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Post by donpinsent on Feb 10, 2005 7:46:03 GMT -5
hey. thought this would be the most appropriate place to place this thought (they say in writing, one should never use the same word twice in any sentence. i just did it twice. guess i'm not much of a writer.):
a lot of people have been asking for pointers on pushing their exaggeration. the best piece of advice i can offer on this topic is, outside "live" caricature, done on the street or at gigs or whatever, you need to ignore the idea that you only have one shot at this. what i mean is, there's nothing wrong with drawing and re-drawing and re-drawing and then, if necessary, re-drawing. and then maybe re-drawing. once a likeness of the subject has been achieved (make sure you get that first), if you're not satisfied with the level of exaggeration you've put into your caricature, draw it again, this time exaggerating the features you exaggerated only a little bit in the first drawing, more. it's that simple. then, if you're still not satisfied, do it again. i often find that my first attempt is not as stretched and squashed as i'd like it to be, so i'll do a second, maybe third, even fourth drawing, each time pushing it a bit more again, however-- i can't stress this enough-- make sure your drawing looks like the individual in question first (which often necessitates walking away from it for a day or so, then looking at it more objectively later), because it certainly isn't isn't going to start looking more like them the more you exaggerate it if it doesn't start off with a likeness!
if even just one person benefits some from this advice, i'll feel good about it.
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Post by dmcaricature on Feb 10, 2005 10:05:16 GMT -5
good thoughts Don! I agree very much with what you say about many attempts (outside the live stuff that is) I am finding different stabs and takes usually help the final result because you have generally learned something from each try that you may apply to the final. A lot of times these drawings are very quick and sketchy but they need not be refined as it is simply a gauge to the "amount of pushing pulling and visual distortion needed to gain the likeness to the face. With limited reference this is tough. We all know the more facial references the better (photos) to achieve more info on the planes of the face.
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Post by mankstergangster on Jun 16, 2005 14:29:18 GMT -5
true that
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Post by craig on Aug 29, 2005 6:57:22 GMT -5
Exaggeration is something I really need to improve on. I find it real difficult to get a good balance, probably cos I've been in the portrait box for so long.
Take the current Cher challenge, She has big everything, eyes, mouth, Hair, long nose & face!I cant seem to understand what to highlight. I've done a quick sketch and sure, I've nailed the likeness but when i start messing with features the likeness disapears.
If anyone has any further tips on this I'd fully appreciate it.
C.
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Post by singleservingjack on Aug 30, 2005 16:06:45 GMT -5
Thanks Don, I also always think I should exaggerate more. My style is not 'cartoony' and I doubt I will ever exaggerate as dramtically as many do, my style is much more a distorted portrait.
I will certainly try taking a second or third pass and attempt to push my exaggeration further though, it's a challenge and is so satisfying to crack!
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Post by horate on Aug 30, 2005 23:50:00 GMT -5
i really apreciate this discussion, it´s what i´m thinking all time when i got make a caricature.my nature is abstract, and i see subconcient languages seeing realistic messages.i m confortable drawing and studying several photos of the victim.i´m a voyeur, sometimes talking with peolple i see incredibles caricatures....i know it s insane.anyway , what is distortion ?? i think we have to exagerate, and i try to do this, but how ?? my expierence is to conserve the eyes, and the rest can be done how we like. the eyes are the key, maybe cause the eyes reflect the soul.i m open to all techniques, i like to do experiments, and don´t think that i go to do a caricature, that s a mistake.the human face has a lot of simbols, and we , here try to develop, one of 1000 points that can be achieved.....this is my challenge....to fuse all the outlines.
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Post by donpinsent on Aug 31, 2005 6:56:04 GMT -5
craig-- occasionally... occasionally... i find it necessary to de-emphasize a feature or two when i find a face has exaggerateable everything! if you take a look at ringo in my latest beatles caricature, it's a good example of when i maybe should have done this. i didn't realize it until a caricaturist on another message board pointed out to me that it kinda looks like i just enlarged ringo! big eyes, big nose, big lips, big ears... ringo's got ita ll. but i probably should have jsut not put so much emphasis on the ears and/or the eyes, to really bring out more what his most noticeable features are-- nose and lips. it's not always necessary, but if you're having a hard time with it, it may be worth a try.
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Post by craig on Aug 31, 2005 7:09:41 GMT -5
don - thanks, I'll keep this in mind. I know what you mean about the big Ringo thing, I have a "big" Cher going on here. Will keep at it though.
cheers!
C.
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Post by bidgis on Sept 1, 2005 10:09:14 GMT -5
when i really don't know what to exagereate on the subject, i follow my first impression. What do you think of it >?? ??
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Post by robincrazy on May 23, 2006 10:22:40 GMT -5
Hi Guys, So this post is about esaggeration, right?, well, I've been studying different approaches for years, from Jack Hamm's, to Hans Deconinck's, even Horate's cubism approach recently, as well as all those "compare to average face" approaches, but guess what, NONE of these work for me as good as the next approach: "Compare each feature on the subjects face TO EACH OTHER. By this I mean, ask a series of questions while you are drawing him, like: How big is his nose in relation to HIS OWN FACE?,... Does his eyes look too near or too far to eachother IN HIS OWN FACE?, ... his cheeks look too fat according to HIS FACE SHAPE?..." Get the idea?, that's right, you exaggerate by going: "if it looks big IN HIS FACE, I'll do it bigger, small?, smaller, round? rounder, and so on. But the most important part here is who or what you compare the subjects features with. In my own experience, what works better to achieve the likeness while exaggerating, consists in basing comparison ONLY to HIS or HER same face, not other's, or average one. For example, let's say that Peter has a nose, which if we compare to the average (Norm's) face, looks too much bigger. But maybe, because of Peter's face shape, and the dimensions of the rest of his features, his nose simply looks SMALL IN HIS OWN FACE!, This is true, this is reality, this you find in real world. And believe me, if you exaggerate him by drawing his nose very big, IT WON'T LOOK LIKE HIM AT ALL!. This approach, I don't remember exactly where I learned it the first time from, but there's a similar one at the "Learn to draw" site: www.learn-to-draw.com/caricature/ where the author advice is to take the subject's right eye as reference dimensional point. Very close to the approach I mention here. Greetings. Robin Crazy.
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