Caricature Class Notes
A student of artist Jason Seiler compiled a handy list of notes taken from Jason’s classes. This is priceless for all artists, whether you deal in caricature, cartoons or landscape paintings.
humble yourself
find the true character of the person
keep it simple
look for simple shapes and size relationships between features
eyes and mouth, then head shape most important
think in terms of inner face and outer face
simplify the weight, where is it?
exaggeration: for every action, theres reaction
compare faces side-by-side to point out differences between people
when sketching: start light and thin, think shape and structure
when darkening lines, dont trace. use as guidelines and improve
upon whats underneath
caricature drawing = study of person’s true character
exaggerate the truth by pushing the features
get the placement and general shape
don’t settle for a weak drawing
perfect practice makes perfect
flip drawing and reference upsdide-down or sideways to turn off left
brain
sketching = adjusting
step back to get a fresh look. zoom out to not get caught up in the
details
squint your eyes to help simplify
what makes person unique and interesting?
what stands out and why?
tell the story
be encouraged, don’t give up
don’t distort, exaggerate
thumbnail sketching: give yourself choices, possibilities
look at face. what comes out furthest, what goes in, what’s narrower,
further?
where is the widest point, thinnest?
find the triangles
focus on placement of features, not details
exaggeration: everything must follow – its the combination of
features relating to each other
likeness is king
width and weight: find the shape of head
pay attention to angles
look away from person. draw the impression of person
follow the form, exaggeration must follow
keep going. start sketching. start over!
think about planes of face, contours of face
sketching = adjustment & problem solving
for beginner: study portraiture before caricature
do thumbnails
develop yourself as an artist – sketch, think, learn, draw, paint, see
hair: get the main shapes first. slow down
don’t do one drawing. explore and sketch lots of thumbnails
don’t exaggerate one feature but all features working together
doing thumbnails are like taking notes
when doing thumbnails, think in animation drawing style
value painting: start with 4-5 values only and move towards more
complex later
what is the reason for what youre drawing?
try to capture the essence of person
what is a caricature to you? strong caricature, strong likeness,
essence.
hair: try to paint it in, dont use speckling
paint with feeling
think cartoon first
what pops out the most?
And these are only half of the notes. For the rest of the notes see the blog post here.
