Jan 19 2014

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.”)

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May 29 2013

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.

A Toony Pretzels Cartoon - A take on Facebook Depression - Defining Loneliness - emails, facebook, twitter, blog - Depressed Woman.

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

Cartoon, Caricature, Drawing, Portrait, Sketch of Sigmund Freud the man who gave us the Oedipus complex and the freudian slip.

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

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 🙂

Mar 15 2010

Caricature/Cartoon – Tom Hanks – The Cast Away or Robert Langdon?

Was Robert Langdon Cast Away? Or did Tom Hanks become Robert Langdon after he was Cast Away?

Someone please help the pups!

Caricature/Cartoon of Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon - with the pups and their mom!

Same Guy?

In his recent movies, The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons, Tom Hanks plays the role of Professor Robert Langdon, who teaches Symbology whenever he finds time from his sabbaticals in Europe (the seat of all symbological trouble.) In Dan Brown‘s new Novel, The Lost Symbol, Langdon is closer home, burying his nose into masonic issues of symbolic proportions.

Among the Tom Hanks movies that I’ve watched two made a strong impression on me. One was The Green Mile, and the other Cast Away. The Green Mile made me wonder how he could convey such strength of feeling through a character molded in passivity. The Cast Away was a movie that I saw at the second inflection point in my life – it helped me by reinstating my faith in what humans can achieve.

Hanks won the 1993 Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Philadelphia, and in 1994 for his role in Forest Gump.

Nineteen of his films raked in more than $100 million (per film), which obviously makes him the biggest Hollywood star of today.

Here are some other info-bytes about Tom Hanks.

He is a supporter of gay marriages.
He once wanted to be an astronaut (not a caricaturist, mind you.)
Tom Hanks loves old typewriters, baseball, and many other things that you could discover on his myspace page.

Also check out these two links.

If you’d like to figure out whether Tom Hanks is related to you, here is his family tree.
If you call yourself a Tom Hanks fan, take this quiz!

Update: April 16, 2010:

Is Robert Langdon Gay?

A search string that brought a visitor to my blog, prompted this update:-)

Well…I believe that Robert Langdon isn’t “just” gay. He might be a bisexual – but none of the books that he figures in, has anything to suggest that he is a gay. In “Da Vinci Code” he ends up spending the night with the heroine of the book, and in “Angels & Demons” there were undercurrents suggesting that Langdon was attracted to Vittoria, the heroine! None of the books, including “The Lost Symbol” had anything indicating that Robert Langdon could be gay!

Mar 12 2010

New Celebrity Calendars for 2010!

New Celebrity Calendars are Up!

Here’s the list of the new additions:)

And if these aren’t enough, check out the Celebrity Calendars 2010 page to download Calendars of other Celebrities.

And Yes… Tom Hanks, the Forest Gump who was Cast away and who later transformed into Robert Langdon to decode the Da Vinci Code and save the Vatican, is just around the corner. He will be joining us soon – so do visit again:)