A Shade of Art

A caricature is a drawing that exaggerates someone’s features. The format is often created as a portrait.

Caricatures are meant to be fun, and they can add a bit of humor to your artwork. The incentive is to attract people to draw if you are to participate in art festivals, amusement parks, and local social events.

So, this blog will cover the basic formula for creating your first caricature.

Let’s get started.

Equipment

Start with a pencil if you are a beginner. You can always outline it later using a Sharpie or a regular pen.

What I do recommend:

• Illustrated board paper
  • 8 x 11
  • 17 x 23
  • 11 x 17
• Pencil
• Eraser
• Standard ink pen
• Watercolor pencils (optional)

The Process

Analyze your subject

The subject is a 15-year-old male who enjoys swimming. I’m going to do a soft exaggeration of his hair and glasses.

Start with the head.

Add the body.

I like to contour the body in such a way that while the face is still and is the focal point, the body is uncharacteristically acting.

For example:

• Running
• Cycling
• Dancing

In this example, the subject is diving.

Lay down the foundation by adding shadows.

This is a black and white piece, so I‘m adding some color with watercolor pencils as I fill in the details.

Detail the facial features.

I like to use an ink pen to sharpen the details of the face, glasses, and hair.

Add the final touches to the subject.

Shade color into the foreground and background.

Add some humor to your artwork.

I decided to put a whale shark in the water!

Don’t forget to sign it.

Spend no more than 10-15 minutes on a subject because most people cannot sit in one position for that long, even while on their cellphone!

Caricature creators make good money at public events because they only require a small booth and simple utensils to set up with a low-cost overhead.

So, give it a try and create one today!