Strangers and Pilgrims – A Book to Mend Broken Hearts – by Vivienne Tuffnell!

I’ve just finished reading Vivienne Tuffnell’s “Strangers & Pilgrims”, a 162 page book completed in five sittings, while I was in the middle of my bread-and-butter variety of work and shifting of the house!

It was sometime during last year that I chanced upon Viv’s blog. I think I must’ve searched for “life” or “philosophy” or some such term, in the wordpress search box, and I reached “Zen and the Art of Tightrope Walking”. If you are wondering why a caricaturist would make such searches – I should tell you that a caricaturist is someone who can see sunlight in the dead of the night! We, the caricaturists, are made of opposing forces – and this leads us into terrible mood-swings! I think that’s enough about me. Let me cut it short and just say that when I reached Viv’s blog, I felt calm. Mostly because I read in her posts, thoughts that were mine too.

So when she published her book, I wanted to read it – and when I read the book, I had to complete it! I’ve completed it:-) and I’ve also written a review. Here it is.

As we journey through life, we collect memories. Some of these memories cling to our thoughts with a ferocious tenacity – never allowing us a moment of clear, untainted happiness; and making us scream, “My heart is broken, and I am dying inside!”

Each of us has such secret heartaches that we can’t bring ourselves to share with anyone, and that stop us from being as happy as we’d want to be. When I read Vivienne Tuffnell’s “Strangers and Pilgrims,” I felt that I too was there – a pilgrim in the House of Wellspring! I read the book in five sittings. While it was difficult to stop reading; the book took it upon itself to make sure that it pulled me back into the story, whenever I had an hour to spare.

If you are trying to get over a pain, small or big, read this book…and even if you have one of the rare, unbreakable hearts, yet you love to read…the moments you spend reading this book will wrap you into a warm and comfortable embrace.

You can find this book at Amazon here and at Lulu.com here🙂 Visit Vivienne Tuffnell’s blog here.

As we journey through life, we collect memories. Some of these memories cling to our thoughts with a ferocious tenacity – never allowing us a moment of clear, untainted happiness; and making us scream, “My heart is broken, and I am dying inside!”

Each of us has such secret heartaches that we can’t bring ourselves to share with anyone, and that stop us from being as happy as we’d want to be. When I read Vivienne Tuffnell’s “Strangers and Pilgrims,” I felt that I too was there – a pilgrim in the House of Wellspring! I read the book in five sittings. While it was difficult to stop reading; the book took it upon itself to make sure that it pulled me back into the story, whenever I had an hour to spare.

If you are trying to get over a pain, small or big, read this book…and even if you have one of the rare, unbreakable hearts, yet you love to read…the moments you spend reading this book will wrap you into a warm and comfortable embrace.

A Personal Note, News, and A Huge Thank you!

Connecting with the regular visitors to this blog with some Personal News from the caricaturist’s rather untidy and disorganized desk…

1. After two weeks our Internet Service Provider finally caved in and allowed us a connection. I am now wired…again!
2. The George Clooney Caricature is ready. It shall be unveiled shortly. So remember to check again:)
3. My dog has been threatening to bite me if I don’t start to work on her project immediately – now that the shifting process is over (so she thinks!) I’ll shortly introduce the project at your own Caricature Blog as well.
4. I am adding the 6th Chapter to the book, “The Evolution of a Caricaturist,” this weekend. This chapter will discuss how we should draw the eyes while creating caricatures. The book has been performing rather well on Knol, and the chapters have totaled more than 1100 views in less than two months. I am happy with the overall feedback, but would love some more:) Feel free to add a comment/drop me a line at drawToSmile {at where else but} gmail.com!

I want to close this note with a BIG, HUGE, THANK YOU!

for visiting…

for leaving comments…

for writing to me…

for inspiring me…

for downloading the celebrity caricature calendars…

for clicking the images to view their bigger versions…

for not feeling bad upon not finding the bigger versions…

for occasionally using the caricatures from this blog on yours…

and finally…

for SPREADING THE SMILE!

I love you for being there and touching my life in so many ways! Be Happy and be Safe…ALWAYS!

A Portrait from History/Folklore – Queen Padmini

This is a deviation from the usual fare that this blog serves:)

The Beautiful Queen Padmini of Chittor and the wife of the Rajput King Ratansen, was driven to perform Jauhar (self-immolation) to save her honor from Alauddin Khilji, the creep who invaded Mewar,  in the beginning of the 13th century. The folklore says that Raghav Chetan, the musician who practiced black magic, set Khilji up to it. He sang the songs of Padmini’s beauty, and told him that if he hadn’t seen Padmini, he didn’t know what beauty was. After his repeated requests, Padmini allowed Khilji to see her only as a reflection in a mirror – but that reflection made Khilji lose his sanity – and he attacked Chittor – to win Padmini for himself…what he found upon his victory, however, were her ashes!

A Portrait from the Mists of Time - Queen Padmini of Chittor (Size: 18" x 22", Medium: Graphite Relief Work, Copyright 2004, All Rights Reserved.)

As the regular visitors would’ve observed, this post deviates from the established theme of this blog.  This deviation is temporary.  There’s no conscious reason behind this deviation. Probably the best I can do is lay the blame on some degree of nostalgia…and the fact that for me the exercise of moving the house always ends with this ride into the past.

(Note: This image falls outside the general permissions of reproducing the images that appear on this blog. )

Cool Caricaturist – Court Jones!

Court Jones’ Caricatures are bold and they push the boundaries of exaggeration beyond the edge of the cliff! He is a distortionist who manages to remain a caricaturist, making his creations swing between fun and ridicule!

Here are some links you should click to appreciate my eulogy.

1. Abraham Lincoln
2. Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal
3. Michael Jackson
4. Barack Obama
5. Sylvester Stallone

And the best of all is the verbal-visual caricature of Court Jones himself. While you are at this link, you can also browse through the list of his awards (it’s a long one!)

Find his gallery at: http://www.courtjones.com/my_sketchbook.html

Caricature/Cartoon – The Pierced, Tattooed, Dermal-Implanted, and Otherwise Modified Human’s Unique Selling Proposition!

This caricature was inspired by Mr. Don Mills’ blog, “The Problem with Young People today is…” and more specifically by his post, “God Damned Teenagers and Their Pierced Noses Make Me Crazy!”

I am Unique!

So, what all have you got pierced? Your ears? Your nose? Your upper lip? Your lower lip? Your tongue? Your eyebrows? Anything else of the unmentionable variety in the nether regions?

Primarily tribal in origin (lip piercing and stretching common in the African and American tribal culture/nose-piercing common among the Indian tribals/Septum piercing among the Aztecs, the Mayans…and so on and so forth,) Piercings and other kinds of body modification techniques are making a comeback…especially in the West.

The body piercing movement in the US gained ground in 1990s. According to Wikipedia, a survey in England too found that 10% of those above 16 had body piercings in places other than their ear lobes.

(Source: Wikipedia)

The most commonly cited reasons for piercings are: religious beliefs and self-expression. “I was born to look like everyone else – but I wanted to look different! Piercings, Tattoos, and even dermal implants make me unique!”

Fantastic! Unique, with a uniqueness quotient of 10%!

And Tattoos?

They are considered to be marks of status and religion. They are also thought to have magical properties. No Wonder about a third of the world population has had a tattoo of some kind.  Please take this information with a pinch of ink, because I’ve misplaced the source!

So here is an interesting fun fact about Piercings:

The Most Pierced Woman in the World is Elaine Davidson. As of Feb 2009, she had more than 6000 piercings, and lugs about 3 kilograms of jewelery, nicely distributed upon her person. She lives in Edinburgh, Scotland.  What we need to note is that in May 2000, she had 462 piercings, and this number ballooned to more than 6000 in the years that followed her discovery by the media.

Learn How to Draw Caricatures – Read “The Evolution of a Caricaturist” – Chapter 5 Up!

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.

The 5th Chapter of the book, “The Evolution of a Caricaturist” is up!

The keen readers of this book would be happy to know that with Chapter 5, we’ve taken our first concrete step towards becoming a caricaturist.  The first four chapters of this book focused on the essential preparatory concepts that helped you gear up for the real work ahead. “Chapter 5 – Caricaturizing the Shape of the Face” enables you to classify the shape of the human face into three main categories, and then explains two Exaggeration methods for each of the categories.

In “Chapter 3 – The Human Face – Observing it from the Caricaturist’s Perspective”,  we had discussed 10 such elements that make a human face unique.  In chapter 5 and other upcoming chapters, we will discuss and practice the methods of exaggerating each of these elements. By the time you reach the end of this book, you should’ve mastered the skill of identifying, classifying, and exaggerating human facial features in order to express humor and/or ridicule!

So, if you like to sketch, favorite this blog and also the knolbook, “The Evolution of a Caricaturist,” buy an un-ruled notebook, a few pencils, an eraser, and…if you wish, a false tattoo – and we’d be on our way!

Spread the Smile!

Caricature/Cartoon – Julia Roberts – The Pretty Woman’s Dazzling Smile helps the Rodent Household!

Of course, you’ve seen this smile before. But did you know that her dazzling smile could help Mr. and Mrs. Mouse get over their electricity woes.

Julia Roberts has many reasons to smile. She’s one of the prettiest women in the world, she was one of the best-paid actresses in Hollywood, she won an Academy Award (for her performance in Erin Brockovitch,) and in 2007 (according to Wikipedia) her estimated net worth was $140M. She also made to the list of the “50 Most Beautiful People” by People Magazine, 11(!) times, and 2001, Ladies Home Journal voted her the 11th most powerful woman in the world! All these reasons put together could make Hitler win the Best Smile contest – leave aside Ms. Roberts, who has a spontaneous smile:)

Here are my favorite Julia Roberts Movies:

• Pretty Woman (with Richard Gere.)
• Sleeping with the Enemy (with Patrick Burgin – the psycho husband.)
• The Pelican Brief (with Denzel Washington – The movie’s based on an extremely readable book by John Grisham – Do read it.)
• My Best Friend’s Wedding (with Dermot Mulroney, Cameron Diaz, and Rupert Everett.)
• Erin Brockovitch (with David Brisbin and Erin Brockovich-Ellis (Yes, the real Erin Brockovitch, who played the part of the waitress.) (Read the real Erin Brockovitch story. )

Julia Roberts’ smile is almost as famous as the MonaLisa smile…but do you really know her smile? Find out here.

Download the Printable Julia Roberts Hollywood Celebrities Calendar for 2010.

The Caricaturist – Behind-the-Scene, The Caricature Drawing Book, The Upcoming Celebrity Caricatures and Calendars, and Permission to Use Shafali’s Caricatures.

Dear Readers and Visitors,

Thanks for visiting:) Without visitors no blogger can remain charged – especially not the artistic kind! Your visits are the source of my motivation – your smiles inspire me to do better.

This is a personal post, so if you are looking for caricatures, feel free to skip this. The whole idea behind this post is to tell the serious followers of this blog about the behind-the-scene going-ons.

News – The Book – The Evolution of a Caricaturist!

Do you want the good news first or the bad?
Let’s look at it like this – if you know that all you can have is burnt bread and delicious cake, and if you have to eat both, which would you like to eat first?

Ah…I knew. So here’s the burnt bread!
Some of you know that I am writing a book and publishing it on Google Knol. I’ve already published four chapters, but due to some non-artistic back-breaking work on the personal front, I haven’t been able to publish the fifth chapter so far (I intended to add the chapters on a weekly-basis.)

Now the delicious, aromatic cake.
The good news is that the book is half-complete. I’ve written 9 chapters in my notebook! By the end of next week, you will be able to read two more chapters:-)

About the Celebrity Calendars…

I’ve already added the Celebrity Calendars and many of my dear readers have downloaded them – thanks! The Celeb-Calendars shall be added once a month.

About the Upcoming Caricatures…

George Clooney and Julia Roberts will be appearing on your favorite caricature blog very soon! Do return for your share of smiles:)

And…About the Permission to Use Shafali’s Caricatures:-)

I’d also like to re-state that unless specifically stated, all caricatures on this blog can be used by you for any non-commercial purpose. Let’s understand this –

You’ve got a blog/website and you feel that one of these caricatures could add value to your post – go ahead use it. Just don’t change the image or remove the copyright information given on the borders. This way it’s a win-win for both of us:-)

Spread the Smile!

Caricature/Cartoon – Pamela Anderson (Lee)…the Fish, and the Missing Fish-bowls.

These fish are confident that those aren’t “Pancho” and “Lefty”…or if they are, they are also their erstwhile homes!

They aren't Pancho and Lefty!

Pamela Anderson, the evergreen model, actress, and sex-symbol, was born Pamela Denise Anderson in 1967. Pamela’s popularity, among other things (most not known to me,) result from her incredible twin assets. In fact, while for most celebrities the caricaturists look for their characteristic facial features that they could exaggerate; with Pamela, ignoring her non-facial features would probably be an insult. But then, you can’t ignore her wild hair too.

Our newspaper brings along eight pages of gossip – and a recent, drab bit of such gossip says that these days Pamela is living in a trailer that’s parked in her own lawn, so that she doesn’t distract the renovators of her house and cause accidents!

Here are some other factoids about Pamela Anderson:

• She tried staying married to Tommy Lee. Some of their home-videos of the saucy kind escaped into the cyber-space.
• She appeared in the role of Casey Jean Parker in the Baywatch serial and helped save souls!
• In the 1990 Feb Issue of the Playboy magazine, Pamela appeared in the centerfold (having been chosen the Playmate of the Month.)
• After 14 years, she returned in nude on the cover of the Playboy magazine’s May 2004 issue. (Yes, I am not providing a link here – go, find it yourself:-)

After the Juicy Gossip…now something else!

• She’s a vegetarian.
• She’s an active member of PETA (Of course – who could be a better model for the “I’d Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur” campaign.)
• She also wrote to President Obama for the legalization of marijuana.
  (These factoids are credited to Wikipedia.)

Finally, she’s also one of the pioneers of cosmetic surgery. She’s done for this industry more than any other woman. But then, the fish can’t be wrong…can they? After all glass is silicon, and so are the implants!

(Short link for this post: http://wp.me/pJgyP-5G)

Download the Pamela Anderson and the Missing Fishbowls Hollywood Celebrities Calendar for 2010 here.

Lines of Attack: Conflicts in Caricature, Exhibition at Nasher Museum, Durham, NC – We want More Caricatures in our Newspapers!

Caricatures show us what isn’t obvious, by using visual and/or verbal exaggeration. Thus, they wake us up from our peaceful slumber by poking us with a funny wand.

Check out Edward Sorel’s caricature of the “Clods.”

Edward Sorel, "In Clods We Trust," 2007. Pen, ink and watercolor, 20 x 16 inches. Appeared in Rolling Stone, June 29, 2006.

Did you read the Newspaper this morning? If you didn’t, I recommend that you find it now, and go through it page by page. Don’t read anything. Just look. Do you see those pictures? Now classify them as photographs and illustrations. What’s the ratio of the two in your newspaper? I did the same exercise and discovered that the ratio was 42 to 3 or 14 to 1! Among the three illustrations, there was one “tree”, one “cartoon”, and only one “caricature.”

Now time-track back about a century and a half! Close your eyes and try to see the newspaper? What do you see? You see a lot of illustrations, cartoons, and caricatures. You see meanings being loaded into the faces and the bodies of the politicians – suddenly, you find yourself viewing an interpretation of an event – and not its snapshot! A caricature is not just the picture formed on your retina, it is the picture understood by the mind – and the newspapers in those days were full of caricatures and cartoons…hilarious, sarcastic, witty, biting, caustic, romantic…the newspapers then were more alive!

So meet President Bush and President Clinton in this caricature by Gary Varvel, and wonder how a photograph could’ve caught this caustic humor.

Gary Varvel, "Which Suit Most Offends Democrats?" 2003. India ink on drawing bristol, 11 by 7.5 inches. Appeared in The Indianapolis Star.

But this is my opinion…and I am a caricaturist! You form yours. If you are in or around Durham, NC, and you are inclined towards the visual arts, you’d be interested in the exhibition “Lines of Attack: Conflicts in Caricature”, which is currently on at the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University. It began on February 04, and will continue to May 16, 2010.

Even if you aren’t in the vicinity, do visit: http://www.nasher.duke.edu/exhibitions_caricature.php to initiate a new line of thought, and wonder whether we need to review the function of caricatures in the newspapers of today.

After all, all of us have our own reasons for everything, as this caricature of President Bush and an Iraq War Veteran by Rob Rogers, illustrates.

Rob Rogers, "Iraq Forced Me to Give Up Golf, Too," 2008. Ink on Grafix 32-L Unishade Board, 12 3/4 x 9 inches. Courtesy of Rob Rogers and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

With this I rest my case for MORE CARICATURES in the newspapers!

Important Note: The three images used in this post have been used with explicit permission from the Nasher Museum. If you’d like to use them, please contact the Nasher Museum for permissions. Thanks.

(PS: To Tweet this post, you may want to use the short url: http://wp.me/pJgyP-5t)

Caricatures – History, Origins…and Leonardo DaVinci

Caricatures – Two Cents from History:

This is the typical “Did you Know?” about caricatures.

1. Who drew the first caricatures?
2. What are the origins of the term Caricature?

Here are you answers:-)

1. Historically, the first caricatures are thought to have been drawn by Leonardo Da Vinci. He even sought out models with deformities to create his caricatures. (Source: A Brief History of Caricatures By Natalie Aranda .)
2. The term caricature could have two possible origins. The Italian term “Caricare”, which means “to load” or another Italian term “caricatura” that translates to “human forms drawn to resemble animals.” (Source: eZine Article “Caricatures By Jennifer Bailey.)

Interesting facts about Leonardo DaVinci:

Here are a couple of interesting facts about DaVinci 🙂

1. He was an engineer and among other things he also invented a military tank. When a military tank was made as per the specifications given in his drawings, it worked:-)
2. DaVinci wrote his notes in mirror writing. This helped him keep his inventions to himself because the king who he worked for wasn’t too keen on his wasting his time in inventing stuff, rather than working on the huge mural, which we know as “The Last Supper.” To expedite his work, DaVinci used egg-tempera as the base for his paints – this quickened his pace, but the mural suffered and began to decay within a few years of its completion.

Celebrity Calendars 2010 Unveiled!

You did want a copy of that caricature of Johnny Depp…didn’t you? Or did you want Nicole Kidman’s? Or…Bruce Willis’? Or…Jack Nicholson‘s?

I’ll tell you about my selection:-)
The Jack Nicholson calendar graces my pin-board in office and Bruce Willis and his woodpeckers smile down upon me at home:-)

If you want your favorite celebrity to make you smile through those tough moments at work, find him or her at Celebrity Calendars. Just click here, then select your favorite Hollywood Actor, Musician, Singer, or Sports Personality; and click their link to download their calendars. Feel free to distribute the prints – Spread the Smile!

These calendars are in pdf format with crisp images, so you’ll get lovely prints:) For added beauty, use a lightly colored paper.

This list is growing:-) so you may want to check every week to see whether your favorite celebrity calendar has been added.

The next on my Caricature hit list is none other than the Eyeball-Magnet, Ms. Pamela Anderson! Do return for your share of smiles:-)

Caricature/Cartoon – Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft – The Tomb Raider

Lara Croft’s Guns!

Oops...but can't let them know!

Angelina Jolie, who comes from a family of actors, is a Hollywood actress who has won an Oscar and three Golden Globe Awards. Angelina won the hearts of her international audience through the Tomb Raider series of movies, where she played the role of Lara Croft, the female action hero of the Role-playing Game “Tomb Raider.” I think that Angelina’s features, which are beautiful while they are strong; ensure that she’s able to “become” any character she plays onscreen.

In Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Angelina Jolie starred opposite Brad Pitt, her current partner. From Johnny Lee Miller (Hackers), to Billy Bob Thornton (Pushing Tin), to Brad Pitt (Mr. & Mrs. Smith) – Angelina’s talent of finding her life partners through her work, shines through.

(Wow! She WAS married to Billy Bob “Thorn”ton…A Rose with a “Thorn”?)

That the “Smiths” aren’t married has been confirmed by none other than Dewey Dewster, who says, “Brad would have been her third but they have not married…..’n that makes a break-up a bit easier on everyone but the kids.” – Thanks Dewey:-)

The Brangelina breakup that we talked about in the post about Brad Pitt’s Caricature…could it be an outcome of Angelina working in yet another movie with another co-star who takes her breath away?

This isn’t going in the right direction, especially as Dewey has asked me to be kind to her. I quote Dewey once again- “Since it sounds like ya aren’t real thrilled with Angelina…..we can’t wait ta see what yer rendition of her will be……just remember ta be a bit kind.”

2001 onwards, Jolie has been involved in a great deal of humanitarian work, and it’s really nice of her – I agree. There are many out there who can share but who don’t…she’s someone who does, and we love her for that.

Well, that’s all about the Gun-toting Tomb Raider, who helps people in distress while managing her apparently turbulent life quite dexterously. About her being a highbrow, isn’t she?

Return my dear reader, for there’s something coming up again – soon! And yes, if you are here, leave a comment – what’s your take on the Brangelina Rumor?

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