HOW TO DRAW CARICATURES
PART ONE: BASIC THEORY AND THE FIVE SHAPES
This is the first of a series of articles I will post here on
The MAD Blog about my theories, methods and processes concerning
how to draw caricatures. A lot of this information is part of what
I teach my theme park artists, so it is derived partly from the
approach of doing live, quick-draw caricatures. However all of that
can be applied to more studio orientated caricature work and I have
also added points and concepts directly from the less
time-constrained world of caricature illustration. Therefore this
is not instruction for just the live caricaturist but for any
artist interested in caricature for any purpose.
These kinds of things always start out with a definition, but
caricature is a hard thing to pigeonhole into a single sentence.
How can you, when the word encompasses the elegant, minimalist
lines of Al Hirschfeld to the lavish, value and color soaked
paintings of Sebastian Kruger to the graphic, geometrical collages
of David Cowles and everything in between? Despite the wild
differences in style and technique, caricature is the tag that is
placed on any of these works of art without hesitation. Obviously
there is a connection beyond a common technique, school or format.
So, what are the universal elements all caricatures have that
identify them as caricatures? I would say there are three essential
elements that transcend style and medium and must be present in a
caricature:
Likeness- If you cant tell who it is supposed to be, then it is
not successful. All good caricatures incorporate a good likeness of
their subjects.
Exaggeration- Without some form of exaggeration, or a departure
from the exact representation of the subjects features, all you
have is a portrait. The level of exaggeration can vary wildly, but
there must be some departure. A straight portrait is not a
caricature.
Statement- I believe a caricature must editorialize in some way.
The artist must be trying to say something about the subject. It
might be something to do with the situation the subject is drawn
in, it may just be a play on their personality through expression
or body language, it might be a simple as making visual fun of some
aspect of their persona or image. Exaggeration itself can
accomplish this in some cases. The best caricatures say something
more about the subject than that they have a big nose.
By my definition, a successful caricature therefore looks like
the subject, is exaggerated to varying degrees and also has
something to say about the subject some sort of editorial comment.
In live caricature at a theme park, that third item is often turned
way down or ignored completely, but in the case of caricatures for
illustration, its an important part.
TEACHING SOMEONE TO SEE
Ive been working with young caricaturists at theme parks for
over two decades now, and Ive learned one very important lesson its
impossible to teach someone to draw caricatures. I can teach them
to DRAW that isnt so hard. Learning how a face looks and works by
learning anatomy, how expression changes the features, how the
angle the face is at changes the perception of features, how hair
grows and falls about the head those are things that can be taught.
Drawing caricatures, on the other hand, is a lot more about seeing
what makes the person in front of you unique and personal
interpretation than it is about making good, confident marks on the
paper. I can explain to someone exactly how to draw a circle, but
if I place a circle before them and ask them to draw it and they
draw a square well, that is all about seeing and not drawing. The
ability to see, and after that the ability to exaggerate what you
see for humorous effect in a caricature that has to be developed.
For most that means a lot of drawing and a lot of looking.
Have you ever been walking along at the mall or where ever and
along comes somebody with some crazy, incredibly distinct face that
maybe sports a gigantic nose or a Cro-Magnon brow or some other
obviously out-of-the-ordinary features? Caricaturists have a term
for that kind of face its called a field day. Think about it for a
second why is that face so ripe for caricature compared to the next
guys? Are the features really that different? If you took a ruler
and measured the size of Mr. Shnozzess nose compared to Mr. Normal,
the difference would be minimal. So why is he so easy? Because you
are SEEING a difference based on perception, and that is giving you
your springboard for a caricature. One observation of what makes
this person different from normal, and you are off and running. The
obvious features are easy observations its Johnny and Susie Normal
or, worse yet, Johnny and Susie Supermodel that are the challenge.
That is where developing an ability to see becomes important. There
is no face that defies caricature, you just sometimes have to dig a
little deeper to find the keys to unlock the more difficult puzzle.
In caricature, the old adage of practice makes perfect has never
been truer. The ability to see doesnt spring up overnight, and I
often tell eager young caricaturists they have about 500 or so bad
caricatures in them they have to draw out first before they start
noticing the subtle things that hide inside the ordinary face.
Although I say its impossible to teach someone to draw
caricatures, its not impossible to help them develop their ability
to draw them. There are many ways and techniques to help an artist
develop their ability to see what is in front of them, recognize
what makes what they see unique and then amplify that uniqueness to
create a successful caricature. There are general concepts that
apply to the overall approach of a caricature as well as specific
tricks and tips for individual features and important, main
elements that I will be sharing over the multiple parts of this
series of articles.
THE FIVE SHAPESThe human face is perceived by many as an
incredible complex object. There are about 52 muscles in the face,
depending on your source and its categorization. Age, sex, race,
expression (the face is capable of about 5,000 expressions) weight
and environment can all play a role in the look and perception of a
given face. Sounds pretty complex. Not really. Every building, no
matter how complex, starts out with a foundation and framework.
Look at this simple drawing:
Show that drawing to any human being in the world and ask them
what it is. Barring a language barrier, they will tell you its a
face. No other information needed. In its most simple form, the
human face is made up of only five simple shapes:
Place these shapes in their proper relationship, and you have a
human face. It really is that simple. Drawing the shapes
accurately, so they recognizably represent the subjects features,
is the basis for a good likeness. Beyond that is nothing but
details things like dimples, wrinkles, eyelashes, cheekbones, etc.
They are the decor to your building the millwork, furniture and
drapery that makes the place unique and filled with life. Without
the strong foundation, however, it can all come tumbling down.
What does that have to do with caricature? Everything. I
mentioned a single word in the last paragraph that really is the
secret to caricature as a whole no matter what technique or
approach you intend to practice:
RELATIONSHIPS
Its the manipulation of the RELATIONSHIP of these five simple
shapes that create the foundation for your caricature. In fact, Id
argue that 90% of the entire caricature resides in how you relate
these five simple shapes to one another. It is the foundation upon
which the rest of your building is built, where the real power of
exaggeration is realized. Make it good and almost all the heavy
lifting is done, the rest merely referring to details. What do I
mean by relationships? I mean the distances between the five
shapes, their size relative to one another, and the angles they are
at in relationship to the center axis of the face. Distance. Size.
Angle.
In traditional portraiture, the head is divided into classic
proportions (well get into that more next time), meaning the
relationship of the features are within a certain, accepted range
of distance to one another, size and angle relative to the face and
head shape. You achieve your likeness in a classic portrait, in its
most basic form, by correctly drawing the shapes and then the
details of each feature according to the model in front of you
while staying within the framework of the classic proportions. Of
course each face varies minutely here and there, but still you do
not stray far from the classic formula. In a caricature, like a
portrait, the likeness is also achieved by drawing the features as
they really look but you change the relationship of the features
based on your perceptions of the face. The relationships you change
are as I listed before: distance, size and angle. Look at these
VERY simple drawings that demonstrate how you can change the
relationships of the five shapes and create very different
caricatures:
No detail, and all the shapes are basically the same with the
exception of the head shape (again, more on that later MUCH more)
but all are distinctly different and when the details are added
will make for highly varied caricatures. The difference is the
relationships between the features, and how they have been
exaggerated and changed. Caricature is not about choosing one
feature and making it bigger, its about all the features together
and how they relate to one another.Here are some quick studies of
the 5 shapes beneath a few caricature sketches:
The relationships differ in distance, size and angle from one
another. The bigger the differences are from classic proportions,
the more exaggerated the caricature. Its much easier to see the
differences when the details are removed and only the 5 shapes are
left. Its also much easier to create those differences at this
simple, fundamental level. Its easy to get caught up in details
when the important information rests beneath the rendering.
How does one determine the correct changes to make to a given
persons feature relationships to make a good caricature of them?
Well, thats the trick, isnt it? That is were that pesky seeing
comes in. In his book How to Draw Caricatures, Lenn Redman uses a
concept called The Inbetweener as a basis for almost every
observation. It is basically the classic portraiture relationships
used as a point of reference for making observations. Every
caricature begins with the observations the artist makes about the
subject, and how their particular face is perceived by them. MAD
legend Mort Drucker has been quoted as saying that there is no one
correct way to caricature a subject. Any given subject can have
several difference interpretations with respect to the exaggeration
of the relationship of their features and each may be as successful
as the other. Thats one of the unique things about caricature as an
art form. Portraiture is basically absolute Your drawing either
looks like the person with the correct features, proportions and
relationships, or it does not. Caricature is subjective to a point.
The artists goal is to draw how they perceive the face, and
exaggerate that perception. The result may be different than how
others perceive that face, but if the three elements we described
in our definition are present its still a successful caricature.
Hirschfeld used to say he once drew Jimmy Durante without a nose at
all, yet it was still recognizable as Durante.
Thats not to say that any observation is appropriate after all
you cant give someone with a small, button nose a gigantic potato
schnozz and call it exaggeration. Thats not exaggeration, its
DISTORTION. You can, however, choose NOT to exaggerate the noses
smallness but rather find something else to exaggerate. That is the
caricaturists task, to find what it is about the subjects face that
makes it unique and alter those relationships to exaggerate that
uniqueness.
PART TWO: RELATING THE FEATURES
Previously I mentioned how the relationships between features
are the driving force behind caricature:
Caricature is not about choosing one feature and making it
bigger, its about all the features together and how they relate to
one another.
Actually caricature is about changing the relationships between
features, meaning their distance, size and angle relative to one
another, from what they truly are and what is considered normal.
Deciding what relationships to change and how much to change them
is one of the caricaturists most important jobs, and one of the
most difficult to learn. The actual difference between the
relationship of features of most humans does not add up to much in
terms of physical measurements a big nose may be only a fraction of
an inch larger than a normal nose. Yet we can see different feature
relationships on almost everybody, some which seem very pronounced.
That is because we spend basically our entire lives looking into
peoples faces we go it when we interact, work, play, go shopping or
to church we are social beings and our faces are both our
identities and our method of communication. Our ability to observe
minute differences becomes very fine tuned. Mostly its unconscious,
but we see that fraction of an inch larger nose as big, or we see
this persons eyes as large or this persons mouth as small based not
on physical measurements but on our overall perception of the
features and how they relate to one another. Consciously making
those observations, especially for those faces in which the unique
aspects are not obvious, is the most difficult part of drawing
caricatures. There are some techniques and methods you can use to
help make those observations.
CLASSIC PORTRAIT PROPORTION AND OBSERVATION
Its important to start somewhere, and the best place is with
what is considered normal relationships of features for two
reasons. First, knowing these classic proportions will help you as
a caricaturist to observe where your subjects face might differ by
providing a point of reference to compare it to. Second, once youve
made these observations you can use that same point of reference,
the classic portrait proportions, as a guide to get as far away
from as possible to create your caricature.
Lets start out looking at the classic human proportions in
traditional portraiture (this is boring, but its important). One
method that has been used for centuries is by using the width of an
eye, from corner to corner, as the primary frame of reference:
In this method, the head is five eye widths wide, with a single
eye width between the eyes, and between the outside eye corners and
the outside of the head. The nose is one eye width wide, and
therefore the nostrils are equal to the corners of the eyes.
Another simple method for establishing the normal relationship
between eyes and mouth is via the equilateral triangle that should
be formed by the points of the outside corners of the eyes, and the
center point of the bottom of the lower lip. Every book on learning
to draw the human face has some similar method of standardizing the
proportions of the average face.
Do human faces really conform to these exact relationships? No,
of course not. Thats the point. There are differences from this
face to that, some very slight and some more pronounced, and the
caricaturist exaggerates these differences to create a caricature.
Knowing what is supposed to be there is half the battle of seeing
where things are different.
Again, making these observations is the trickiest part of doing
caricature, but the good news is you dont have to come up with a
shopping list of deformities in order to do a caricature. In fact,
all you have to do is come up with one good observation. Just one
and you can use that as your cornerstone and build your caricature
around it. It could be as simple as: this person has a skinny face
or big eyes or a small mouth or a square jaw or a bent nose or
whatever. More than one is better, but just one will suffice?ACTION
AND REACTION
Why is only one observation enough? Because no feature is an
island. What I mean is that all the features relate to one another
fundamentally, and you cannot make a change to one feature without
it affecting the others. This is one of the few constants you can
rely on with respect to drawing caricatures: Action and Reaction.
In physics every action causes an equal an opposite reaction. In
caricature the action of changing the relationship of a single
feature to the others causes the others to react in often
predictable ways. You cannot change the eyes without affecting the
nose, mouth, head shape, etc. and how it affects those other
features follows (for the most part) a predictable path.
Say we make an observation about our subject that the eyes seem
far apart. If we move the just the eyes farther apart and leave the
rest of the face untouched, we have a bizarre looking result:
There is awkwardness to the caricatureWe cant ignore the effect
on the other features. The act of moving the eyes father apart
forces the other features to react. Typically when the eyes move
father apart, the nose moves closer to the eyes, the mouth moves
along with the nose, the head becomes wider and, in turn
shorter:
The features work better together hereAdditional observations
can change the path of the reaction. Say our observations are that
the eyes are far apart, but the mouth is also far from the nose.
Because of that action, the lower part of the face must be longer,
and therefore the top part of the head becomes smaller:
Hmmm looks like my brotherHead shape is often the most affected,
and is not coincidentally a big focus. In fact part three of this
series will deal entirely with head shapes. For now we will stick
with the interior features and their relationships.
THE T SHAPE
I have talked a lot about simplifying the face by boiling it
down into the 5 Shapes, but it can get even simpler than that in
terms of both making observations and in playing with the
relationships of features to make a caricature. In fact I believe
there are two absolutely crucial, key components to any caricature:
The head shape and the T shape. These are the two elements of a
face I look at first and try to make observations about, because
with them I can push, stretch and exaggerate the face to great
effect with relative ease.
When I talk about the T Shape I am speaking of the geometric
shape created by the eyes and nose as a single unit. In simplest
terms they create a capital T. Sometimes the T can be short and
wide, sometimes it can be long and thin, or somewhere in between.
The angle at which the eyes rest to the center axis of the face can
change the T into more of a Y, or more of an arrow shape. I treat
the T not as a set of simple lines but as a contour shape with
thickness, therefore the stem (or nose) of the T can be thicker or
thinner at one end or the other, and the arms (or eyes) of the T
can also change in thickness to accommodate big round eyes or
narrow, squinty ones. Imagine a contour capital T drawn around the
eyes and nose in varying relationships.
The shape of the T reacts to changes you make to the
relationship of the eyes and nose. In most cases the eyes and nose
work in a predictable tandem within their relationship. Imagine
that the eyes and nose are connected by a string that travels
through a two wheel pulleys located in the center of the eyes. The
length of the string is constant. If the persons eyes are moved
farther apart, the string pulls the nose closer into the eyes. If
the nose is made longer, then the eyes are drawn closer together.
All of this takes place within the T shape.
The mouth, nose and chin have a similar connection. They have a
constant amount of distance between each other. If the mouth is
perceived as being close to the nose, the chin moves a little
farther away as a reaction. There are similar rules that apply to
the head shape, which well get into next time.
This is extreme simplification, but I have said before the
simpler you can make the shapes you are working with, the easier it
is to exaggerate them and create your caricature. If you imagine a
shape as simple as a T, its very easy to exaggerate that T shape
and then plug in the features as they really look within your
simple shape and you have your caricature. Take a look at these
caricatures and the T shapes within their head shapes:
The T Shape and head shape combine to create the base of your
caricature, over them the 5 shapes further define the relationships
of the features, and over the 5 shapes the features themselves are
drawn and things like bone structure, anatomy, expression, skin,
hair and other details work to create the likeness and bring the
underlying structure to life. Its still all built on these simple
foundations.
I would suggest as an exercise to forget about rendering and
drawing details caricatures for a moment and fill up a few
sketchbook pages with nothing but the head shape and T shape of the
faces you see when paging through a magazine. Draw one quickly
using just your initial observations and first impressions of the
face. Then look back at it and try to see where it differs from the
normal template of classic proportion, then try it again, this time
exaggerating your first try. Do this with a dozen faces a day, and
see how your ability to see the caricature in a given face
develops.
PART THREE: THE IMPORTANCE OF HEAD SHAPES
When I first started drawing live caricatures I felt that the
eyes were the most important part of the face, and I put a lot of
emphasis and focus on them. I still think the eyes are a crucial
element, but over the years Ive come to believe that the head shape
is the most important part of a caricature.
The head shape is the fulcrum upon which a caricature hinges.
The heavy lifting of all exaggeration is accomplished via the shape
of the head, and it is more easily accomplished that way.
Considering that the head shape is a single shape, it is easier to
recognize how that shape differs from normal and it is easier still
to draw a corresponding simple shape that exaggerates those
properties as opposed to the more complex multiple relationships of
the features. By stretching and exaggerating the head shape, you
create the framework within which your other features and their
relationships are drawn to achieve your caricature.
I have spoken of the 5 Shapes and the importance of their
relationships already, but digging a little deeper its accurate to
say that the head shape is Shape 1 and the other four shapes are
planets to its sun, working within its all encompassing field of
gravity. If a caricaturist can see and exaggerate the head shape,
all the other features fall into place and follow along. In the
last lesson I talked about the T shape being a focal point of the
basic caricature, but its really the T Shape and the head shape
together as a whole that acts are the basic foundation of a
caricature. With those shapes and their relationships established,
the rest of the caricature quickly follows suit.
SEEING THE HEAD SHAPEI talk endlessly about seeing shapes within
the features and the face, and the importance of drawing those
shapes accurately to capture likeness and to create a convincing
drawing. Again, its difficult to teach anyone to see that ability
is developed over time via practice and hard work. Still, there are
a few techniques and tricks I have learned that can help artists to
better see what is in front of them, and better interpret it in
their drawing. Many work for any feature or shape within the face,
but some are specific for individual features. Head shapes have
several of these tricks for both initial observations and
exaggeration.
CLASSIC PROPORTION
As with Redmans Everyman concept, its important to have an
understanding of classic human proportion an anatomy to have a
springboard from which observations can be made. This is important
both for helping to see what makes a given face unique by comparing
it to those normal proportions, and for helping to exaggerate those
unique aspects by giving the artist a starting point from which to
depart as much as possible.
The classic adult head is an oval, slightly flattened along the
top. The head is exactly divided in half at the eyes, meaning there
is equal distance from the horizontal line of the eyes to both the
top and bottom of the head. The head is five eye widths wide, and
the widest point is typically at the temples, but can be anywhere
from the cheekbones to just above the ears. The distance, or more
accurately the mass of the head above and below the eyes, and how
those two areas relate, is a crucial part of the head shape as it
relates to caricature. I will refer to it often.
SIMPLIFYING SHAPES
The head shape is really made up of a lot of different features
including cheekbones, cheeks, brow, jawline, chin, forehead, hair,
etc. While these are all important elements of the whole, at this
stage we need to treat the head as a single shape and keep it as
simple as possible. Simple shapes are easier to draw, control and
manipulate than ones with a lot of complex elements to them. Its
easy to get hung up on the details and not be able to see past them
to the underlying foundation.
Here are some tricks to help make initial observations and come
up with a simple head shape:
1. Squint Your Eyes:This is an old portrait artists trick.
Squint your eyes or close them so you are looking through your
eyelashes at your subject. This eliminates the details and forces
you to see only vague shapes and forms. That makes it easier to see
the simple shapes and drawn them.
2. Points of Reference:I look for these with every feature I
draw. What I mean by points of reference is finding a specific
point or part of a feature to use as an anchor point from which you
can make your observations. Each feature has unique points of
reference, but in general things like horizontal or vertical
dividing lines can always be used for this purpose.
With the head shape, the horizontal line create by the eyes is a
good point of reference. Using this imaginary dividing line, its
easy to see how much of the head lies above that lie, and how much
below. I also will look for the widest point of the head shape,
knowing that once I have found these points I need only to make
sure the rest of the head shape lies in between them. I will also
look for straight lines along the contour of the head shape, and
draw them accordingly. Finally, I will look for points along the
face contour where there is an angular change of direction. The
back of the jaw and sides of the chin will often have these points.
Any or all of these points of reference can help you see the rest
of the head shape by comparing what is around it to the point of
reference you have established.
3. Shape Association:This is a strange but effective way of
grasping a simple head shape, and for exaggerating it at the same
time. Try to associate the head shape of your subject with the
shape of some inanimate object you are familiar with. Maybe this
person has a head shaped like a lightbulb (small, narrow bottom of
the face with a big forehead) or that persons head shape may remind
you of a peanut (squeezed at the temples). Whatever strikes you. I
dont mean you draw a light bulb with the face on it, but rather use
your imagination and keep that object in mind as a template for the
head shape you draw.
Of course, its a fun exercise to draw those objects with faces
on them just for fun and practice. Doing that helps your ability to
spot those associations within your subjects head shape.
EXAGGERATING THE HEAD SHAPE
I mentioned earlier that the head shape is a place where
exaggeration is most easily applied to the greatest effect. This is
because altering the head shape to any appreciable degree creates a
drawing radically different than a portrait. Any change to the head
shape from the normal shape has a very high impact to the viewer,
and the features, by way of their necessary relationships within
the head shape, are forced to follow suit and become exaggerated.
My analogy of the head shape being a fulcrum is an apt one, because
the slightest change in the head shape can radically change all
other aspects of the face. Because the head is treated as a single
shape, it is relatively easy to make those exaggeration decisions
and execute them. Unlike the interior features of the face, which
change with expression, the head shape is a constant that only
changes with the angle of the head, and then only as any object
will change when rotating in space. When exaggerating the head
shape, all you really need is ONE observation about it to build
your caricature upon. It could be as simple as observing that the
model has a skinny face, or a large chin, or a small forehead.
Multiple observations are great, but one strong one is all you need
because it will create a cascading effect with your drawing to
define your caricature.
Here are some methods of seeing and exaggerating the head
shape:
1. Visual Weight:One key to exaggerating the head shape is to
decide where the visual weight of the head lies. That can be as
simple as using the afore mentioned line of the eyes as a reference
point and asking yourself does more of the face lie above the eyes,
or below? That is visual weight the placement of head mass relative
to some point of reference like the line of the eyes.
We know that in a normal proportioned head the mass is equal.
However how we perceive the face is different than its physical
measurements. Whenever you can depart from the equal mass rule its
important to do so. That is caricature.
2. The Law of Constant Mass:There are very few rules that are
universal as it applies to caricature things like expressions,
posture and unique physical attributes make it almost impossible to
be able to say this is always true. Here is one rule that never
changes, however, and its a powerful tool to create convincing
exaggerations the law of constant mass. By using it, you can take
that one observation about the head and follow through with the
rest of the head shape.Imagine you have sculpted a perfectly
proportioned head out of wet clay. Your head is done, but you have
used up all your clay. You decide you want to create a caricature
rather than a realistic bust of your subject. Looking at the model
you decide they have a large jaw, so you want to make the jaw
bigger. With no more clay to work with, you need to get that clay
from somewhere to pack on to the jaw and make it larger. Where do
you get it from? You take it from the top of the head, taking away
from the size of the top to make the bottom bigger. That is the law
of constant mass.
The head has only so much mass. You cannot make one area bigger
or smaller without affecting the other areas. A person with a big
chin will automatically have a smaller top of a head. Likewise
someone with a big forehead will also have a smaller bottom of a
face. This serves to create exaggerations of higher impact, since
the perception of a large jaw is made more pronounced when the top
of the head is smaller. Its the same concept as when a gray value
appears closer to white when surrounded by a much darker value and
looks darker when surrounded by white. The law of constant mass
also works sideways, with respect to the width of a face if the
face is very wide you need to take mass from both the top and
bottom to create that width. Of course this will also affect the
relationships of the interior features, because they must now fit
within he exaggerated head shape.3. Rubber Concept:Another way to
think about how the entire head shape is affected by a single
observation is to imagine a head made of soft, goo filled rubber.
Now if we make the observation that our subject has a narrow face,
we need to squeeeeze our rubber head like a vice to make it
narrower. The effect of this is that the head bulges out on the top
and bottom. If we decide the head is wide, we pull the outsides out
the result is the top and bottom get sucked in. If we squeeze the
forehead, the jaw bulges out.
What is good about this method is that if we imagine the
features of our subject also molded into the initial rubber head,
we can see how they will faithfully follow the squeezing,
stretching and its consequences.
Its important to trust the follow through of the cause and
effect associated with the exaggeration of the head shape via the
law of constant mass and/or the rubber concept when drawing a
caricature. Even if that lantern jawed subject does not appear to
have a small top of the head, it is important to follow through
with that moving of the mass if you want to emphasize that jaw and
maintain a balance in your drawing otherwise your exaggeration will
be awkward and a lot less clear.
The shape of the head is a crucial element to a good caricature
arguably THE crucial element. Accurately observing the head shape,
making good decisions on where to place the visual weight and
exaggerating that shape is central to an effective caricature.
PART FOUR: DRAWING EYES
Ive written in past tutorials on drawing caricatures that you
cant really teach someone to draw caricatures that is more about
developing their sight and observation skills and also developing
an ability to find that which make an individual face unique and
exaggerating it. Since every face is different this is an exercise
in personal observation and decision. Therefore after I have gone
over the information in my pervious tutorials, I switch gears an
concentrate on teaching rookie live caricaturists how to draw the
individual features, both how to see them, exaggerate them and how
to draw them in line to best effect.
Here is where style becomes an issue. What I have written about
previously can apply to almost any style of caricature, from the
richly painted to the most minimalist of line. In these next series
of tutorials some aspects of what I talk about will relate
specifically with a style of caricature like my own based on
cartoon line either inked or in some other medium. Therefore those
with different sensibilities and styles can take from it what they
will and apply what makes sense to them, and ignore the rest. I
will try to center my discussion on that which applies to a broader
range of styles than just my own.
My method for teaching the individual features begins with a
lesson on real anatomy. Im not a big believer in memorizing every
anatomical name but I do believe you must have a good working
knowledge of how a
feature is put together in order to have a good command over the
drawing of said feature. Following the anatomy lesson, I talk about
different techniques to help see the shape of the feature and
understand how to draw it, including realistic proportion. Finally
I talk about interpreting the feature in terms of exaggeration and
incorporating it into the whole.
POINTS OF REFERENCESeeing and drawing anything is all about
shapes and the correct drawing of them or in the case of caricature
the correct drawing of the exaggeration of them? Either way you
still have to see the object you are drawing and understand its
form first. We have all seen depictions of artists on TV raising
their arm outstretched towards their models with the thumb out from
the fist and squinting their eyes before drawing. That is supposed
to represent an old artists trick of using their thumb, or hand, or
pencil or some other object to measure their subjects features
relative to one another, or to see angles or other relationships.
The thumb is supposed to be a point of reference a constant that is
used to make accurate observations of the subject. Establishing
points of reference in the face is key to helping to see shapes and
make observations. With each feature and the face overall I will
suggest several things I use as constant points of reference, which
I can then use as a starting point from which other observations
are based. Any kind of drawing can benefit from this simple
concept.
Our first feature is the eyes. Ive always felt that the eyes of
a caricature are the center of everything, literally the center of
the face but figuratively the center of expression, personality and
life as it were. Therefore Ive always place special emphasis on the
eyes and begin and end with them, after the head shape, as the
focus of almost any caricature.
ANATOMY OF THE EYE
The human eye is made up of a round orb (eyeball) that rests in
and slightly protrudes from a socket of bone and tissue, surrounded
orbital muscles and by covered by skin in the form of eyelids. The
visible parts of the eyeball include the pupil (black circle in the
center of the eye), the iris (colored area around the pupil) which
includes the stroma (the thread-like fibers that radiate from the
pupil out to the edge of the iris), and the sclera (whites of the
eyes). The tissue surrounding the eyes include the inner and outer
canthus (the corners of the eyes), the caruncula (the small,
reddish, oval shaped piece of tissue in the inner corner which is
sometime incorrectly referred to as the tear duct), and the
semilunar fold (where the eyeball meets the caruncula). The eyelids
consist of the upper and lower lid plates (the actual eyelids that
fold down and up to cover the eyeball), the eyelashes or cilia,
which are attached to the free edges of the lid plates in a double
or triple row and are short, thick and curved hairs.
SEEING THE EYE SHAPE
Despite what I said about the importance of the eyes, the eye is
still just another feature and it has a shape like any other
feature of the face. When I refer to the shape of the eye I am
talking about the visible portions of the eyeball, created by the
space between the upper and lower lids.
The exterior part of the eyes, like the lids themselves and the
area that surround the eye also are very important in capturing the
eye itself, but its that initial shape that you use and a
springboard for the rest of the eye. In order to see the eye shape,
you must ignore the pupil, iris and all the lines and visual noise
that surround the eye, and look at just the pure shape. Imagine an
eye this pure white like the Exorcist eye that white is the shape
you are looking for. Remember also that the eye is not flat, but
protrudes quite a bit from the face and the lids have a definite
thickness to them.
Typically the eye is NOT shaped like a football or an almond.
The upper and lower lids are not mirror images of each other. In
fact, they are very different. The lower lid is usually much less
of an arc than the upper lid, moving more straight across from
corner to corner. The upper lid overlaps the lower lid in the outer
corner, and and is farther removed from the horizontal axis of the
eye, which is created by an imaginary line connecting the corners.
This horizontal axis, or corner to corner line, is a central part
of making observations about the eye, its shape and its
relationship with the rest of the face. More on that in a
second.
The eye shape is more of an asymmetrical ying-yang shape that a
symmetrical almond. The upper lid line rises somewhat sharply from
the caruncula, peaks
about 1/3 of the way across the eye and then arcs more softly
towards the outer corner. The lower lid does the opposite, its peak
being its lowest point, about not quite 1/2 of the way from the
outer corner in, and arcing to the caruncula. In the simplest of
geometric terms, the eyes are quadrilaterals with the four points
being the inner and outer corners, the highest point of the upper
lid and lowest point of the lower lid. Naturally we dont draw the
eyes with straight lines connecting the dots, but in seeing the
shape in simple terms like this we can use these points of
reference to better capture the shape of the eyes, as well as using
them to manipulate the feature for exaggeration purposes.
Lets get back to the corner to corner line I mentioned earlier.
This is very useful in helping to determine not only the shape of
the eye, but its relationship to the axis of the face. Imaging the
line going from the outside corner of each eye inward to the inside
corner and then onward to the center axis of the face, what we
really have it the central angle of the arms of the T Shape I
talked about in an earlier tutorial. By looking at how that line
intersects the eye itself, we can see how much of the eye shape
lies above the line, how much below, where the contour lines of the
eye shape travel along that line. We can also see at what angle the
eye lies to the center axis of the face. Are the outside corners of
the eyes higher than the insides? Lower? Even? Are they the same or
is one different than the other? You can use the line to exaggerate
the angle you see to great effect. The Corner-to-Corner line is a
great tool for observation and seeing the eye itself, as well as a
point of reference both both accurate drawing and observation.
Another method I use for understanding the eye shape is to look
for any straight lines in the contour of the eye. Lines that are
straight or nearly straight can be used as another point of
reference for seeing the rest of the eye and also used as beginning
points for the actual drawing of the eye itself. In many cases, the
longer part of the upper eyelid, that from the peak to the outside
corner, is often close to a flat line. Look for straight lines and
observe their relationships to the rest of the eye shapes contour
to better see the eye shape.
EXAGGERATING THE EYE
The exaggeration of any feature must be done with the whole in
mind, and not be treated as some separate entity. Seen in a vacuum,
it might be tempting to exaggerate the size of the eyes because
they have a round and wide eyed look. However when the rest of the
face is taken into account, it might very well be that the eyes
need to be small and beady within a massive face. Exaggeration in
caricature is all about the relationships of the features to one
another, and not the features themselves taken individually.
However many of the observations you might make about the eyes can
factor into the essential whole, especially the angle the eyes are
at relative to the center axis, and the shapes of the eyes
themselves.
The angle of the eyes is the easiest thing to exaggerate. If the
outer corners are higher than the inner, then you simply make them
higher still, and vice versa. Once you make the observation, doing
the resulting exaggeration is easy.
Exaggerating the shape of the eye is a little trickier. It can
be easy to compromise the likeness, but when done right it actually
enhances the likeness of the caricature. Thats because the shapes
of features are also describing the expression of the subject, and
exaggerating expression is a central part of good caricature. If
someones eyes become squinty when they smile, drawing them
squinty-er will exaggerate their expression as well as their face,
and expression is personality. Capturing personality is an
essential goal. If your eye shape is squinty, make it
squintier.
If its wide open, make it more wide open. They should still look
like the eyes you are drawing, but with your observations as a
guide you turn up the volume a bit or a lot if you can without
losing the likeness.
Take this set of eyes that are very round and intense:
We can exaggerate the shape of them as well as their look by
emphasizing the whites surrounding the pupil/iris, and the
roundness of the lower eye. In this case I also exaggerate the
angle of them by raising the outside corners. Not by much in either
case here what I am really exaggerating and trying to capture is
the intensity of the eyes themselves. Those little observations
combine to allow me to get that piercing gaze.
Certain styles of caricature will go farther and interpret the
shape and actually change it into a representation of the shape
itself. Here are those eyes as might be drawn by Al Hirshfeld:
or Mort Drucker:
An artists individual style aside, it comes to the same seeing
the shapes and uniqueness of the features and drawing it in a way
that describes it for the viewer to understand.
As always, caricature is about PERCEPTION and not hard physical
reality. In this picture, our perception of the eyes of this model
is changed by the makeup surrounding them:
The heavy eyeliner and over-thick exterior lashes near the outer
canthus make her look like the inner whites of her eyes are much
larger than the outer, giving her a walleye look that we can make
fun of:
Here are some caricatures from some of my sketches where the
eyes are a central part of the exaggeration or personality of the
subject. Drawing eyes that really look back at the viewer can make
for a startling effect. Remember the exaggeration of the caricature
involves all the features and their relationships. The eyes may not
be as important in another caricature, but as they are one of the
chief agents of human communication and expression, they are always
of import.