Drawing A Caricature Is A ‘Fun’ Job

We all love caricatures. They are satiric in nature and funny to look at. Most papers carry some kind of caricature or other. So do you wait eagerly for those caricatures? Do you dream of drawing caricatures yourself? If you are good at drawing, and with a keen eye, then you can make your mark as a caricature artist. All you have to do is follow these given guidelines and practise well.

What Is A Caricature?

To speak plainly caricature is drawing somebody funnily. It differs from portrait as because it is not a true copy of the subject. When we are drawing the caricature of a person, we show him in another light altogether.
Who Can Draw A Good Caricature?
Anyone who has a good hand in drawing human figure can draw a good caricature. Everything you learned while drawing human face like proportion and foreshortening will come in handy. All you have to do is use them in an exaggerated manner.

Whose Caricature Should I Start With?

Start with people around you, your family and friends. Observe them carefully and think about their facial features. Does someone have a long nose? Your drawing of his caricature can show that person with a really long nose. Exaggerate his nose in such a way that it appears funny. If somebody has a small mouth you can further reduce it in your caricature in a kind of reverse exaggeration. When you have done practising on near and dear ones, you can move to drawing caricatures of famous subjects. However, remember, your drawing should be such that people can recognise the person you have drawn.

What Other Points Should I Keep In Mind?

Other points that you should keep in mind is dumbing down. This means that you should deliberately draw some features less like hair. You will see that in most caricature, hair is not drawn in details but sparsely. This will give the caricature look like a cartoon rather than a portrait. Another point is, as said before, exaggeration. In your drawing exaggerate only those features that are present in your subject; do not add anything. If somebody does not have big eyes, your caricature of that subject should not show big eyes. Exaggerate to that point only where you can recognise the subject.

Above everything, you have to have a sense of humour. Caricature of a person having a long nose can sometimes come out as rude; but if that person has a habit of poking his nose in other peoples affair, then his drawing of his caricature showing a long nose takes a different meaning altogether. So keep looking around your world, find suitable subjects and the drawing of your caricatures will amuse everyone.

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