Part One: Basic Theory and the Five Shapes

This is the first of a series of articles I will post here on The MAD Blog about my theories, methods and processes
concerning how to draw caricatures.A lot of this information is part of what I teach my theme park artists, so it is derived
partly from the approach of doing live, quick-draw caricatures. However all of that can be applied to more studio orientated
caricature work and I have also added points and concepts directly from the less time-constrained world of caricature
illustration. Therefore this is not instruction for just the live caricaturist but for any artist interested in caricature for any
purpose.
These kinds of things always start out with a definition, but caricature is a hard thing to pigeonhole into a single
sentence. How can you, when the word encompasses the elegant, minimalist lines of Al Hirschfeld to the lavish, value
and color soaked paintings of Sebastian Kruger to the graphic, geometrical collages of David Cowles and everything in
between? Despite the wild differences in style and technique, caricature is the tag that is placed on any of these works of
art without hesitation. Obviously there is a connection beyond a common technique, school or format. So, what are the
universal elements all caricatures have that identify them as caricatures? I would say there are three essential elements
that transcend style and medium and must be present in a caricature:
Likeness- If you cant tell who it is supposed to be, then it is not successful. All good caricatures incorporate a
good likeness of their subjects.
Exaggeration- Without some form of exaggeration, or a departure from the exact representation of the
subjects features, all you have is a portrait. The level of exaggeration can vary wildly, but there must be some
departure. A straight portrait is not a caricature.
Statement- I believe a caricature must editorialize in some way. The artist must be trying to say something
about the subject. It might be something to do with the situation the subject is drawn in, it may just be a play on
their personality through expression or body language, it might be a simple as making visual fun of some aspect
of their persona or image. Exaggeration itself can accomplish this in some cases. The best caricatures say
something more about the subject than that they have a big nose.
By my definition, a successful caricature therefore looks like the subject, is exaggerated to varying degrees and also has
something to say about the subject some sort of editorial comment. In live caricature at a theme park, that third item
is often turned way down or ignored completely, but in the case of caricatures for illustration, its an important part.
Teaching Someone to See
Ive been working with young caricaturists at theme parks for over two decades now, and Ive learned one very important
lesson its impossible to teach someone to draw caricatures. I can teach them to DRAW that isnt so hard. Learning how
a face looks and works by learning anatomy, how expression changes the features, how the angle the face is at changes
the perception of features, how hair grows and falls about the head those are things that can be taught. Drawing
caricatures, on the other hand, is a lot more about seeing what makes the person in front of you unique and personal
interpretation than it is about making good, confident marks on the paper. I can explain to someone exactly how to draw a
circle, but if I place a circle before them and ask them to draw it and they draw a square well, that is all about seeing and
not drawing. The ability to see, and after that the ability to exaggerate what you see for humorous effect in a caricature
that has to be developed. For most that means a lot of drawing and a lot of looking.
Have you ever been walking along at the mall or where ever and along comes somebody with some crazy, incredibly
distinct face that maybe sports a gigantic nose or a Cro-Magnon brow or some other obviously out-of-the-ordinary
features? Caricaturists have a term for that kind of face its called a field day. Think about it for a second why is that
face so ripe for caricature compared to the next guys? Are the features really that different? If you took a ruler and
measured the size of Mr. Shnozzess nose compared to Mr. Normal, the difference would be minimal. So why is he so
easy? Because you are SEEING a difference based on perception, and that is giving you your springboard for a caricature.
One observation of what makes this person different from normal, and you are off and running. The obvious features are
easy observations its Johnny and Susie Normal or, worse yet, Johnny and Susie Supermodel that are the challenge. That
is where developing an ability to see becomes important. There is no face that defies caricature, you just sometimes
have to dig a little deeper to find the keys to unlock the more difficult puzzle. In caricature, the old adage of practice
makes perfect has never been truer. The ability to see doesnt spring up overnight, and I often tell eager young
caricaturists they have about 500 or so bad caricatures in them they have to draw out first before they start noticing the
subtle things that hide inside the ordinary face.
Although I say its impossible to teach someone to draw caricatures, its not impossible to help them develop their ability
to draw them. There are many ways and techniques to help an artist develop their ability to see what is in front of them,
recognize what makes what they see unique and then amplify that uniqueness to create a successful caricature. There are
general concepts that apply to the overall approach of a caricature as well as specific tricks and tips for individual features
and important, main elements that I will be sharing over the multiple parts of this series of articles.
The Five Shapes
The human face is perceived by many as an incredible complex object. There are about 52 muscles in the face, depending
on your source and its categorization. Age, sex, race, expression (the face is capable of about 5,000 expressions) weight
and environment can all play a role in the look and perception of a given face. Sounds pretty complex. Not really. Every
building, no matter how complex, starts out with a foundation and framework. Look at this simple drawing:










Show that drawing to any human being in the world and ask them what it is. Barring a language barrier, they will tell you
its a face. No other information needed. In its most simple form, the human face is made up of only five simple shapes:












Place these shapes in their proper relationship, and you have a human face. It really is that simple. Drawing the shapes
accurately, so they recognizably represent the subjects features, is the basis for a good likeness. Beyond that is nothing
but details things like dimples, wrinkles, eyelashes, cheekbones, etc. They are the decor to your building the millwork,
furniture and drapery that makes the place unique and filled with life. Without the strong foundation, however, it can all
come tumbling down.
What does that have to do with caricature? Everything. I mentioned a single word in the last paragraph that really is the
secret to caricature as a whole no matter what technique or approach you intend to practice:
RELATIONSHIPS
Its the manipulation of the RELATIONSHIP of these five simple shapes that create the foundation for your caricature. In
fact, Id argue that 90% of the entire caricature resides in how you relate these five simple shapes to one another. It is the
foundation upon which the rest of your building is built, where the real power of exaggeration is realized. Make it good
and almost all the heavy lifting is done, the rest merely referring to details. What do I mean by relationships? I mean
the distances between the five shapes, theirsize relative to one another, and the angles they are at in
relationship to the center axis of the face. Distance. Size. Angle.
In traditional portraiture, the head is divided into classic proportions (well get into that more next time), meaning the
relationship of the features are within a certain, accepted range of distance to one another, size and angle relative to the
face and head shape. You achieve your likeness in a classic portrait, in its most basic form, by correctly drawing the
shapes and then the details of each feature according to the model in front of you while staying within the framework of
the classic proportions. Of course each face varies minutely here and there, but still you do not stray far from the classic
formula. In a caricature, like a portrait, the likeness is also achieved by drawing the features as they really look but you
change the relationship of the features based on your perceptions of the face. The relationships you change are as I listed
before: distance, size and angle. Look at these VERY simple drawings that demonstrate how you can change the
relationships of the five shapes and create very different caricatures:

No detail, and all the shapes are basically the same with the exception of the head shape (again, more on that later
MUCH more) but all are distinctly different and when the details are added will make for highly varied caricatures. The
difference is the relationships between the features, and how they have been exaggerated and changed. Caricature is not
about choosing one feature and making it bigger, its about all the features together and how they relate to one another.
Here are some quick studies of the 5 shapes beneath a few caricature sketches:


The relationships differ in distance, size and angle from one another. The bigger the differences are from classic
proportions, the more exaggerated the caricature. Its much easier to see the differences when the details are removed
and only the 5 shapes are left. Its also much easier to create those differences at this simple, fundamental level. Its easy
to get caught up in details when the important information rests beneath the rendering.
How does one determine the correct changes to make to a given persons feature relationships to make a good caricature
of them? Well, thats the trick, isnt it? That is were that pesky seeing comes in. In his book How to Draw
Caricatures, Lenn Redman uses a concept called The Inbetweener as a basis for almost every observation. It is
basically the classic portraiture relationships used as a point of reference for making observations. Every caricature begins
with the observations the artist makes about the subject, and how their particular face is perceived by
them. MAD legend Mort Druckerhas been quoted as saying that there is no one correct way to caricature a subject. Any
given subject can have several difference interpretations with respect to the exaggeration of the relationship of their
features and each may be as successful as the other. Thats one of the unique things about caricature as an art form.
Portraiture is basically absolute Your drawing either looks like the person with the correct features, proportions and
relationships, or it does not. Caricature is subjective to a point. The artists goal is to draw how they perceive the face, and
exaggerate that perception. The result may be different than how others perceive that face, but if the three elements we
described in our definition are present its still a successful caricature. Hirschfeld used to say he once drew Jimmy
Durante without a nose at all, yet it was still recognizable as Durante.
Thats not to say that any observation is appropriate after all you cant give someone with a small, button nose a gigantic
potato schnozz and call it exaggeration. Thats not exaggeration, its DISTORTION. You can, however, choose NOT to
exaggerate the noses smallness but rather find something else to exaggerate. That is the caricaturists task, to find what it
is about the subjects face that makes it unique and alter those relationships to exaggerate that uniqueness.
Next time We will delve more deeply into the relationships of features, what to look for and some rules to follow when
changing those relationships that will make the rest of the face fall into place.