Caricature began in years ago as a form of flattery for the rich. It was done more to show the positive side and to flatter the subject. In the middle of the 19th century with the rise of Newspapers, the negative caricature became popular. They were used often in political cartoons, and for the most part they were either poking fun at the subject or outright demonizing him.
In order to draw a caricature, the first step is to study faces. You need to study as many faces as you possibly can. You need to study them in photographs and you need to study them in real life. You should try to visualize those features that make the face unique. In other words, since you are going to capture the essence by exaggerating certain feature, you need to understand just what the essence is. The basic rule of this stage is that you are going to maximize the features of the face that are maximized in the subject, and minimize the features of the face that are minimized in the in subject. If the subject has small eyes, for instance, and you draw the eyes very large, you may make a cartoon looking image, but you will not have captured the essence. It will also be unidentifiable.
Proper equipment is important, and the next step is to make sure you have what you need. A good place to start when learning is with pencil. Avoid #2 pencils and look for 4B or 5B pencils instead. The 5B pencil makes a thick and black line. The caricature is going to have a certain cartoony look to it, and the thick black lines will help accomplish this. Then draw the subject much as you would a regular portrait, but using bold and exaggerated lines and a minimum of shadowing.
You are going to be maximizing the dominant feature that captures the essence of the subject. You should be able to determine what that is from your study of the face. It could be a large nose, large forehead, or a big smile. It could also be a small ears or a weak chin. Your caricature drawing should reflect this dominant feature. If you are seeking more of a cartoon caricature, merely do a bit more exaggerating of that essential feature. Like any art form, caricature takes practice, and when you feel you have practiced as much as you can, the next step is to practice a little bit more.
Tags: Artists, Caricature, Cartoons
Many people who feel that they just cannot be creative are often discouraged with their drawing arts although they might have tried this or that in the art world, even they intend to quit it. Fortunately, if you are among them, you can gain some advance in the field by starting with cartoons.
The reason that this is a good starting point is that everyone can relate to cartoons. Whether it was Mickey Mouse or it was the Powerpuff Girls, we can all relate to cartoons. The reason that cartoons are such a great place to start drawing, is that they allow you to be as ridiculous as you care to be. Cartoons by nature are exaggerated, and therefore you can get away with breaking a few of the usual drawing no nos.
A thing that you need to consider before delving into cartoon drawing is what type of cartoon you actually care to draw. Much like any other faction of artistry, there are subcategories to allow you to excel in certain types of toon creation.
You might not know someone who has excelled at drawing cartoons. Therefore, having a person to gather knowledge from might not work. Another option is to consider the many resources at your disposal online. There are different levels of these resources, and many of them are free to view and utilize. You can even find step-by-step video instructions on sites like Youtube.
There are a lot of folks that swear that through tracing some of your favorite cartoon characters, you can have a better grasp on how cartoons in general are drawn. However, a more effective plan than this is to print out some sample cartoons on grid paper. Then, using a blank sheet of grid paper, you can use the corresponding squares to show you piece by piece how to draw your favorites.
There are today many resources available which you can learn to draw cartoons from. Learning to draw cartoons may be interest and it is not too difficult to learn. The most important thing deciding your success in drawing art is just your interest.
Tags: Cartoons, Drawing Art, Learning