InkSlingin Caricatures!

I feel that the best caricatures are the ones that stretch the boundaries of the victim, at least a little bit whilst still retaining enough likeness for the viewer to feel ownership of the drawing. Nothing worse than seeing your victim stare blankly at your work dumbfounded, not recognizing themselves.
Unfortunately I've seen that look at a spot on caricature as well, some people just dont know what they look like, just how odd, garish and goofy they really are...

Not all of these caricatures are stretching the limits, some are quite tame cartoons, but I like each for what they were at the time and have kept them as yardsticks of my development.

Enjoy!These two are perfect examples of the party caricature style,
quick and fun, with tiny gag bodies.
no cleaning up or youngifying, just quick n bare bones ink around the 5 minute mark,
with more than enough likeness to appease the watchersa pen and ink illustration on a whim for a local newpaper, the Uxbridge Cosmos.
not quite as quick and dirty as the party pirates above.
Working in pen and ink is a slower process and often demands a predrawing to ink upon.
It is one of my favorite ways to work, i love the feel of the crowquill scratchin on the page.
the cross hatcing, the tiny lines, the nib gives great thick and thin line in response to pressure.
Good inks are getting harder to come by these modern days.
Gift Caricatures!
I love them and I hate them.. or rather I hate the process involved in them.
On the one ink stained hand there is the leisure of working in your own studio at your own pace, coffee at hand, Basset hound at your feet. On the other hand there is inevitable the worst selection of pictures sent by the client to work with.
I have had pictures too tiny to know what i was looking at, pictures of people in sunglasses with a note to not drawing them without the glasses. The all time headache inducing picture recieved is the tiny, shot of a person, eyes squinting, poor lighting, often partially obscured by a car, a moose, a hand...


I often say to my clients that if you can't tell the colour of a persons eyes, hair or any other likeness creating details in a pic, then we need to find another pic, preferably 2 or three pix.
It is a challenge, but I do enjoy working from good pictures, especially with a fun list of interests, gags or props to add into the composition.. I love hiding little details in the background.