|August 10th 2000
I was getting just a little behind on the weekly's so I'm catching up today.
Today's caricature is the finished caricature of my brother Tony (scientific
name: "Tonus Balonus").
At first glance, the final's not a whole lot different than the second
exaggeration from two weeks ago, (see "28 July 2000" in the Archives for the
original drawings). According to family - and to my own eye - this picture
captures Tony much more so than the one two weeks ago. Why? I have to look
very close myself to put it in words. The differences are subtle. However
you can compare and point where the differences are. By using just the basic
drawing skills - comparing, contrasting, negative space, recognizing angles
and shadows, contours etc. - you can go right down the line in each picture
jumping back and forth one picture to the other and say where they've
So let's do that. If you saved the last email with Tony in it, go ahead and
open it up. (If you can't open two emails at once with your browser, print
out one or the other. If you don't have a printer, you should be able to
open a second browser window by double clicking on your Internet browser
icon. If you go that route, click here for the link to the original:
So, literally from top to bottom...
There's more contrast in the final. that's the first thing I notice. With
fewer extraneous lines over the hair, the mass of the hair looks more close
cropped - less of a bulge on top. Do a sighting of the width of the forehead
from corner to corner (where the hairline recedes - on either side of the
"Widow's Peak" - thanks Bill James from Florida for setting me straight on
the name there...I called it a widow's point or something that didn't sound
quite right.) You could also see the hairline as an "M". (Squint and you'll
see it.) The two points I'm taking about are the same two highest points of
the "M". Anyway, that distance is narrowed in the final. Compare also the
height of the forehead from brow bone to peak of the "M". You'll see in the
final the forehead's taller too. Taller and narrower.
Continuing down, the overall width from outermost brow bone to outermost
brow bone is wider. Overall effect between wider brow and taller narrower
forehead: just a little more comical.
The eye brows are largely unchanged - maybe a touch bushier in the final -
and more contrast at the base of the eyebrows especially just above the top
most line of the left eyelids. See how the darkened left eye brow (the hair)
and the highest line of the left eye lid (Tony's left eyelid - on the
opposite side of the face away from the "Courtesy of..."), actually touch
each other? This makes for deeper, reset looking eyes - which is what Tonus
has. In the July 28 version, there's white space where the final is dark.
Compare the two.
The greatest difference here again is subtle - but effective. Overall, the
final nose is wider, with a tip of the nose that's more pronounced than the
earlier version. There's a much improved shadow here too: look at Tony's
right eye (on the same side as the "Courtesy of"). Look at where the bridge
of the nose and eye come together. In the final version the contour of the
nose is straighter and steeper and there's a darker shadow that runs from
the edge of the nose to the dark part of the eye. Again, this is truer to
the real life Tony and the visual effect gives you the idea his eyes are
Next the Cheeks
Cheeks - not a whole lot different. Just a touch larger so as to mirror the
wider, bonier brow. Overall effect: A cheek-to-jaw-to-to-chin contour with
much stronger angles. Makes him look athletic - which he is...as much as a
geezer of 40 can be (I can say that - I'm older :-).
Back to the middle of the picture - The tip of the nose has more visible
halves the older version. Remember, there are two cartilages in the tip of
the nose. In today's picture, the halves are more noticeable than in the 28
The Mouth and Teeth
Today's version: I narrowed the mouth just a tad and actually made it taller
to accommodate the exaggerated "two front teeth" (the incisors). It always
tickles me that when you exaggerate something correctly, it seems as if the
exaggeration looks more like the person than the person. (Maybe I've hid
away in my drawing room for too long. But there is research that backs this
up however: a group of people (the test group), viewed 6 subjects through a
one way mirror. They had something like 5 seconds to view each subject's
face. 10 minutes later they were asked to identify the subject in mixed
photos and caricatured drawings. These were mixed in with other pictures of
people not in the test sets. They, the test group, found and recognized the
subject's caricature something like 90% more accurately than they did a
realistic photo. Seems the mind grabs the subtleties.)
Do a sighting of the distance from the corners of the mouth to the margins
(the edges), of the cheeks. You'll see that that distance is greater in the
final. (If terms like "sighting" or "contours" sound foreign, they're all
explained in the first nine lessons - and ought to be in the glossary of the
Since Tony has a strong chin and jaw, I lengthened it and sharpened it's
corners up just a tad. I also softened the shadows since in the 28 July
version, it looked like he had a goatee. Squint your eyes and view the shape
of the shadows on his chin. Compare the shape of the main chin shadow (at
the bottom of the chin), with the earlier version. Also contrast the shape of
that shadow with the shapes around it - (good old "negative space" exercise).
Need I say much here? Yes I'm a cruel and nasty person, HA HA! :-) And I
took wicked liberty here. Look at the ear and see if you can't identify the
three drawable parts: the helix and lobe, the anti-helix and the "shadow
area". (Hint: the anti-helix is almost nonexistent.)
Lastly, and in contrast to my usual practice of giving a skinny neck, I
thickened Tony's up: gives strength and athleticism to the person. And that's
So keep on drawing all! Even if you can't squeeze in more than 15 minutes
3-4 days a week, you'll still make progress!! That's a fact.
Take care. Send me any of your drawings (from the lessons preferably), and
you'll get a free in-depth evaluation/drawing check-up and a permanent place
in the e-book.