The book “How to Draw Caricatures – Evolution of a Caricaturist”…

This book could be a starting point or a mid-journey reflection point for an artist who is inclined to do caricatures. I am grateful to everyone who left their reviews for the book. As I mentioned in my earlier posts, I completed my work when I finished writing the book and made it available on Amazon. I am first an artist, then a writer, and finally a learning-facilitator; I am not a marketer and I don’t know the first thing about “getting” people to write reviews, so I am really glad that some readers of Evolution posted their thoughts on the book.

The book “How to Draw Caricatures – Evolution of a Caricaturist” is available on Amazon, and regardless of the device you own, you can download the eBook and read it. I hope you find it interesting as well as useful 🙂

Click the book icon to reach the Book-details page on Amazon.

 

And here’s your tool-kit to experiment with the art of caricature-creation, without drawing 🙂 Click the icon to download Toonsie Roll – a free photo-to-caricature app on your iPhone or iPad.

Click to download Toonsie Roll into your iPad or iPhone.

 

Now off on a short trip to Pluto, the planet of artists.

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Caricature/Cartoon – Tyrion Lannister of Game of Thrones with his battle axe!

Presenting the Caricature of Tyrion Lannister of  Game of Thrones.  Peter Dinklage who played the role of the dwarf in Game of Thrones, won the Emmy and the Golden Globe award in 2011 for his role of Tyrion Lannister, and emerged a giant among actors.

This caricature just happened. The Bookface Caricature Contest on Facebook was on and for some strange reason this generally contest-averse artist felt like drawing him, but not before I had procrastinated enough to have missed the deadline. So this caricature didn’t make it to the contest and I have a feeling that among all those beautifully colored renditions, this wouldn’t have turned any heads so whatever happened, happened for the good.

Knowledge and Cunning are my most lethal weapons!

Tyrion Lannister is one of the important characters in Game of Thrones.  In fact, among the three siblings, he is the most intelligent and also the most cunning, but his family (father Tywin, sister Cersei, and  brother Jaime) don’t like him a lot. The reason can be found in Tyrion’s knowledge of things best kept hidden under a shroud of mystery.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyrion_Lannister_(A_Song_of_Ice_and_Fire)

About Game of Thrones:

Game of Thrones is a serial drama aired on HBO. It is based on a series of Fantasy novels written by R. R. Martin. The fourth Season of Game of Thrones is scheduled to air on April 6th, 2014. I’ve watched the severely censored version of the first two seasons, but not the third. In my opinion, the censored version loses a lot of its charm because the censoring makes many events appear totally disjointed. Yet, every important character leaves an indelible mark on the audience, and I think that’s what makes an epic. I cannot ever forget Cersei’s single-minded devotion to her son, Khaleesi’s evolution as the leader of her husband’s tribe, or Tyrion’s cunning maneuvering combined with his self-deprecating witticisms.

Find tons of information on it here and here.

How to Draw the Caricature of Tyrion Lannister:

Tyrion Lannister is different from other characters. He is a dwarf who has been derided for his looks all his childhood. Even his father doesn’t think a lot of him. His sister favors her twin and his older brother Jaime over Tyrion, and in fact takes Jaime as her lover. Tyrion Lannister, however, is also a very intelligent man who has the ability to think ahead and plan, something that both Cersei and Jaime lack. A lot more humane than his siblings, Tyrion is also a philosopher of sorts.

Caricaturing such a multi-faceted character is an uphill task. While his face has certain characteristic features (his small nose with flared nostrils, his heavy brow ridge etc.,) I didn’t want to exaggerate the features so much that they interfered with the intelligence and cunning that shines in his eyes. The posture in the caricature is imaginary. It shows him just before he makes his final move. The tension in his arms, his stance, and the look on his face – all work together.

As the readers of Evolution will be able to judge, I used the Feature Frame Method to exaggerate the shape of his face, his brow-ridge, and his lips, but I limited the exaggeration to contain the personality of the subject.

A Nuance:

Note that I’ve added the battle-axe (his favorite weapon) in his right hand. Being a south-paw, he would hold the weapon in his right hand only while he is thinking. Just before he strikes, he’d transfer it to his left hand.

Thank You 🙂

I’d also like to add a quick Thank You Note for everyone who has bought and/or recommended Evolution of a Caricaturist – How to Draw Caricatures. Evolution has been growing slowly but steadily – just the way a book should. As I’ve mentioned in the Feb Issue of Draw to Smile, I believe that if you find the book useful, you’ll tell your friends about it – and this is exactly how I’d like this book to grow – in your hearts and with your love. Thank you, my dear readers.

Caricature/Cartoon – Jay Leno of The Tonight Show on NBC Retires.

Believe it or not, until the time of creating this caricature, I was completely oblivious of the fact that much before Jay Leno‘s magnificent chin was seen and admired on The Tonight Show, it was seen in Hollywood movies. Recently, a friend spoke about his impending retirement and I thought that I must caricature him, chin and all, to bid him farewell. It was then that in order to present you with his power-packed nano-biography that I went web-scavenging for information and came back leno-wiser.

Here’s Jay Leno, as seen by this caricaturist.

Handing over…reluctantly?

Jay Leno’s Nano Biography

Here’s his anti-leno-chin biography for my esteemed reader.

He was born in 1950 (April 28, if you want to send him a Birthday card,) in New York. His parents’ parents had immigrated to the US from Scotland (his mom) and Italy (his dad.) His first brush with the stage happened in 1973, when he started a comedy club in his college. However, Leno’s big break came with his appearance on The Tonight Show that at the time was hosted by Johnny Carson (started 1962 – ended 1992). What I didn’t know and many non-American readers may not know, is that Jay Leno worked in some movies too. However, most of Leno’s earnings come from his Standup comedy shows, especially in Vegas.

About The Tonight Show

1987 onwards, Jay Leno started stepping into the shoes of Carson and then five long years later, he replaced him. Many expected the honor to go to David Letterman. It’s widely speculated that this didn’t happen by chance, and a journalist Mr. Carter wrote a book “The Late Shift” (which eventually became a movie,) on this specific incident. If you go by the plot of the novel/movie, Leno’s success should be attributed to her manager Helen Kushnick.

About The Jay Leno Show

For a very long time, things were hunky-dory but then about four years ago Leno’s contract with NBC ended  and another gentleman Conan O’Brien took over The Tonight Show show from him. Leno remained with NBC and started a new show called The Jay Leno show. However, unlike what happened with Two-and-a-Half Men, where Charlie Sheen’s departure and Ashton Kutcher’s arrival worked well for the show, both The Tonight Show and The Jay Leno Show didn’t do well. In a year, Leno was back on the show and O’Brien was given a huge payout ($33 Million, which some say is Leno’s yearly package) to leave the Tonight Show. This however, didn’t help The Tonight Show re-attain its previous glory.

About Jay Leno’s Retirement

Leno’s retirement is imminent and he will be replaced by Jimmy Fallon, yet everyone doesn’t believe that the transition would be smooth.

Read more about Jay Leno’s retirement here.

Interesting Facts about Jay Leno

• Jay Leno’s got a massive chin, which is known as the Habsburg Jaw as it was first seen as a recurring theme in the portraits of the Habsburg royal family. The Habsburg jaw was considered common in the European royal families. You can read more about it here.
• Leno was never a good student. His best grades were a “C”.
• Leno does 1 standup comedy act every two days (in addition to The Tonight Show.)
• Leno’s pictures suggest that he is left-handed. He doesn’t drink or smoke.
• He has 190 (!) vehicles!
• Leno is married and the couple has decided not to have children. (Other notable celebrities who’ve decided not to have kids are: George Clooney, Cameron Diaz, and others. Check out this link.

Art Note for Artists/Readers of Evolution of a Caricaturist:

Notice the following in Jay Leno’s caricature above.

Jay Leno’s chin juts out and drops down. It isn’t just a long and heavy chin that dips down vertically, it’s a chin that projects out (quite like the slide on which children play,) and unlike most other long chins, the elongation starts at his lower lip. He has a good head of hair and his hair falls over his forehead. I was looking for a shape in his face, and the shape that I found did justice to his profile, was of a crescent moon. Note that I have exaggerated nothing else. If you refer to the book, you’ll see that I’ve applied the rule of exaggerating only those features that are characteristic (the hair and the chin) and that deviate from the standard. Here’s a FREE pdf outlining what “Evolution of a Caricaturist – How to Draw Caricatures” contains.

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

Caricatures almost ready to roll off the line…

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

Until then, then:)

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

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

That should keep you busy until I return!

 

 

 

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

UPDATED: Jan 08, 2014

 “Evolution of a Caricaturist – How to Draw Caricatures”  is now available as an eBook on Amazon’s Kindle Store. 

Click the Cover Thumbnail to view the book.

Kindle eBooks can be read on all devices; all you need is a Kindle Reader App which is available as a free download from Amazon. If you have a non-Kindle reading device (for instance, an iPad/iPhone or any other tablet/Smartphone,) you can visit the following page to download the Free Kindle Reader app for your device.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?docId=1000493771

—————————————-

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

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

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

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

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

• exaggeration
• likeness

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Done?

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

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

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

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

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

And of course, if you are interested in learning how to draw caricatures, I’d recommend “How to Draw Caricatures – Evolution of a Caricaturist“. (Updated: January 08, 2014.)

1. The book is expected  on the App Store – shortly 🙂 The book shall follow an interactive format. You can view the basic content outline at the above link.
2. It simplifies caricature-drawing and presents it in the form of a process, which if followed, could help you learn and master caricature-drawing in a very short time.
3. You can signup for an email notification, which will be sent whenever it becomes available on the App Store.

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

DRAW to SMILE!

Another Important Update (October 06, 2014)

If you are a hobbyist and would like to create funny caricatures, or if you want to try out the principles outlined in my book Evolution of a Caricaturist, you can check out the Free Caricature App for iPhone and iPad –  Toonsie Roll, which has been developed under my expertise and guidance. The App will become available on the App Store soon, but if you’d like me to drop you a line when it becomes available, please use the contact form given here.

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

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

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

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

Here’s the caricature under discussion.

Lady Gaga and the Spider Colony!

Caricaturing the Eyes of Lady Gaga:

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

Read about “Caricaturing the Eyes” here.

Caricaturing the Lips of Lady Gaga:

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

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

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

Caricaturing the Hair of Lady Gaga:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Chapter 8 – How to Draw Caricatures – Caricaturing the Lips and the Mouth Published

“How to Draw Caricatures – The Evolution of a Caricaturist” grows by another chapter. “Chapter 8 – Caricaturing the Lips and the Mouth“, enables you to classify the lips and helps you understand the process of exaggerating them. It also provides some useful tips that can help you out of some caricaturing lip-locks (oops! I meant deadlocks!)

If you subscribe to this blog’s posts, you must already be receiving your regular updates on the book; but if you aren’t, I invite you to click the Subscribe button at the top right corner of this blog.

Here’s how far the book has progressed.

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 Evolution of a Caricaturist

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

The book is more than halfway through (about two-thirds,) and I should say that it wouldn’t have made it this far if it weren’t for your support. When you visit this blog, view the caricatures, read the book, and communicate with me; you inspire me to draw another caricature, or to write another chapter of the book. Thank you my dear visitors, friends, and readers – for helping me make this book happen.

The next two caricatures to appear on this blog are…

Would you care to guess?
Here are the clues:
1. Curious anatomists weighed his brain when he died. Who was he?
2. He explained why we are so down-to-earth! Who was he?

I shall await your answers:)

Warm Regards,
Shafali

How to Draw the Caricature of Jack Nicholson – The Wolf

Two caricatures have challenged me like no other. They are Jack Nicholson’s and George Clooney’s – however, the reasons that made them challenging were diametric opposites.

Before I tell you more, here’s the caricature that we’ll be discussing today.

Jack Nicholson’s face has a lot of elements that can be caricatured, while George Clooney has but one (his chin.) Thus, with Jack Nicholson’s caricature, I faced the problem of plenty. Yes, the same problem that plagues rich kids of rich dads (does it remind you of a Ms. Hilton?) – they don’t know what to do with what they have – and so they go through their lives baffled and uneasy. Jack Nicholson’s face to a caricaturist is like Paris Hilton’s rich dad. Really. His dreamy eyes, his deriding mocking smile, his crazy untidy hair, his strong dimpled chin, and of course, his poking-fun-at-you eyebrows! I was a confused caricaturist who had plenty to play around with and who wanted to splurge at everything and anything.

It is at moments such as these that self-restraint becomes a quality in a caricaturist. Instead of following my instincts blindly, I organized my thoughts and decided to exaggerate the brows and the chin more than I exaggerated the other features. I felt that these two features set his face apart from others’.

Here’s how I drew the caricature of Jack Nicholson.

Caricaturing Jack Nicholson’s Eyes

As I said, Jack Nicholson’s eyes have that dreamy drunken look, which seems to mock everyone they look at. The look seems to tell them, “I know better!”
I exaggerated the differences between his left and right eyes. I also gave him a slightly sideways glance to capture and exaggerate the look in his eye. Note that I haven’t played around with the shape of his eyes much. (Read “Caricaturing the Eyes” here.)

Caricaturing Jack Nicholson’s Jaw and Chin

The shape of Jack Nicholson’s face can be best classified as pentagonal (though his chin is heavy, somewhat squarish, and not too pointed, it is very prominent.) I pulled all the anchor points and the mirror points out of the feature frame, with all my might. In fact, I could well caricature myself having lost my foothold as I dangled from the mirror points on his jaw – trying to use all my weight to pull those points lower and wider, making his chin about three times his nose. (Read “Caricaturing the Shape of the Face” here.)

(Note: if the terms anchor points, mirror points, and feature frame make your eyebrows rise up in the middle (in other words, makes you wonder), you need to check out the Free Online book “How to Draw Caricatures – The Evolution of a Caricaturist”!)

Caricaturing Jack Nicholson – the Wolf’s Hair

Once again, I didn’t do much with the hair. I went for his slightly Wolf-y look and made his hair look a little rougher through some truly violent strokes of my pencil. I wanted them to look like the hair on a badger’s much talked about behind (or what I imagine the hair on a badger’s behind to be – discover in this funny poem here.)

And…finally,

Caricaturing Jack Nicholson’s Eyebrows

Honestly, his eyebrows look like he’s got them cello-taped to his forehead. Probably he has, but I couldn’t find enough evidence to support my hypothesis. I did contemplate taping his eyebrows up, but upon some reflection I discarded the idea. I wasn’t caricaturing Frankenstein’s monster, I was caricaturing a good-looking Hollywood Celebrity, who despite his years can make women swoon! So up went the brows – they got pierced and got those golden rings. (Read “Caricaturing the Brows & Brow-ridge” here.)

Caricaturing the Birds

When I was ready with the strings, the birds just flew in. They began chirping and I turned my translator on. Aha. On the sly, Jack Nicholson employs birds that keep his brows hitched up…nobody knew – until now. But now, the secret is out!

Here are some other things to do:

• Download the Free Jack Nicholson Caricature Calendar here.
• Read the Jack Nicholson Caricature Post here.
• Read the Free Online book “How to Draw Caricatures – The Evolution of a Caricaturist” here.

Have fun caricaturing:-) Spread the Smile!

How to Draw the Caricature of Tiger Woods, his Women, his Cup, Nike, and the Devil!

Wondering how to draw the caricature of Tiger Woods? Let me share with you the process of drawing it. Here’s the caricature once again (to help you put your memory into Nike’s jogging shoes!)

Who wouldn't?

As you must’ve already figured out, this caricature is about Tiger Woods tumbling wherever with those nineteen or so women. The story is now old, and Mr. Woods is now back in action. Nike stayed with him through these rough times, more for their sake than his, or so I think – because Woods is the Nike icon for the testosterone-driven men who’d idolize the new macho image of Woods far more than his boring, all too predictable, one-woman-man image!

But put all that aside for now. We are right now the students of art – and we want to discuss how this caricature came to be.

Caricaturing Tiger Woods:

Other than the Nike logo on his cap and t-shirt, Tiger Woods can also be recognized by his huge round eyes, his thick lips, and his pearly whites! He’s got a shy half-smile and a nice round nose, which makes his face look rather boyish. Note that his upper eyelids are slightly heavy and they hide the top third of his pupils. You can read about caricaturing the eyes, here.

Caricaturing the Smile:

For this caricature, I selected his smile as his most important feature. As you can see, his lips and his teeth have been exaggerated the most. I focused on the smile because of the context. Think about it. If you were a man (or if you are one,) and if you were offered a cup full of buxom beauties, how would you react?
(You are welcome to add your above-the-waist reactions to the comments.)

Well, I imagined that Tiger Woods’ reaction would be a shy smile.

Caricaturing the Women:

Ah, the women! Remember that women aren’t easy to caricature. You need to ensure that the women in your caricature don’t look ugly. Every woman is beautiful. Period. So at best, you can make them look like the Disney Princesses, and at worst you may want them to look cute like the pixies. So in this caricature, I made the cute little pixies climb over one another, clamoring for Tiger’s attention.

Caricaturing the Devil:

This is the part that I liked best!

This particular devil is a modern guy. It personifies the evils that exist in the modern world, specifically the evils that influence sportsmen like Tiger Woods – otherwise known as advertising! This devil wears his cap backwards, sports an untidy stubble, and wears a tee-shirt with slacks. He carried the Nike logo as his weapon, and incites the tiger in Tiger Woods to indulge in adultery – one of the seven deadly sins!

The Story in the Caricature:

The story in the caricature is told by the Devil. When he whispers to Tiger Woods, and tells him to, “Just Do It,” it makes you wonder how many men in Tiger Woods’ position would be able to resist the temptation!

So that’s that about the Caricature of Mr. Woods and his longtime relationship with Nike and the Devil.

If you want to learn the nuances of creating caricatures in a fun and easy to learn way, you would like to read, “How to Draw Caricatures – The Evolution of a Caricaturist.“

Download the calendar “Tiger Woods as the Casanova” here.

How to Draw the Caricature of Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow

How did I draw this Caricature of Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow of the Pirates of Caribbean fame?

Look at the caricature closely, and then scroll down to read how it was drawn.

Where is the cheese...Captain Sparrow?

This was an easy caricature to do. Let us see why.

When you are trying to create a caricature of an actor in a persona that has several distinctive features and accessories, then if you focus on the accessories, you can create a likeness of the persona…and because the persona (in this case, Jack Sparrow) is recognized by every human, cat, and dog; you can rest your brush and sleep in peace!

Take the example of Jack Sparrow. Here’s a list of his distinctive features.

• The head-cloth/rag/band tied at one side,
• The long matted hair,
• The beard plaited into two,
• The beaded hair-rings (!)
• The blackened teeth,
• And of course, the kohled eyes!

If you just drew the first three and left everything else blank, I believe most of the humans at least would readily nod their heads and tell you that you’ve indeed sketched Jack Sparrow.

But then, that would be an average attempt, and you don’t seem to me a person who’d accept anything that’s not classy! So next, you’d need to create a likeness with the actor too. So look for the features that the makeup-man didn’t mess with – so what you have now is the nose and the mouth (notwithstanding the blackened teeth.)

Here’s what I did to create this caricature.

Studying Johnny Depp and Jack Sparrow Pictures:

I first studied some Jack Sparrow pictures and then some Johnny Depp pictures. The Jack Sparrow pictures helped me see the details of his accessories and told me a lot about his personality, and the JD pictures gave me a clear picture of his nose, his mouth, and the shape of his face.

Caricaturing the Eyes:

The eyes grew bigger than actual to accommodate the effect of the kohl and the expression of surprise (at the audacity of the mice, of course.) You can read about caricaturing the eye here.

Caricaturing the Shape of the Face:

I’d classify Johnny Depp’s face as pentagonal. So when I did his jaw-line, I pulled out the mirror points to exaggerate the pentagon. Read about caricaturing the shape of the human face here.

Caricaturing Jack Sparrow’s Costume, Accessories, and Overall Persona:

As I said earlier, the accessories become extremely important in characters such as these. Other examples of such characters are: Captain Hook (with the Peter Pan connection) and Agent Smith (of the Matrix Trilogy.)
So…
The head ornament became a butterfly (it brings in a humorous contradiction with a pirate’s personality,) and a huge nut got added to the string of beads that hangs from his matted hair. The twin beard plaits became thicker and more prominent too.

The Joke in the Caricature:

Remember that a caricaturist need not stop at creating a visual caricature. Use words to your advantage. Also remember that a story makes a caricature more interesting and lively.
The concept that mothered the joke in this caricature was the slovenly (and unhygienic) look of Jack Sparrow. Such a man would be quite capable of hiding his cheese behind his ear and the mice would be his constant companions. Voila, two cute little mice jumped out of my pencil and began climbing his beard!

So, that was how the Johnny Depp – Jack Sparrow caricature came to be.

Next in this Series >> How to Draw Tiger Woods, his Women, and the Devil!

If you want to learn the nuances of creating caricatures in a fun and easy to learn way, you would like to read, “How to Draw Caricatures – The Evolution of a Caricaturist.“

Caricature/Cartoon – Queen Elizabeth II, the reigning British Monarch and Her Crown!

Queen Elizabeth II is the queen regnant of the United Kingdom. (Queen Regnant is a queen with all the royal authority ascribed to the ruler instead of being queen just by virtue of being the wife of a king.) This caricature-cartoon of Queen Elizabeth of the United Kingdom is about those many crowns that she wears!

After the caricature is a short biography of the Queen (Find the long one here.)

Uneasy?

Queen Elizabeth’s shortest biography on the web:

She was born on April 21, 1926. Her father George VI was the last Emperor of India. When he died in 1952, Elizabeth ascended the throne. About 5 years before her coronation she married Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburg, with whom she had fallen in love when she was only thirteen. They had four children. The Queen went through a lot of public criticism over the Charles-Diana debacle and later her response to Diana’s death. After Queen Victoria and King George III, she’s the longest reigning monarch of the British Empire, who has been the queen for 58 years now.

(Source: The Official Website of the British Monarchy.)

The Queen’s Annus Horribilis:

The Queen called 1992 her annus horribilis, which included the Topless Sarah Ferguson’s toe being kissed by John Bryan scandal, the fire at the palace, and Prince Charles’ and Princess Diana’s divorce…among other things! Phew! What an year…even for a queen with all the support systems in place!

(Source: Annus Horribilis – 1992 )

The Queen’s Gutsy Admirer – Michael Fagan

Of course, you can read the details of the Queen’s biography all over the web. So, let me talk about Michael Fagan, a 32-year-old man who broke into the Buckingham Palace and got into the Queen’s bedroom. This young man sat in the Queen’s bedroom and had about 8 minutes of uninterrupted conversation with her. Fascinating…right? The underside of it all was that he was accused of stealing half-a-bottle of wine…and then had to spend about six months in a mental asylum! There are two ways of looking at this punishment.

1. It was a small price to pay for a one-to-one conversation with the Queen.
2. Something was mentally wrong with those who put him into the mental asylum instead of the prison. By this philosophy, the thieves who ransacked our office last year and partied on all that was available in the pantry, should be sent to the mental assylum, instead of being put behind bars!

(Source: The Michael Fagan Incident)

Here are some interesting links:

• A Queen’s life
• The Coronation Dress
• Queen Elizabeth’s pictures
• The British Monarchy Site
• The Crown Jewels
• The Queen’s Personal Wealth
• Annus Horribilis – 1992

Queen Elizabeth II – Glossary:

Queen Regnant: The queen who is vested with all the royal authority (at par with the King.)
Queen Consort: The queen who’s a queen by virtue of being the wife of a king.
Annus Horibilis: A truly bad year where nothing works out and everybody is out to get you. (2009 for me, 1992 for the Queen!)

Drawing the Caricature of Queen Elizabeth II:

(A Window into my Thoughts, for those who want to learn how to draw the Queen’s caricature.)

• When you draw a queen, caricature or otherwise, you draw a queen. So it was important that the caricature highlighted her queenly attributes/features. Thus, the crown became important.
• Next, because the caricature was of Queen Elizabeth II, it had to have a likeness. As you’d note from her pictures, the Queen’s chin is slightly drawn in and she’s got a nice nose and a smile. These were important too.
• So the crown, the chin, and the smile got exaggerated. The dress and the ribbons were drawn to build additional likeness.
• The joke…well:-) Queen Elizabeth II is a strong woman who seems to have been born with a crown – and so she hardly notices it:-)

The Zen of Finding your Lost Love Makes Tom Hanks Disappear!

I was going to post Tom Hanks’ caricature today, but a comment on my book made me change my mind. (Updated: March 15, 2010 – Tom Hanks’ Caricature Posted:-))

The gentleman who commented, is an authority in the field of information technology, and he (as he says in his comment,) is only a few years away from retirement. Long time ago when he was younger, he used to draw. It was his hobby. Then many years passed and the hobby was forgotten, until recently, when he rediscovered it. Now he hopes to start again:-)

He made me think about the years we do things that aren’t driven by our passion. He made me think of all that we leave behind, in the race to become “respected citizens” of this world. He made me wonder about the value that we place on life’s precious moments – in a currency chosen by others, and in a manner guided by our social norms.

Do we have to leave and forget what we love…forever?

There’s this one life that we’ve got. It was given to as an empty basket so that we could fill it up with moments that either fell into it or that we chose consciously. We can’t do much about the moments that destiny drops into our basket, but if we relinquish our control over those moments that are ours to choose – we suffocate ourselves, into a slow death. We make ourselves an airtight chamber and we sit in it waiting for random moments to fall into our basket – waiting for the time when our empty gasps would end and the searing, burning pain in our chest would stop!

Pull yourself out of that dark, lonely chamber – stop waiting for the continuous patter of random moments – get a life that you love. Close your eyes for a second and think.

What did you love doing, what did you dream of becoming; before you were blinded by the blazing lights of practical needs?

Here are some choices. Pick yours.

• You loved to draw people, animals, buildings, trees, cartoons, caricatures…
• You danced for hours…you loved swinging to the music…
• You played the piano, the keyboard, or the guitar…
• You liked to write stories, poems, jokes…
• You enjoyed creating puzzles, designing games…
• You loved to make things out of wood, paper…

This list, of course isn’t exhaustive. Take a moment, and a slip of paper. Now write down your “lost” dream. If you are here, there’s a strong possibility that you too are chasing a lost dream.

• You may be here because you aren’t working as an artist, but you loved to draw or sketch, once upon a time.
• You might also be here looking for references or for pictures to alter, you are probably someone who’s straitjacketed into the role of an artist or a graphic designer, but it isn’t your true calling. You dreamed of being someone else, once upon a time.

I don’t recommend that you leave what puts bread on your table – but I strongly advise you to spend at least an hour a day following your true love. One day, it shall become yours – but until then, the sweet memories that you collect in that hour of the day, will fill your basket of life with happiness and satisfaction.

And yes, if your lost dream is drawing people (cartoons, caricatures, or otherwise,) “The Evolution of a Caricaturist”, a book on how to draw caricatures, may help.

“Chapter 6 – Caricaturing the Eye” of “The Evolution of the Caricaturist”, a book on How to Draw Caricatures – Updated.

Dear Visitors,

Some of you must be aware that I am writing a book on How to Draw Caricatures. This book is called “The Evolution of a Caricaturist“, and it is being published as a collection of Google Knols. It is an evolving text, to which I add a chapter every 10 days or a fortnight. Yesterday, I added the sixth chapter called, “Caricaturing the Eye” to this book. Here are the links to the Chapter Outline, and the Six Chapters that’ve been completed so far.

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 Evolution of a Caricaturist

• Chapter 1 – How to Draw Caricatures – Getting Down to the Basics
• Chapter 2 – Why Caricaturists Love Celebrities?
• Chapter 3 – The Human Face – Observing it from the Caricaturist’s Perspective
  
• Chapter 4 – The Psychology of Face Recognition – The Caricaturist’s Secret Weapon!
• Chapter 5 – Caricaturing the Shape of the Face
• Chapter 6 – Caricaturing the Eyes

If you are fond of sketching and you want to explore the skill of caricaturing, you are the right audience for this book. You follow the chapter updates by either subscribing to this blog through email (check the first link in the right sidebar.) As the chapters would lead you into subsequent practice activities, I would recommend that you put aside 2-3 hours of your time per chapter, and ensure that you practice before proceeding to the next chapter.

I would like to thank those readers who’ve sent me emails telling me that they’ve found this book useful. I intend to complete this book in the next two months. If you are a serious reader of this book, I recommend that you work out a practice schedule with about 12-15 chapters spread over the next two months. It will ensure that you’ve acquired a new skill by the time you are done reading the book.

Remember this book contains original content (right from this caricaturist’s pen, so to speak,) and it’s FREE. It is an improbable combination but freak accidents do happen, and this is probably one of them:)

Create a few caricatures and “Spread the Smile”!

Regards,
Shafali.

A Quick Update on Sandra Bullock and Tom Hanks!

Dear Visitors,

Here’s a quick update.

Coming up shortly on your favorite Caricature blog are:

• Sandra Bullock (Oscar Nominee for the movie, The Blind Side) and
• Tom Hanks (The Castaway Robert Langdon.)

And yes, the 6th Chapter in the book “The Evolution of a Caricaturist” (A book about how to draw caricatures) is ready to be published!

Regards,
Shafali

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!

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!

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!

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

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

 

 

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

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

The Evolution of a Caricaturist

• Chapter 1 – How to Draw Caricatures – Getting Down to the Basics
• Chapter 2 – Why Caricaturists Love Celebrities?
• Chapter 3 – The Human Face – Observing it from the Caricaturist’s Perspective

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

And finally a Personal Note:

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

Happy reading and drawing.

Thanks.
Shafali

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

Dear Readers,

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

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

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

Smiles,

Shafali