, “that unruly hair – looks like this must be Harry Potter“, and so on.

So,

• A portrait must have a very high degree of likeness.
• A caricature must have a lot of likeness to the subject.
• A cartoon could be acceptable despite very low likeness.

The right amount of likeness depends on what you are drawing. I know a wonderful digital artist who’s great with lights and shadows, but his caricatures often suffer from a lack of likeness. Every once in a while, every caricaturist fails to get sufficient likeness, but it’s our job to bring as much of it as possible in our drawings. When I look at Kal‘s cartoons, I marvel at the concept and the details, but his cartoons don’t score too high on likeness. This is fine because cartoons have stories that helps you figure out who the characters are. Unfortunately most caricatures carry their stories within – in their faces and their bodies, and so their need for exuding likeness is far greater than that of a cartoons.

It’s easier to establish likeness in portraits than it is in caricatures. The reason is simple. Portraits are expected to recreate the same proportions, shapes, and colors for a given subject, while a caricature is expected to exaggerate the same three factors. Exaggerating a characteristic feature of a person without losing likeness is tough, and it gets tougher when exaggeration moves into the realm of distortion.

Aim for achieving likeness in your caricatures. It always helps

Color Caricature/Cartoon – Sammy Hagar: The Red Rocker Rocking away.

Sammy Hagar‘s Caricature was the last. He was the last because I had to show him drunk. An artist often begins to feel what he or she portrays in her drawings, and I couldn’t have drawn the other two if I ended up feeling as drunk as I’d paint him to be. (Keep drawing 3 sad faces a day, and I assure you that in a couple of years the corners of your own lips would begin to droop, and you’ll acquire that forever sad kind of look. If you don’t believe me, you are welcome to give it a shot.)

The concept for this caricature was simple. Sammy’s autobiography didn’t sell too well so he could be shown sprawled (inebriated…of course,) near the cartons of his unsold autobiographies. I took the liberty of planking (or to be technically accurate, reverse-planking) him over the cartons…and added that stuff in the foreground. (My love for non-sensical details always manages to kick-in…sometimes just a minute before I am about to send the final image to the client.)

Here’s Mr. Sammy Hagar sprawled upon the cartons (I know that you can see his naval, but it’s “cute” and not “obscene” – so please don’t start.)

About Sammy Hagar:

Hagar also known as the Red Rocker was with Van Halen for a long time. He wrote his biography, “ Red: My Uncensored Life In Rock“, and unsuspectingly became the subject of this caricature for the American Spectator Magazine’s March 2013 Issue feature “Rock and Roll is (Mostly) Noise Pollution.” 

What I loved Painting?

The smile, the bottle, and the stomach. I must confess that I had forgotten to paint that cute little belly button and I added it just before I sent the image over.

The Colors?
As I said in the Keith Richards post, rock-stars come with an in-built supply of color-ideas. The Red Rocker wears red (well, mostly) and so all I had to do was off-set the red. I could do it with green or with blue. I didn’t want to use green because I had used it on Criss’s caricature, and as all the caricatures were going to accompany the same article, I wanted some variation. So I used blue Quite simple, really.

That’s all, friends. I’ll return with a John Kerry caricature (colored one…I hope) soon

“Drawing Caricatures and Cartoons” a Half-Day Free Workshop in Noida, Delhi NCR – Announcement.

Dear Friends from the Cyberspace,

I shall be conducting a FREE half-day workshop called “Drawing Caricatures and Cartoons” on the afternoon of September 23, 2012, which is a Sunday.

I know that most of my visitors are from the United States and other parts of the world, yet there are many who reside in India, and some who live in Delhi and around. I receive emails from budding cartoonists and caricaturists all the time, asking me whether I could find a way to share my methods with them. They also write to me for my book, “The Evolution of a Caricaturist” wondering how they can read it, now that isn’t available at Knol anymore.

About sharing my caricaturing/cartooning methods

I am trying to make a small beginning through this workshop. In this half day workshop, we will discuss and draw caricatures and cartoons. Please find the details in this pdf here. I’ll convey the exact venue and time to the invitees through email a week before the workshop. I hope that the budding illustrators of Delhi and around, who have an inclination towards making cartoons and caricatures, will find it useful.

To my visitors who aren’t from Delhi-NCR, I’d like to say that while I deeply regret not being able to connect with them through this workshop. I hope to take it online in some way, some day – and then we’ll meet and draw together

Click the image to download the details of the workshop.

About the How to Draw Caricatures book “The Evolution of a Caricaturist”

I haven’t forgotten those 60,000 or so views and those lovely remarks that you shared on my book when it was on Knol. In fact, your emails will allow me to forget neither the book nor the fact that there are many artists who I have promised that the book will be back soon, in a new avatar. I must tell you that I’ve been working on the book and that I hope to bring it to you around the time of the New Year. A Christmas gift perhaps. If you are interested in the book please follow this blog. When the book comes out, I’ll let you all know about it here.

This book is for all my dear visitors from everywhere, and I hope that it will help you all enrich your caricaturing experiences.

Thanks again for your interest and attention.

I shall look forward to meeting some of you on September 23, Sunday Afternoon.

Best Wishes,

Shafali the Caricaturist

DRAW TO SMILE

The 5 P’s of the Creative Process or The 5 Golden Steps to Creative Nirvana

(Download this article as a PDF here, and if you want to read it in your eReader, download it from Smashwords here.)

Creativity – the stronghold of the right-brained has always invited the envy of the left-brained. Oh, how they’d love to dissect and then logically analyze our brains to understand how they work and what processes they follow.

I am writing this post to tell the world that the mystery is solved and after a great deal of research and observation, it has been concluded that the creative process has been distilled into 5 distinct steps and miraculously, their names all begin with a P! I think I must be the second person after Philip Kotler to have arrived at such a P-articularly P-eculiar P-rocess.

Instead of killing you with anticipation, I’d rather kill you with my mint-fresh P-rocess.

Let me tell you about the 5 P’s of Creativity.

Warning: I stand absolved of all responsibility for lost assignments, irate clients, angry audience, whittled remuneration, and any other unhappy fallout of your using this process. However, if this process works for you, I’d appreciate if you pass this document to your friends, colleagues, spouses, children, neighbors, or even your TV-repairman  (who might be a struggling artist, for all you know.) Thank you. Now muddle on.

Step 1: Procrastinate

Folks, if you want to be creative, you need to first learn to procrastinate. I find this step extremely useful when I don’t experience one of those proverbial flashes of inspiration – and believe me, there seldom are any flashes of inspiration. I am prepared to go back on this statement-o-mine, the day I become famous – because creative flashes (gentlemen, note that these are different from hot flashes!) add an aura to an artist’s personality…but then that day mightn’t ever dawn. (Sigh!)

Research indicates that the duration of procrastination depends on the urgency of the assignment and is directly proportional to it.

How to Procrastinate Correctly?

In order to procrastinate effectively, you need to:

• Avoid all mention of other people’s ideas on the subject in question, especially if they are in the same creative domain (writing for writers, art for artists, cartooning for cartoonists, and so on and so forth.) Such ideas would make you feel lousy and inadequate, which isn’t a healthy state of mind to be in.
• Avoid contact with the left-brained, logic-driven, process-hogs – as they’d push you for what they term as “output” and mercilessly murder your creativity.
• Devour news and information on the subject in question, whenever you are hit with a guilty conscience bred by your tardiness. It will make you feel less worthless.

Step 2: Panic

After you’ve procrastinated enough, and when the deadline looms large enough to cover your entire horizon, you have to panic. This is what I do. After I’ve procrastinated enough, something begins to nag me to look at the calendar, and when I look at the date I panic.

Now don’t panic at the mere mention of this step. Look at it like this. When you panic your body gets into the state of high alert and you begin to look at all possible options to get out of the situation, which means you are now ready to generate ideas. Do you see how Procrastination leads you to Panic and Panic results in ideas? You see it – don’t you? Good.

Now the question is…

How to Panic Properly?

If you are to make best use of your panic you need to panic properly. Here are a few tips.

• Email, message, or phone your family members, friends, and, acquaintances, and tell them that you’ve got to deliver the drawing the next day and that you are experiencing a creative blackout (something similar to what the writers bandy about as the writer’s block). Ask them to help you out. I’d call this method: Creativity Mining. Note: this sort of thing has to be done very delicately…I am sure you know what I mean.
• If you stay with your family, darken the room and go on a limited period hunger strike! Though your family won’t realize it, you’d be able to emotionally blackmail them into generating ideas for you.
• If and only if the above measures fail – sit down with your notebook in your hand and begin doodling – sometimes great things happen while you are doodling, just the way some great people are born because someone was out…well…doodling (also known as “sowing his wild oats.”)

Step 3: Precipitate

This is the step where you make sense of your doodles. You begin connecting the dots with the topic in question. With the deadline glaring down upon you, ideas begin to flow. Everything begins to come together, and it coalesces into a beautiful workable idea.

This is also the time to have an encyclopedia, your references, and an Internet-enabled computer close by. Why? Because your imagination may end up ruining your life! Recently I did a caricature-cartoon for a magazine, in which in addition to the main character, I had to draw myriad other things, including an evil-looking shark. I got the main character right, I got the TV and the people in the TV right, but I didn’t draw the characteristic dorsal fin of the shark! And you know why I didn’t? Because I was too damn sure that I didn’t need a reference.

So…

How to Precipitate your Ideas Correctly?

• Make a rough sketch – especially if you are creating a composition. You need to get the proportions right (or deliberately wrong – if you are a caricaturist.)
• If you aren’t sure about how something looks, find some good references for it. I mean I couldn’t have drawn Caesar, or Napoleon, or even the Queen – if I didn’t use some reference pictures.

Step 4: Produce

Well. Now get your final worksheet/workbook/paper/canvas…or whichever work-surface you prefer, ready – and draw it – then color it if you must.

This step is easier to handle if you haven’t cut corners while “Precipitating” your idea. My personal experience suggests this step is usually the shortest (“Procrastinate” often takes the longest.) It’s also important to remember that if you’ve “Procrastinated” and “Panicked” enough, you should be really short of time by now.

As any artist would tell you, there isn’t much to this step.

Yet a How-to is warranted, so…

How to Produce your Creative Heap?

• Sit down, concentrate, focus, and then…. let it all out. (I know…I know – it sounds just like that – and in fact…the relief is commensurate too.) If you are a budding caricaturist, you might find something useful in “The Evolution of a Caricaturist – A Book on How to Draw Caricatures,” other kinds of creative artists would do well to find their own fountains of tips and tricks to help them along this step.
• Scan or Print your artwork. Check it out from all angles, gloat over it for as long as possible – and tell everyone around you that creative work drains you and saps you of your energy. If those around you can’t draw, they’d deify you – who knows, they might even want to get you stuffed for their living rooms – but take that chance, and enjoy the limelight.

Step 5: Pray

Before you deliver your painstakingly created artwork to your client – Pray. Believe me, this step is almost if not more important that “Procrastinate” – because it adds that something extra to your work – this is step where you pray and you resolve that if your client likes this piece of work, then you’d never ever use the 5 P’s Process of Creativity again. This is the time when you tell yourself that when you receive your next assignment, you’ll have it ready before time…etc. etc.

I guess most artists do it already, but if you don’t you’d probably want a quick how-to on this too.
Here you go.

How to Pray and Repent for the Characteristic Artistic Tardiness?

• Kneel, fold your hands, close your eyes, and pray that the client and the audience like your work. In the field of creative arts, prayer is the most creative art of all, so pray in a creative manner – so that your prayer catches the attention of the God or Goddess who’s in-charge of the Creative Department in heaven.
• Write “I shall not use the 5 P’s method literally and will banish tardiness from my life,” on the drawing-sheets that you had used for rough work, at least a 100 times.
• Tear the sheets on which you did the lines into tiny pieces, and flush them into toilet.

Repeat the 5 P’s when your next assignment comes your way.

And if you are busy with any of the five steps right now – you might want to download the PDF file for this path-breaking model for creative thinking by clicking the following icon. You can probably infer from the icon below that this PDF file comes complete with a flow-chart that you can print and tack to your soft-board as a ready reminder!

Click this picture to download the PDF of this article along with a printable flowchart!

Drawing Tutorial – 5 Ways to Generate Likeness in Caricatures

I happened to look at some caricatures today. These caricatures were executed with a high degree of finesse, and the technique used was perfect. However, something was amiss. The caricatures didn’t “belong” to the personality that was caricatured. The artist, I am sure, believed that he was caricaturing that specific celebrity, and through the eyes of his mind, he saw the face of that celebrity morph into that caricature; yet, if you looked at the caricature – even after knowing whose it was – you couldn’t see the likeness.

Likeness is possibly the most important yet the oft-ignored characteristic of a caricature.

“A Caricature is a humorous likeness of a person, created through selective exaggeration of his/her physiognomy (facial features) and other physical attributes.”
 Source: Evolution of a Caricaturist – How to Draw Caricatures (Chapter 1)

Note that likeness is important. Without likeness, the caricature doesn’t belong to “a person”; without likeness, the caricature might as well be a cartoon.

Likeness isn’t easy to achieve, especially in caricatures, because you go about distorting the person’s features, and with every little distortion, some likeness is lost – unless the distortion is done selectively.

Here are a few pointers that may come in handy for generating likeness:

1. Before you begin a caricature, remind yourself that likeness is primarily based on the structure of the face. Great technique could change your caricature into a masterpiece, provided you had built in the likeness when you were sketching it. No technique can compensate for the lack of likeness.
2. Remember that you don’t have to exaggerate everything. Recall the Gestalt theory of Figure and Ground. It applies to faces too. In every face, some features stand out; others recede.
   • Barack Obama’s ears stick out,
   • Rowan Atkinson’s eyes look like saucers, and
   • Julia Robert’s teeth dazzle you.

   In every face, there are features that standout – that make that face the face it is. Identify such elements and focus on them for exaggeration. Try to limit the number of features you exaggerate to 4. It should help.

3. According to the Geon Theory by Dr. Biederman, “we recognize faces (and other objects in our environment) by breaking them (figuratively speaking) into geometric elements.” So, focus on the shapes of the characteristic features. Is Morgan Freeman’s nose spherical, are Rowan Atkinson’s eyes elliptical? Exaggerate not just the size, but also the shape. Don’t meddle with the eyes. Repeat. Don’t meddle with the eyes – unless:
1. you think that the eyes are extremely important (figure?) or
2. you believe that you can really caricature them without letting them lose their character.
4. Remember that it’s easier to learn the sum of all the art-techniques, than to learn how to draw the eyes with true likeness, let alone exaggerate them. In most cases, if you don’t exaggerate the eyes and instead you draw them with complete fidelity; irrespective of what you do with the other features, your caricature will maintain the likeness.
5. Let someone else look at your drawing, before you shade it in or color it. This might save you a lot of heartache later. It’s good to remember that all caricaturists go wrong sometime or the other…but if you get another “brave” opinion from someone who doesn’t really care a lot about how he’d (or she’d) end up in your bad books by criticizing, you could end up being the caricaturist who seldom goes wrong

I hope this helps all those fabulous artists out there, who make beautiful portraits and who have great technique, but who wonder why likeness eludes their caricatures.

A Personal Post – More Caricatures and Some Plans.

Very Important Note!

This post will not interest the occasional visitor who is here looking for “Sachin with Ball(?) like the World Cup“, “Lady Gaga’s implants“, “Oozzie“, “hitler was a paid hollywood actor in real life“, “the divinci guy“, or
“mafia cartoon mouse“! If you are looking for something specific, use the search button on the right sidebar, or visit the gallery.

This post will also not interest the visitors, who are here looking for “funny sex caricatures” or who wish to figure out “how to draw a wine glass“. In fact, there’s nothing on this blog that’ll help you with what you need. The closest that I’ve ever got to drawing a funny caricature of the kind you’d like, is Pamela Anderson’s caricature here.

And finally, if you are here looking for “posthumously famous artists“, visit in another three-decades By that time I should most definitely be dead and thus, famous!

Now, having put you all on the right track, I return to my post.

The Upcoming Caricatures

The upcoming caricatures are:

• the surreal artist who created surreal artwork,
• the dracula who loved being dead, and
• the little great HP!

The New Caricature Hitlist

I am also in the process of preparing my new hi5 hitlist. All spaces are currently vacant! I am looking for suitable candidates to fill the positions and your recommendations are welcome.

The Story-in-the-Caricature Blog Carnival

I have plans of bringing the Story in the Caricature Blog Carnival back. The caricature for the April Carnival is almost ready – and it will be up soon:)

Another Book?!!

I am thinking of writing another book…a smaller one, perhaps, which addresses the problem areas in drawing portraits, caricatures, and cartoons. If you are an artist – write to me about what you’d see included in it:)
(Read “Evolution of a Caricaturist – A book on How to Draw Caricatures” here.)

Guess that’s all. Soon I shall return with a brand-new caricature!

The Final Chapter of the Book “The Evolution of a Caricaturist” has been Written!

Hello Readers and Visitors,

I’ve posted the final chapter of the book, “The Evolution of a Caricaturist“. This chapter is titled, “The Final Note – Weaving a Story around your Caricature,” and it’s about increasing the “stickiness” of your caricature by adding a visual story to it.

With this chapter, the book ends on Knol. As I mentioned earlier, I would love to get it published through the print route and I’ve been trying to figure out how. I’ve been weighing the option of self-publishing but I am not sure if I should go for it…especially as there’ve been a couple of inquiries from some cybernetic well-wishers. I’m going to swim along with the current and so if you want to send any inquiries/information, or even good wishes my way – you are welcome!

I have plans of including a lot of other stuff in the printed/formally published version, but I believe that if you want to truly develop the ability to caricature, the online version of it should be sufficient to put you on the fast track.

Here is the Table of Contents.

The Evolution of a Caricaturist

• Chapter 1 – How to Draw Caricatures – Getting Down to the Basics
• Chapter 2 – Why Caricaturists Love Celebrities?
• Chapter 3 – The Human Face – Observing it from the Caricaturist’s Perspective
  
• Chapter 4 – The Psychology of Face Recognition – The Caricaturist’s Secret Weapon!
• Chapter 5 – Caricaturing the Shape of the Face
• Chapter 6 – Caricaturing the Eyes
• Chapter 7 – Caricaturing the Brows and the Brow-ridge
• Chapter 8 – Caricaturing the Lips and the Mouth
• Chapter 9 – Caricaturing the Forehead, the Hairline, and the Hair
• Chapter 10 – Caricaturing the Ears
• Chapter 11 – Caricaturing the Nose
• Chapter 12 – The Final Note – Weaving a Story around your Caricature!

With this chapter, one of my projects come to an end. I had hoped to complete it last year, but with food-on-the-table work occupying about 90% of my waking moments, I just didn’t find the time. I hope that the regular readers of this book will forgive this lapse and enjoy the final chapter

A Request:

If you’ve read this book, I’d like to ask you what you’d like to see included in its printed version. Please send me an email at my email id, which is DrawToSmile[at]gmail[dot]com.

And a Note of Thanks too

The book “The Evolution of a Caricaturist” was visited more than 30,000 times in 2010. Some readers left comments, some sent me emails, and a few sent me the caricatures that they had drawn using the methods that were discussed in the book.

I would like to thank you all – for your visits, your comments, your emails, and your drawings. You were there watching me. Whenever I felt tired and wanted to give up, you did something to inspire me. You don’t remember it – but you were there, telling me that if I wrote another chapter it’ll help you DRAW TO SMILE

So…

A BIG THANK YOU!

Art Philosophy – The 4 Types of Artists – Classification and Explanation

Once again, a personal post for friends old and new. Others who’ve reached this blog through searches/recommendations might be more interested in the Caricatures Gallery, the Story-in-the-Caricature Blog Carnival, or the book “How to Draw Caricatures – The Evolution of a Caricaturist.”  You are welcome to click the respective links and explore the site. You are also welcome to read this post, if  you have the patience:)

On December 11 2010, this blog completed its first year, and the funny part of the whole deal was that I forgot, and I didn’t make a post. Now if this isn’t a sure sign of dementia setting in – what is? But seriously, I am bad with remembering dates. I don’t know when but somewhere in my journey of art, I learned to present my forgetfulness as a trait common in artists. I realized that people suddenly became more forgiving when they realized that I could draw and paint too. Guess they thought to themselves – we’ve got to carry those artist types around – because who knows one of them might turn out to be a Da Vinci, a Van Gogh, or a Picasso!

Personally, I’d want to be Da Vinci or die unknown. (If I sound like I am suffering from megalomania, please put it down to my being an artist.)

But…am I really an artist?
I mean what makes you an artist?
And…if you are an artist what kind of artist are you?!

Well. There are the following types of artists (and I speak of artists not artistes!)

1. The Starving Struggling Artist
2. The Made-in-his-Lifetime Artist
3. The Posthumously Great Artist
4. The Richie Rich Artist

The Starving Struggling Artist or the SS Artist!

This is the most commonly found species of artists in the world. The Starving Struggling Artist is characterized by his impractical dream of making it big without paying attention to the theory of probability (which obviously he can’t as he’s shied away from Mathematics and Logic all his life.)  I ask the left-brained readers, if about 100 artists have made it big from a pool of 500 million (approximately) what is the chance of a random artist making it big? What would your answer be? Come on. Be honest. Tell us.

In my opinion, this kind of artist is worse-off than the unfortunates who walked the streets of London during the time of Jack the Ripper!

The Made-in-his-Lifetime Artist or the ML Artist

This artist is that 1-in-5 Million artist who we talked about earlier. The Made in his Lifetime artist is either smart enough to know what’d really catch the fancy of the buyers or who is lucky enough to display the right thing at the right place at the right time to the right audience. Note that you seldom come across this kind of artist. They are conspicuous by their near-absence.

The Posthumously Great Artist or the PG Artist

You know this kind – don’t you? The best example of course is Van Gogh. Remember that he was once a Starving Struggling Artist who went crazy and chopped off his own ear. Van Gogh created work that Da Vinci wouldn’t have allowed in his studio – yet after his death, he managed to become famous! Now to be a Posthumously Great Artist you need to be able to pull some strings up there. It’s my belief that most of the Starving Struggling Variety of artists have a pure heart and so they end up in heaven – but I also think that up there, they continue being their non-diplomatic selves lost in their own dreams of making it big in their next life – and so they don’t pull the right strings. Hence they don’t become posthumously famous. The point to note it – if the artist has a family and a couple of good-for-nothings, then such posthumous fame can come in handy…otherwise, it’s all wasted effort!

The Richie Rich Artist or the RR Artist

When you are born with either a silver spoon in your mouth or a strong social network through your parents’/spouses’ connections, then you are a Richie Rich artist. Then you don’t really need talent to become famous. Such people become artists because they’ve got to do something with their time – and there’s really nothing that they “need” to do. You can teach your dog to pick up the brush and color the canvas – and you’d have a masterpiece selling for a million dollars! Then of course, you can take the limelight away from your dog and bask in it, as you pose in front of the canvas. This of course is a very common way of achieving some degree of fame, which isn’t all that bad – right?

So am I an artist?
I don’t fit into any of the above – and so I am not an artist. But the good news is, there’s no law against people calling themselves artists, and there’s no law against blowing your own trumpet (whatever that means) – and so…even though I may not be a starving struggler, an unbelievably lucky person, a dead artist with god on her side, or even a well-connected rich kid – I still have the right to say that I am an artist.

And being what I am, one day I might wake up and exercise that right – just like that…and again put my quirkiness down to my being artist!

The Megalomaniac speaks again…
If you can determine where I contradicted myself, you’ve won yourself an opportunity to write a guest post on my blog:-)

Coming up…Caricatures of Oprah Winfrey, Angelina Jolie, and Sachin Tendulkar!

Caricatures almost ready to roll off the line…

• Oprah Winfrey (World’s only true Black Billionaire and the Famous Talk Show Host, who went to the doctor and complained of pain in her earlobes, which mysteriously vanished the moment she removed her emerald earrings, )
• Angelina Jolie (The Hollywood Actress who boycotted Thanksgiving for reasons given here,) and
• Sachin Tendulkar (One of the greatest batsmen in the World Cricket History, who holds world records in a whole lot of categories, both in test matches as wells as ODIs (One Day Internationals))!

Until then, then:)

While I help my caricatures dress up, you might want to do one or more or all of the following.

• Visit the Caricature Gallery here.
• Download a few Celebrity Calendars for 2010 (sigh!) here.
• Learn how to draw caricatures by reading “The Evolution of a Caricaturist” here.
• Write a story for the November 2010 Blog Carnival “Tell-the-Story-in-the-Caricature” and post the link of your fine story here:)

That should keep you busy until I return!

 

 

 

Chapter 11 – Caricaturing the Nose – Published!

Hello Friends,

I am pleased to present the 11th chapter “Caricaturing the Nose” of “How to Draw Caricatures – The Evolution of a Caricaturist“. This chapter focuses on the human nose, which for a caricaturist, is the most interesting feature of the human face.  This chapter has been posted after a hiatus – a break of about 2.5 months, which I believe is a long wait for a sincere reader. I apologize to my readers.

I should also tell you that the book is now about to end – at least on the Knol.  A more detailed and slightly expanded version of the book will become available in the market soon. Nevertheless, I am striving to include all the essentials in this book – so we would be seeing at least one more chapter before I write its conclusion.

Here’s a list of all the chapters in the book so far.

The Evolution of a Caricaturist

• Chapter 1 – How to Draw Caricatures – Getting Down to the Basics
• Chapter 2 – Why Caricaturists Love Celebrities?
• Chapter 3 – The Human Face – Observing it from the Caricaturist’s Perspective
  
• Chapter 4 – The Psychology of Face Recognition – The Caricaturist’s Secret Weapon!
• Chapter 5 – Caricaturing the Shape of the Face
• Chapter 6 – Caricaturing the Eyes
• Chapter 7 – Caricaturing the Brows and the Brow-ridge
• Chapter 8 – Caricaturing the Lips and the Mouth
• Chapter 9 – Caricaturing the Forehead, the Hairline, and the Hair
• Chapter 10 – Caricaturing the Ears
• Chapter 11 – Caricaturing the Nose

I hope you find this book useful.

All the Best and Thank You!

And remember…you should…

DRAW to SMILE!

Learning to Draw Caricatures – 5 Important Tips for New Caricature Artists

If you are a budding caricaturist, here are a few tips to help you reduce the gradient of your learning curve.

1. Find at least half-a-dozen pictures of the subject (the person you want to caricature.)
2. Study the features of the subject carefully and try to identify the deviations from the normal.
3. Remember that the deviations could be in size, shape (form), or both, so look for such deviations.
4. Don’t ever kill the look in those eyes!
5. Play a Secret Game – When you look at people, see their Caricatures!

So what do these tips mean? Let’s find out.

1. Find at least half-a-dozen pictures of the subject (the person you want to caricature.)

This is important. A caricaturist can’t work with just one picture, while a portrait artist often can. The reason why portraiture is easier is because it involves copying the subject’s features – if an artist can copy the features exactly, likeness is automatically assured. However, a caricature artist needs go further and achieve the twin objectives of:

• exaggeration
• likeness

Thus, a caricaturist needs to begin by first studying the subject’s features from different angles, and in different light conditions. If the subject of your caricature is a performer, there’s a good chance that his or her face is made to look different through makeup and at times even through the use of certain props. All this would make it difficult for you to figure out the exact shape and size of the facial features, if you studied only one picture…so find as many as you can, and lose yourself into those lines and creases!

2. Study the features of the subject carefully and try to identify the deviations from the normal.

While a portrait artist lives on his ability to reproduce the facial features faithfully, a caricaturist thrives on his capability to exaggerate the deviations from the normal. If we all were given a standard set of features by our maker, caricaturists wouldn’t exist. We exist because we have a keen perception, using which we can determine those facial features that:

• make a face unique
• deviate considerably from the ideal face.

3. Remember that the deviations could be in size, shape (form), or both, so look for such deviations.

Select the top two or three features that deviate most from their normal size/appearance. Close your eyes and try to visualize the following faces – then note down 2-3 features which you’d like to exaggerate in their faces:

• Abraham (Abe) Lincoln
• Morgan Freeman
• Michelle Obama
• Tom Hanks

Done?

Now view their caricatures here. What’s been exaggerated? Do you think that the exaggerated features match the list of the features that you’ve created?
Note how the noses of Morgan Freeman and Tom Hanks, and the Hair of Abe Lincoln and Michelle Obama have been exaggerated not only in size buy also in shape!

4. Don’t ever kill the look in those eyes!

I’ve seen a lot of caricaturists create excellent caricatures with beautifully crafted and realistically painted features – but with eyes that see nothing, say nothing, and do nothing! Eyes are the windows into a person’s soul…don’t shut that window. Never exaggerate the eyes to the point when they begin to look unreal. Don’t exaggerate the eyes unless you really have to – unless you are really confident of your ability to retain the expression while you manipulate them.

5. Play a Secret Game – When you look at people, see their Caricatures!

I don’t want to explain it because people might stop wanting to meet me – but if you want to be good at the art of drawing caricatures, you really need to transform your eyes into that magic-prism!

And of course, if you are interested in learning how to draw caricatures, I’d recommend “How to Draw Caricatures – Evolution of a Caricaturist” – for two reasons:

1. It’s free (so far)!
2. It simplifies caricature-drawing and presents it in the form of a process, which if followed, could help you learn and master caricature-drawing in a very short time.

So, if you’ve got your sketchbook and your pencils ready, what are you waiting for?

DRAW to SMILE!

Licensing Caricatures, Free Book, and Some Straight Talk!

Every once in a while, I feel like slowing down, taking stock, and talking:) This is one of those once-in-a-whiles.

The Beginnings of this Caricature Blog

I started this blog about 9 months ago – hoping that it would help me smile.  I began my art-journey as a traditional portrait artist, then I freelanced with a book publisher,  and then I did some work in the fantasy art genre for a couple of American RPG publishers – so there was a time when I managed to sell some stray bits of art,  but that was a long time ago – and it isn’t something that I truly relished.  The only good part was that I never had to do what makes every artist, every writer cringe – I wasn’t ever asked to do rework , except once – when after a couple of non-productive rework rounds, I chose to give up. Then for many years I decided not to publish my art – there was a phase when I’d refuse work, when I stripped away all my artwork from the web – in a nutshell, when I decided to give up.

Drawing is my Passion NOT my Profession!

I’d still draw almost every day – but I drew because I couldn’t stop myself from picking up a pencil (I have a couple of hundreds of those), until one cold December morning, when I saw this funny man in the newspaper. I dropped my comb and I sketched his caricature, which became the first caricature on this blog.  Creating caricatures for this blog has been fun, mainly because I don’t have to work with time-lines, and also because I can draw whoever I want to.  If I don’t want to draw someone, I just won’t draw him or her – and if I want to, it doesn’t matter whether that person is not a very popular guy. In art, I don’t like to do things that I am asked to do – I prefer to do what I want to. I don’t like to ask people to do things for me for FREE, because I value their independence and their time, and I expect them to value mine.

Do you Want to License my Caricatures for Commercial Use?

I’d like to say that with the growing popularity of your favorite blog, I am beginning to receive requests for free and paid work. I think I am doing enough for free (all the caricatures that appear on this blog are free for people to use in their non-commercial products, and the caricature book too is free, if you want to read it online.) If you want to make a few thousand copies of my caricatures and use them in your “commercial applications” they aren’t free at all. I’d also like to make a recommendation to the serious, well-intentioned people who wish to use the caricatures from this blog commercially, to be upfront about their organization, their intention – and if possible, NOT consider me their “vendor” even before I’ve reviewed their requirement. Be nice if you want to be treated nicely – Drawing is my love, not my profession. If you aren’t happy introducing yourself, you should find other artists – and sadly there’s a glut of out-of-work artists in this part of the world!

This may sound arrogant, but I can’t stop myself from writing this. I never thought to write it earlier but recently my mail-box isn’t entirely happy with the kind of emails that find their way there.

Sharing What I know for those who “Genuinely” want to Learn – My FREE Online Book – “How to Draw Caricatures – The Evolution of a Caricaturist”

Sometime  in January 2010, I also started writing “The Evolution of a Caricaturist” – A Book on How to Draw Caricatures. This book is almost complete with 10 out of its 14 chapters online. I’ve received some good feedback on this book and I have received an unofficial offer for its publication. I am still reflecting on how I should go ahead with it – but the fact that the 10 chapters that are currently online for this book have garnered about 22000 views so far (Don’t go by the numbers they show there – Knols have a funny way of updating data), tells me that there are people out there who are finding it useful. A big Thank You to all the readers of this book:) I promise to complete it very soon:)

How to Draw the Caricature of Lady Gaga & The Story of Bad Romance!

Lady Gaga (yes the very same lady who’s entangled in a Bad Romance) is an extremely interesting and an unbelievably creative person.

She is a magician, a dress designer, a hairdresser, a lyricist…and of course, she is a woman trying hard to prove that she’s indeed one. If you ask me, she is one of those amazingly talented control-freaks who don’t even want to leave their caricatures to chance – they want to do them themselves! (Remember Ozzy Osbourne?)

Anyone who’s ever looked at Lady Gaga would know that there’s no caricaturist in the world who could do a better job of caricaturing her, than the lady herself. However, I made the attempt, and now I am here to discuss how you too can draw Lady Gaga’s caricature. (And no – you don’t stop at making her portrait!)

Here’s the caricature under discussion.

Lady Gaga and the Spider Colony!

Caricaturing the Eyes of Lady Gaga:

Lady Gaga’s eyes are characterized by the kohl she puts around them! You’ve got to load her eyelids and eyelashes with black paint to get the look right. Also stretch those eyelashes to exaggerate them. Don’t change the basic almond shape of her eyes.

Read about “Caricaturing the Eyes” here.

Caricaturing the Lips of Lady Gaga:

Lady Gaga has thicker than usual lips (which go well with her slightly heavy yet chubby face.) Note that I’ve drawn her with an open mouth, which helps you see her teeth. Her teeth are slightly crooked and I’ve maintained that lack of symmetry in the drawing.

Read about “Caricaturing the Lips and the Mouth” here.

(If I were drawing the caricature of a man, I’d treat the teeth differently (they’d be exaggerated to add more humor to the treatment.) However, while drawing the caricatures of women – ensure that their caricatures continue to look pretty:-))

Caricaturing the Hair of Lady Gaga:

Ah! This is where I had to compete with Ms. Gaga herself. I selected what I call her “Candy Floss with Noodles” hairstyle. The size of her coiffure was big enough but I did exaggerate it a bit. The cobwebs were added for the storyline.

(Read about “Caricaturing the Forehead, the Hairline, and the Hair” here.)
Storyline?
Well. Since Ms. Gaga had done a great job of caricaturing herself, I had to go do something extra to exaggerate her hairstyle, and so I thought of the spiders and the cobwebs. Whenever Lady Gaga discards a wig, the space on the wig is auctioned away to the spiders that want to move in to this “premium” location!

Well…
So in came the spiders and their webs, and of course the decorations added by the property dealers along with the prize car!

And Ms. Gaga was decked up and ready to give the other singers a run for their money!

And yes, if you want to learn how to draw caricatures, you should check out “How to Draw Caricatures – And Evolution of a Caricaturist.”

Before I wave goodbye, here’s an interesting bit about her current hit “Bad Romance”.

The Theme of Bad Romance by Lady Gaga – A Verbal Caricature:

Bad Romance is a bad-bad song that begins with the abduction of Lady Gaga by some super-models. These super-models, who probably are about to slide into middle age and hence into oblivion, dream up a new way to make money. They kidnap Lady Gaga, bathe her in a white bathtub, and then in her inebriated condition attempt to auction her off to the Russian Mafia. (Note the Russian connection in all such deals, and also note the marked absence of the Italian Mafia from this whole show.)

While the Russian men sit around with their electronic bidding machines, Lady Gaga seductively walks towards them and then selects the one with a golden chin guard (guess he wore it because he expected Lady Gaga to slap him) to do a provocative lap-dance for him. Now this all is hogwash, because after he becomes the highest bidder, she roasts him alive by activating her pyrotechnic bra. The point to be noted here is the Lady Gaga remains unscathed…and probably vanishes with the auction money, and shares the booty with the models who had kidnapped her…because it was all staged!

But that part wasn’t there in the video that I watched, and so I believe that the video was edited!  If anyone has access to the unedited video of the song Bad Romance , please let me know, because I am dying to hear the end of the story.

BTW, I wonder if the Russian Men would have bid at all if she had worn her meat dress to the auction?
(Lady Gaga’s Meat Dress.)

So you think you can Draw?!

Fantastic!

Everyone can draw. I can draw, you can draw, they can draw, we can draw, my neighbor’s daughter can draw, and your neighbor’s dog can draw!

Drawing is no more complex than removing that little fiber of chicken that gets stuck between your teeth, or scratching your back with a fishbone. Drawing is easy. You need to find something that puts a mark on something else that you can find – and you can draw.

So now – the question is – can you draw?

Of course you can.  The technical definition of the term “Draw” is: “make a mark or lines on a surface”! Can you do it? Of course you can! Now…say it, “Yes, I Can!” (If that reminds you of some slogan that you heard about two years ago, I should plead coincidentality…if there’s a word like that!)

The point that I am trying to make here is – you can draw – the question that you should be asking yourself is…what is it that I should draw?

There’s stuff that anyone can draw, and there’s stuff that needs some focused practice.

The stuff that anyone who can “make a mark or lines on a surface” can create is called “abstract art.” You’ve got to work on your ability to “surprise or shock” people – and if your idea “clicks” you could be selling canvases with blotches of paint that just happened!

The other stuff that needs focused practice could be:

• Landscapes
• Portraits
• Cartoons
• Caricatures
• Compositions
• Scenes

It could be anything that requires that you draw a line, a curve, a circle…anything with a purpose. This would require practice – this would also require focus.

Just the way writers who’d write anything and expect people to understand it (or not), but who hope to sell (and sometimes do sell) their books thinking that readers are foolish and that they’d be able to fool them by saying that their stuff is for the “intellectuals” – there are also artists who’d draw anything and hope to sell (and sometimes they do sell) their art to the “connoisseurs of art.”

I prefer to be an artist with a purpose – and I prefer to draw something that’s understood by everyone – because everyone has the right to be delighted by art. Art shouldn’t exist for those few who sit at the far right of the IQ bell-curve – it should exist for everyone. I would draw portraits, caricatures, cartoons, compositions, scenes, mountains, rivers – but I would draw them in a way to ensure that whoever looks at them connects with them not in an “abstract” way – but in a very real, transparent, and emotional way…through my skill of drawing.

I prefer and hope (though without a right) that if you are young and if you can draw, you’d create art for everyone too. Draw to bring a smile to your own face and to the faces of others. Don’t get caught into the specialization-racket! Draw whatever catches your fancy. Let your art flow, but let it not become idiotic; don’t let it become a senseless orgy of colors and lines – let it speak to everyone, let it establish a personal connection with anyone who looks at it.

So, if you think you can draw…

DRAW!

and…

DRAW TO SMILE

How to Draw These 7 Personalities?! Let them Draw themselves!

I can’t stop myself from writing this post…so I’d begin by apologizing to my serious visitors – I am sorry! This isn’t a deliberate, thoughtful post – it’s what the netizens would call an impulse post.

You see I came upon the search string, “How to Draw Ozzy Osbourne” in my blog’s data. Isn’t that the joke of the day?! Do you really need to figure it out? Really?!

You see…you don’t make Ozzy’s caricature – he’s already done the job for you. Instead, you make his portrait! So if you can draw, you can draw his caricature!

Here are some other “How to Draw the Caricature of…”! Smile Away:-)

How to Draw the Caricature of Mahatma Gandhi:

Draw the nose, the ears, and the spectacles – the viewers will fill in the rest.

Read the Post on the Caricature of Mahatma Gandhi

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How to Draw the Caricature of Ozzy Osbourne:

Forget it. I’ve tried but I believe that no caricaturist can beat Ozzy himself, when it comes to drawing his caricature.

Read the Post on the Caricature of Ozzy Osbourne

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How to Draw the Caricature of Abraham Lincoln:

Draw Gandhi’s caricature, add hair,  and remove the spectacles.

Read the Post on the Caricature of Abraham Lincoln

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How to Draw the Caricature of Pamela Anderson:

Draw the fishbowls. Period.

Read the Post on the Caricature of Pamela Anderson

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How to Draw the Caricature of Lady Gaga:

Draw a nest, or a Computer, or a Robot, or a Christmas Tree; and label it “Lady Gaga”

Read the Post on the Caricature of Lady Gaga

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How to Draw the Caricature of Queen Elizabeth:

Draw the crown. Period.

Read the Post on the Caricature of Queen Elizabeth II

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How to Draw the Caricature of Tiger Woods:

Draw the cap, the women, the Nike symbol…or…to draw a more modern Tiger Woods, draw a Tiger lost in the Woods with beautiful tigresses to give him company!

Read the Post on the Caricature of Tiger Woods, his Women, and the Devil.

~~0~~

I could go on and on, and never stop…but I’ve got to go! Have fun, enjoy, and Draw Ozzy Osbourne’s Caricature – and see if you can do a better job than he did.

And…

if you are serious about doing caricatures, you must check out my FREE Online Book “How to Draw Caricatures – Evolution of a Caricaturist“!

Who Next? Caricatures/Cartoons from Hollywood, Hard Rock, or International Politics?

Hi Visitors,

About the Upcoming Caricatures:

In what order would you like to see the following three personalities appear on your favorite caricature blog?

1. Edward Norton the Hollywood Actor
2. Ozzy Osbourne of the English heavy metal band Black Sabbath
3. David Cameron the current British Prime Minister

Please write the order of your preference in the comments section – popular demand will lead the way:)

About the Storytelling Carnival:

And yes, while you are here…do visit the “Story-in-the-Caricature Blog Carnival.“

(Do you know that most writers are discovered by chance? Take your chance now – and rediscover yourself.)

Have fun…

About the Caricature Drawing Tutorial Book:

and yes, learn how you can DRAW TO SMILE!

Chapter 10 – How to Draw Caricatures – Caricaturing the Ears- Published!

Dear Readers,

The 10th Chapter of the Free Online Caricature Drawing Book,  “How to Draw Caricatures – The Evolution of a Caricaturist” is online now. The book is almost complete. We will be discussing the most important feature (the Nose, what else?) in the 11th chapter. The book is going to have 14 chapters, in all.

This chapter, “Chapter 10 – Caricaturing the Ears” begins by classifying the human ear on the basis of its size, angle, and shape. It then discusses the structure of the human ear from the caricaturist’s viewpoint, enabling you to become comfortable not just with caricaturing the ear, but also drawing it without exaggeration. Finally, the chapter uses two examples to illustrates how the human ear can be caricatured.

If this is the first time that you’ve come across this book, the following links will help you explore it chronologically.

The Evolution of a Caricaturist

• Chapter 1 – How to Draw Caricatures – Getting Down to the Basics
• Chapter 2 – Why Caricaturists Love Celebrities?
• Chapter 3 – The Human Face – Observing it from the Caricaturist’s Perspective
  
• Chapter 4 – The Psychology of Face Recognition – The Caricaturist’s Secret Weapon!
• Chapter 5 – Caricaturing the Shape of the Face
• Chapter 6 – Caricaturing the Eyes
• Chapter 7 – Caricaturing the Brows and the Brow-ridge
• Chapter 8 – Caricaturing the Lips and the Mouth
• Chapter 9 – Caricaturing the Forehead, the Hairline, and the Hair
• Chapter 10 – Caricaturing the Ears

The readership of this book is growing and I am glad that it’s being received well by the young artists who want to venture into this somewhat mysterious field of caricature-drawing.

I’d like to end this note by saying that if you are a regular reader of this book, comment on it and let me know if there’s anything else that you’d like to see in it. I hope to complete the book sometime early next month…this is the time to tell me if you’d like an additional chapter or two, on something that could make this book more useful to you:)

And now, Find a pencil and a paper – and

D R A W      T O      S M I L E   !

- Shafali

Mariah Carey will be flashing her smile on this Caricature Blog soon!

Next in the queue, waiting for her turn, is the pop and hip-hop singer who is also an actress. Sometime today, Mariah Carey will make an appearance on this caricature blog:-)

Stay awake…

PS: She’ll be followed by an Indian celebrity:-) who looks like Paris Hilton, but has more color in her hair and her eyes – Guess who?

I know it isn’t easy to guess for my non-Indian visitors or for my Indian visitors…Alien Visitors, will you try to find who this Paris Hilton look-alike is?

(Hint: The answer is given in the Indian Celebrities post here.)

And yes…

About the How to Draw Caricatures book – The Evolution of a Caricaturist…

I’ve been seeing searches for “Chapter 10 – Evolution of a Caricaturist” happening on this blog. I am sorry for the delay in adding Chapter 10, but thanks for motivating me. If you want to read the tenth chapter, who am I to stop you from reading it:) “Chapter 10 (Caricaturing the Ears)” will be going up sometime this week. Draw…and SPREAD THE SMILE!

Chapter 9 – How to Draw Caricatures – Caricaturing the Forehead, the Hairline, and the Hair – Published.

Some of my readers are closely following the evolution of my Free Online book “How to Draw Caricatures – The Evolution of a Caricaturist”. They would be happy to know that the next chapter of this book, “Chapter 9 – Caricaturing the Forehead, the Hairline, and the Hair” went online today.

This chapter discusses the different types of foreheads, hairline, and hair (or the absence of it.) It also enables you to identify the elements that should be exaggerated in this higher (hairier?) arena of the human anatomy.

If this book is new to you, the following links could help you explore it.

The Evolution of a Caricaturist

• Chapter 1 – How to Draw Caricatures – Getting Down to the Basics
• Chapter 2 – Why Caricaturists Love Celebrities?
• Chapter 3 – The Human Face – Observing it from the Caricaturist’s Perspective
  
• Chapter 4 – The Psychology of Face Recognition – The Caricaturist’s Secret Weapon!
• Chapter 5 – Caricaturing the Shape of the Face
• Chapter 6 – Caricaturing the Eyes
• Chapter 7 – Caricaturing the Brows and the Brow-ridge
• Chapter 8 – Caricaturing the Lips and the Mouth
• Chapter 9 – Caricaturing the Forehead, the Hairline, and the Hair

This book has been witnessing a growth in its readership. With more than 10,000 views for a topic of such selective interest, I couldn’t have asked for more:) Thanks!

I hope to soon post Ben Kingsley’s Caricature in his avatar of Gandhi:) And the “soon” could be as early as tomorrow morning. I’ve also created a very interesting caricature that you might want to write a story about…

- Shafali

How to Draw the Caricature of Dr. Albert Einstein – the Greatest Scientist of the Twentieth Century

Dr. Albert Einstein’s caricature is among the easiest to draw. He has features that hanker for the caricaturist’s eyeballs. His hair, his nose, and his quirked-up eyebrows that push the skin of his forehead into those innumerable furrows and lines – all demand your attention. They leap out of his face and grab hold of your hand to make you draw them!

Why? I wonder.

Excellent. So his face isn’t like Jack Nicholson’s (with a signboard that says, “everything you see, you can caricature for 99 cents”,) nor is it like George Clooney’s (a treasure hunt in a Martian desert.) Einstein’s face is somewhere between that of these two. It tempts you to fetch your pencil and your drawing pad as the three prominent features in his face are really, madly prominent!

I discussed the folly of trying to caricature “everything” in the previous tutorial, “How to Draw the Caricature of Jack Nicholson – The Wolf.” Listening to my own advice (yes, unlike many, I trust my own advice,) I decided to exaggerate the following features.

• The Hair
• The forehead with one brow quirked-up
• The Nose

The first step in creating any drawing is to…begin, and so I began. When I draw faces, I draw the eyes first, and those eyes watch me draw. This can be an especially unnerving experience when the person watching you draw is Dr. Albert Einstein! I kept my cool, avoided his assessing glare, and continued to sketch. After drawing in the eyes, I moved to the nose, and then to the lips…his eyes continued to follow my pencil, everywhere.

After a while, I gave up, and looked straight into his eyes, and then I realized that there was more to Einstein than his face. I began to remember what I had read of his life. Einstein was known for his brain. He was thought to have been born with a bigger brain.

Lo and Behold! If the expression sounds archaic, please excuse me – for I am (archaic) too.

So…once again…

Lo and Behold! I decided to exaggerate the size of his forehead!

Here is how the caricature was created.

Caricaturing Einstein’s Eyes and Brows

Check out any picture of Einstein, he’s got a bemused look on his face. He seems to be looking at world and saying, “It can all be explained through the General Principle of Relativity.” So I pushed up his quirky eyebrow a tad more to exaggerate the look.

Caricaturing Einstein’s Nose

Einstein’s nose isn’t one of those razor-sharp, slice-n-dice kind of nose. It’s a soft, round, and bulbous nose – a little longer than the normal. All this makes the nose-bulb(?) look like it’s experiencing the full force of gravity!

(Dear Sir Isaac Newton, I hope that you and Dr. Einstein get along well in heaven, and both of you along with Dr. John Wheeler, use the quantum foam to stay in touch with the scientists of our time. I assure you, they need your help to clean up the BP Oil Spill Mess!)

Oh, the nose! As you can surmise, I wanted the nose to become longer, and its bulb to become more bulbous; so I pulled the lower anchor points out of the feature frame, until the nose overshot the lips. (To understand anchor points and feature frame, read “The Evolution of a Caricaturist“.)

Caricaturing Einstein’s Hair

Einstein’s hair is magnificent. It’s white, long, and fluffy (he used a shampoo that he invented himself – right?) I added the effect of the electric hair blower on the white, long, and fluffy, to make them more prominent.

I also fluffed up Einstein’s mustache and tweaked it a little at the ends:)

Caricaturing Einstein’s Forehead

Inspired by Dr. Einstein’s supervising eyes, I made his forehead and also his head, bigger. Remember that the head is almost hemispherical. I decided to exaggerate not the size of the hemisphere, but its shape! Look at the forehead closely and try to visualize the head – you’ll “see” that the shape tends to be a sphere more than a hemisphere.

Einstein’s forehead has a lot of prominent lines. I exaggerated the lines. Look at the right edge of the forehead – you can even see the folds. When your exaggeration moves out of the facial space (at the edges) it becomes stronger.

That was all I did – and Einstein’s caricature winked at me:) My job was done!

If you are interested in exploring the techniques involved in drawing caricatures further, I recommend the following:

• “How to Draw Caricatures – The Evolution of a Caricaturist”, a Free Online Book on Google Knol.
• “Tuto-tweets by @theCaricaturist

Have fun caricaturing:-) Spread the Smile!