Thanks for the great class, Melissa! This is my first attempt at a caricature in at least 15 years - I took a super long break from drawing anything (at all), for that amount of time... and just started drawing again a few weeks ago! So, it was great to pick it back up again - and I loved following this class.

I found the thumbnailing to be helpful - but also noticed that a lot of mine looked the same... which told me I was onto something. I knew I had to exaggerate her massive blonde hair, huge blue eyes, and signature Dolly smile. I also realized she has a sharp nose, among other soft features. The thumbnailing really helped me realize all that! My thumbnails were super quick - following the 1:30 - 5:00 recommendation (I’d say mine took about 90-120 seconds each). I found something I liked, and kept working on it to develop it out - and love what I came up with. I followed Melissa’s style with the “pencil” medium in Procreate, and then played with some gouache colors to enhance it more. Seeing as how I’m new to Procreate and have only been using it for about 7 weeks, it was a great project in many different ways! I am really happy with the way I captured Dolly’s sweet charm & likeness - and am super looking forward to continuing to improve!

Here’s the final product:

Caricature Drawing - so fun! - image 1 - student project

Here are the thumbnails I started with. I started with the first six, then started putting what I liked together, and then started refining. I started to think about resembling her actual features around drawing number 7. I knew I had to pay special attention to the features, so it could identify as Dolly. It started to look like Goldie Hawn there for a second, LOL (unintentionally) - I guess those, ahem, enhanced features can make some faces look similar.

Caricature Drawing - so fun! - image 2 - student project

I kept following Melissa’s advice, to keep drawing & refining until I just can’t take it anymore. And I’m super glad I did. The left illustration builds off of the 8th one (above), and the right illustration is the continued refinement. Dolly’s wig was fun, but challenging since real hair doesn’t do all those things!

Caricature Drawing - so fun! - image 3 - student project

You might have noticed, I needed to exaggerate Dolly’s other signature feature - even though it wasn’t included in my reference photo. You can’t spell Dolly with out a “D!”

Here is the reference photo I used.

Caricature Drawing - so fun! - image 4 - student project

I’m so happy with the outcome, and think that it’s super interesting to look at - and highlights all the beautiful & exaggerated features that make Dolly, well, Dolly... with a smile & voice that has inspired and changed the world. We will always love her!

Thanks for the great class, Melissa! I’ll be taking other classes of yours!

Paul Roberts

San Diego, CA

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