Shafali’s Caricatures…The Story So Far!

It’s been quite a journey. I started this blog on December 11, 2010. The reason was simple – It had been a while since I had felt happy…and so I picked up the pencil and began to draw. I drew and smiled…and then I drew some more…and then, someone who I’d trust with my life said that I should share what I drew.

So I did, hoping that when people visited my blog, the smile on my face would hop on to theirs:) I think my wish is coming true.

The first caricature that I had created for this blog was of Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow of the Pirates of the Caribbean fame. The two mice climbing his braided beard, trying to find the cheese that they hoped to find hidden behind his ears…they just happened. And then, the jokes went on happening. I’d look at face and read about the person behind the face – and the story would emerge.

I’ve been drawing ever since I remember. I’ve been having this light-dark kind of affair with drawing for a long time…and I often wonder whether this is my calling.

Until tomorrow then, when I shall post the other half of Brangelina, Ms. Angelina Jolie. (View the caricature of Mr. Brad Pitt as Achilles here.)

Caricature/Cartoon – Brad Pitt and Achilles’ Dilemma in Troy.

What’s he thinking?

I Need Them…Pronto!

I didn’t know that Brad Pitt could look so handsome, until I watched Troy (and until I DIDN’T watch “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” and “Interview with a Vampire.”) In Troy, his bronzed body, his rippling muscles, and his little golden lock bound in itsy-bitsy leather straps, must’ve made him the heart-throb of every movie-going teenager/tweener/thirtier…! But the best-kept secret about Troy was that it didn’t have a single shop that sold good quality heel-guards! In fact, Achilles spent a lot of time, going shop to shop…hoping that he’d find one – so that his heel stayed intact!

Now, you tell me – what was Brad’s Achilles’ heel when it came to his relationship with Ms. High-brow Angelina Jolie (The Brangelina Fever)? (you don’t believe that she’s a high-brow – right? Wait for her Caricature to appear on your favorite caricature blog!) Why didn’t their relationship work out? Who lurked in the shadows…and who came between this happy Hollywood couple (or who all – if we could take cues from the original Tiger Woods Musical Chairs that he played with about twenty (nineteen/fourteen – I don’t remember) beauties)? Is it that an old relationship (with Jennifer Aniston) refuses to die? And also…what exactly is in the air? A Divorce or a Separation? Are they really married?

I am confused.

If you know the answers to these questions, please enlighten this ignorant caricaturist through your comment on this post. Your answers could become part of a star-studded post on this blog, which I intend to call – “The TMZ Caricature!”

(Check out the TMZ Website for the Brangelina rumor – Oprah Winfrey’s blacklisted Brangelina from her show!)

And now, it’s time for a short non-commercial break – Don’t go away!

(Nice tune of unidentified origins.)
Coming up shortly…Celebrity Caricature Calendars of the printable sort! Do return for your copy.
(Another nice tune of unidentified origins.)

Thanks for being with me…
Now it’s time for me to say good-bye. In the next post of this blog, we shall meet the caricature of Angelina Jolie, and ask her what went wrong…
until then…
stay with me – I am Shafali, and…

(PS: Did I get carried away with that “Caricature of a Talk-show”?)

Update – March 14, 2010.

Download the Brad Pitt as Achilles in Troy Hollywood Celebrities Calendar for 2010 here.

The Caricaturist is on Twitter Now…

I’ve climbed the 140 character bandwagon. I am now a Tweeter too:-)

• So, if you like caricatures, cartoons, jokes, funnies, and all that makes you go haw-haw…follow The Caricaturist!
• And if you want some cool tips on drawing, sketching, caricaturing, cartooning…in other words, on wielding the most powerful weapon in this world – the pen, along with its dear cousins the pencil and the brush…follow The Caricaturist!

My Twitter handle is…of course: @TheCaricaturist

So, visit my nest…follow me…and motivate me to follow you:-) Let’s make this world a happier place to be in.

Tweet-tweet (that’s Bye-bye in Twitterish!)

Cool Caricaturist – David Levine (1926-2009)

David Levine‘s Caricatures are a phenomenon. Levine’s caricatures used to regularly appear in The New York Review of Books. As a child he dreamed of becoming a painter, but to sustain himself, he turned illustrator. he continued to illustrate until the 1960s, when he became a caricaturist for The Review. In addition to The Review, His works appeared in “Esquire, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Rolling Stone Magazine, Sports Illustrated, New York Magazine, Time, Newsweek, The New Yorker, The Nation, Playboy,” etc. Wow! Isn’t that something? (Source: Wikipedia.)

View some of his caricatures here (at The New York Review of Books Gallery of Levine’s Caricatures.):

• Jefferson Davis
• Ronald Reagan
• Prince Charles
• Albert Einstein

In 2006 (Three years before his death about a month ago,) he was diagnosed with an eye disease that leads to blindness. I don’t think that there’s anything that can make an artist feel worse than a disability that could interfere with his ability to draw.

This post is a tribute to this prolific caricaturist and his art. His caricatures and his confident line-work will continue to inspire us.

Caricature/Cartoon of Avatar – The Story – A Verbal Caricature

Do you find the Na’vi men handsome?

Look into my Eyes!

I haven’t seen Avatar yet. Somehow the prospects of watching a human fall in love with a 10 ft blue-skinned “beauty” through his genetically engineered avatar don’t appeal to me. This of course isn’t everything about the movie and so I am confident that the other great things about it will motivate me into watching it. Avatar, a James Cameron movie has beat the record of Titanic in revenues, and it has used a variety of hi-tech multimedia effects. They say that the Avatar imagery outshines everything that we’ve ever seen before.

Here’s a quick verbal caricature of the story (Don’t read if you haven’t watched the movie yet.)

Avatar – A Verbal Caricature of the Movie (from Whatever I’ve read and heard!)

About a century and a half from now, the rapacious humans have exhausted Earth’s natural resources, and have somehow (don’t ask me how) found another place to exploit. It is the moon in the Alpha Centauri Star system, and is aptly named Pandora. Humans, like Terriers, love to dig, and so they dig in Pandora, to obtain Unobtainium (and they succeed! Remember, Nothing is Impossible.) But then there are others. These others are called Na’vis and they are blue-skinned, slim, and about 10 feet tall – this obviously makes me wonder what the bending moment of these Na’vis is?

Never mind their long, lithe bodies – they are the mix of the primitive and the evolved. And so it isn’t easy for the Humans to obtain Unobtainium on a sustained basis, as the Na’vi resist them (and also because the finicky humans can’t breathe in the Pandora’s box.) So the humans do what they do best. They use their usual underhand espionage tactics and slip in as genetically engineered avatars controlled by real humans through their minds – this is where I smell a bit of the Matrix concept – but as “an idea cannot be copyrighted, only its expression can be,” I am sure nobody would be suing Mr. Cameron.

Anyway, Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) is found worthy of being sent out in form of a blue-skinned, 10 ft, alien. After some twists and turns of the Hollywood movie variety, he’s “rescued” by a beautiful Neytiri (Zoe Saldana,) the lovely Na’vi princess who he falls in love with. (Now that’s something that doesn’t connect. If I play the part of a mouse in a movie, will I fall in love with a real mouse?)

Next there are more twists and turns, which you can read about here. The important point to note is that in the end, Jake happily becomes the new leader of the Na’vi tribe and his Na’vi avatar is made permanent by the blue-skinned, 10 ft, aliens! I don’t know how he jumped and swung from tree to tree (Someone tell me that this swinging/flying doesn’t look like “Tarzan” or “Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon” variety! If my height doubled, I won’t even be able to walk!)

All said and done, if this movie has beat the world’s ever highest grosser Titanic, it must be good, and the Na’vis must be beautiful!

PS: The blue bodies, the “avatar”, and Neytiri…all make me think that James Cameron has read some Hindu Mythology as well. Ever wonder why his script was exiled into his cupboard for 14 (no more, no less, but 14 years)? The exact period of Rama’s exile? And Na’vi? It means – New, in many Indian Languages:-)

Ain’t those Na’vi men Handsome?

Update: March 14, 2010:

When I created and posted this caricature, I didn’t expect these many searches for “Neytiri Naked” to end up on this page! I can understand the disappointment that these starry-eyed, steamy-breathed bounty-hunters must feel when our self-proclaimed Handsome Na’vi Avatar sneers at them from this page!

The continuation of the thought that resulted in the verbal caricature makes me wonder why we are so keen on seeing what a female alien looks like naked? (There wasn’t a single search for the male Na’vi avatar naked!) I guess those searchers and researchers must’ve somehow guessed that Neytiri was actually a vertically stretched human called Zoe Saldana, with blue paint all over her body! Only that could explain those searches – otherwise, why wouldn’t we search for naked Guerilla, naked chimpanzee, and so on, and so forth!…the Caricaturist wonders!

Well, for those who are keen on the Male Na’vi (Women visitors, come forward,) I’ve uploaded the calendar.

Download Na’vi Avatar in Jame’s Cameron’s Avatar 3D Character Printable Calendar for 2010.

The Book “The Evolution of a Caricaturist” – 3 Chapters up and Growing…

Dear Readers: Please note that the KNOL Platform stopped functioning in 2012, so the following links won’t work. An enriched and expanded “Evolution of a Caricaturist – How to Draw Caricatures” is now available as a Kindle eBook from Amazon. ‘

 

 

It has about 150 pages, more than 70 illustrations, and discusses about 3 dozen celebrity faces. The Content Outline of Evolution of a Caricaturist can be downloaded as a FREE pdf here.

I am writing a book called “The Evolution of a Caricaturist” on How to Draw Caricatures. This book explains the art of creating caricatures and helps you develop a method to achieve a humorous likeness to the subject of your caricature. It begins by explaining what a caricature is, establishes an effective method for observation of human facial features, and then feature-by-feature, it helps you develop “the skill of exaggerating to achieve humor and likeness.”

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

I will be updating this page, whenever I add a new chapter to this book, which I hope to do once or twice a week. (Definitely once a week.) I’ll appreciate your suggestions on how to make this book available after it has been published completely. I’ll also appreciate suggestions on what else you’d like to see in the book.

And finally a Personal Note:

I believe that the artists of this world form a continuum. There are a lot of caricature artists who are ahead of me and I could learn a lot from them…but then there probably are an equal number of artists and graphic designers who want to master the art of drawing caricatures. They are looking for “simple-to-understand and ready-to-apply” methods of creating caricatures so that they may explore yet another facet of art. Through this book, I wish to share my knowledge of caricature drawing with them. I hope they find it helpful.

Happy reading and drawing.

Thanks.
Shafali

Caricature/Cartoon – Bruce Willis, the Unbreakable, and the Die Hard Woodpecker.

Bruce Willis – The Unbreakable!

Unbreakable – Eh?!

I had watched the first three Die Hard Movies before I watch The Sixth Sense, when Bruce Willis catapulted to the top of my Hollywood favorites list. Somewhere around the same time I saw “The Unbreakable” – Samuel L. Jackson and Bruce Willis. I think that both these movies (the Sixth Sense and the Unbreakable) were directed by Manoj “Night” Shyamalan. So one thing led to another, and I became a fan of Shyamalan’s work too – until I saw “The Village“, which made me wonder whether Shyamalan could weave his magic only through Bruce Willis!

Here are some other interesting links.

• Learning from Die Hard
• Bruce Willis Fan-site
  
• Manoj “Night” Shyamalan’s Website (Interesting – but dark!)

Coming up shortly…Celebrity Caricature Calendars of the printable sort! Do return for your copy.

News Flash – Calendars are Up!
Download Bruce Willis’ Printable Calendar pdf here.
(Opens in New Window and includes a crisp print-quality image of this caricature.)

List of Celebrity Caricatures/Cartoons Drawn Last Month!

This is the list of celebrity caricatures that I created in the past month. I thought that creating this list could help the new visitors find their favorite celebrity drawing with ease.

1. Jack Nicholson and the Two Birds – As Good as it Gets!
2. Morgan Freeman a.k.a Detective Alex Cross and… The Two Dueling Mosquitoes.
3. Michelle Obama – The First Lady’s Smile & The Toothpaste Ad!
4. Barack Obama – What worries him? The Pups Know – Sasha, Malia, and Bo!
5. Nicole Kidman, Her Nose and the Bloodhounds!
6. Tiger Woods, Women, Nike, and Devil!
7. Halle Berry, her Hairstyle, and the Birds!
8. Johnny Depp – Captain Jack Sparrow – The Pirate!

I am planning to add the caricature/cartoon of Bruce Willis shortly:) So stay tuned. (It’s been added:-) View it here.)

I am also writing an evolving Book – “How to Draw Caricatures – Evolution of a Caricaturist” as a collection of knols. If you are interested…do visit. You can also read more about this book in “The Book” section of this blog. Your comments shall be appreciated.

Caricature/Cartoon – Jack Nicholson and the Two Birds – As Good as it Gets!

From the romantic comedies such as “As Good as it Gets” to some serious gray character stuff in “A Few Good Men” – Jack Nicholson has played a memorable role in every kind of movie. He began his movie career in 1958 and since then he has worked in more than 60 movies! This caricature is dedicated to his awe-inspiring (brow-lifting?) ability to transform into the characters he plays.

The Secret is Out – This is How Jack Nicholson Accomplishes it!

The Wolf with the birds?!

Check out some interesting info-bytes about Jack Nicholson and his movies at the following links.

• As Good as it Gets
• A Few Good Men (A Quote from the Movie)

News Flash – Calendars are Up!
Download Jack Nicholson’s Printable Calendar pdf here.
(Opens in New Window and includes a crisp print-quality image of this caricature.)

The Evolution of a Caricaturist – A Book on How to Draw Caricatures (a Google Knols Collection)

Dear Readers,

This post may be of interest to you if you want to learn how to create caricatures:–)

I aim to add at least one chapter a week to this book (more if possible,) and hope that you won’t just find it useful but also interesting to read. Find “The Evolution of a Caricaturist” at Google Knols. This short and sweet book will have about 15 chapters (did I hear you say, “Thank God!”), and I hope that it will help you start you on your way to becoming a Caricaturist Magician!

Your visit will be inspirational:) Feel free to drop me a line or post a comment here.

Smiles,

Shafali

Caricature/Cartoon – Morgan Freeman a.k.a Detective Alex Cross and… The Two Dueling Mosquitoes.

If you haven’t heard of Dr. Alex Cross, you aren’t a true fan of detective fiction. The celebrated oscar-winning Hollywood actor Morgan Freeman played his character in the films “Kiss the Girls” and “Along Came a Spider“. Both these movies were based on the Alex Cross novels by James Patterson. Among other Patterson Novels, detective Alex Cross features in “Jack and Jill“, “Violets are Blue“, and “The Big Bad Wolf“!

Will he spot them?

Note: Morgan Freeman won his academy award for his role in the film “Million Dollar Baby.”

News Flash – Calendars are Up!
Download Morgan Freeman’s Printable Calendar pdf here.
(Opens in New Window and includes a crisp print-quality image of this caricature.)

Caricature – Michelle Obama – The First Lady’s Smile & The Toothpaste Ad!

Spoiler Warning:

This isn’t that caricature of Michelle Obama, which was banned; and which was then removed from different sites, and for which Google had its ears pulled.

First Lady Michelle Obama’s smile dazzles humans and animals alike.

The Caricaturist’s Thoughts:

I believe in caricatures being a vehicle for spreading happiness – and it includes the person whose caricature I create. I would feel happy if the subjects of the caricatures looked at my drawings and smiled. Though caricature-creation is primarily an art-form that attempts to create humor at the expense of others, I feel that it shouldn’t hurt the sentiments of that very person whose celebrity status brought the caricature into existence. I know it isn’t easy, especially if you are a caricaturist:( But to try is human, and to fail too!

View the New First Lady Melania Trump’s Caricature here.

Cool Caricaturist – Ken Coogan

Dear Audience,

I would like to present the blog of Ken Coogan, who is great at drawing caricatures that are wonderfully life-like. He draws from life too (a skill that I respect a lot.)

His caricature of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is beautiful (and fresh off his desk, I believe.) As a fan of Sherlock Holmes, I’ll now be rummaging the web for a caricature of Mr. Holmes and his catalyst friend Dr. Watson…or…should I draw them?

Do visit Ken Coogan’s blog:) and wonder…what if people actually looked like their caricatures, instead of their caricatures looking like them!

I’ll soon be back with my own caricature-creation attempts!

Caricature – Barack Obama – What worries him? The Pups Know – Sasha, Malia, and Bo!

Click here to view the caricature of President Obama rejoicing upon winning his second term 🙂 (Posted on: November 09, 2012.)

 

The most powerful man in this world seems to have a lot on his mind.

What’s he thinking?

Think about it!

PS: Recapturing the illegible text in the callout.

“D’you know what’s on his mind? How’s that the most powerful man in this world is second to Sasha and Malia when it comes to managing Bo.”