In recent months, with my bum shoulder, I've been forced to slow down my caricaturing. I cut-back to only four days a week, and I'm just taking it easy while drawing, not trying to break any speed records. (Although sometimes I think I might be breaking a few SLOW records. lol.) It's been a financial disaster, of course, but I need to stop talking about that.
...I've been using the pencil more and more during this time, mainly for the outside contours of the face, but also for a lot of the bodies. But here's the thing: I am REALLY REALLY REALLY enjoying drawing the human face. I'm also coming to realize the wonderful possibilities in painting the face, as well. I keep thinking, "Man, if I could just be a painter of people for the rest of my life, I'd be happy." ...
All this makes me think of formal portraiture. Once upon a time, I thought portraits were uninteresting, since they seemed to be mere technical rendering of a static face. But NO! Portraits ARE caricature. The portrait artist uses his eye and experience to creatively determine the most important aspects of each face, and he then brings these aspects to the fore. Everyone has certain "telling" characteristics, but this is not just shape. A likeness may hinge on one or several things, from shape to color, or texture, from the dark values of the nostril, to the dull light glow of cerulean/gray eyes. When I look at the old masters portraits, I'm stunned. Look at those too-red cheeks! Look at that busted nose! Those full, craggy lips! ...But it's all beautiful (and probably great likeness).
This photo was from Saturday at Animal Kingdom, which was probably my best day of drawing in my LIFE. My shoulder was starting to bother me a lot, again, unfortunately, but maybe this forced slowing improved my drawing. ...Actually, the caricature in the photo isn't anything special, but it happens to be the only photo I took that day. The husband and wife didn't like to smile, but when they gave a little, I immediately noticed how WIDE their mouths became. And then there was the woman's nose, and rather short forehead. The guy had very short hair, almost shaved, and a dimple in the chin, and wonderfully shaped, prominent ears. I greatly enjoyed drawing them. Wish they'd got color.
4 comments:
Very Nice Tim! I like this one a lot!!! :)
Thanks Esly, but it always seems to me that my better stuff always looks like your stuff (and Duron's). That's a good thing! ..Or maybe it's just my imagination.. Anyway, there's still a lot I'd like to change on this.
Wow Tim! I'm impressed. I really like this one, too! I understand your feeling kinda bad about being slower when doing caricatures. I have a tendency to start work with dollar signs in my eyes rather than thinking about what the whole job is about- IMPROVING. I remember Brian telling me one day that even if you suffer financially for a while, if you start to excel over time, speed will come, and so will the Ca$h! Keep on keeping on! You're doing a great job!
Hey Jimmy, the $1000 Man!! *wink*wink* ...Thanks for all your nice comments, again. I always tell artists that they have a great opportunity to develop their art skills in general, by doing caricatures every day. BUT, they must do ART, not repetition. Draw what you see, and combine that with creativity, and you have yourself an excellent daily workout of your artistic muscles. There's a lot of pressure to go go go fast fast fast, but that's a dead end if you're not developing your real skills.
Post a Comment