Pen and Ink Caricatured Portrait of Joaquin Phoenix as The Joker.

I had wanted to do this caricature of Joaquin Phoenix as The Joker for the last ten days – ever since I watched the movie.

Joaquin Phoenix: The Joker – Pen and Ink of Strathmore 9″x12″ Acid Free Art paper.

As you can see, I’ve added a couple of things here – one is the thoughtful posture (aided by a gloved hand,) and a cartoon jester/joker – the Joker’s alter-ego. The cartoon jester is the one with whom The Joker shares his plans and ideas – he is the one who is forever happy and playful – and while The Joker must plan his crimes, the cartoon jester is only a sounding board for his ideas.

About The Jokers of the Bat Man movies

We’ve seen four Jokers (if we discount the animated one in the Killing Joke,) played by Jack Nicholson (Batman,) Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight,) Jared Leto (Suicide Squad,) and now Joaquin Phoenix (The Joker.)

Note: Never did Heath Ledger’s portrait/caricature but I might do one now. However, here’s a Jack Nicholson caricature i did years ago.

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

My personal favorite still is Heath Ledger’s rendition of the Joker, but recently I happened to watch Joaquin Phoenix in The Joker – and now I find it difficult to choose.

My Mental Image of the Joker before The Joker

I had always thought of The Joker as a comic book villain, who liked killing people and playing (death) games with Batman. I have imagined Joker as someone who had a grouse against Batman, who was clearly his antithesis in every possible way.

• Batman grew up rich, the Joker didn’t.
• Batman is sane, the Joker has mental issues.
• Batman is handsome, the Joker is not.
• Batman fights to save the innocent, the Joker lives to kill the innocents.

So, Joker = !Batman

Why I Liked The Joker Movie (Even though it drained me.)

It was interesting (though draining) to watch The Joker (2019.) For one, it breaks the stereotype of forever-right – however-wronged women. I’m fedup of women being painted as saints and fairies who never do wrong, never lie, never cheat, never fool men – and who are always the exploited and never the exploiter. Though presented meekly (under the garb of mental illness,) The Jokers shows us a manipulative woman as Joker’s mother. I think that this itself was an act of courage on the part of the creators.

What I loved about the Joker in The Joker movie

The other thing that I loved about Joker (2019) is just the opposite of what I loved about Heath Ledger’s Joker, which was his supreme, almost ridiculous caricaturization of his character. Heath Ledger’s  joker fascinated me everything – his dress, his slurping and touching his facial deformations with his tongue, his walk, his intense look.

Joaquin Phoenix, on the other hand, mesmerized me by the intensity of his performance. He was real. He felt it all – and then he transferred all those horrific feelings to the viewers.

Advertisement

Hello 2019!

With 2018 having turned out the way it did, “Hello 2019” appears to be a pretty optimistic greeting, so if your brows are arching up in inquiry, do desist 🙂

Anyway, the long and short of 2018 was that I ended up with a few interesting commissions and managed to submit one of my science-fiction novellas to a humongous slush-pile that has only reduced to half its original size in the last six months. This obviously means that 2019 begins with piles of undone stuff and miles that must be run before I can catch up.

Like any logical and organized mind, when faced with such challenges, my mind too powers up and starts sorting, sequencing, prioritizing, and scheduling tasks, and this blog appears in block-capitals on my to-do list. This year, on the caricaturing/cartooning front, I hope to accomplish the following two things.

1. Make at least one post a week.
2. Complete the cartooning book and self-publish on Amazon.

I need to do some fiction writing (a science-fiction novella awaits completion, a fantasy novella awaits its transformation into a novel…and so on,) and come up with a couple of important training programs. This should keep me occupied during 2019, and if I can accomplish it all, mark me down as a true ocean-dweller from Atlantis.

Oh, and Atlantis…reminds me of Aquaman, a movie I watched recently. I loved the imagery, the visualization, the rendering of the water-effects, the forever young Nicole Kidman with her cute little nose that refuses to get any bigger with age…

 

Looks aren’t everything…especially with the Bloodhounds!

I loved everything about it, except its flat storyline and flatter hero – whose name I can’t remember (but with Google’s help I did. He is Jason Momoa.) I know he played the role of Khal Drogo in the Game of Thrones series, but that is all that I remember of him. He fits the desert, he’d probably fit the swamps, but not the clean blue-green waters of Atlantis.

No.

Rethinking, reflecting…

Still no.

But yes, Game of Thrones reminds me of another gentleman, who I once sketched because he is one of the most interesting characters in the series –Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister. (IMHO.)

Knowledge and Cunning are my most lethal weapons!

My three renderings of Morgan Freeman – A Caricature, a Quick Digital Painting, and a Pen Portrait.

Artists thrive on the emotions that swing from one extreme to another – and more often than not find themselves holding the short end of the stick. I can’t say for sure if that was the case with Morgan Freeman, when he got embroiled in the #Metoo controversy, but there’s a distinct possibility that he allowed the actor in him to get the better of him.

Honestly, I’m a fan of Morgan Freeman. I love his expressive face, his deep bass voice, and most of all, his ability to remain himself while becoming his character. I don’t know how he does it all.

Anyway, to cut a long story short…

Let me share the three drawings/paintings of Freeman I did.

As the caricature of Alex Cross (2009)

Will he spot them?

 

As a quick less-than-an-hour painting by a distraught artist

Morgan Freeman – 8″x11″

As a more detailed pen and ink drawing done from a photograph

As you can see, the first drawing is a caricature that exaggerates his nose, which is his most characteristic feature, and it also plays with the deviations. (For a detailed study of how you can make caricatures, please check out “Evolution of a Caricaturist – How to Make Caricatures.”)

The second artwork is painted digitally and my focus was on capturing the lights and the shadows. My aim was to paint it within an hour, and so I began with laying blobs of digital paint to define the form and then just painted in the main features.

The third drawing was done more meticulously. First, I made a pen sketch. Then I scanned it and did the light color sketching in Photoshop.

For the philosophically inclined, I wrote a post yesterday 🙂 Morgan Freeman – In the Eye of the #MeToo storm.

I also want to thank everyone who responded to my previous post despite my inordinately long absence from the virtual world. You guys are swell. THANK YOU!

Toonsie Roll – The Intuitive Caricature Maker App for Everyone’s iPhone and iPad…

is now on the App Store. Download it at: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/toonsie-roll-make-caricatures/id921958679?ls=1&mt=8

Toonsie Roll – Toon ’em All!

Now you can caricature everyone in a nice, easy, and fun way! All the caricatures that you see in the following image have been created from scratch to finish in Toonsie Roll…just using observation, intuition, and tapping! If you like the app, leave a rating…and tell me if you’d like a FB page for Toonsie Roll to share your creations.

 

And to discover how easy it is to caricature using Toonsie Roll, check out my previous post “How to Create Cool Caricatures using the Toonsie Roll App.”

Now I should get back to sculpting some caricatures in a mountain…more on Toonsie Roll later.

 

Caricatures Gallery Update: Political, Business, Sports, Hollywood, Television, and Fiction.

This Gallery Update was pending for some time, and while I still haven’t been able to put together the icons for my graphite and pen-ink artworks, I got the icons of the painted artworks together to update the gallery.

I am reproducing the updated part of the gallery here – just in case, you are a kindred (read: lazy) soul.

Mike Ross – Asa Hutchinson TBP Arkansas	Jeff Bezos CEO – Amazon	Jimmy Fallon Host – The Tonight Show
Selena Gomez Singer/Actor	Malcolm Gladwell Author: The Tipping Point	Serena Williams Tennis Star
Pat & Babs Characters in a Novel	Mark Pryor vs. Tom Cotton TBP – Arkansas	Gandalf the Grey Lord of the Rings

I’d love to mention how the post that I did on Nude Celebrity Pictures has been getting all the attention. I think a new caricature genre with nudes as its central theme could become quite popular, only if someone had the talent and the will to pursue it. The fact that I am sharing this priceless idea so openly with you, must tell you that I’ve decided that my caricatures stay clothed and dignified.

Before I make this post, I’ve got to ask you something? Do you want to make caricatures? (Note that I am not asking you whether you’d like to draw caricatures.) Click the following sticker to find out more about my caricaturing app “Toonsie Roll”, which is going to be in the App Store soon 🙂

That’s all for now 🙂

Hacked Nude Celebrity Photos are more Viral than Ebola says CBS.

There’s no denying that Ebola‘s accelerating spread is a huge concern for humanity, and yet, there’s another virus in the air, one that’s been multiplying at a rate that is exponentially greater than that of Ebola. It’s called the Celebrity Nudes Virus (CNV).

According to CBS*,

The Celebrity Nudes Virus has by now spread to all the countries of the world, and the number of people infected by this virus doubles every hour. Accordingly to statistics that have been laboriously collected, classified and sifted, every man infected by this virus can potentially infect 6 others, in a matter of seconds. It has also been reported that 5 out of 6 people who get infected, are males.

Symptoms of the Celebrity Nudes Viral (CNV) Infection include:

1. Lolling tongues and galloping heartbeats.
2. A strong tendency to find isolated spots.
3. A strong tendency to look over the shoulder while checking emails.
4. Heightened creativity resulting in Celebrity Nudes Search words.
5. Shortened attention-spans.
6. A heartfelt feeling of gratitude for the man who started it all, affectionately called the hacker.

The man who unleashed this virus on the Internet claims that he did it for money. And yet, the poor devil, the man with a zillion dreams of a billion dollars got a measly $120 for his labors…and if we should believe him…for his investment.

This man, who CBS* has nicknamed “Father of the Celeb-nude Virus” has hacked into the iCloud accounts of 100 celebrities, including Rihanna, Kristen Dunst, and Selena Gomez, and despite the financial setback, he has no intentions of stopping. “The FBI,” he says, “is a minor inconvenience.”

Search Strings that are being used to find those Hacked Celebrity Nudes.

Following are some of the search-strings that the infected group of people have so creatively come up with.

• where are the hacked nude pictures on the web
• icloud nude celeb images posted
• stolen nude celebrity pics
• view stolen celebrity icloud photos online
• nude celebrity photos stolen online
• posted stolen celeb photos
• hacked nude celebrity pictures
• hacked cloud accounts nude pictures
• i want to see icloud hacked nude pic 2014
• leaked 100 celebrities nude  images on internet
• and so on…
• and so forth!

Search terms such as these abound, despite the celebrities issuing statements on moral grounds. They’ve been condemning people who view these leaked pictures as participating thieves, because they are viewing stolen goods. CBS* spokeswoman Shafali says:

“I understand their concern. Hacking nude celebrity pictures is akin to plagiarism in the art/literary circles. The person who created the content must be fairly compensated for its use. Now that those nudes are already out there, nobody is going to want to pay to view them – so what could’ve been on the front-page of Rolling Stone or GQ and would’ve justly made the celebs and their retinues some moolah, has now resulted in $1.20 per celeb for the hacker. It’s terribly unfair to the celebrities, I suppose; but what hurts me more, is the erosion of  the value of those pictures, which in fact, is also an insult to the celebrities in question.”

Most celebrities aren’t ticked off because their nudes went online – they’d love to have those pictures on the covers or the center-spreads of magazines. Just click the following link to view some nude celebrity pictures that have been shared with totally value-driven willingness, and hence puts the viewer on the right side of the ethics debate. In fact, the latest celeb to go nude for GQ is Kim Kardashian!

Miley Cyrus on Rolling Stones, Jake and Anne on Entertainment Weekly,Katy Perry on Esquire, Kim Kardashian on W, Johnny Depp on GQ (well, not exactly, but the link has him on.

The Online Media Chooses: Celebrity Nudes Virus vs. Ebola – A Google Search Infographic.

(No prizes for guessing the right answer.)

The Celebrity Nudes Virus is indubitably more contagious of the two viruses. Even Google works faster to find Celeb Nude Photos than it does to find pages that talk about Ebola. Please check the encircled statistics.

I rest my case.

In another, unrelated, unsourced news byte, CBS* has come under heavy criticism for attempting to milk the celebrity nudes scandal for their blog. The CBS spokeswoman made the following statement:

“We are in the business of creating caricatures and exaggerating deviations. We believe that the ridiculousness of the celebrity nude pictures hacking scandal has to be recorded for posterity. We are just a tiny spoke, a small blog in the scandal-mongering hinterlands of the World Wide Web. We believe that we are doing the right thing.”

CBS*: Caricatures by Shafali

Caricature – Cartoon Jimmy Fallon: Host of the Tonight Show on NBC

Today Jimmy Fallon is one of the most recognized faces in America. He’s the guy who slipped into the flip-flops that Jay Leno left behind and captained the ship of the Tonight Show with equal ease and finesse.

Here’s the Jimmy Fallon caricature that I painted.

Fallon debuted as the Tonight Show host in February 2014. Before  The Tonight Show, he had been hosting Late Night with Jimmy Fallon for almost six years. The good news is that The Tonight Show is doing better with Fallon than it was doing with Leno. The ratings of The Tonight Show among adults are up by 34%. 

Jimmy Kimmel‘s show Jimmy Kimmel Live (telecast by ABC) is Fallon’s closest competitor. As the number enthusiasts closely watch the Jimmy vs. Jimmy ratings match, the gentleman on my blog appears to be the winner 🙂

A Few interesting facts about Jimmy Fallon:

• Jimmy won an Emmy in 2010 for Outstanding Creative Achievement in Interactive Media for “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.”
• When he was growing up, he was voted “Most Likely to Replace David Letterman.”
• In 2002, Jimmy was named one of People magazine’s 50 Most Beautiful People.
• One of his first inspirations came from a troll-doll he was gifted with (a 2016 DreamWorks movie is expected about troll-dolls.)
• He’s got a golden retriever called Gary Frick who is one of his two kids. The other is a human daughter.
• Jimmy Fallon takes home about 12 Million Dollars for the Tonight show.

Ladies and Gentlemen, that would all for now.

Stay tuned for more caricatures – and Draw to Smile and Beat the Blues.

Caricature/Portrait of Selena Gomez – The Poster: Come and Get it while the Stars Dance.

This caricature of Selena Gomez is one of my recent creations. It’s part of a poster collection that I am working on.

Selena Gomez’s Caricature:

Actual Size: 12 inches by 18 inches.

 

5 Steps to Painting Caricatures and Portraits:

Digital painting is quite like oil-painting or color-pencil painting (an odd term to use but when you look at the stuff artists create with color-pencils, painting is the only term that really does justice to the magnificent works they produce.)

So what do I mean when I say Digital Painting is like any other painting?

Simply speaking…

1. Begin with a rough sketch that gives you the outlines.
2. Block in the basic colors-shades – the darks and the lights, paint in the background to get your edges clean and sharp.
3. Mix the colors so that you don’t see them as patches.
4. Detail the features (in the case of portrait/caricature painting.)
5. Finish by adding the highlights.

There was a time when I fretted about brushes – which to use for which purpose; but then decided that it was too confusing and so I now paint the whole image with one brush – it’s a natural brush that ships with Photoshop – and I just change the brush-sizes, which is pretty easy to do if you paint in Photoshop. If you use a tablet, program your strip to “[” for reducing the size and “]” for increasing it; or just push the corresponding keys on the keyboard.

Selena’s Caricature – A Recap of the Process:

Here are three important stages of Selena’s Caricature.

The Sketch:

I begin with a sketch. I always do; and that’s how I think it should be done – mainly because a sketch allows you to fix the important mistakes before you carry them over in the final work. It’s about risking 15 minutes of work vis-a-vis risking a couple of days worth of effort, so the decision is actually a no-brainer.

The sketch stage is where I stretch and squeeze her features to make her face look funny. I am not a distortionist, which means I exaggerate only to increase the funniness quotient of the image. In my opinion, a caricaturist must not just exaggerate certain features of a face, but to also exaggerate the main element of the subject’s personality. A strong man should look stronger, a haughty person, haughtier; a shabby person should look shabbier, and a cute woman, cuter. The last bit applies to Selena’s caricature. (“Evolution of a Caricaturist – How to Draw Caricatures” explains how a person’s features impact the overall impression cast by the person. The book also discusses Neoteny (that specific quality of the facial features that helps them make a face look child-like,) and describes how a feature must be exaggerated to enhance/reduce neoteny.)

Her hair, especially her ponytail in this image, makes her look cuter…or in other words, younger and childlike. Caricaturing her ponytail made sense to me, as she’s an icon for kids. Her eyes are rather small. Small eyes aren’t considered beautiful on a grownup woman’s face, but they do their part in making her look younger. When I did this caricature-portrait, I was asked why I didn’t caricature her frontal assets more. It’s almost a habit among caricaturists to make their women subjects look exceptionally well-endowed – frontally as well as dorsally. (I plead guilty of doing it once – but the subject was Pamela Anderson, whose silicon-enhanced, almost spherical assets have been the subject of much speculation and mirth. I only did it because it was Ms. Pamela Anderson, and her Pancho and Lefty really deserved to be noted.) In the case of Selena, such exaggeration would destroy the young and innocent look that I was trying to achieve.

As you can see, the sketch is fairly basic. In fact, it was done right there in Photoshop…and it didn’t take a lot of time. Until a couple of years ago, I used to sketch on paper, then scan the sketch and import it into Photoshop. I did this for years…but in the recent years, I’ve found myself doing a lot of my base-sketches (that I use as a base for painting) in Photoshop. It’s cleaner and quicker (changes can be made easily and you don’t need to waste your time scanning the sketches in)…so while I still draw a lot on paper, especially when the final artwork has to be done by hand; for my digital paintings, I now prefer a digital sketch.

The Intermediate:

The intermediate image that you see here, presents the color-coding. I’ve added the colors to the image and have tried to ensure that the light and dark colors are put where they belong. At this point, I am still focused on the face (neck-below it’s still an almost solid expanse.) The brush size is rather large and you can see the paint-strokes clearly. The eyes are almost done (I always sketch and paint the eyes first.) I chose a light background (specifically the sky/emerald blue combination) because it further reinforces the child/girl factor in the artwork. The sequined dress that she would wear in the final image, can merely be seen as a shadow in this image. At this point, I was struggling with the idea of leaving the dress out – too much of work, I thought. But then I caved in to the desire of making her look like a princess.

The Final:

The final image was the result of a lot of work and ended with my right wrist refusing to bend – it had been in the same position for almost the entire duration of the painting process – poised on the keyboard, helping me use the shortcuts. I am sure that art-schools have a special class on how to avoid the carpal tunnel syndrome.

I really don’t have a lot to say for the final look – except that the hair took a lot of time, so did the dress (on a different note – why women wear terrible dresses with bells and shells sewn on them?) I added finishing touches to the eyes, the nose, the teeth, the neck too…but that was the easier part. As you can see…the sketch makes her look a lot younger, but after I watched her recent video, I thought that it would be a good idea to introduce a little maturity to the face (slight squaring of the jaw-line and the slightly naughty look in her eyes.) Finally, my reviewer OKed it and signed the proverbial release form.

Here’s a closeup of the eyes:

About Selena Gomez – The Actor/Singer who’s won the hearts of millions:

Here’s a shorter version of an already short biography of a very young Selena Gomez.

The actor-singer was born in 1992 in Texas, and she did her first role in Barney and Friends, a television serial, when she was just ten. Her first film was Spy Kids 3D: Gameover in which she did a cameo. She also appeared as Mikayla in three episodes of Disney’s serial Hannah Montana, but her real success came from her role in Wizards of Waverly Place, after which she was also compared with the now incomparable Miley Cyrus.

Somewhere around 2009, Gomez began focusing on music in which she got her first major success in 2010 with the song “Tell me Something I don’t know.” The last four years have been a very busy time for Selena.

On the Personal Front:
Selena Gomez’s dad was a Mexican. While the details of her arrival in the US evade me, she has herself confessed of her fears and wondered what would’ve become of her, if she had remained in Mexico. (It made me wonder too…) Her dad had left her mom and her mom struggled to meet the expenses of the household. (I’ve repeated this story so often that I now wonder if there are many in Hollywood who come from a two-parent family.)

Random Bits:

• Selena considers Bruno Mars as her idol.
• In 2008, she was named the UNICEF’s spokesperson for a UNICEF campaign for kids.
• She is in a relationship with Justin Bieber…but then what does that red rose from Tommy Chiabra signify?

Currently…
Her Solo Debut Album “Stars Dance” has been doing well. Her single “Come and Get it,” became a top 10 hit and this is why I thought that the poster must mention it.

Caricature/Cartoon – Liam Neeson – The Profile of a Superb Actor.

Liam Neeson has a striking face with the most hypnotic deep-set eyes I’ve ever seen. I think his eyes must have hypnotized me into drawing this caricature.

For the very few who do not recognize this fabulous actor, here’s a quick biographical sketch.

About Liam Neeson:

Neeson is an Irish actor who was born in Ireland (in 1952) and who finally made his way across the Atlantic and the vast expanse of the North American continent to arrive in Hollywood 35 years later. He almost won the Best Actor Oscar for his role of Oskar Schindler in Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List (Tom Hanks wrested it from him for his role in Philadelphia…another awesome movie with an absolutely riveting performance by Hanks.)

Known for his gripping performances in movies such as Schindler’s List, Kinsey, and Taken, Neeson caught this caricaturist’s eye in his role of John Ottway in The Grey, and then more recently in Kingdom of Heaven (he isn’t the main protagonist in this movie – Orlando Bloom is; yet he plays an important role.)

Learning from this Caricature…

Why the Profile?

One of the reasons, of course, is that he is most recognizable in his profile. His eyes are deep-set but to realize how much, you need to look at his profile. The root of his nose doesn’t connect with the forehead in the usual depression seen in most other faces, and this deviation is a lot more pronounced in his face because he has a very strong brow ridge. All in all, he has a very unique face and its important deviations are more pronounced in the profile. (I’ve discussed the selection of the important deviations in “Evolution of a Caricaturist.” If you have the book, check out the chapters “Caricaturing the Brow and the Brow-ridge” and “Caricaturing the Nose.”)

PS: I am just wrapping up an App-design assignment so the newsletter will be going out soon 🙂 Thanks for subscribing. (If you haven’t subscribed yet, click here.)

Color Caricature of Tom Hanks – as Captain Phillips becomes a box-office hero!

Tom Hanks is one of the finest actors of Hollywood and when the caricaturist heard about his fabulous performance in the movie Captain Phillips, she just had to paint him.

It’s true that I didn’t like him as Robert Langdon in Angels and Demons, and it’s also true that he looks a lot older than the actual Captain Phillips; but we can’t fault him with that, can we? He doesn’t get his wrinkles pulled and pushed, and he looks his age, which is just fine. He isn’t a woman who is compelled to look ten years younger all her life. He is a man, and men have the right to look their age.

With that, I put a lid on this discussion that reeks of gender-bias; and btw, gender-bias has nothing to do with Captain Phillips, Alabama (the Maersk ship – the location where the hijacking drama played out,) or the Pirates of Somalia. (Come to think of it – neither the crew nor the pirates had women among them!)

Here’s a slightly younger Tom Hanks looking somewhat professorial and Langdonish.

Tom Hanks, Robert Langdon, Captain Phillips…all in one!

I’ll keep this post short and not burden you with the details of how I painted this caricature. I’m going to be slightly busy the coming week (Yes, I’ve been invited to Atlantis once again! Don’t let jealousy tear you apart, my friend. I AM the chosen one.)

If you want to see how Tom Hanks looks in black and white, check out this link.

Black-and-White Caricatures – All dressed up for the pageant.

Folks,

This caricaturist has found a new toy called “Gallery”. Here is a collection of some of my favorite black and white caricatures done over the past few years.

Caption in reference to her recent tweet (May 16, 2013) about the IRS Raid on the Tea Party office.

Pen and Ink Drawing – Actual Size: 7 inches by 9 inches.

Merkel and Hollande try to tame the dragon

Congratulations for 100 100s!

Copyrighted Image. Don’t use without permission. For licensing the caricature, you are welcome to send me an email.

Caricature – President of Iran – Mahmoud Ahmadinejad – copyrighted image – For permission to use/licensing, please contact.

Amitabh Bachchan – During his “Angry Young Man” Days!

I wonder why I wrote and sang “Imagine No Possessions”?

I’ll martyr Libya. (What did I say? Oh…I meant I’ll die a martyr for Libya!)

Illustrated for The Suit Magazine – Issue 43 (Copyrighted Image – Please don’t use without Permission.)

This is all for now 🙂 I hope you like them.

Have a Great Day!

– Shafali

Half Million Views bring a Color Caricature of Captain Sparrow a.k.a Johnny Depp to this blog!

Sometime today, my blog shall cross the 500,000 views mark. I don’t think it has changed anything for me. I still got up the same side of bed, did the usual chores, had my usual breakfast…nothing really changed. Yet, in the cyber world it’s customary to celebrate such milestones. While I’m not a traditional person (if I were, I won’t be an artist, would I?) I don’t mind celebrating this specific event, especially because I have just the right caricature to celebrate it.

My first caricature on this blog was of Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean. It was a Black-and-White caricature (as most of my caricatures were in those days,) and I think that it got its share of attention. Fortunately for me, it was one of the caricatures that I painted for my recent assignment.

So here he is – Captain Sparrow and his two little mice – they look rather fetching in color, don’t they?

Actual Print Size of the Image: 12 inches x 12 inches at 300 dpi.

If you want to check out the black-and-white version, here it is:

Where is the cheese…Captain Sparrow?

Painting Johnny Depp’s Caricature – Deviations from the Earlier Drawing:

You go first 🙂 What are the differences?

Ok. I am naive. I don’t know how to create those polls. But the point is: I changed a lot of things as I painted Captain Sparrow’s Caricature.

The call-outs were thrown out because they would take the viewer’s attention away from his face, which I obviously wouldn’t like. I added some details to his lone earring, because it looked too plain, and I added that scar on his cheekbone because I had missed it earlier. I added those locks of hair on the left because I thought that the earlier caricature looked too symmetrical. Caricatures look funnier when they aren’t symmetrical. (Do you know that facial symmetry is one of the most important parameters of beauty in humans. According to Reader’s Digest, Denzel Washington is supposed to have the most symmetrical face among men, and he indeed is (was?) handsome.) Johnny Depp is another actor who whose face is considered to be extremely symmetrical.

Note the lock of the hair on the left balances his earring on the right, and yet, both help introduce funniness into the caricature. I kept the mice because they just blend into the character of Captain Sparrow. The butterfly ornament now has colored gemstones (they remind us of his gait and his feminine mannerisms.)

More in my next post 🙂

Neanderthal Man Outclassed while Gaddafi and Hitler enter an Art Competition!

Some more search terms that brought people here…and my favorite is…”Neanderthal Man realizes that he’s outclassed by Homosapien Man”!

Search Term 1: Types of Artists

There are 4 Types of Artists – Starving, Dying, Dead, and Rich. If you don’t believe me, read this book. If you belong in the first three-categories, will you or your ghost be kind enough to leave a review? I believe the fourth kinds would have neither the time nor the motivation to read it 🙂

Click to download in a format of your choice.

 

Search Term 2: Wire Fox Terriers with Adolf Hitler

Until today, I didn’t know if WFTs ever favored Hitler. If I were a WFT, I’d have bitten his head off. The Alsatians never had a chance because they were bred by those Nazi jokers. But then, what did I know – until this search made me wiser. Hitler did have a white WFT and his name was Fuchs. His mistress eva braun had a couple of Scottish Terriers – but the lady was no dog-lover, so I wonder whether those terriers were more of a style statement.

 

Search Term 3: I am depressed and lonely

Ah well. In these times of Internet and Social Networking, who isn’t? I mean I am depressed and my dog is lonely. I am depressed because I don’t have enough FB friends, Twitter Followers, Blog Followers etc. and my dog is lonely because I spend hours on Internet – the time that I should be spending with her.

Loneliness is the state of feeling sad or deserted due to isolation.

I squarely blame my environment for making me depressed and lonely.

Search Term 4: Freudian Slip Caricature

 

I know what you are thinking.

I’d love to sketch a Freudian slip, preferably with a lady inside. You know that it would have two holes you know where. What? You don’t believe me, do you? You are reading the blog of a caricaturist – so what do you expect? Academic brilliance combined with Journalistic Integrity? Forget it, my friend. To me, a Freudian Slip will remain a slip with two strategically placed holes.

Search Term 5: Caricature of Edward Newton

Edward Norton?

No?

Isaac Newton?

No?

Then you must be looking for this gentleman. Sorry – never thought to caricature him.

Search Term 6: Neanderthal Man realizes that he’s outclassed by Homosapien Man

I loved this search. “Outclassed?!” Imagine two classy guys – a Neanderthal and a Homosapien doing all the classy things that men do – stuff like asset-evaluation, what-o-graphy, playing golf, dining out, finding a trophy wife (of the Neanderthal variety) – etc., and the Neanderthal thinking, “Hey! how come his stuff’s classier than mine?”

 

Search Term 7: Robert Langdon gay

I didn’t think he was, until they found Tom Hanks for the role. Now, I don’t know.

 

Search Term 8: Gaddafi Caricature Hitler

Hitler was an artist, but he couldn’t have made Gaddafi’s caricature because he was “apparently” dead before Mr. Gaddafi arrived on the scene. I think that my dear searcher was looking for Hitler’s caricature by Gaddafi instead…and ended up finding both the caricatures by Shafali. Tsk…tsk. It’s becoming more and more difficult to find the real thing.

 

Search Term 9:Raised eyebrow sketch 

Just that?

 

Search Term 10: 1 Minute Caricatures

1. I don’t think they are going to be very good ones. If someone’s asked you to do live-caricatures @1 per minute, he must’ve escaped from 1. A Zoo, 2. An Asylum, 3. Guantanamo bay – so the best course of action for you is to disappear!

 

Search Term 11: shefali.wordprase.com

Nah. Doesn’t return any result – so how did this search get to my blog. Internet appears to be smarter than we think it is 🙂

Caricature/Cartoon – Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter – the Perfect Cannibal.

Cannibalism evokes in us a morbid curiosity about what could make a person eat another. It throws us into the dark alleys of a pervert’s mind, a strange and mysterious place that we don’t understand, and that makes us feel ashamed of not wanting to leave. We are drawn in – enthralled in the sticky tentacles and the poisonous fangs of a mysterious evil.

Hannibal Lecter – the Cannibal who riveted us through his checkered personality in The Silence of the Lambs has always given me a slip, until now. I would still say that Anthony Hopkins cannot be caricatured to look ridiculous. You can caricature him to look scary and even evil, but making him look ridiculous, is almost impossible. I prefer my caricatures to bring mirth through mild ridicule – I don’t like to make them ugly, gory, dark, or evil. While I try to stay true to the basic premise of caricaturing, which is – exaggerate the prominent…I’d rather not exaggerate moles and black-heads, or stained teeth, or even the evil, blood-curdling look that turns the suave Anthony Hopkins into a slick and nasty Cannibal called Hannibal.

Ladies and Gentlemen, with all humility, I present Anthony Hopkins in his most memorable role of Hannibal Lecter, feasting upon a freshly fried brain.

 

I think there’s a bit of superimposition of personalities in the caption – I’d like to believe that the right-brained are more interesting than the left-brained and so Mr. Lecter must find the brain of the right-brainers tastier. Something that only he can confirm, and I have a feeling that he doesn’t read my blog.

About Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins

He was born on the New Year’s Eve of 1938, in Wales. Baby Hopkins wasn’t really the brightest kid in the class (the traditional education system doesn’t love the right-brained.) The boy preferred to draw and play music, which obviously aren’t traits that mark the bright kids of the world. He discovered his love for acting when he was a teenager and promptly decided to do the right thing, which is enroll himself at a college of Dance and Drama. Hopkins is a believer and he denounces atheism. He won his Oscar for his role of Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs.

About Hannibal Lecter

Hannibal Lecter was first unleashed on the world in 1981, when Thomas Harris wrote his novel “Red Dragon”. The four novel series, “Red Dragon,” “The Silence of the Lambs,” “Hannibal,” and “Hannibal Rising” has been made into the film-series that we know so well.

The gist of it is that Hannibal had a terrible childhood and his sister was hacked, boiled, and eaten – this left an indelible impression on young Hannibal’s mind – one thing led to another and Hannibal became a Cannibal.

• Here’s an excellent recap of Hannibal’s life and a psychological analysis of his personality.
• Another more clinical viewpoint can be read here.

What sets the Great Anthony Hopkins Apart from other Hollywood stars?

Anthony Hopkins is different from all other Hollywood Actors because he pursues perfection in his chosen profession. He prepares for his roles beforehand. He memorizes his lines and then delivers them first-time-right. He doesn’t believe in rehearsing his act. And… listen in, he keeps his memory in shape by memorizing poetry and plays.

That’s all for now – until I return with some more caricatures 🙂

Caricature/Cartoon Robert Pattinson – The Twilight Saga – Kristen Stewart Prefers Rupert Sanders and Giovanni Agnelli to Jacob and Edward Cullen!

I feel sorry for Pattinson. The guy’s got everything. He’s got money, fame, work, and looks – yet, he has a girlfriend who doesn’t stay put. I don’t know what the lady is looking for. I mean, if she wanted out, why did she return to him after being with Rupert – it was an excellent point of exit. And if she really was in love with him then why didn’t she stay put after Pattinson accepted her apology and they got back together?

Here’s Robert Pattinson – looking exactly the way he must look these days:

I am a woman but I fail to understand the likes of Kristen Stewart. I find it easier to understand men. Men and Women are opposites – men are uncomplicated, women are complicated…all you need to do is look at Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart.

But then this post isn’t about Kristen Stewart – it also isn’t about the Twilight Saga, it’s about Edward Cullen or the beautiful dazzling vampire who falls in love with a mortal woman who eventually chooses vampirish immortality over spending her life with a mortal werewolf. I don’t know if I ever saw the fire of love and passion between Edward and Bella – I did see it between Jacob and Bella – but then that must be so because I really wanted Bella to choose Jacob and not lust over immortality and/or Edward.

But I digress again. I must talk about Edward Cullen a.k.a. Robert Pattinson, and nobody else.

So here’s a bit about Robert Pattinson:

This young English actor was born in 1986 and he first wowed us with his role of Cedric Diggory in one of the Potter films. Conceptually Cedric was supposed to be a handsome tragic hero, and Pattinson fitted in just right. Then he got to work in the Twilight Saga (a series of movies made upon Stephanie Meyer’s novels by the same name.) As Edward Cullen, Pattinson won the hearts of his young women viewers, and shot up the popularity charts. In 2008/9 People magazine called him one of the Sexiest Men Alive, then Vanity Fair called him The Most Handsome Man in the World. In 2010, TIME Magazine listed him as the 100 Most Influential People in the world and then Forbes Magazine said that he was one of them most powerful celebs – and now he is the richest Celeb in the world. These are just some of the awards that he got for being the sexiest, the most powerful, the richest celebrity ever – there are more, but my keyboard is threatening to go on strike and so I won’t continue with the list.

About this Caricature of Robert Pattinson:

I guess he is beautiful, but then I am blind to his beauty. All I see in his face is a wronged lover, a vampire who doesn’t fit into his community, a guy who’s got enough money to buy the entire merchandise in the men’s section of any designer’s boutique but who prefers to dress almost as shabbily as I do, and to top it all – a guy who really needs to throw Ms. Stewart out of his mind-space…and for good.

Here are some links to bring you up to date.
Their breakup,

The most recent byte on this is that Pattinson has moved out of Kristen’s house – bag, baggage, and dogs!

How to Draw Robert Pattinson’s Caricature?

First things first – get your drawing material together. Wondering what it might be? An HB pencil, an eraser, and a blank piece of paper. Next look at some of his pictures – especially the more recent ones. Let the mood set in. Then attack that sheet of paper and destroy its blankness. How? Here’s the fruit metaphor to help you through.

The fruit metaphor:
Draw a long, vertically stretched rectangle curved a little like a banana. Put his eyes, his nose, and his lips in their right places. Note that it isn’t easy to see his nostrils so avoid drawing them. Check out a couple of side-face pictures of this handsome vampire – you’ll find that both his upper and lower jaws jut out a little more than they should. Also note the way he purses his lips – his lower lip extends a little more than his upper lip. Make sure that your shading takes care of these nuances. Next add the hair and OVER-DO it. It made his head look like the crown of a pineapple with some of the spikes twisted awry.

Finally, his posture. If you’ve watched the Twilight series, you must’ve noted that he walks with a slight slouch and his clothes look like they belong to another era.

That’s it for now…

next in line is the Caricature of a Cannibal…so brace up!

Caricature/Cartoon of Robin Williams – Patch Adams, Peter Pan, and Mrs. Doubtfire…all come together!

“You’re only given a little spark of madness. You mustn’t lose it.” – Robin Williams

You know who Robin Williams is, and so you also know that Robin Williams is funny and intelligent. He can make you laugh and think at the same time. This isn’t something that you can learn to do, it’s an ability that you are either born with, or you aren’t. Robin Williams was born to do roles that make people feel happiness, joy, loneliness, sadness, anger, and curiosity; all at the same time. He is one of the most versatile actors in Hollywood.

This caricaturist is honored to present the caricature of Robin Williams.

Robin Williams Tiniest Biography on the Web

Robin Williams was born in the family of a Ford Motor Executive about 60 years ago, in 1951. Unlike many other Hollywood actors, he didn’t start acting until he grew up. In fact he had a perfectly normal childhood and…believe it or not…he even completed the four years of college!

He played the part of Mork (the alien from Ork) in the TV series Happy Days and later, Mork and Mindy, and this was his first acting assignment. One thing led to another, and Robin Williams moved through tv sitcoms and standup comedy into Hollywood. While he started working in films, in the late seventies, it wasn’t until 1987 that he did Good Morning Vietnam for which he won an Oscar Nomination, and through which he won this caricaturist’s respect.

Some Robin Williams Movies

1. Good Morning Vietnam 
2. Dead Poets Society
3. Awakenings
4. Hook (He’s absolutely lovable as a grownup Peter Pan:))
5. Aladdin (he’s the genie in this one…once again, a fantastic performance)
6. Mrs. Doubtfire
7. Good Will Hunting (A fantastic movie about channeling genius and you are bound to love Robin Williams in his role as an atypical psychologist)
8. Patch Adams (nothing needs to be said about this movie – right?)
9. What Dreams May Come (This movie won no acclaim – but its concept keeps you suspended between this world and the other.)
10. One Hour Photo (In absence of a clear storyline, I think I must’ve watched this movie only because of Robin Williams – yet I loved it, because of Williams’ acting prowess.)

Robin Williams, a Graphic Designer, and an Addiction

Well…well. This is the first time that I’ve read about one of our kinds getting up and close with a Hollywood celebrity. Robin William’s newest wife (the third one, the one who he married in 2011) is, trust me and more so trust Wikipedia, a Graphic Designer!

Another point to note is that he “had” a cocaine addiction in the eighties, then he was sober for about two decades, but he succumbed to it once again (in the mid 2000s.) While I can understand his addiction to a Graphic Designer (we are naturally interesting people,) I can’t understand why Robin Williams, with all his fame, wealth, and…wives, was addicted to cocaine?!

Before I end this post, I must tell you what he has to say about politicians (especially because I’ve been watching the Presidential debates that’ve recently begun to transform into duels.)

“Politics: “Poli” a Latin word meaning “many”; and “tics” meaning “bloodsucking creatures”. – Robin Williams”

Ouch!

If you too like Robin Williams, leave a comment…more later!

Robin Williams coming up…as soon as I am able to find my bearings.

No, I haven’t disappeared. I am suspended in the ether. I am invisible to you perhaps, but I am able to see everyone and everything. The only problem I am faced with is, I do not know my coordinates. I need to find them soon and return to my visible form…the form that can hold a pencil and complete Robin William’s caricature/portrait and post it here. I call it a caricature/portrait because it’s a portrait that’s closer to a caricature. It couldn’t bring myself to exaggerate his features beyond a point, because I like him a lot 🙂

So…ladies and gentleman, await the arrival of one of the best actors of Hollywood on this blog!

Caricature/Cartoon Keira Knightley, a Beautiful Scarecrow, and Two Beer-drinking Mice

Keira Knightley debuts on your favorite Caricature blog.

I know that we’ve been waiting for the lady to make an appearance here, for a very long time. I’ve been talking about her caricature for near about three months now. Whenever her appearance was announced here, there would be some last-minute change in her schedule, and we’d go back sulking. But then last-minute changes in schedule are the mark of a true diva…right?

I am glad to announce that I’ve finally found the evasive caricature of Ms. Keira Knightley, the lady whose inability to make her mind up almost cost Captain Jack Sparrow his life.

Presenting Ms. Knightley.

A Short Biography of Keira Knightley

(Thanks to the one and only Wikipedia.)

Keira Knightley was born in London, England, in a family of actors. Quite like many other actors and artists who make it big, Keira too was diagnosed with dyslexia. This obviously isn’t much of a handicap when you are an actor, perhaps this is why at the age of six when it was discovered that she was a dyslexic, she became an actor. She acted in many movies before she got the opportunity to work in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. Keira was 14 when she acted in this movie.

In 2001, at the age of 16, she got her first role as a grown up. This was in a movie called Princess of Thieves. She worked in a few other movies but it wasn’t until she acted in Bend it Like Beckham, that she got her big break, and people began to recognize her. Four years later, she played the character of Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice, and establish herself as more than just a pretty face.

Other more interesting bytes about Keira:

• Keira has appeared in the FHM’s (For Him Magazine of UK) 100 sexiest women of the world (I am not linking to the magazine’s site for obvious reasons.) again and again, and she topped the list in 2006. (I know that most women will find it difficult to believe, but it’s impossible to figure out a man’s mind – isn’t it? And oh, I should also tell you that Rosie Huntington-Whiteley of the panties fame, topped the list for 2011. I can’t stop wondering how Jennifer Lopez (twice, 2000 and 2001) and these two could get to the same spot in the same magazine!! Perhaps, it’s a mark of changing times.)
• She says that she’s got no life outside of acting, which implies that her friends and family can never be sure whether they are talking to the actor or the character.
• She’s NOT an anorexic and she’s got nothing to do with girls who stop eating so that they may look emaciated and thus make it to FHM’s 100 sexiest women of the world, and die in the process.
• She is expected to marry singer James Righton, and the caricaturist hopes that they’ll beat the average marriage longevity among Hollywood couples.

Click for a list of Keira Knightley’s movies, along with the names of the characters she played in them,
So how much does Keira weigh and What’s her BMI?

Curiosity is such a b…well, a…lady dog. I checked it out myself and was shocked to learn that Keira’s BMI is 17.23!

A BMI of less than 18.5 means that you are underweight. This site has this advice for Keira:

“You should consult your physician to determine if you should gain weight, as low body mass can decrease your body’s immune system, which could lead to illness such as disappearance of periods (women), bone loss, malnutrition and other conditions. The lower your BMI the greater these risks become.”

Wow! If I were Keira, I’d act pronto. If you know her, stop telling her that she looks great and send her to the Doctor. That poor little rich girl needs help.

Those forgotten caricatures…

Dear Friends of this crazy caricaturist,

My guilty conscience is arm-twisting me into making this post, but then just as what you say when a gun is being held to your temple is always the truth, so is this statement of apology, and the contents therein.

I’ve got those caricatures (Keira Knightley etc.) sketched and ready to be launched remorselessly on my poor unsuspecting visitor, but I haven’t posted them yet. Why? Because this caricaturist isn’t happy being a caricaturist, she wants her caricatures to tell stories. So when she draws this caricature of Robert De Niro or this caricature of Stalin, she isn’t happy. She wants to create something like this caricature of Morgan Freeman or this caricature of Hitler!

Shhhh…listen up. Someone’s whispering bad-somethings about the caricaturist.

Alter-Kreacher: Nasty, nasty caricaturist… with tons of gender-bias! She isn’t bothered about her male visitors at all or she’d also mention this caricature of Pamela Anderson – the only one she’s made that can make a feeble attempt of tickling her male visitor’s fantasies.

Shafali the Caricaturist: Disappear, you snake! Go sink your poisonous fangs somewhere else, or the caricaturist will use an 8B to blacken them out! This caricaturist is completely aware of the viewing needs of her male visitors! She has drawn another caricature that’s bound to make the male visitors do a double-take, though she’d advise caution. Remember the caricature of Sarah Palin?! Now go kill yourself.

Alter-Kreacher: <shuffles away mumbling.>

(I’d like to thank Ms. JK Rowling for creating Kreacher and Warner Brothers for making the movie “Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix“, which I watched yesterday, and which inspired Alter-Kreacher.)

Now that Alter-Kreacher has gotten his much-deserved kick-in-the-butt, let me assure you that Ms. Keira Knightley’s caricature will be here soon, and so will be some others. It’s just that I am usually working on about 10 projects at a time, of which 2 are the food-on-the-table variety, and I end up giving priority to those projects. I know…foolish, foolish me. Did I learn nothing from Van Gogh? His methods couldn’t make him famous and rich when he was alive, but at least they made many others rich and Van Gogh famous, after he died. Wondering what I am talking about? Read, “The 4 Types of Artists – Starving, Dying, Dead, and Rich!”

I’ll return soon…

 

 

 

 

 

Caricature/Cartoon Tom Cruise – The Caricaturist undertakes Mission Impossible to play the Matchmaker!

With Katie Holmes leaving Tom Cruise, we’ll once again have a 50-year old eligible bachelor looking for a wife who’d stick to him no matter what.

The caricaturist has found the right bride for Tom Cruise – one who’d never leave him especially because he wants to follow his religion. She won’t be mad because he’d want their kids to follow Scientology.

Tom Cruise, the Hollywood actor who has successfully completed four Impossible Missions has recently been handed the divorce papers by his most recent wife’s attorney. Tom’s been trying very hard to stay married. His first marriage to Mimi Rogers who was 7 years his senior, lasted about two years. He then married the nose of Hollywood, Nicole Kidman, stayed married for 10 long years, then they got separated in 2001. In 2006 he married Katie Holmes, who’s now asking for a divorce.

The reason that Katie’s lawyer wants to cite as grounds for divorce, drove me to draw this caricature. Believe it or not, Katie wants a divorce because Tom Cruise is a very religious man, and he wants to instil the same neat values in their daughter Suri. He wants Katie to join the Church of Scientology so that she may grow up to become a hardcore scientologist. Shame on you, Katie! In this crazy world of today, you are a lucky woman to have found a religious thetan-fearing husband. Well, Holmes doesn’t want her daughter to grow up with the right scientological values.On the other hand, Tom Cruise, a strict follower of his religion, is unable to come to terms with the fact that most people in this world don’t even consider his religion a proper religion. He’s constantly trying to communicate with his thetans!

Tom Cruise’s Problem – A Serious Analysis

Ron Hubbard, the pulp fiction writer who started the Scientology religion, says that millions of years ago, a guy called Xenu (who perhaps was the President of a Galactic federation made of many planets) faced the same problem that humans are facing today – the problem of overpopulation. He decided that the best way to get rid of the extra people was to blow them up and send their spirits to earth. These alien spirits are called Thetans and they are responsible for all human miseries, including the ones that Tom is currently experiencing. I am sure that Tom has done everything in his capacity to ensure that his Thetans don’t bother him, yet…he’s not tried the one thing that could bring happiness and peace to everyone.

Tom must marry an alien from the same Galactic Federation. His Thetans will then develop the right sort of connection with the bride’s Thetan, and all Thetans will then live happily ever after!

BTW, it was Mimi Rogers, his least permanent wife, who had introduced Tom to Scientology. She however decided that Scientology wasn’t her cup of tea and stopped following it. Smart girl.