Celebrity
Drawings And Celebrity Caricatures Are Entertaining And A Great Way To
Liven Up Your Newsletters, Your Op-Ed Pages Or Submit To Magazines
For Publication - And Yes, You Can
Make Real Money Drawing Them
What follows below is fairly in-depth
page on what to laser in on while drawing anybody, and in particular
you'll see a comparison in profiles between former California Governor Gray
Davis and Movie star-come-Politician Mr. / Governor Arnold
Schwartzenegger. Enjoy! (This page is used by expressed permission from YouCanDraw.com.)
Click here
for Part II's answers to December First's questions
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Your December 1st 2003,
YouCanDraw.com Communiqué
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Howdy all,
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In today's communiqué:
1) The benefits of keeping up with
your hobby
2) an exercise in observation
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1) Hope you state-siders had a
great Thanksgiving! For most folks the Holiday season is a tough time
for hobbies with all the other demands, expectations, and deadlines this
time of the year always seems to bring. So I urge you to keep on
practicing! Keep on drawing! Steal away 15 to 20 minutes every other day
minimally. Researchers say that people who keep some attachment, make a commitment, and
spend actual time to doing things they enjoy not only remain
happier, but stay healthier! And with all the media hoopla about this
years nasty flu, a little extra protection might be welcome. Drawing is
good for your health :-)
2) The day after Arnold Schwartzenegger
was sworn into office the Minneapolis Star and Tribune carried a great Associated
Press photo (photographer: Eric Risberg) of outgoing Governor Davis shaking hands with newbie
Arnold (you'll see it below).
As soon as I saw it I couldn't help but think "what a great comparison
shot - and what a great picture to learn from".
What made it so good? From the
perspective of profile and from the notion of "what makes
people look different?" it was a great study shot. So today's communiqué
circles around one thing: tightening up your powers of
observation.
The Game plan
Here's the game plan. Take a look at the
picture below. Read your way through the list of questions. Then do your
best to answer the questions. The questions asked have all been covered
in depth throughout the book. If any of the words or terms used in the questions
look unfamiliar to you, open up the "Search" function in the
e-Sourcebook (it's one of the options along the top border of the book).
You may want to even print out this page then, walk your way
through the list of questions. I've even included a link below
for a much larger version of the same picture so you can get a closer
look.
In two weeks I'm thinking about doing a caricature of these two. In
the next Communiqué I'll supply all the answers to the questions and
include links to where you
can find out more. Without further ado, here's the picture:
And here's the list of
mind-stretching questions:
An exercise in observation
Read your way through the list, really
take the time to answer them. If you do no drawing, minimally picture
yourself doing the actual drawing - ask your self "if I were to
draw this, what would it feel like?"...so actually put your
imaginary pencil to your computer screen and pretend you're drawing and
working out all these comparisons and contrasts. This actually put you
into the brains real-time observation mode, which is where every artist
or caricaturist needs to be. Now dive on in :-)...
If you think about it, this photo is a kind of a crooked
"Vase-Face" example - can you see the funky vase hid
in there?
Compare the profiles feature by feature:
Look at the hairlines - it's thickness (Arnold's is thicker);
Look at the shape of the hair (note the
double hump at the back of Arnolds head (he's got muscles there too),
and the smooth military taper of Gray Davis's. Can you envision
drawing them? How would visualizing the negative space around them
make drawing each head easier?
Use what you recall about negative shape
and note the shape of the each governor's forehead;
compare the shape of the eye brows;
compare the shapes the eyes - and note
especially these things about each persons eyes:
-What's the shape of the upper lid?
-Who has the lengthier upper eyelid?
-Can you identify a pupil or iris? (the
colored part of the eye) or is your brain "imagining" one
there?
Who has more shadows in and around the
eyes? and what's the shape of those contours that make the wrinkles
around the eyes?; can you see the lighter shapes of the actual skin
of the eyelids? (Arnold has a rounder shape in the upper lid compared
to Davis's. Davis has a more rectangular shape outlined. (Both Gov's
upper lids are outlined by the eyebrows above and the actual margin of the
upper eyelid below)
Who has the larger tip of the nose?
Whose nose is longer?
Check out the apron of the upper lip:
who's is more expansive? (Do you remember what the apron of the upper
lip is?)
How do the shapes of the dimples influence
the expression in each face?
How does the general line and direction of
the lower border of the upper lip compare to horizontal border of the
picture?
What about the lower lip? And who has the
underbite?
If you drew a vertical line straight down
from the back corner of the eyes where would that line align in
comparison to the Adam's apple in each? In front? behind? How far
behind? Where would this line fall in comparison
to the backmost edge of the
nostrils? the corner of the mouth?
Whose cheeks are higher?
What's the overall shape of the cheeks in
each? (Envision a square box around each cheek and envision the
negative shapes formed between the box and any contour or
shadow shape visible (this'll be demonstrated in the next Communiqué)
Can you envision the shadows as shapes around
the lower margin of the jaw?
Who's neck is thicker?
Where would the bottom of the ears align
if you could draw a line from their lowest edge out to the front
of the face? The top of the ears?
Compare the angles the white of the shirt
collars make with horizontal outline of the overall photograph...then
with
the vertical edges of the photo...then with the jaw.
Compare in each the distance between the
bottom of the nose line and the middle of the mouth line. Who's is
greater?
Compare in each the profile formed
from the bottom of the nose up to the top of the head (and draw it if you're
feeling gutsy :-) Who's forehead leans away from vertical more? (sure
it may be the tilt of the head in just this picture and nothing permanent,
but the exercise is still to make the observation and 'answer zee ka-vestion'
grasshopper :-) (translates: "answer the question")
What's the overall shape of the profile
from the bottom of the nose on down to the chin in each?
This is review from the Flash lesson on
profile drawing: Is the distance from the back of the eye to the back
of the ear roughly proportionate to the distance from back
corner of eye to the bottom of the chin in each?
Can you envision the general
outline of the hair? Squint your eyes until you can see the hair
as one shape - be especially observant of the hair border at the
temples and around the ears. Where are the highlights in both hair
dos? The Shadows? How does color of the hair influence both shadow and
highlight?
Who's skin is darker? Or is the
contrast of Gov. Davis's white head of hair making his skin appear
more tan than it is?
Look at each ear. Who's seems more
tilted away from the vertical? Now look at the detail in both ears.
What can you say about the 3 drawable parts: 1) the overall shape, 2)
the anti-helix, and 3) the shadow area)?
By looking at the sport coats and ties,
can you make any speculation about the rotation of the upper body in
each?
That is, is one person facing the other more straight on, more square
to the other?
And LAST question. If you were a wolf,
what would the squaring of shoulders suggest about the social standing
of each wolf in the pack?
(Yea, that's a goofy question...but made
you think? Maybe not :-)
Asking Specific Questions
So, after going through with all that,
do you kind of have an idea how you might draw a caricature of these
two? After you approach a picture or a live subject asking the same
kinds of specific questions, your brain will go to work and I
guarantee, you'll come up with your own hilarious ideas how to exaggerate
these two. If you feel like sending in your exaggeration I'll happily
post it for you - and it'll be included in the next version of the
book. :-) ( Want
to find out more about the YouCanDraw.com monster-sized-e-book/program
click here )
Watch for the next communiqué for the
answers. Until next time, stay warm, healthy and Happy Drawing!
Warmly,
Jeff
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Your January 1st 2004,
YouCanDraw.com Communiqué, Part II
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Howdy all, here's the Answers to the
"Exercise in Observation" communiqué from December first
-----------------------From
December 1st: in black, answers in blue-------------------------------
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January 1st, 2003 - Answers
Back to top
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And here's the list of
mind-stretching questions:
An exercise in observation
Read your way through the list, really
take the time to answer them. If you do no drawing, minimally picture
yourself doing the actual drawing - ask your self "if I were to
draw this, what would it feel like?"...so actually put your
imaginary pencil to your computer screen and pretend you're drawing and
working out all these comparisons and contrasts. This actually put you
into the brains real-time observation mode, which is where every artist
or caricaturist needs to be. Now dive on in :-)...
If you think about it, this photo is a kind of a crooked
"Vase-Face" example - can you see the funky vase hid
in there?
Here it is (squint
until you can see the shape of the "vase" - or negative
space stand out):
and here's the vase by
itself - see if you can't switch between seeing the two separate
faces then seeing the unique shape of the the face:
Compare the profiles feature by feature:
Look at the hairlines - and the hair's thickness - right at the top of
the forehead (Arnold's is thicker);
Look at the shape of the hair (note the
double hump at the back of Arnolds head (he's got muscles there too),
and the smooth military taper of Gray Davis's. Can you envision
drawing them? How would visualizing the negative space around them
make drawing each head easier?
Here's a face-off
comparison of both hair shapes (contrasted in Photoshop), the
two lumps in Arnie's hair are numbered off to the right):
Very similar to
focusing on the "Vase-Face" between the faces, can you flip
your focus around so you can visualize the the negative spaces
around the entire head?
Starting to look like some
kind of weird bat or Venetian Arches, or a swollen uvula (that little
dangly thing that hangs down in the back of your throat) - when you're flipping
visually between
those two shapes, (i.e. between seeing the shapes as two heads and the blue shape) you're exercising
different modes of perception):
Use what you recall about negative shape
and note the shape of the each governor's forehead; ...more of the
same..
Compare the shapes the eyes - and note
especially these things about each persons eyes:
Here's a close-up both
Gov's eyes - enhanced again in Photoshop. Squint your eyes to answer
the next set of questions...
compare the shape of the eye brows;
- A little thicker in
Davis - with seemingly more of an arch, rises proportionately higher
on Davis too
-What's the shape of the upper lid?
Both eyelids are
outlined here (roughly)
-Who has the lengthier upper eyelid?
Davis does
-Can you identify a pupil or iris? (the
colored part of the eye) or is your brain "imagining" one
there?
There's the "black
spot" or disc kind of thing evident in Davis's eye - but to say
"yes, I see an eye" - it's a stretch of the imagination in
both. But the brain accomplishes that quite gracefully. In fact, when
the brain has to conjure up things that aren't really there in the
first place, the brain really gets excited: a picture becomes more interesting.
Who has more shadows in and around the
eyes?
I'd have to say Arnold
and what's the shape of those contours that make the wrinkles
around the eyes?
Arnold has more of the
angular "Crow's feet" sort of configuration where as Davis
has more of wrinkle - especially under the lower lid.
Can you see the lighter shapes of the actual skin
of the eyelids? (Arnold has a rounder shape in the upper lid compared
to Davis's. Davis has a more rectangular shape outlined. (Both Gov's
upper lids are outlined by the eyebrows above and the actual margin of the
upper eyelid below)
Sorry about the
repetition...See picture above - it's obvious
(You really can make
out an iris and pupil in Davis's picture if you look close :-) Also
here I've outlined the "Crow's feet" in both (see the
picture just above to see an unmarked view of the crow's feet in both)
:
Who has the larger tip of the nose?
Obvious here:
Whose nose is longer?
Arnold's - and you can
see Davis's lightly bulbous tip and Arnold's slightly curved down
"very tip", as well as the small hump towards the root
of the nose (which they both have, though Arnold's looks more obvious
to me) - the "root" of the nose is where it comes out
of the forehead. These are subtle things folks, but added together,
supply you with all sorts of ammo to exploit in a caricature :-)
Check out the apron of the upper lip:
who's is more expansive? (Do you remember what the apron of the upper
lip is?)
Here you can see the
apron of the upper lip highlighted in purple (I don't know how it got
be purple, it just got that way :-); and it's obvious the owner of
the greater span is Gov Davis:
How do the shapes of the dimples influence
the expression in each face?
A better question might
be to ask "what's the shape of light and shadow areas in and
around the dimples, and how do dimples and dimple contours heighten a positive or "happy" look" (I quote "happy"
because there's just a pinch of a suggestion of smirk in Arnold's
smile. Is that just me or do you see it too?)
Notice how Arnold's
dimples (in this picture) are really two highlights with an hour-glass
shaped or barbell-like (or even telephone-handle shaped) area of
shadow. (Yes you have to use your imagination a little).
Here, the highlight
shapes are outlined in yellow, the shadow in blue. Squint to make this
more obvious. Shadow and highlight shapes, though we're very nearly unconscious
of them under most circumstances (except for now while we're consciously
pointing them out), are as unique to each person as are the actual features.
Observe and capture those shapes and you'll add an immense amount of
realism to your drawings. You can make this kind of observation about
all shadow and highlight shapes.
This fleshier tip,
gives the illusion that the margin of the upper lip in a side view
moves down as you move from corner of mouth to front most tip (like
the tip of the lip just under the nose). And the truth is, it actually
slopes down away from horizontal as you move left to right.
How does the general line and direction of
the lower border of the upper lip compare to horizontal border of the
picture?
Davis has a prominent
dip of the tip of the upper lip. This is actually the termination of
the fleshy side of "Cupid's Bow". (Open up your
e-sourcebook, open up the Search function and type in
"Cupid's Bow" for more info.)
Look in the picture
above for Arnold: moving from left or right, this contour angles ever
so slightly downward over the first 2/3rds of it then rises up or away
from horizontal. Look closely!
What about the lower lip? And who has the
underbite?
Davis's LOWER lip takes
off down at a 45 degree and then at an ever steepening angle as you
move away giving the illusion of a pouty lower lip. Arnold's on the
other hand, moves up with the upper lip until it breaks from
the upper lip and you enter the area of actual pulp and curve of the
lower lip. Look close above to make sense of this.
Under bite is
obvious...
If you drew a vertical line straight down
from the back corner of the eyes where would that line align in
comparison to the...
-
Adam's apple in each?
-
In front?
- Behind?
- How far
behind?
- Where would this line fall in comparison to the backmost edge of the
nostrils?
- The corner of the mouth?
- How far to the tip
of the nose?
- To the notch along
the nose at the same level as the eyes?
Use the following
picture to answer these. Measure right on the screen - ie do a
sighting. The differences are subtle - but are real enough to
exaggerate! (The eye notices these differences, but measuring
and comparing nails it down when it's not clear.) Compare these
distances face to face too (i.e. Arnold to Gov/ Davis).
What and how would
you have exaggerated these distances in a caricature?
Whose cheeks are higher?
Arnold's certainly are
more prominent. Higher? Hard to tell. Look close though - what do the
shadows under the cheeks tell you about the shape of the cheeks?
Arnold's have much more of a comma shape suggested. See that? Look
close, squint, back away from ur computer until this is clear
:-)
What's the overall shape of the cheeks in
each? (Envision a square box around each cheek and envision the
negative shapes formed between the box and any contour or
shadow shape visible (this'll be demonstrated in the next
Communiqué.)
I'll let you do this...ok,
I'll bail you out one more time :-)
Hoo man, that's way too
close! (Photoshop is evil...the macho man in me is being threatened...and
yes, I'm straight.) It's a little easier to make out shadows
that define the cheeks in Arnold, but back away (from your screen) and
see if you can't make something out of Davis's. Look at how these
areas were managed (as shadow shapes), in the caricature:
Can you envision the shadows as shapes around
the lower margin of the jaw?
They're pretty well
defined in the caricature above. Now see if you can't find them in
this picture:
Who's neck is thicker?
Arnold's
Where would the bottom of the ears align
if you could draw a line from their lowest edge out to the front
of the face? The top of the ears?
Davis's drops just a
little bit lower. Also ask yourself what this horizontal line
intersects along the way - where does it intersect the hair? How far
above the contour between the lips does it lie? What kind of angle
does it form with the edge of the apron of the upper lip? (Did I catch
you off guard? :-) And just for funsies can you spot the triangle in
the space formed by the back of the ear, the blue line and the hair
line (it's easier to see on Arnold)?
Compare the angles the white of the shirt
collars make with horizontal outline of the overall photograph...then
with
the vertical edges of the photo...then with the jaw.
Use the picture above -
you can do it!
Compare in each the distance between the
bottom of the nose line and the middle of the mouth line. Who's is
greater?
We answered this
above...
Compare in each the profile formed
from the bottom of the nose up to the top of the head (and draw it if you're
feeling gutsy :-) Who's forehead leans away from vertical more? (sure
it may be the tilt of the head in just this picture and nothing permanent,
but the exercise is still to make the observation and 'answer zee ka-vestion'
grasshopper :-) (translates: "answer the question")
Ahaa! Another negative
space exercise you say? I can't fool you! You are amazing.
By just observing the negative space. Arnold's got more slope away
from vertical than does Gray. You see it right? No? Do a sighting! (Don't
know what sighting is? Go back to the Archives and look in the Flash
Quick reference section - or use the search function in your
e-sourcebook.
What's the overall shape of the profile
from the bottom of the nose on down to the chin in each?
Use the picture
again...make sure you look at the picture long enough to see the shape
pop into view...
This is review from the Flash lesson on
profile drawing: Is the distance from the back of the eye to the back
of the ear roughly proportionate to the distance from back
corner of eye to the bottom of the chin in each?
The two blue lines on each face are the exact same length. This
proportion is fairly accurate. Seems like just a little extra nudging
out past the ears.
Can you envision the general
outline of the hair? (I'm repeating myself
again.) Squint your eyes until you can see the hair
as one shape - be especially observant of the hair border at the
temples and around the ears. Where are the highlights in both hair-dos? The Shadows? How does color of the hair influence both shadow and
highlight?
Here's the highlights
in the hair - (can you spot the shadows? - squint until you see the
darkest areas clearly):
Who's skin is darker? Or is the
contrast of Gov. Davis's white head of hair making his skin appear
more tan than it is?
I think Arnold is
darker in both respects - skin and hair.
Look at each ear. Who's seems more
tilted away from the vertical? Now look at the detail in both ears.
What can you say about the 3 drawable parts: 1) the overall shape, 2)
the anti-helix, and 3) the shadow area)? You'll probably want to use
the bigger picture for this.
There's a certain
amount of arbitrariness in this but it seems to me Arnold's ear is
more angled away from the vertical than is Gray's. Which would be more
caricaturable? With his short hair, Davis's are way more out in the
open than are Arnold's. And that's certaintly more played up in the
caricature:
And speaking of ears,
here's a little review:
By looking at the sport coats and ties,
can you make any speculation about the rotation of the upper body in
each?
That is, is one person facing the other more straight on, more square
to the other?
Well this is hardly a
fair question - they're probably shaking hands (with Davis reaching to
grip Arnold's arm with his left hand...thus turning himself to lead
with the left side of his body...I'm getting ridiculous here, but...
And LAST question. If you were a wolf,
what would the squaring of shoulders suggest about the social standing
of each wolf in the pack?
If these two were
wolves they wouldn't be wearing suits :-)
(Yea, that's a goofy question...but made
you think? Maybe not :-)
Asking Specific Questions
So, after going through with all that,
do you kind of have an idea how you might draw a caricature of these
two? After you approach a picture or a live subject asking the same
kinds of specific questions, your brain will go to work and I
guarantee, you'll come up with your own hilarious ideas how to exaggerate
these two. If you feel like sending in your exaggeration I'll happily
post it for you - and it'll be included in the next version of the
book. :-)
Jeffrey O. Kasbohm
Executive Director
Kasbohm & Company Strategic Multimedia
home of http//www.YouCanDraw.com
and
http//www.drawing-faces-and-caricatures-made-easy.com
(952) 544-0657
1351 Hampshire Ave. So., #127
St. Louis Park, MN 55426
"Once and for all getting you drawing faces and caricatures"
mailtocomments@youcandraw.com
From
www.Drawing-caricatures-and-faces-made-easy.com's sponsor:
Kasbohm
& Company's
YouCanDraw.com
© Copyright, All rights
reserved 1997-2003
e-mail: jeffkaz@YouCanDraw
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