Shafali Hitler shares Some More SEO Humor!

You may have read the SEO Humor Post that I made a while ago. While writing that post, I never thought that I’d be inspired to write another, so shortly after my first attempt at finding humor in the keywords that appear in this blog’s list.

But then what has to happen does. We can’t stop it, can we? Just like we can’t stop global warming, aging, corruption…or on the brighter side, just the way we can’t put a stop to gold-digging, cuckolding, pick-pocketing etc.; we can’t stop posts from rolling out of absurd ideas.

So here’s what I found in the treasure-chest this morning.

Search Term 1: world’s funniest drawings

My dear searcher, you reached the wrong place, didn’t you? I mean, my caricatures border on the funny – but they never go the whole way. They keep twiddling their thumbs as they stand nervously at the edge of the cliff, awash with fear – never gathering the courage to jump into the shrieking swirling waters of funny-ness. So for all the future searchers of world’s funniest drawings, I recommend that they click the “Cool Caricaturists” link on this blog, or resume their search elsewhere without wasting another minute.

Search Term 2: drawings of ugly women

What?!
Aren’t you searching for something that doesn’t exist? I mean, you could find God if you tried hard enough …but impossible to find a woman who’s ugly. If you don’t believe me, organize a random poll and ask women to rate themselves as ugly or beautiful – and check the results!

We caricaturists could make ugly caricatures of women, but women themselves are beautiful. It’s the men-folk who have a large sub-set called “ugly men”. So My Dear Sir (I don’t know why but I feel confident that this search term was born in a man’s mind,) please don’t go looking for ugly women. You are wasting your precious time on an impossible quest. Look for beautiful, pretty, lovely, wonderful, fantastic, fabulous, super, great, glamorous women instead…and you’ll be swamped!

Search Term 3: queen elizabeth’s mom princess elizabeth

I googled that information for you, dear searcher…and when I read the first line on this link, felt so optimistic that I wanted to thank you for stopping by my blog.

Why?

Well, here’s why. Queen Elizabeth II’s mom, Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon was born in 1900 and she lived to a ripe old age (and I mean really truly completely ripe) of 102 years! Wow! But believe it or not Princess Alice is going to beat Queen Elizabeth Bowes Lyon’s record!

If you haven’t seen Queen Elizabeth II’s caricature on this blog, click here.

Search Term 4: Salvador Dali’s Eyebrows

Salvador Dali’s Eyebrows?!
Are you sure that you want to look at his eyebrows and not his mustaches?!
I think you should be looking at his mustaches – they are quite a pair. Here’s Salvador Dali’s Caricature – it’ll help you appreciate why this search made me wonder whether the searcher really knew was good for him.

Search Term 5: i hate my job+cartoon

Oh…oh. I am so sorry. You really hate your job? Do you? And I agree, you do become a cartoon when you begin to hate your job. In fact, you have to be Dilbert to love your work…right? In this horrible horrible world of today, who doesn’t want to be stuck inside a cartoon strip, free from the worries of loan-repayments and medical insurance premiums.

Search Term 6: half old woman half princess cartoon

You make a good point there. I think what you should be looking for is a cartoon of an old woman OR of a princess. In her mind, every old woman is a princess that she couldn’t be in real life (except of course, those anachronisms who even in this modern world stick to being Kings, Queens, Princes, and Princesses) and, every princess – from the day she’s born becomes an old woman – because she can’t do those little things that make life so much fun…because they have to corset not just their bodies but their emotions as well.

Search Term 7: unhygienic practices cartoons

Eeeyuck!
You mean – nose-picking, @$$-scratching, ever-spitting, not-flushing…etc. etc. etc. kind of cartoons??!!
But why…and where’s the humor?

Oh…I get it. Hee hee hee!

Search Terms 8a,b,c,d: indian necked men/handsome indian naked men/indian ugly man

I am curious. Who are you dear searcher…and what exactly are you looking for. It’s clear that you want to look at an Indian Man but an indian “necked” man? What’s an Indian neck? Are you looking for a Caucasian male who’s had a neck transplant so that his neck looked Indian…or an Indian who has retained his Indian neck or had got a new neck…in any of those great shades of Indian browns?

Oh…oh. it was a typo…right? I looked at the second term and it dawned upon me that you are looking for Indian men au-naturel – and handsome ones too. Now you really need to check out my first post on SEO-matters of importance here. You may not succeed in your search, my friend of either gender.

But what’s that third term? You needed to do a Google search for that? Really? I mean all you had to do was switch channels and watch some political news!

Search Term 9: art from ajit ninan

Thanks for the reminder. I shall make the promised post about the wonderful Ajit Ninan soon:)

Search Term 10: SHAFALI HITLER!!!

No. I am not. I will not take that insult, dear Sir or Ma’am or Bot! I am, and shall remain Shafali the Artist, Shafali the Caricaturist, Shafali the Egoist. Shafali Hitler is one title that I am not going to take lying down. Beware, or I’ll let Hitler the Satan loose!

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Cool Caricaturist – Achille Superbi of Italy

It’s time to give the stage to another Cool Caricaturist:)

Achille Superbi is an Italian Graphic Designer and Caricaturist who was born on September 13, 1959. After receiving his diploma n 1977 he worked for advertising agencies until 1984, when he also began to draw for newspapers etc. (Source: Wikipedia here .)

I like his work for his fine brushwork and smooth presentation.

Visit Achille Superbi’s simple but interesting website here.

Click the following links to view some of his fascinating caricatures.

1. Picasso
2. Antonio Banderas
3. George Clooney
4. Salvador Dali
5. Laurel and Hardy

See Achille Superbi’s caricature of the Beatles on a t-shirt here.

Until I put together my drawing of Picasso and Dali…I wonder how I missed them:)

Cool Caricaturist – Lisa!

It’s high time that a woman caricaturist made an appearance on this blog. With great pride in the fairer, nicer, softer, prettier, and much more patient half of humanity; I introduce Caricatures by Lisa here.

I love her work for the ease and spontaneity of her sketches, and also her ability to bring the same raw energy to her color drawings. Among the women caricaturists that I’ve seen on the web so far, I’d say her work is possibly the best – but then I am not a Super-sleuth, so if you’ve got some intelligence on other women caricaturists, please leave their links in the comment section of this post.

I recommend that you visit her site here.
Also, visit her color caricatures gallery here, and her black and white sketches here.

My favorites are:

• Tiger Woods
• Angelina Jolie

 

Enjoy:-) while I find the Little Great Master Sachin Tendulkar and beseech him to make an appearance on my blog.

Cool Caricaturist – John Kascht!

There are caricaturists in this world who make me stop in wonder – and one of them is John Kascht.

John Kascht’s work can be best referred to as Classy. His lines possibly are the cleanest on the planet and his colors are soft yet funny!

I recommend that you view John Kascht’s work on his website here.

Here are some caricatures that I just couldn’t take my eyes off:

• Whoopi Goldberg
• Bill Murray
• Woody Allen

I suddenly realized that all the three links above take you to the same page, so while you are there, check out the other caricatures as well.

View Kascht’s Line Art Gallery here and admire his minimalistic treatment.

And finally, if you want to read about his honors and his connection with beekeeping and Pennsylvania, find his biography here.

PS: I was wondering why I haven’t sketched Whoopi Goldberg and Bill Murray yet!

 

Cool Caricaturist – Roman Genn

Caricaturist and Political Cartoonist Roman Genn was born in Moscow, in 1972. Moscow wasn’t sympathetic to his anti-government caricatures, and so he was repeatedly arrested while there. This was probably one of the main reasons behind his move to the US, where his work has appeared in  Wall Street Journal,  Washington Post, Newsweek, and many other publications of note.

Roman Genn’s sense of humor is something to emulate.  Read Roman Genn’s biography to sample his sense of humor.

Visit his website:

• Roman Genn’s Website

And view some of his fascinating caricatures:

• Caricature of Yasser Arafat
• Caricature of Saddam Hussein
• Caricature of Barack Hussein Obama

He raised quite a storm when he depicted Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton and Al gore in a Caricature titled “The Manchurian Candidates,” which appeared on the cover of National Review.

Click here to view Roman Genn’s “The Manchurian Candidates“.

To appreciate why this caricature kicked up a storm, you need to watch the Denzel Washington Starrer 2004 Film  “The Manchurian Candidate” and understand “what” Raymond Shaw is! There was an earlier 1962 film by the same name and with the same storyline – based on the novel “The Manchurian Candidate” that Richard Condon wrote in 1959!

Cool Caricaturist – Don Pinsent

Don Pinsent’s self-caricature inspired me to explore his work in detail…and when I did, his sketches had me stumped! The boldness of his lines and his ability to maintain the characteristic expression of his subjects despite applying extreme exaggerations, is awesome.

To the learners and the admirers of the quirky art of caricature, I recommend:

• Don Pinsent’s Blog
• Don Pinsent’s Website and Gallery

Do view his following finished works:

• Rolling Stones
• Albert Einstein
• Elvis Presley
• Shakespeare
• Mr. Bean (Rowan Atkinson)

…and the following visualization sketches:

• Larry King (Note the shoulders, the eye-glasses, and the nose.)
• Paris Hilton (Note the eyes and the lips)
• Brad Pitt
• Madonna

Cool Caricaturist – Mort Drucker of the MAD Magazine!

Mort Drucker turned 80 last year. Drucker’s caricatures fascinated me for years, before I even figured out the fact that there was an artist who was responsible for creating those extremely detailed, and beautifully proportioned caricatures.

It took me a long-long time to discover that those sketches and drawings that we see in the magazines were drawn by real, live people. For me, until about the age of 12, they were just “printed”. I didn’t think that humans drew them before they got printed! Weird…but true!

Drucker’s caricatures make you wonder how someone could have the patience, the steadiness of hand, and the vision to put it all on the paper in such an amazing manner.

Here are some links that will help you explore the works and understand the personality of this great caricaturist.

• Mort Drucker’s Biography
• A Commentary on Mort Drucker’s Work
• A Recent Snapshot – Mort Drucker’s 80th Birthday
• Tom Richmond’s Personal Caricature by Mort Drucker

Cool Caricaturist – Jan Op De Beeck

Jan Op De Beeck is a Congo-born Belgian Caricaturist. He has written five caricature books and had won several awards. Find his portfolio at:

http://www.opdebeeck.com

I agree with De Beeck – Sketches are Swell to do. I quote him.

In a sketch you can discover lot of an artist’s abilities: how he makes the proportional deformations, how he draws a line, how he prepares his drawing for volume rendering.

I’d like to add that sometimes a sketch progresses to a level where it transforms into a complete work of art.

De Beeck’s caricatures have an astounding level of detail. He too isn’t afraid of breaking the templates! The characteristic features of his subjects swell or shrink at his command!

Here are some links to help you explore his art.

• Adrien Brody (of “The Pianist” fame.)(This treatment of the nose requires a lot of courage. I wouldn’t attempt it – especially with the subject’s eyes closed.)
• Mahatma Gandhi (Note the dominance of the nose and the ear. You need a brave hand to add that bulk without sacrificing the likeness.)
• Michael Jackson
• Nicole Kidman
• Jacques Chirac

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

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)

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.

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.

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!

Cartoonist/Caricaturist Morten Morland

Morten Morland is the political cartoonist for The Times (London) since 2002. His characters portray excellent body language – they look tensed, limp, worried, anxious, angry, scared…not just through their expressions but also through their gestures and postures.

Visit his site morlandcartoon.co.uk here.

If you are international politics savvy, you should definitely check out his blog http://poldraw.wordpress.com/

I’ll post my next caricature (an attempt to bridge the gap of about 50,000 years in perceptions) tomorrow. Do visit:)

Caricaturist Neil K Kempsell’s Work

Neil K Kempsell’s gallery can be found at http://www.mycaricatures.co.uk/ He’s great at bringing out the expressions that characterize the subjects of his caricatures. What first took me to his site was this caricature of Jack Nicholson.

(Note Added on January 15, 2010: Please view my attempt at Jack Nicholson’s caricature here.)

His Celebrity Caricatures can be found here.

Kempsell not only creates caricatures, he’s also a prolific cartoonist. View his cartoons here.

I’ll be posting the result of my own Celebrity Caricature drawing effort (Nicole Kidman) tomorrow. Will you please visit again:)

When Caricatures come Alive – Joan Vizcarra Carreras

I started this blog because I wanted to smile. There aren’t many things around me today that make me want to smile. For one, I smile when I draw…and then, I smile when I see artwork that borders on perfection. When it comes to caricatures, I think that some of the best caricatures are done by Vizcarra.

You can view Vizcarra’s wonderful caricatures at: http://www.vizcarra.info/indexE.asp

Thanks, my dear visitors. I have a surprise caricature (of a celebrity, of course) coming up for you tomorrow. Do return.

-Shafali