Work for Assessment 7 - Caricature

There are so many TV personalities, I didn't know who to choose for this so I googled major TV personalities and looked for a recognisable woman because I think that it will be harder to caricature a woman. I've never attempted caricature before and I don't know much about the background of famous people so I don't have any back story to bring to my caricature.

I do like drawing portraits so I spent rather too long on the first part of the exercise.

Pencil versions that didn't work very well.

And a pastel version which I fiddled with too much, the addition of the cupcakes isn't very imaginative. I used primary colours because they seemed to fit with the wholesome act of baking and the innocence of the program which has lead to her recent fame.

Then onto the caricature. I started with a simple pencil sketch.    Then added a cooks hat.

I decided that I needed to loosen up a bit so I drew her with oil pastels

The pastel didn't give a bold enough line so I used a felt tip pen which has dried out a bit, and watercolour to liven things up. I chose to copy the device of using a large head and a small body.

The neck is too wide but I liked the addition of watercolour so I used some on the earlier pencil version.

I've not been subtle enough with the colour here and she looks very young. Maybe adding some lines might help?

Interestingly in real life the lines are awful, too dark and distracting, but scanned they confuse the eye so the face just looks a bit clearer though still with dodgy colours. Following this line of thought I darkened the background.

Then drew some baking implements. I also found out how to lighten the areas that make her look as though she has a 5 o'clock shadow....

Interesting to experiment but still not right.

Caricatures are usually made with loose fluid lines so I tried drawing with a paintbrush and worked without any references, either photographic or drawings, to encourage myself to focus on memorable features.

Does it look like her? If I draw someone too many times I find that I get a sort of face blindness where I lose the ability to judge likeness. I do think that this is my best version so far. I still haven't exaggerated her features enough but I think that I'm going to lose the likeness if I do. After I'd finished I looked to see how other artists had caricatured her and I don't think that they managed much better. She doesn't have very distinctive features and the tendency is to give her a big mouth and teeth (also here) when her they are quite small and the lips are thin. Reassuringly I recognised the layout of her wrinkles here and here. I think that this sculpture is the best version that I have seen.

I've always respected caricaturists, what they do is very skillful and I have a lot to learn to do a half decent caricature. I have enjoyed this exercise and I think that the last picture is a lot better than I thought that I was capable of.

Then I re-read the instructions and looked at the wonderful characterful illustrations of Thea Brine. They capture a moment when something is about to happen. The characters are so gritty and real, she doesn't succumb to the temptation to artificially beautify them but the are beautiful because she had captured them being real. This is work to ponder on.

There is an interesting interview of sorts with Barry Fantoni here. His caricatures are quite recognisable, but with a hint of 6th form art class which makes them rather charming. He was very good at high contrast black and white drawings which would have stood out well in a black and white   publication.

A really good caricaturist doesn't worry about offending their subject. I know that politicians are supposed to collect their own cartoons but I would worry that people with a thinner skin would be upset so I'm never going to be comfortable with no holds barred drawings. However you never know where an individual has a weak spot or what parts of themselves they like. For that reason it's important to be honest when making a portrait but not cruel. I feel that I can learn a lot from these illustrators.

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Part 2

So Thea Brine's characters played on my mind and I was looking at Anthony Pallister's rather static portraits. I decided that I hadn't finished with Mary Berry, I wanted an action shot based on a more representative portrait.
I did a drawing of her in one of her colourful trademark jackets.

I started intending to collage her jacket but I decided to try using the computer. To make it easier I inked the lines in and rubbed out my pencil marks.

Then scanned a piece of Liberty fabric that is a bit lairy and overlaid the drawing using the erase tool to reveal the fabric beneath.

I was surprised that the flat pattern looked ok over the jacket. Is it best to keep it simple like this or to add a background? The Bakeoff was in a tent so out came my white scarf again.

I think this is better but I had to add a bit more colour to test whether I was backing out too early.

I think that this makes her look a bit scary.  Maybe flat colour is more appropriate and works better with the jacket?

I think that I like this version or the one with no background. It probably needs a more detailed background than just a single sheet but I think that I really should move on to the next exercise. I really enjoyed these experiments and I've learnt a lot about computer manipulation from my experiments.