Challenge #2

Caricatures

Caricatures: A Cartoon Face

For this challenge you will be creating a face in a Caricature style. It is difficult at first but once you get familiar with the style, will become easier as you practice.

A Face As A Cartoon Style Portrait

Facial expression, distinguishing features, exaggeration; these are the elements that make up every Cartoon or Caricature Portrait. A portrait is a drawing, painting, photograph or engraving that focuses on the head and shoulder area. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. A portrait often shows a person looking directly at the painter or photographer, the end result is a more interactive, personal experience with the viewer.

Practice, practice, practice....

This style takes time. There are many details to a face and drawing them in an exaggerated way takes time to develop. When you first begin, you may even want to practice "drawing what the artist is drawing" in the example videos below. This will allow you to get a feel for the style of this type of drawing.

Watch the whole video first, to understand the beginning-through-the-end.
Re-watch and pause the video while you "draw what they are drawing" (small steps).

Most students felt that this really helped them understand the technique better, there's a lot to think about and a lot to do the first time you attempt this.

Cartoon -vs- Caricature and Exaggeration

A cartoon is a simplified illustration that has a quick, whimsical style to it. Anything can be drawn as a cartoon whether it's a person, animal or landscape.

A caricature is specifically an illustration of a person drawn in an exaggerated style to emphasize their distinctive features.

Cartoon (left) -vs- Caricature (right)

The Shape of the Head

Step 1:

First, find a picture of the person you would like to draw (once you get comfortable with this technique, you could have someone pose for you). Most artists will begin with the shape of the head as the foundation (the beginning point) of their drawing. When you are sketching it out, draw the outer edge contour line of the top of the head, sides, ears and jaw. You can exaggerate some of these lines if you wish to. Do not worry about any details yet.

Watch the tutorials below to see how these artists began their drawings.

Click on the image above to watch a Head Shape tutorial by Rowser.

Click on the image above to watch a Caricature tutorial by Rowser.

Click on the image above to see the basic steps to make a Caricature Portrait.

The Expression: Eyes, Mouth and Nose

Step 2:

After you are happy with your drawing of "the shape of the head," you can begin to add their facial expression. The details of the face can be broken down into 7 zones: The hairline, the eye brows, the eyes, nose area, cheek area, mouth and jaw.

Before you start drawing details in the zones lets explain "Distinguishing Characteristics." A distinguishing characteristic is a feature(s) that stands out or makes our face unique. Everyone's face is different, some people features are larger or smaller than others. The picture below shows a woman with a large, expressive smile. Rowser exaggerates this feature because this is the signature technique to a caricature portrait.

You can exaggerate any feature and one or more features. Where to start...where to begin? Many Caricature artists begin with the eyes and then continue working above and below them. Other Caricature artists draw the outside details first (hairline, chin, ear details), then the nose, then above and below that. Experiment and see what works best for you; it might even change depending on the person and their distinguishing characteristic.

Click on the image above to watch a "Basic Shapes: Zones of the Caricature" tutorial by Rowser. He explains the "zones" around 5:14.

Click on the image above to see Rowser's Tutorial Page on "Facial Details"

Fine Details, Color and Shading

Step 3:

The final step to the portrait is the fine details (eyelashes, facial hair, teeth outlines, ear detail, neck and shoulder area, shading and color). How you add them and the style that you use will be developed with practice. For example: how many eyelashes should you add and how thick or thin do you make them (if you add too many eyelashes may look like a realistic drawing instead)? I will add a few more tutorials so you can see how Rowser answers these questions.