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Party Caricatures

How to Draw 3 to 4 Minute Caricatures

By Graham White

seattlecaricaturist.com

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aricaturing is not only about observation and interpretation it is about energy. It is about drawing fast positive exciting

lines to form a composition that not only captures the likeness of the sitter but creates a dynamic shape on the paper that is visually pleasing.

Three minute party caricatures drawn with three different felt tip pens. Two blacks and one grey.

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symmetry is the key to caricaturing because when a portrait is not symmetrical it implies character and

personality traits in the sitter and this, I think, is what compels people to watch a caricaturist draw. That and the speed with which the caricaturist draws.

The Art of :

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find that even inaccurate lines can be absorbed into the overall pattern and actually end up adding to the likeness as

long as they are energetically drawn. Just as every action has a reaction so every line drawn has another line that can add counterbalance to it. After a while finding this next line seems to come naturally. Lines drawn quickly and energetically give life to a caricature but care must be taken to make sure lines do not accidentally cross each other where they should not. Lines that cross imply that one line is in front of the other and this may not be the case. Oops! Can’t afford too many mistakes like this. Lines drawn with thick felt tip shown full size.

Lines drawn with thick felt tip shown full size.

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hat is observation and interpretation you may well ask and I would answer that nature pokes fun at all of us in

varying degrees. We are either not perfect or too perfect and this can be exploited by the caricaturist. Slight imperfections can be exaggerated or played down to a greater or lesser degree. Caricaturists have a little fun at their sitter's expense. ( This amuses the people watching and ensures that the line of willing victims never ends! )

The Eyes Have It!

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yes are not the same, noses are frequently not quite straight, nostrils do not match, mouths are sometimes

bigger on one side of our face or the curve of our smile is awry and I have not even started on face shapes and head shapes. Ears too are never the same and then we go and alter the balance of our faces even more with hairstyles, spectacles, facial hair for men and makeup for women the opportunity for the caricaturist to poke fun at their sitter is quite often too good to miss.

Lips are stretchy rubbery things and this has to be borne in mind when drawing them. Smiling invariably causes the top lip to diminish and the lower lip to take prominence. Then there is the lipstick on the ladies to consider. This can be ‘put on’ with the black marker or the grey one or a combination of both.

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his brings me to 'the smile'. Personally I like to draw my sitter smiling because then the drawing is smiling and our

natural reaction to any smile is to smile back at it. There are. however, some sitters who look so serious this too can be made humorous and they can be a real pleasure to draw. Invariably their reaction on seeing their caricature is to smile broadly and unselfconsciously or even laugh out loud. I love it!

Teeth

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caricaturist also has to decide whether to draw individual teeth or just leave them as a shape. This decision is quite

often based on whether or not the sitter has exceptional teeth and that the rest of the drawing can carry teeth drawn individually. This is because the number of lines required to draw the teeth attract a lot of attention to that area of the drawing and quite Lines drawn with thick felt tip shown full size.

often become the focal point of the drawing. So the caricaturist has to decide if the teeth should have that much prominence.

Generally it is better not to draw each tooth because it is a risky business! A black mark or a jagged edge or smudge does not look well on teeth.

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ostrils too are pulled upward and outward as we smile and this should be taken into account even if the sitter is not

actually smiling when you draw the nostrils. Some people close their eyes quite tightly when they smile where as others smile with their eyes wide open. When we smile the corners of our mouths are pulled towards our earlobes causing our cheeks to bulge out and the area under our eyes to compress.

Eyes Nose and Chin

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he shape of our jaw line changes quite dramatically when we smile but the caricaturist has to be careful when

drawing this especially with the ladies. The lines that represent a lady’s jaw bone have to be drawn with great precision and it is better to try to make these two lines mirror each other because a female face can soon look misshapen if the lines are two divergent.

I always try to draw my subject with a slender neck so that if I want to I can add a body that is much smaller. Then I can caricature what they are wearing or I can draw attention to a large bust but only if the woman has chosen to put it on display first!

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ow we have reached the critical area where the jaw line meets the chin. Very often in older subjects this line is not

actually connected to the chin it simply slides past and becomes their neck. On younger subjects, however, this line is connected to the chin separating it from the neck.

Men And Women

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his brings us to the difference between caricaturing a man and a woman. When a man has a more asymmetrical face it

can be exploited. In fact as long as the lines are drawn swiftly and convincingly considerable distortion is possible and can add interest as well as contributing to the overall likeness. In women, however, asymmetry can go too far too quickly and can detract by making them look misshapen. So be careful!.

Remember we are caricaturing not sketching. When we sketch we search for a likeness by gently probing our subject gradually refining our observations by building up a patina of light delicate strokes, usually with a pencil. Drawing in this way is almost impossible with a thick felt tipped marker. It is also highly undesirable to attempt to draw in this way when creating a caricature.

Lines drawn with thick felt tip shown full size.

Caricaturists And Confidence

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he caricaturist observes, interprets and converts his observation in an instant into a swift pen stroke seeing the

line on the paper before he or she draws it. Knowing where it will start, where it will end and how the thickness will vary separates the caricaturist from the sketcher. Thin lines can be made thicker by drawing over them if necessary but thick lines cannot be made thinner.

Caricaturists must have the confidence and a willingness to draw heavy black lines on a white sheet of paper knowing that corrections cannot be made and that the wrong line may ruin a drawing instantly. It is this that makes caricaturing exciting for me!

Keep It Simple!

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o keep it simple draw two horizontal lines about one inch long and about one inch apart. These are going to be our

eyes. Next draw two vertical lines again about one inch long starting just above the inside positions of the horizontal lines and a little between them. This is the start of our nose.

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eave a slight space from the bottom extremes of the two lines and draw another horizontal line about one inch long

centered under the two vertical lines. This is the base of our nose. About one inch below this draw a horizontal line about two inches long and centered under the base line of our nose. This is the mouth.

Always try to point the pen at right angles to the line you are drawing.

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ow do the same exercise again but this time curve all the lines. There are very few straight lines in nature. Keep the

curves simple at first but then start bending them even more as well as making the curves different for each eye and each side of the nose. The curve under the nose can be 'U' shaped or 'V' shaped. Draw two more curves one for each nostril.

Curves Instead of drawing the lines straight make them curved because faces do not have straight lines. Draw an arc for each of the eyes, then swoop the two lines down from just above the inner corners of the eye for our nose and just below them draw a curved line to represent the base of the nose. About one inch below the base of the nose draw a curved line about two inches long for the mouth.

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ow is a good time to stop and look at the tip of your felt tip marker. You will observe that it is beginning to flatten

on one side of the nib. This can be exploited by turning the pen so that this flatter side touches the paper giving you a thicker line. Also by reducing the angle of the pen to the paper you can make the line even thicker. In contrast holding the pen more vertically will give you a thinner line.

Pen shown approximately full size.

Learn to move the pen round in your fingers changing it's position so as to maximize it's potential for drawing thick and thin lines. It is this versatility with the pen that will make you a good caricaturist.

Pressure

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ow when you draw curves try to start off with a light touch and increase the pressure at the center of the curve and

then gradually reduce the pressure towards the end of the curve. This will give the line more vitality. When drawing curves use your whole hand, wrist and arm and do not be afraid to turn the paper slightly if it makes drawing the curve smoother and easier.

You will notice that my self caricatures change quite a lot.

Once you have placed your pen to the paper you must know precisely where the end of the line you are about to draw is. How you get to that point is up to you and can be a line that curves slightly, curves a great deal, or dances about back and forth just so long as it remains smooth and full of life. This is because every time we draw we see things in a unique way.

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ractise drawing curves with your pen on the inside of the curve or on the outside of the curve when it feels more

natural. This will vary on whether you are left or right handed. You will soon discover how some lines are easier to draw when holding your pen a certain way.

The Eyes Have It

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ow back to our starting point, the eyes. This time place two imaginary dots one at the outer point of the eye and one at

the inner. Try to join those two imaginary dots with a curve. Decide whether or not the outer point is higher or lower than the inner point. Inner point

Outer point

Eyes drawn full size. The arrows indicate the direction of the pen stroke.

Finish the eye using two more curves. One swooping down from the outer point to finish just below the inner point and one to join the point of the inner eye to the end of the line you have just drawn. This makes three lines for each eye and stops the eye looking like a fattened lozenge.

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few more curves and our face is complete. Try to draw the curves by manipulating the pen in your fingers and varying

the pressure to give you thick and thin lines. Swoop the lines down to form the bridge of the nose, add the curve for the base of the nose and the curves for the nostrils. Draw in the upper lip using two quick swirly strokes starting at the center and going out and upward to the corners of the mouth. Drop a curve down for the lower lip. Position the chin and the face is drawn.

Lines And More Lines

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ow position your pen just above and just out from the outer corner of the right eye and draw a graceful curve down to

meet the chin. Echo this line on the other side of the face and we have successfully drawn our first caricature. Practice a few faces for yourself. The pens indicate how the point should be relative to the line drawn. This involves considerable dexterity and should be practiced frequently. Positioning the pen this way guarantees smooth curves.

Note how the pen points towards the line.

Note how the pen points towards the line.

Hair Today

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he top of the head is usually covered in some way or another with hair. The caricaturist very often reduces the

proportions for the top of the head because he or she concentrates on the face and facial area. Hair in itself does not add a great deal to the likeness except of course the hair style does! So generally we accept that the head broadens out above the ears but that does not mean we cannot make it smaller if we decide it will look better or more humorous that way.

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air grows naturally and so it must be drawn in the same way if it is to look convincing. Try to imagine that your

pen is in fact a comb and that you are combing and styling the person's hair following the natural way it grows. Draw swatches of hair rather than individual hairs adding as many lines as you need to give an impression of hair and to balance your design.

Widest Part

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ou will, I hope, have noticed that the jaw line on the model above has a double curve to it. That is because the head

comprises of two major bones, the upper skull and the lower jaw bone which pivots allowing us to open and close our mouths and also altering significantly the apparent length of our faces. Try looking in the mirror and yawning!

Look for the widest part of the face and where the jaw bone turns toward the chin. The pen mark where the turn starts. A couple drawn together. Notice their eyes looking at each other.

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his brings us to one of the keys to likeness. The shape of our jaw bone. Ladies have rounded jawbones and chins and

men have squarish jawbones and chins. Try to establish the widest part of the face. It can be across the eyes, the cheeks or the mouth and it needs to be observed carefully. Another key to likeness is correctly interpreting the curve of the jaw line. Look at the corner of the mouth and then move your eye across to where the downward swoop of the jawbone turns in towards the chin. Is the center of this curve level with the mouth, below the mouth or above it?

Hair Styles

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airstyles can be great fun and also a very useful adjunct to the balance of our drawing. The shape of the hair does not

have to be followed slavishly just interpreted and this gives us the opportunity to use it as a key design element which can be manipulated. We want the shape of our drawing to fill the paper nicely and so if we have started our drawing a little to one side we can balance that by creative use of the hair and hair strands. We must not forget that guys too have hair. Hair that can be equally amusing to draw especially if they are folically challenged or they cultivate a moustache or other facial hair

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ow we are ready to start caricaturing, so pull up a chair to the mirror and have at it! The proportions of the face for

the caricaturist are easy because all of them are going to be distorted and exaggerated. When you start base all measurements on the width of the eye and follow this strategy throughout the drawing.

Self Portrait

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Just like in our exercise start with the eyes, placing them about halfway up the paper but check out the hair because if

it is 'big' hair you might need more room. When you look at them check for the angle and shape of the line at the top of the eye and start with that. Draw this line on both of the eyes making sure that you have left sufficient space between them. More often than not this space is the same length as the lines you have just drawn but it can be smaller or considerably wider. Now the line that drops down from the top of the eye to the inner corner and the little area that houses the tear duct. Look at the angle and whether it is in fact two lines. Now the line connecting the outer corner to the inner corner can be drawn with a nice swooping curve dropping down a little lower at the outside. Draw in the two lines that swoop down for the nose, the base of the nose, the nostrils, smile lines if any, and the mouth. Draw in the spectacles quickly and with the minimum of lines.

Self Portrait Continued

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Keep looking up at the mirror. Draw in one side of the jaw line from a point level with the outer eye and then draw in the other. Pop on the ears, earrings if necessary bearing in mind ears start level with the eye

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Finish off with the hair and shirt and at this point draw in any accessories like my pen and drawing board. Look at your subject to see if he/she has a pen or brooch or something else memorable that may add visual interest to the caricature.

Finishing Touches

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Finally take up your grey pen and very quickly draw in the shading. Some times it is possible to look at the way the light falls on the sitter but more often than not I just make the light source come from above and shade under the hair on the forehead, the eye sockets, the sides of the nose, underneath the nose and mouth and chin and then tackle the hair.

Party Caricatures

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ll the caricatures in this book are drawn this way.

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ost of the caricatures were drawn on letter size cardstock.

hey all took just three to four minutes to draw.

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