Caricatures - BEST METHOD

1. Lecture 1: Introduction: Hi. My name is Christiane of Wash, and I'm a professional artist and art teacher, and I would like to show you my personal style of caricature trying. In this course, I will show you structure a socially the basics, and then I'll give you some examples working from photographs I'll relais some information about, like when you're drawing in person and how that applies a swell. I'll go through the process of several drawings that are in color and a little bit about the business of being a professional character. Charness, in my experience with that, so I'll add those as a bonus, Thank you, and I look forward to it. I hope you enjoy. And I hope you have fun because that's really the most important part off character drawing . Having fun whilst trying and making the other person have a great time, especially when you unveil your beautiful drive 2. Lecture 2: Structure of the Caricature Head and Body: This is a realistic head and realistic facial proportions. Now, for caricature, you exaggerate that a bit. The top of the head, which is the circle here, is gonna be a little bit larger while the bottom of the face the chin is gonna be smaller. Number two here. So over to the right, we have the same grid. The main difference. I mean, it's kind of simple, and it's really like like the structure is the same. Every every human being is the same. So, um, you you just have to exaggerate everything. So if somebody has, like a big bumpy knows, then that's what you dio Uh huh. If they have, like, I don't know, like a more swoopy Bumpy knows, you know? So you just have to pretty much observe some people have, like, big eyes. So you have toe make, um, very large. You know, women can kind of have big eyes while, uh, sometimes you just start with little beady eyes like that, you know, bushy eyebrows, you name it. You know, it's like you have to look for those those features and, uh, you know, exactly. So the key thing, uh, also is like you could move these lines up and down so people could have sometimes big ears or like small years. They can go, you know each way. Sometimes the lobes are like sticking out. You really have to observe little nuances they could have. Like, you know, Big Chin. So sometimes, like the chin is is much larger. Um, regardless, like, they should be smiling. So they should always have, like, a big old smile. And everybody's got, like, different, uh, different features to their smile. You know, some may have, like a gap in their teeth, you know? So in that case, you would exaggerate the gap, so you would You would put that and then, like, put that into it When somebody looks at the picture of the go. Okay, He now that's like, That's our friend with with the gap in their teeth. But it shouldn't be like done in a grotesque way. It should always be done in a very positive, um, positive way. Same with the hair, you know, everything should be exaggerated. In fact, one thing that I should mention which I always mentioned with the realistic is hair should always be like larger than the head itself. So if they have a full head of hair, then you see this is the top of the head. But the hair is something that always above so and often it goes, you know, falls like over the face. So you know, these air things that you would learn and other drawing classes as well. So keep that in mind that hair is always, like, bigger and with the hair, the character is really gonna be like, uh, you know, really, uh, like a huge uh, Let's go make it into a huge head. So have, like, small, beady eyes really exaggerate those, you know? So this guy could be kind of cute. I don't know, interesting guy, you know, Maybe he's got, like, really sparse eyebrows like that, you know? And he's got like, freckles. This is just a made up person. So So just keep your eye out for the features and draw what's unique to that character while making them still cute and likeable. Because you know that the key now, one last thing about the bodies bodies sometimes they're not this small, but like in a single, you know, single images, you know, bodies can be squeezed in like like this. And the baby was, like, hands in his pocket, like that or something. Uh, so the bodies can be kind of rough. Usually they are when you have to draw them quick. You know, like in a live situation. So the bodies are kind of rough, but, you know, for the most part, like, let's say you have, like, a very hefty person there large. You know, um, I would, uh I would again, like the face keep them attractive. Well, maybe that's, like two large away just through that. Okay. But, I mean, I think, like, just generally, you want to keep them modest, you know? So this is like, maybe this was like a lady. In most cases, you would you would draw them or flattering. I feel like growing the flattering way is, like, definitely the way to go. And often you, you know, you do like one of these, like thumbs or or maybe they're like holding a drink with a with, uh, I'll live in it, you know, it's like a miniskirt or something. Enough. So, um, for the most part, actually, for all all the parts I keep the face and the body is very flattering. Okay, Always. And sometimes you draw them the characters in in like, a beach setting or something, so they're extra muscular. So then there those air in the fantasy realm in some cases. But I mean, if somebody is, like, large or fat Arby's, um, you can't also draw them really skinny because that's not gonna make sense, you know? So you have to kind of, you know, give him a nice, like bubbly body, but not round like a potatoes when we got you know, uh, because that that could be a night, um, of self consciousness to them. So So it's like a fine line as an artist because I feel like my method is is, um, kind of a very considerate of the person, So I really try to bring out the personality in the funnest way possible. 3. Lecture 3: Principles & Structure: first, let's discuss the principles off drawing characters and some some things to keep in mind about proportions and the structure of the head. So first of all, the proportions are such that the head is twice as large. The body was the rest of the body. So head is like this big, and the body is usually no bigger than head itself. Because the feature is the characteristics, the facial characteristics of the person that you're drawing a regular person is an oval shaped like this, and, uh, the eye line is approximately just above the mid way point. And then the nose line were, you know, to indicate, like the length of the nose is about half way between just above the halfway point. Between the I line and the chin were chins, and then the mouth again is is just above the halfway point between, um, between the nose and the chin, um, at the same time. So there's like, there's this center point of the face, and, um and then the eyes would go typically, Uh, they're about, like to, you know, the center of the Isar at the end of where the mouth is on most people. Okay, so the I is what you need to keep in mind. Is that the eyes? One eye with a part? Approximately. So maybe I made him a little bit wider, but you don't want to put him too close or too wide, obviously. So that's right. There we go. Looks like fairly normal looking person. Maybe they're, like, a little bit too wide. Uh, in that section here on the temples. So then if I If I turn that down and make it more normal, give them a bit of a jaw. This is pretty much a regular person. And three years go approximately right between where the eye line and knows lying, uh, meet, you know, like the Internet and the top of the years where the eye line is and the, uh, the bottom of the years where the nose line is. So that's that's it. I'm just kind of add some hair here just to kind of help you visualize this gentlemen here . So I gave him more of like a Q t. But knows like men tend to have, like, more angular features. I definitely needed Teoh accentuate the jaw, you know, to indicate that, man. Um, Okay, So the main difference is like, I typically, uh, make the the top of the head larger. Then I would a regular person, and sometimes I'll, I'll squeeze the features even lower, you know? So we'll squeeze in, like, all down, like, really below here, and maybe give him, like like I was any hair. So that's, uh that's kind of what I do. But I generally try to draw them fairly realistic with the exaggeration teachers and then the little body. And, uh, and then, like some scenario, that's, like, cute and, you know, indicative of their personality. So Okay, so again, refresher, I line knows, line, mouth line and, uh, Chin. Okay, so that's it n and, um And then the last thing is the corner of the mouth. Corner mouth. No. Okay. Corner mouth. It's pretty much like the center of, um the I, you know. And then sometimes I go, like sometimes I go with Bt features like beady eyes, or sometimes I go large. So the trick is like to look at the person and analyze their features two and then decide which way you want to go with that Okay, so we'll do some examples next. But this is essentially the proportions. Head proportions. One of things you have to consider when you're drawing caricatures in person and drawing another person is that you want to make them quick. And the reason they're quick is that, like people don't have a lot of patients that just sit there. It's not like, uh, you know, some portrait by King and even King said back then, I didn't really have that much time Teoh to sit. So, uh, that's why characters have done very quickly in about five minutes. So to be able to do them quickly and to be ableto make them look final, you have to usually go straight to marker. So I use like a big, thick market like this, and I do the structure in my head. So, for example, I I imagine where the eye line is and where the nose line and the mouth lines are, and I also make sure that in my mind when I when I first draw the eyes, I I draw one I, you know, I started with when I also you have toe see the whole page, the whole composition and fit the I uh, ideally, ideally, you have to fit them right in the in the center. And, uh, and then you have to imagine, like, you know, that that that, uh, that this is the access of the eyes and the key again is like to to get the right access for the nose. Aziz Well, and the mouth because all those features have to be even so that it's attractive. That's that's the key, because the key to you know, the reason why people are attractive is that genetically they were, uh, there were, they came out, uh, toe have even features. And even if, like some, somebody have, like, a bigger eyes or, um or like, bigger lips or smaller lips, they can still be attractive. And everything is, like, even and neat, you know, straight teeth help. You know that makes people attractive. So, uh, yeah, So the point is, make sure that that you do that in your mind. So these thoughts you can, you know, the final has to be just the just the features, you know, with like, whatever the character looks like with hair and all the rough lines have to be done in your mind, but that's easy. Once you practice a few times and you get used to doing those structure, techniques and structure is very important. Also, let me remind you, that I'm gonna attach on example that you can reference is just one image that shows the ratios of the head and the structure so you can keep that in mind. So hopefully that's how full as well you in the next tutorial. 4. Lecture 4: Drawing Anne Hathaway: So I'm selecting Anne Hathaway, which is very famous actress. I think she won an Oscar, so I chose this one image, which I feel like is a little bit more natural. It's not a showy as like some of them images online, so this looks like somebody that you could meet like at a wedding. Let's say your book as a caricature artist or somebody commissions you online and they send you a picture of their girlfriend. She's she's shes got that quality. That's, like just very cute. Uh, she's got kind of, like awkward, geeky features. So, um, I started out drawing the eyes big, which is like, the first thing I noticed. And obviously, she's got, like, big teeth and a big mouth. So these are very endearing features. They can be considered very sexy, too. Um, so I played these up. I was already given a smile, but in some situations, you have tow force. A smile out of a person when you're drawing them live, um, in in situations where you have a photograph, Um, sometimes you have to exaggerate the smile that you have in the photograph. So this one was, um you know uh, pretty, pretty good. Now it's misleading this photo because I feel like she looks like she's got a wider face. But in actuality, in a lot of the photos that I saw online, she's got a very elongated face. And that's why in my drawing, I kind of like, you know, try to slim her down S o I played up the cheek, the cheekbones. So they're kind of very rounded because I want, even though you can't see them in the picture like protruding. But I want in the illustration to give the feeling that, like, those cheeks, are popping out there round. So that's why I can around them and then along a did the the chin and narrowed the face. She's got more of a wide face in the photo, but faces kind of relatively elongated compared to others now. So for the body, once, once, I'm done that, um I know that years ago she was in, uh, one of her first pictures Waas, Princess Diaries and, ah, it was a very Cinderella like story. So I opted for that. Um, you know, I mean, I think she's kind of endearing in that fashion in many ways, even though she's had, like, serious roles. It's a cute ah, you know, girlish image of her. So it's a it's a fun thing to to think of. I think she would enjoy it, like if I was going to surprise her with it. I think she would enjoy this image of herself. And it's certainly because I think it was one of her first kind of the notorious roles. Um, you know, it would be a nice memory for her toe have herself depicted in this this way. So these are things. Not that I know her personally, but these are things that when you're doing a character you have to imagine in the other person their reaction and they're sentimental values, and there it is. 5. Lecture 5: Drawing Albert Einstein: if you need, you can outline very light pencil where the eyes and nose mouth should go and even the year . Just like so eso what helps you? But ideally, when you're short on time and you have to do things live, uh, then you who might have to do a lot of these measurements in your head. So again, we're looking at this picture of Einstein, and he's already very characterized. He's kind of an interesting look. So he's got big hair, big hair, Um, kind of like just regular eyes. Okay. Ah, long Puffy knows long, Uh, nose big moustache. So we're gonna exaggerate the mustache. I think that's how you spell it. And the hair big hair and the most natural Grant exaggerate his chin. Looks kind of small underneath the mustache. So I've kind of left very little room here for the chin. Here we go. So I'm gonna start with the eyes regularized like this. I'm gonna draw them like I don't know, fairly riel. Fairly. Really. I suppose so. Long nose long, uh, puffy nose like this. And there's an interesting kind of shadow one side here, and it goes all the way into his bushy eyebrows, but they're short little bushy IRAs. So he's got white hair, which means that we shouldn't, like, emphasize these eyebrows too much. Like we shouldn't make too dark chicken scratches around in a the eyes. Now I'm gonna give him 01 thing I should mention is that try to make them smiling. That's one of the big tricks, uh, doing caricatures. It is making the character smile. You know, it's supposed to be like, a happy experience having a caricature made. So therefore, you should make them smile, giving him the big mustache, a little shading there. So cute. Yeah, No, I understand. Always known for his acuteness, but certainly this picture proves that is very, very cute. So I think I go even, like, higher with the with the forehead. No, girl, I think I can see well in those shadows. Got kind of a long, long, old man ear. Well, Dr like that, typically we're characters. You don't really draw the shadows. You know, you could you could do a little shading, but typically you don't include a lot of that and so hair exaggerating the hair. Interesting how you had such long hair. Right, So that but lines fine. Looks like him to may. Okay, Now we're gonna shrink the head because I always start drying the the face large so you could see the detail. And now together now going to shrink the head, and we should do something. Sci fi for him. Um, maybe he's doing some sort of. Well, he's a teacher. So, you know, we should maybe put him in front of ah, blackboard like this and like, uh, only a little chalk hands and feet like they're not really that important in characters. I mean, you have to get him. You're looking decent, but you can kind of scribble them in because there's such a demand for speed, typically especially live. But if it's not live, then you should try to get him right. So I'm taking more time here than usual. Um, but I'm at the same time not trying to be like to, um, crazy. Strict. All right, so I'm making him kind of like a professor, uh, with frumpy Jesus. Go. You know. Okay. And this is the blackboard here. So going to block this in? I mean, if you were doing this live you would use a marker, a thick marker, to just quickly fill this area in black. There you go. And now we should put in something funny. So he's known or equals. She squared. Um, then we need to find something funny like, uh um, I don't know, like like maybe clown or something. That's what the throws taking clown or oh, like maybe he's hungry. So he's thinking one thing. Donuts. But I just want to make sure that, like if I draw a doughnut, it's like, readable. So, you know, don't That's funny. What's, like funny, uh, on a McDonald's French fries? Something like that, Uh, and a hamburger. So I don't know if that's funny, but the point is that you have to think of something on the spot. Maybe if you were doing the drawing in real life, then you could ask Einstein. Okay, What what do you what do you do for fun? He's like reading. I like rating or something. Whatever he likes. I'm staring, staring and thinking. Apparently, he used to just sit and daydream a lot, not do anything else, but just a dream. So yes, others Little Einstein, Isn't he adorable? 6. Lecture 6: Drawing Jennifer Aniston & Tom Hanks: famous. Another famous actress. Um, so I have chosen this photograph, and I've made some notes already that she has small eyes are wide nose. The bridge of the nose, that is and, uh, just got relatively wide jaw on, like cheek bones is, like kind of like the whole cheek areas. Like, why that she's got a squared, rounded square jaw. On top of that, she's got very thin lips and top of the whole head. She's got big hair, big blond hair, and this is kind of what's notice more about her off the start. So I started off here and you see, it looks like there we go. So so right there. I feel like, um, I've kind of like I could have blended in like the jaw a little bit straight to the the chin, but I kind of squared it off a little bit more. Um, and I feel the eyes I really got, and I really emphasize those eyelashes, but I think that's one ever features the nose. Um, I drew in like, uh, pretty good, I think. And, uh, and I think the eyes really make the likeness in my rendering for the most part. So, you know, right now, it doesn't look like much. I think if you took the eyelashes offer could be kind of a dude. So But then now you add hair. And and, uh, I think that's when it really, like, starts looking like her, you know, with the hair. And next, um, I add the body. Now, one thing I know is that, like, she's fit. I saw some later movies, and she's like, I think maybe in her forties now And, um, she, um she looked extremely fit like she worked out. Like Like she's the equivalent of the rock of of movie stars. Like she's extremely lean and like, you know, um must give her legs and so forth. So I'm so there we go. So then the cop, I added the cup. Um, and there's a meeting to the cup That's from the old TV show friends that she was on. I was called Central Park, the coffee shop they'll worked at, and, uh so I put the coffee camp. I think that's like, symbolic of who what she's known for. And, ah, little handbag like. I feel like she's very feminine and, uh, and then you'll see next. I put like the the New York City, um, the New York City backdrop. So, um, so it really plays off. Like especially the friends show that I think it was set in New York City on these the West Village, And, uh so it's got like she's a city girl like shopping. She likes coffee, and, uh, you know, there's like little hearts all around her. So she's That's who she is, you know. So it's representative of her personality now. Tom Hanks, Tom Hanks. Similarly, I picked up a photograph, made some notes. One of things I noticed was that he's got a big forehead. Got small, beady eyes, small nose, but bulbous, you know, like kind of, ah, button nose. Um, and he's got a double chin, so kind of a long head to if you notice So then he here he is, like, represented. Um, so one thing I want to point out back here, like, really early on, you see, like, right at the beginning, I felt like like the eyebrows looked kind of large, you know, and, uh and so you've got to just trust your gut on those things like, for example, like, you know, compared to the photograph, his eyebrows are larger than his eyes. So I've done the right thing in representing them that way. So So then, But But I knew ahead of time that once I fill in the rest of the face and you see, like, I've made this long phase where his eyes are essentially in the middle of a space and they are in real life there, like, literally in the middle of, you know, the distance from his chin to the top of his head. So I've represented that pretty realistically I feel even know who. Not realistic. Um, So, uh, so I made him, like, like, very bubbly and pudgy, And, um and I feel now that everything is still then the Eid Rose don't seem like that that out , you know, like huge and upstanding. So and then and then Now I'm adding, like, some extra, like a little shading to really show like his cheeks or like, buggy. And, you know, so I'm just adding depth to some of the features, you know? So there you go and now comes to while others letter play. It comes Teoh the the scene. So here, um, on the right, we have, ah, Tom Hanks represented, as he was in the movie cast away. So he's calling out for Wilson, which is like the ball. And there's also a little fish that's like in love with the ball. And he's like, deserted on an island, and there's like a sun behind them on a palm tree palm tree above. Now, the Wilson is also just also important to note that it's symbolic. His wife's last name is Wilson, Rita Wilson. So to him, like if he was a real person, I was doing his character live. This has, like a double meaning. It's like one of his most renowned movies, although he's got other ones that are maybe even more famous but still. But it's more personal because the whole movie is like, generally a love story, and, uh, and what really kept him alive on the island was, um, that he, you know, the wish. The idea of getting back to his wife. Um, so, So Wilson, you know, which is Rita Wilson in real life, real life in real life? Um, you know, there's a connection there. So anyway, these air, like personal stories that are important to consider when you're depicting people 7. Lecture 7: Drawing and Colouring a Single Person: This is a caricature of Jesse Jackson, who was a political figure in the seventies and eighties. And, uh, this is a particular commission where the person commissioning requested that a draw Jesse Jackson in this post with with these knuckle, um, rings. That's a mumble be I'm not quite sure what that needs to be honest, so but it had significance in the outfit had to be a certain way. So this is the process. One thing I'd like to mention at the beginning is, uh, the company composition, so the head isn't actually as big in this character. I almost made it like a bobble head where it's like it's a little bit smaller, so you could take those liberties, depending on this sort of realism that the caricature requires on the the other thing is the composition. You notice he's centered, and there's even space of the bottom and the top of the composition. So it started out a little bit rougher, uh, kind of a seventies thing again. It was one of those instances where I did it the hard way, just kind of looking at a photograph, glancing at it and sketching it, and then ultimately, uh, this Waas There was a comment from the client and I think he went in more realism. If I recall correctly So then, Hey, you know, make it easy for myself. That's the beauty of digital art. I just traced this photograph of Jesse Jackson and then the rest of the body seemed fine. Um, I think the pants ended up being a little bit fuzzy, So I'm just gonna speed through a little bit here. There you go, Connecting it, whether you go. So yeah, I think like the Leinart is really nice on this. The colors, I mean, yellow and black you can't go wrong with. So it was like a fun sketch to dio and copying from a photograph, If you have on the opportunity to do digital commissions like that is none of that idea. I mean, some people like to really exaggerate, but I feel like this. This works. It's like it's much nicer and specially if it's like a person that that, you know, the client knows, or if it is the actual client than they want us to recognize themselves. And it's kind of like nice, and then they see like Oh, it's like, this is what I would look like as a cartoon. So I'm still realistic. But I've got this cartoon body that's, like, cute and fuzzy, you know? So so there it is. So damning. Takeaways are if you need to use reference, don't be afraid to if you have the opportunity. And secondly, the composition make sure it's centred, and then thirdly, um, the the head doesn't really have to be like we, you know, we deciphered at the beginning where it's, like, pretty much doubled the size of the whole body. Um, that's that's kind of an exaggerated view that doesn't have to be stuck to okay. 8. Lecture 8: Drawing and Colouring a Cute Couple: This is a commission by a young kid use making a gift for his girlfriend here in New York. And, um hey gave me I think just these two photographs on a couple of other references, which we'll see later for sneakers and such. So because this is a bit of a budget project for, uh, for digital art because typically for digital color, I charge more than my hourly rate when I do them live. And also, I do more work for it because they take several hours. Well, not several, but at least Ah, solid. Maybe three hours, you know, with coloring. So I asked me pe doc some. So anyway, for this kid like, I am a good deal. And, uh, it is just such a sweet project. So when I'm working digitally, it's kind of easier. Teoh bring in the photographs and really underlay the photograph and not exactly traced, but like almost traced and exaggerate some of the features. So that's what I basically dio. So I get this feature then and you see how easy it is. And obviously his his neck just thinned out because I plan toe make their bodies smaller. So I get the features generally there, but then each little like the cheeks. I kind of round off a little bit more, go the hair. And then there she is. So she's got, like, really nice even features. And, uh so then I get and in here, here, I actually imported because I'm lazy here. I I imported a drawing that I did prior because I remembered I drew a cake already, and I knew I had to draw this cake. And I was like, I don't want to think about like, trying a new cake. Sight imported is drawing, which I ended up changing. Anyway, it was useless. But this is just to show how lazy I am. So, yes, I had changed the cake. When one side kind of sketched it out, I realized it wasn't right. So there you go. And then, like little hearts, of course, that's like my little trademark with the heart. Uh, so then here we are with the sneakers. So he sent me these particular sneakers that either he owns or it's kind of his wish. Ah, fulfillment, uh, idea. Anyway, So I had to put these papers on him, and perhaps I know you on these pants, so you have to be wearing certain pants. And then actually, that's hurt her pants again. And then the city in the background there, you're going to see in a moment there's a little little kitten, but I have to incorporate, and he sent me a photograph for that. So happy birthday. So she's supposed to say, Happy birthday, my love. Uh, because apparently that's her little catch phrase. You know, she's always like, Oh, my love. So, uh, so that's cute, right? You know, and, uh So there we go. There's a little kitten in the corner. You see her? So there was a certain pattern. I'm not sure if, like, I just looked at the pattern because I didn't see that I imported Uh, the image of the photograph of the kitten. So So now I roughed it out, as you should with a commission like this, and I showed it to the client. He approved the rough layout like this. And then in one swoop, I I think slash clean up the dry, even though it was, like, really clean. I mean, that was a life drying there. Look pretty good But am I clean it up. So I make it, like, really need and and, you know, when they print it out, it will be really professional. Look like a marvel comic, only with big hedge. So, um so, yes. So I get the preliminary approved, which you should, too, you know, they have to sign off on it. And, uh, And then once they approved that and he loved it, it was amazing. And I mean, yeah, it was amazing, but had it was, like, kind of easy. You have process was easy to satisfy and, uh, one side have that approved. Then I go in. I, uh, change the opacity on the background. And then now I go into ink it to clean it out. And then soon I'm gonna add color after that. So I'm thinking at tightening up. Still, kind of I'm using a brush pen in procreate. So, um, kind of loose. It's It's kind of like my style of drawing. I love this kind of loose sketching, but it's certainly cleaner. There you go. I made her feet smaller is like a delicate lady. So we'll look at the cat. Then the cat turned out. Nice. Now, look at that. Acute. I get really into these. I'm sorry, but when I, uh I mean, I really get into the personality of these drawbacks. Sometimes it's kind of fun you got amuse yourself as an artist. There you go. Now, pretty soon, the color eyes gonna come. So the background, you know, hidden by the people and then Zs I put like a big, uh, swish of color. Yeah, for the background. And then now, unlike blocking in the characters, I believe I layer these separately, so it's like, easier. Oh, okay, yes. I add a little fun details and coloring. I think I was like, doing kind of a night scene. I think it's more romantic. It's, you know, young lovers having a nice romantic birthday dinner. You know, I would imagine that when he would present her with ease. So one thing I want to mention real quick is that my coloring style it's I looking and very simply so. I put like a base color, you see, like where the shirts are so that's like the base color. And then I go darker and lighter. So it's really three layers only, but maybe 1/4 when I add like, extra highlights and then I go in, it takes a while to kind of color. It's, you know, it's not that complicated once you you handle some lighting, but, uh, but it's time consuming, and then you see, yeah, that's the fourth highlight, which is, like little white specks. Okay, you know, and I put little tiny highlights, like, all over the cake. And you see, now I'm adding highlights. The background sneakers, you know, everything is beginning to pop. There you go. So, yeah, I changed. I pay attention to the skin tone, which is very subtle, and, uh and then that's the final right here. So I put a little hi lives on hearts, which I really like this, you know well, And moon, I just imported from online also the the star spangled guy. Um, I imported from a graphic china kind of like take some shortcut and to create something that looks like on, uh I mean, far as I know what it was a big hit. I think he didn't message me afterward, saying it was a big hit, so he was really happy. So this is like the process from beginning at 10 when you do a commission to take the client through the preliminary based on photo reference that they provide to you and then there once they prove that you clean it up and add colors. Um, and in the end, you would give them the layered Photoshopped pilot just in case they need it. They wouldn't, you know. And then you give him, like a PdF and a J peg of the print file, and then they printed as a poster and present that to their loved one. 9. Lecture 9: Drawing and Colouring Three Caricatures: This one was a couple that again. It was a non land commission digital. So I did the sketch roughly as if it's in pencil. So I used this pencil pencil. Uh, and, um, I drew them on the beach. I don't think I had any guide. Except, like they said, like, there are, um no, I knew they were young and they wanted their dog incorporated, and they sent me a picture of the dog. So I just kind of made up the dog and them as cartoon versions of themselves, So I just kind of eyeballed it. And I feel like I've got the likenesses pretty well, you know, for a character. And again, I use my technique of mostly drawing them realistically. And then I just shrink the bodies and even the bodies. Ah, kind of comic book, like, you know, And you see a in the back, I draw a little dolphin. So what happened was, uh they said it's not realistic enough, So OK, the clans always right. And, uh so I just trace their heads, you know? What? Can you do it like, that's what what he seemed to want. All right, So I traced it. And then he was ultimately happy with this. I traced the rocks and then even the dog. You see, I traced the dog's face just in case he was gonna have an issue with it. So I updated the doctor so that I got approved. And now I am cleaning up the drawing with ink, and that takes like, I don't like a solid hour or so for this kind of detail going in there. You know, tightening up the Leinart was interesting about this Waas. Um well, it's your typical generic seen, and the beach is kind of, like, recurrent thing. So when you draw people on the beach, there are You know, the guys always muscular and the troubles always fit. Even this, like the real person, is out of shape. You should try to make them fit, like, never, never make fun, like obesity or anything like that. Although this is this young lady, What? Actually, you don't healthy, So, um, turning out pretty good. I'm happy there. They were like a cute couple. And it's always like a pleasure to make people happy. All right, I'm gonna speed to stop now. There's a dolphin Now we get to coloring pretty basic stuff, just kind of great each part and then block in the colors. You see a block in a tone for him, and then I put like the second layer of highlights, then the white and she's a little bit more pale, but I think it later I made a justice. So there we go. Yeah, so I did a justice because I realized, Oh, he's a little too dark And Bradley, I think the shorts in the towel turned out really well from all right. So that was like, that was like the final for this, which I That's pretty good. And then this is the next one. A long standing client when I used to live in Las Vegas, Um, they used to come once a year. That was like their use yearly visit, and he's to get a caricature done before they. I think they got it just on the street. And then one year they the husband opted to hire me, and I met them in one of the casinos, and I did a live caricature of them, and it was a fun thing for them. They just kind of hung out. It was a funny little incident could cause he thought by my name Cristian. That was a girl. So I think like initially, like in our conversations, kept like sending smileys and things like that. And I think like it always threw off the relationship in a way because he I always thought , uh, like it always kind of reminded him that he was confused at the beginning before he met me that I was a girl. So it was very friendly. And later they even bought on original painting from me. So it was kind of nice anyway, So they want to be Captain America and Wonder Woman, which are Marvel and DC It's a crossover, and, uh, it's like a fun thing. So some things. Some images I imported like the Captain American Shield I imported. I traced the Las Vegas welcome to Las Vegas Sign. I think I traced the pair of both parents and the and the rest. I kind of like eyeballed, but it is turning out very well and they're very quirky. And I think I ended up changing her mouth because he sent me a photograph of her and she was kind of, like, smiling like that. Um, Then when he saw it, he thought it was like, we're looking, So try to change that and to change the There you go. So you see, Then I I changed it. Teoh this reference photo and the eyes I just made up through the glasses based on my memory from the other picture. Yes, it was turning out while Ah. Oh, yeah, I can when I gave her glasses. So they're, like, little tweaks. This was, like more work than it was worth. Essentially is kind of a long story, but, uh, So, uh, yeah, so that's where no. Well, go. No way. Bring it back just to kind of take it. There we go. Is a good looking picture. Yes. So this is a lot going on. He really got his value. And, uh uh, So this one is a couple of, you know, dudes, uh, young? Well, yeah, young lovers, I guess. And, uh, their host back riding. I forget which one commission? That, but, um, acute Another cute one with the horses having, like, little cute expressions, the faces again. Because digital easy life just put in a underneath in the layer and just trace it and exaggerated a little bit. So it really makes the process a lot easier, especially when you're doing caricatures. But again, like you do have to exaggerate a bit. So I don't forget to do that because it could look kind of stale on boring if you don't do that. So here's the characters, and now I'm just like cleaning it up like a typical process. You know, this is like the beach one. It's very simple. What's nice about this is at the part where I start adding in color and I important on interesting, colorful sky. And, uh, I kind of like that. I thought, those kind of need it's hard to Well, it's really hard, but it's you can get caught up in the details when you're tryingto create a sky like that from scratch. You get caught on this abstract mind, uh, way of thinking. So, uh, yeah, so then blocking in the color. So it's pretty simple. In each step, you work off the photos, you import them and you trace them for the most part with exaggerations. But I guess this one I really kind of kept the same. If I did it in the chronology of having done the beach one before, I think I probably just didn't want to risk having just working extra to try toe observe. You know, with my training, Uh, you know, the the teachers and work freehand. And then get a request to change it. So I just figured, hey, you know, they're not gonna complain it when it actually looked like them, because I've actually copy the shapes and they see the guy on the right. He had one of those wide faces, so it does look like a caricature. And this is kind of Ah, it's almost, like, more respectful when you do it realistically. So they're very tendon and ultimate, you see, like they had had them wait hand and then I will have to lighten them up. There were like, Whoa, you know, sometimes you pick like these odd colors. Uh, and they didn't actually have tattoos in real life, but it was like a request, like wanted, like one of these tribal arm tattoos. So, yeah, um, this is, uh, the coloring process as well. Fun times 10. Lecture 10: Drawing and Colouring a Group: This is a commission with multiple people, and when you have multiple people, you have to consider different. Uh, I think so. One of them was that this special caricature gift was for one person that was retiring, and there were four other co workers that needed to be in the picture. So the main person that's retiring has to be front and center, and then the other four are less important in the picture. But they're all kind of supporting her. So So I treated like a if it's a single person commission and created it in a way that that , um, it's kind of a pyramid. So it's like a perfect one point composition. It's a traditional one point composition, so you need them like some artistic considerations, or to take some artistic considerations when you're composing a character because just as important as composing a regular illustration, so there it is, and I'm nudging things around. And so the background is that this is a consular for the Canadians here in New York, and, uh so they're Canadian mostly, but they're a diverse group, and they're just saying goodbye to this really good co worker. So she's front and center, and I referenced the photograph. And now that I referenced the photograph, um, I'm just working from sketch, and that was approved in the rough stage and I tightened everything up. Great is nice, find on everything and I imported the flags. So you know, there's no sense, like trying to redraw those. We're all there. Well, let's just speed up now. So the key thing is the composition when you're illustrating multiple characters in our character character drawing whether it's a commission or it's your own gift to cork. I mean, maybe if you're talented enough in your good enough hobbyist, you can certainly try to pull this off yourself and make a little gift. But if you're too much of a hobbyist, it could look really kind of lame. So it's It's important to know when you should hire professional, But if you are aspiring as a professional, then I you know, the point of this is to help you composed, you know, your artworks for commissions that are similar. So I'm confident you're gonna knock about with Park man. Yes, so this is like cleaning it up. Um, what kind of the fun part actually, when you were cleaning up in inky because I feel like the hardest. The hardest part is the the conceptual, the composition you're trying to figure out where everything is incorporating all the elements and when it's multiple people kind of tricky the size. And you see, I hid the legs in most cases because that's really one of the trickiest part, like because the head they're so big and then the bodies air so small. It's like if you try to put all the heads like in a row, then there would be floating like balloons with the bodies just dangling like a string, you know, because they're so small. So the you know the best part of the best way to do it is to find a way to like either hide them like this, Um, or think of a composition that that can, uh, put them in different locations where it would make sense and and the background helps because it's like they're kind of on the street, and, you know, you could imagine that off, like the legs air higher in one section of one person. Then they're probably farther back. So so having a background helps for that reason. And this is the final, uh, things. So you see the beaver, I added, like little Beaver, and I don't think that was a request. So when I get a commission like this, I use my imagination to come up with extra things which the client always loves. Not always, actually. But, uh, you know, most of time, because it's like, cute, and it's like, Oh, you dot of you know, it's like New York, King Kong. But if it's a Canadian beaver, so cute stuff. 11. Lecture 11: Drawing and Colouring a Large Group: This is the same commission as before the same client. But now it's double, actually. Well, there's eight people in total that I have to incorporate some of the same same employees. But, um, others are new, obviously. So some elements I'm trying to reuse, you see, So I I managed to keep the file from before, and I brought in the outline, so the banner is gonna be the same, but everything in this drawing is improved from the 1st 1 The challenge now with eight people is that, um I have to find a place for all of them. So what I the way I went about it is and this is a lot easier to do in digital form than it is in real life, because in real life, you really have to, like plan and you have to sketch it right very roughly and pencil and make sure that everybody is in the right location. Got the right spacing. So, you know, the heads are not like just holding the little dangling bodies, you know, they're not floating in odd places. So here I'm making sure first of all, that the characters air correct. So once I've drawn everything, all the characters. I have them on separate layers. And now you see, I'm bringing them in and I'm re sizing them and finding a perfect location for all of them . And the way I went about, uh, you know, with the legs. So one, I've made the bodies a little bit more realistic And because, like, because there's so many people, it actually, uh it is hard to to find enough space for all these heads, you know, And And it would look really odd if the bodies were now that small. So, in essence, they're not quite like comic books size, but they're they're still cartoon like maybe like Archie would have, like, head sizes like this. Or, you know, cartoons on television would have body and heads ratios like this. So, uh, the way I went about it is I put him all over the location along with space and the page, and, uh, and I used this cloud to hide the their lower bodies. And as you see, the the subject of the commission is that it's doing during the Corona virus pandemic. So it was a commission designed to help motivate these workers that we're now maybe working at home or just maybe, like, depressed about the whole situation. So it's just handed to cheer them up basically. So I incorporated like the Corona virus and made it like a little bit more of realistic. So there was no mistake of of, you know what what those balls were and even in some cases added little faces to the Corona virus. So they're, like, cartoony and each one of these, like like this guy that's got the jar. These were all suggestions by the client and one of the suggestions, which was a little tricky, which I was happy that I came up with a solution was that, you know, they wanted masks during the Corona virus. So I had the idea that Oh, yeah, well, I'll do the mask, but I'll put him on a several layer and then I'll, uh, paid them so you'll see in the end that the mask are there. But they're faded. So you see through them and I feel like this was like a fun, clever way of doing it and turn out really well. I'm very happy. That plan was like, ecstatic and so many people you know in this composition. So it turned out well, considering so many, and they love the idea of this, Um uh, this this exterminator guy in a suit and on the right, you know, like with smoke. They thought that was just amazing. So now it's like, you know, the detail of the coloring, all the highlights. There's so many. So I'm kind of scrolling through a little bit quicker. And then you see the corona virus. They have little expressions. Some of them have, like, the cartoons. And there you go. You see the mask? Now? Where? There, Um, they're faded, and I had a little highlights on them. 12. Lecture 12: The Business of Caricatures: to talk about the business of character drying. In case you're looking to, I get a gig as a caricature artist or make money from it. So I personally learned from college where I was majoring in animation and there was a life drawing course. And we devoted one of the classes to learning on drug characters. You know, essentially, you know, the big head little bodies and incorporate the personality of the person that you're drawing and exaggerate some of the features. But in a cute, likable way. That's really essentially what I learned and that I've been applying all this time to do to different degrees of detail. So after college, I actually went to major in creative writing and studio art in university and one of the summer's I was just kind of bumming around looking for extra work. I was working through animation, but this summer would just want those young Sammer's. And, uh um, I was like looking for gigs, and I think I saw it in the newspaper or something. And there was a hospital that was celebrating Nurses Day, and they wanted to book a couple of caricature artists to just do characters all day while nurses were on break. So they book me and some other dude that I didn't know and he was actually not an artist. You could tell, but he tried. His heart is, I think, just like, you know, he may be sketched as a kid and thought, Hey, I could pull this off for easy money. So, uh, so he got booked side by side, and I was like a big head. Actually, I I, uh I ended up drawing a lot of second opinions, and, uh so it's really fun. So the way it was because I love, think, thinking about this. Yeah, they they had us in, like, cafeteria down in the hospital basement, I believe. And that was huge area. And the nurses would take breaks of different times during the day. And then you come down, have lunch, and we would draw them while they were, like snacking and chatting. So was a nice little treat for them. And it paint really well, I forget, like with that 1st 1 was like maybe it was like 50 or $75 an hour, but it was really good money for me back then. with, like, many summers ago. And, uh, so that's one of things that I learned early on was like, Hey, this page swell. It wasn't that frequent, and I didn't really market myself as a caricature artist, but it was really handy. Have this skill. So, um, the rates just to kind of go into the rates of it, the rates if you're doing live caricatures. I remember starting around 75 on our and then I met some other character. Chart is later, and these said, like those on the East Coast of Canada at the time. And then they said, like in the West Coast, like rates were like 1 25 up to 1 75 an hour. So that was interesting to me. So it was kind of like the different demographics that you know, influence the rates. And in Las Vegas when I moved to Los Vegas, Um, that was a really good market for it, because well, because it's like Vegas, and people like you just want to be entertained. They want to have, like, a acute, uh, memento of their trip. So I was often at listing myself like community sites or Craigslist or there was also a website called Gig Masters for entertainers were you could book like DJs and and character charters like myself. So, uh, so I would get booked for parties. Mostly I never did. Vendors like I was never a vendor, although in Canada I did do several years in a row. I would travel out to this urban area and do affair. It's called the Baltimore affair its only significant to me because it was like memories. But I didn't. I had a fun time was like a you know, a lot of odd looking country people, because out in the country, everybody is kind of like, you know, they don't have, like, dental war get like, all this. Like, you know, they don't like, you know, they're there. Not like city folk like you, and maybe right, so nothing really city, but, uh, yeah, So everybody is kind of like odd, you know, like, inbred ish, you know? So So that was really fun, because you would see the wildest characters, and then you draw them in your leg. Well, this is like this jumping off the page. It's like, so crazy looking. So it was fun? Um, yes. So in Vegas, I never did the benders because I did the map. I had offered a couple of times, like, you don't take over a booze on three months straight. But when I did the math, I thought, like, Geez, you know, even if I charged 20 an hour, you know, how many do I have to do in a day to Teoh make you know what I would make if I just waited around t get for corporate gig or like, apartments? Our wedding, you know, So if I could charge, like, one toe 1 25 an hour for for, ah, gig, why would I just wasn't worth it for me to, like also have toe wave down people and and, you know, ask them toe, sit for characters and really sell toe only Maybe clear cheese, Who knows? Like, um, like, maybe 200 a day, you know, and I'm really working. And a lot of the scarecrow charges also do them in color, so they take, like, 20 minutes or so, which was a kind of long, you know, like for me, because I'm lazy. So what's that? When I'm doing like commissions online fan. Then I spend more time because you just have to. But at least like I'm on my own time, you know? So I could, like, work on it if I have to an hour here and then take a break if I need to. You know, I'm not like watched. So anyway, it was, like, really good that way. Um, yes. So those were, you know, corporate gigs. We're really good and their lucrative. There's different areas of the country that are more lucrative for drawing characters. Like I said, Las Vegas was good. They also tipped very well because it's a tipping culture there. So I often I would get booked for like, let's say, um sometimes 56 hours straight. I'm drying, making $600 just already paid. But then I I could make an extra 200 just from tips, because people are very generous. So that was really a nice bonus. You know, even if it's a weekend a like a Saturday night or something like that, you go out, you make several $100 and, uh, you know, it kind of like for a gigging artist, it's like a week's work you know, in one night. So So it was really good. I really like that. I count myself lucky. Um, for commissions, I over the years, even before I just as soon as I started, basically I would get like, let's say, lower. The signs are drawing a poster for somebody's birthday where they're like the you know, the person depicted a superhero, someone that so I and I did like a comic strips based on real people. So I did a lot of that stuff, like always. So, uh, so caricatures is actually like a good skill to have exaggerating people's features for a lot of illustration work. So it's just it's a good skillpa half, and, um so I mean, I think almost there anybody that can drive realistically can do characters. But the key to my method is obviously that you're incorporating their personality. So, uh, to talk about pricing for commissions, Betterton like standalone posters like the ones that I did look up a couple of people. Typically, I charge around like 1 75 200 for a couple like that. When it's a group like for more, it's like, you know, I mean, it's pretty much like 100 a person, basically because it's in full color and it's like digital. You get a poster and it's high quality, and I I deliver the source files. So it it adds up on corporate commissions to again. You know, the same amount of hours as if you were booked live where you're spending, you know, 56 hours solid on an illustration in color. And then you get, you know, 5 $600 which is have a good rate for working ours. So that's kind of what I charged for those, like approximately 100 a person. But I kind of rounded down to 95 you know. So that's why I say, like, 95 you had a second person. It's like 1 75 You kind of get a rebate? No. So So there's, like, different pricing methods for for professionals do that. So one last thing I want to mention is like that. If you get booked live, you should always dress smart, like always wear a jacket, even if it's hot and you know, not shorts or anything too casual. Be very professional smile. You know, I'll be friendly. Um If you're book live, you don't. It's nobody's kind of like, let's say it's a wedding and nobody's coming to your table or some like that. You should be like standing looking like you're ready to dry, like maybe even engaging people not, like, really kind of, you know, because you're not You're already paid, So you're you don't really, you know? Yeah, you don't sell them on anything. But, uh, but, you know, don't look like you're not needed there, because if if you have better energy, nobody's gonna come to you, and then the person that booked you things, like they wasted their money, you know? So that's like little new ones of getting booked. Um, says so you have to kind of have good, positive energy. And once you do a caricature, you send somebody out with it. You know, you say, like, oh, yeah, bring, bring your friends. It's only gonna bring more people or show it around, you know? So that helps encourage more people to keep you busy. Yeah, you know, like, just be professional in the same. Like if you're doing ah, a commission online. Eso you get somebody requests that and, um you've got to make sure that you envoys in the deposit half of the amount before you start. And then upon completion, they pay the second half and you to release like the source files that print files. So that just secures you because there's a risk when you work on line like that that, uh, you know, if they don't pay you, they got nothing invested, you know, there's no retainer, like they could see that first draft and go like maybe my the person that I was gonna buy this for my liking. You know, they just kind of, like, have doubts. And then they go, You know what? Like second thought, I just waste your time, and I just like I think I'm gonna just get among Camrose is instead of drawing, you know, and we'll call it even were taken out to dinner, you know? So So you have to get that deposit and then they're invested, you know, like so they've spent some money and they've gotten you toe work, and it's important to know, just like when your book live, that they're paying for a service they're paying for your time toe work. You're actually working. So it's not like they're or like ordering a drawing that's already been done. And if they don't like it, they can get a refund. Ursula, Guide are you know they could test it out. You can test it out. You're like you put a deposit because you're invested and then I'm going to spend the time , and I'm going to spend extra time toe like wrap it up. And then when it's finished, you pay the difference, something I'm covered for my time and many years of expertise. So anyway, that's a little bit about the business. I hope it's hell helpful and entertaining. And if you have any further questions, please, you know, message and feel free to ask and check out Masterpiece part school dot com. Thank you. Have a great day. 13. Lecture 13: Custom Caricatures (ie. Simpsons Style): Sometimes you have a request to do custom caricatures that are based on existing characters . So in those cases, you referenced the original like you know, you you look like a part or something, and then you reference the photograph of the person that you have to turn into the the likeness, and then you create that. But what you have to use is essentially, uh, you have to figure out the method that the original animators used to construct the characters. So over here is like another example of, ah, a greeting card that I created for family as a Christmas card and, uh and then so I had to create them like the Jetsons. So to do that, you know, you sometimes incorporate the costume and then helps. But there's nuances in, like the characters features, like the way the lines are done on the face and like the angles and things like that. So, like the Simpsons look different than the Jetsons. So, for example, for The Simpsons, you have tow figure out Ah, what their body shape is. And sometimes it's like this with, like, the neck, you know, so so you have to use basic shapes like cylinders and, uh, and, uh, fears to figure out what that shape is for that character and then build it out. So you guys are like that and then, you know, like, barks knows kind of sticks out like this, right? But it's kind of square to, So you kind of have Teoh consider it like a cylinder. Okay, So little things like that. And then and then you give them that personal touch like this is like the lift. And then the Simpsons, for example, always have, ah, over by So on, then the attitude of the character can be conveyed. By the way, you know, there I lives are resting, for example. You know, like, this is kind of also, um, Garfield sort of expression like, Oh, not impressed. You know, um and then hair can be like an Afro. So you use general shape simplified shapes for a lot of these. But again, I mentioned like, you know, the attitude, but in most cases, because it's still a character, unless somebody specifies they should be smiling and even bigger than that, because because ideally like, let's say it's a character we would create like a big old expression like that, you know, Huh? They could do that. And, uh, and that'll look good. I think they're their natural years. Or just, like round, Like little like, uh, doughnuts without the whole Essentially. So? So that's how you handle custom characters that are based on existing our cartoons. 14. Lecture 14: Conclusion and Thank You!: Oh, hey. I was busy drawing, Uh, congratulations. I guess you finished already. This is wonderful. So, congratulations for finishing this caricatures tutorial. I hope you enjoyed my awesome best method. And, uh, I wish you a lot of luck with drawing caricatures of maybe loved ones or getting some gigs . Perhaps it's a great new skill toe have. So, um thanks. Don't forget to leave an excellent review so others can enjoy this wonderful course And, uh, see you next time. Cheers.