Learn How To Draw Caricatures
Before we learn How To Draw Caricatures I think we should take a look at what makes a caricature. In my mind a caricature is a drawing of somebody that has some or all their features exaggerated either up or down in size. The features that may be slightly larger than normal on the person in real life are maximized in the drawing and if the person has a small feature then that is usually minimized down in size. It’s essentially a cartoon but the difference is that this cartoon is recognizable as a person that we know. This is what Wikipedia says.
Do you remember the trips to the carnival when you purchased those awesome drawings that were drawn within minutes? To tell you the truth, I’ve always been amazed at these drawings and how the artist did not take a long time to create these masterworks. These caricatures are elegant, detailed and beautiful. They make simple lines a masterpiece. It is basically a work of art that can be compared to Michelangelo, except its faster. You may think that this type of artwork is difficult to create, however, I am here to prove you wrong. With these steps outlined in this article, you will be turned into a caricature professional.
The caricatures’ theory is based on three techniques. First, it needs to be similar to the person you are drawing. A caricature that is not similar means a bad patron, which means less work, and in some occasions, less money. Now who would not want to make more money? With the likeness in mind, the artist must always exaggerate the piece. Make sure to do this or it will not be considered a caricature. Lastly you must always add your personal touch to it—the statement. The statement is what you think about the person you are drawing. Always take mental note of the person’s personality, their body language, or other important parts of the person that describes the person. Once you add these techniques to your artwork, you are well on your way to becoming a professional caricature artist.
Caricature drawings are drawn just like cartoons using bold lines to separate the different elements, thicker lines being used for where there is shadow. Don’t be timid and sketch the lines but rather get it down in one long meaningful stroke of the pen.
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So, for instance when drawing the chin, make a bold line in one stroke using the thickness to show where there’s shadow. Do not sketch using lots of short pen marks.
Graeme Biddle is one of the best caricature artists around, watch this video as he actually draws a caricature in front of the camera whilst explaining some of his secrets.
Video by Graeme Biddle – How To Draw Caricatures
How To Draw Caricatures — Get Your 7 Day Step By Step Course
In fact, Graeme Biddle also offers an outstanding course to learn How To Draw Caricatures, click on the link above to see how you could be drawing caricatures and making money in less than a month!
How To Draw The Caricatures?
Woah…going way to fast. Before you begin drawing the caricature, you need to hone your analytic skills. A traditional artist can create a piece of art. Then there are the artists that can draw caricatures. They create masterpieces that no artist can learn to create; they create artwork that puts the patron in shock because the caricaturist sees all the fine details of the person’s face and uses it to create his drawing. Remember, when you are drawing these pieces you are not a traditional artist. You are there to look and see every aspect of the face, exaggerate it and then show the person something hidden that they know was there before. It is important you hone your analytic skills since this makes or break your artwork. Now once you master this skill you are ready to create your first caricature.
What To Do Next
The Fun Part – Drawing the Caricatures
With 52 muscles in the face, you as the artist needs to create artwork that represents different expressions, age, race, sex, environmental conditions and weight. 52 is a pretty big number if you ask me. That is why when drawing caricatures the face is made up of five shapes—the head, eye one and two, nose, and mouth. It’s so simple even a caveman can do it and I really mean it. With that in mind you can create the various expressions your artwork requires. For example, if you are drawing someone tall, you can draw a narrow and long face, large nose, and with a smug look on their face. Let your imagination soar whenever you are creating this artwork. Then once you have the expression part down packed, all you need to do is add some exaggeration to your artwork.
Now what may be puzzling you is how the artist in the carnivals create these artworks so fast. Well they basically use a technique that ensures precision and accuracy. First, they start out with the basic skeleton. Here they define the expressions, and relations the five shapes have to offer. Also, the artists ten to exaggerate the person’s features—make the forehead wider, larger lips, etc. Then they go in and detail the artwork. Here they add the person’s personality, weight, and other factors that affect how they look. Also, the artist adds their representation of the patron in the artwork.
Everything gets dumbed down in a caricature, you just want to draw the shape and the shadows, not so much the details. Take a photo of someones face and sit down and start to draw it. You may want to try to draw the face with different exaggerated features for practice. For example, draw the photo with an exaggerated chin or nose or forehead. Don’t forget, you can minimize features as well, small nose, small chin etc. See which drawing looks most like the person in the photo and keep practicing until it becomes easy.
There you have it, you learned how to draw caricatures! Now go out to the carnival and celebrate; maybe even show your “competition” your new talent.
Now that you learned the techniques to caricature drawing you should pick that lucky person and test out your new-found abilities. Use that 3rd eye of yours to find the person’s hidden features, and exaggerate a bit. Here you have it, you have successfully learned how to draw caricatures!