FRANK!

08/28/11

Continuing in my series of "iconic faces..." here's one of my all-time favorites: FRANK ZAPPA!

I began by trying to sketch Frank from memory. (I mean, how tough could it be? Get the moustache and you're there, right? Perhaps not...)

This could be just about any 70's rock star... lol
but it didn't look distinctly... Zappa.
So I set about searching for images and found quite a few. Then I began to explore the unique facial geography that is Frank Zappa.Much to my surprise, his nose is long, but it's a different type of long nose.

I gotta say, the guy had an interesting face!

This set off a flurry of sketching, drawing and exploring; everything from cartoony to realistic to stylized/graphic:

I began breaking down the features into the most basic graphic shapes, seeing how far I could push it and still retain a likeness.

Which led back around to a basic portrait:

This time around, the image was stronger - because of the exploration, trial and error. I had learned about what made his face... Frank.
I then took the image and exaggerated it:

And voila! There's the image I was searching for. The right exaggeration in the right places.

JIMI!!!

07/30/112:
Small color studies. Exploring different color schemes, and working processes, different poses.

Acrylic, ~4x5" each
Ben described the blue one as "more iconic Jimi." I like that.
I am liking each for different reasons.
I'm lovin' the blue underpainting. It's almost a shame to paint over it, the way the color vibrates with the skin tones.
The warm underpainting is strange; it's as if I just can't get the skin tones warm enough - they look purple against the warm background. That would change once the background is covered.
I may win up doing two or more paintings, with different color schemes and poses.
Note to self: When Jimi has his head tilted back, his wide cheekbones are much more prominent. However, with his chin down, looking out from under his brow, his face elongates; when I tried to do the same thing with the wide cheekbones, it didn't work - it loses the likeness.

07/27/11
More sketches of Jimi!


I like working with Brooke, Ben and Chester. Every day is like a mini-workshop.
Here, Ben and I were discussing breaking down Jimi's features into its most basic components using simple shapes. It is amazing how strong the statement is , even eliminating some elements completely (like the jawline...)

The farther I go in the world of caricature, the more I am discovering that the strength of a piece lies in making a simple, direct statement.

07/19/11
Sketches for an upcoming painting:

What a great face...!
Ballpoint Pen, 8.5 x 11"


Pencil, 8x10"

Another animal caricature!

I saw a picture of an egret, and I thought "Gee, that beak is so long... he looks kinda top-heavy." Then I thought "What would happen if his beak was so long and heavy it threw him off-balance and it dragged on the ground, and he couldn't even pick it up off the ground?"
I mean, egrets kinda have that P.O.'ed look already.
"...and egrets, I've had a few..."

It was a good chance to try out some new pencils. I bought some 2.0mm colored leads to go into my Technical pencils, and have been dying to see how they work... it was fun.

An accidental caricature?

Here, in a reference photo I stumbled across, is probably the best caricature of Nick Cave, and it just happens to be an accident:

The accidental caricature was caused by angle of the sun to the wall, and the angle of the wall to the camera, combined with how the slats in the siding break up the image.
I isolated and highlighted the area of the photograph.
This may have been truly an accident; quite likely the photographer saw the shadow and seized the opportunity. Either way, it's brilliant.
...and the funniest part... I think it looks like Funky Winkerbean. LOL

Nick Cave for CS3K!

This week's Caricaturama Showdown 3000 challenge:
Nick Cave
Second sketch:

A better, more cartoony and loose sketch.
"It's more draw-y."

Unlike last week, where i got sidetracked and carried away with rendering - which resulted in killing a good beginning sketch - this week I am focusing on just getting the drawing to work. If that ain't happening, then nothing else matters.
First sketch:

There are a couple good things happening with this first sketch. Of course, Nick Cave has those trademark eyebrows - but there is something about this guy's chin that I am trying to capture; it is a magnificent feature. That, and the jowls.

reference photos:

I mean, does this guy have a face born for caricature, or what?

Brigitte Bardot - Final submission to CS3K

I chose this sketch, it is the closest to that Brigitte Bardot "essence."
Pencil, 4x5"

Brigitte Bardot...!

02/21/11 - part II
I decided to go back and try some more rendering on last night's drawing. Here is the result:

For now, I'm just going to give it a rest. I'll submit the sketch below for this week's challenge.

02/21/11 - part I
After spending quite a little while rendering, I came to the conclusion that the larger drawing was less satisfying than the original thumbnail sketch. Something had been lost in the translation:

Graphite and carbon on Strathmore paper, 9x12"
So I decided to start over, and draw from a variety of photographs. I tried to pick photos that had that Brigitte Bardot 'essence.' You know it when it's there - that's what made her an icon sex symbol in the 60s. Here are some of the sketches, along with the first sketch from last night:


The one that I like the best is this one, it conveys that BB 'essence' the best.
This is the one that I am submitting for the challenge:

I may try a finished rendering; however, with the deadline coming up, I may just go ahead and submit the sketch for this one.

The lesson?
Go back to what I was originally intending: to focus on building a strong drawing before ever getting into rendering form.

02/19/11
After a long hiatus, I am back in the ring in CARICATURAMA SHOWDOWN 3000 on Facebook!
This week's challenge: the legendary 60s beauty Brigitte Bardot.
I am posting the most recent pictures at the top so those of you who are keeping track can see the latest update.

Here is the full-sized drawing of Brigitte Bardot for the CS3K challenge.
The initial drawing and block-in of shadow forms:

Graphite, 9x12"

I chose this reference photo to start; give me outdoor, top-lighting any day of the week!

Here's my initial thumbnail sketch, and a close-up:

With this sketch, I wanted to focus on maintaining solid form and structure while exaggerating the proportions.
I started with a standard portrait thumbnail sketch on the left, and drew a grid for the major divisions/relationships. For the caricature thumbnail sketch, I squashed and stretched those divisions/relationships to get the general proportions, then I went in and tweaked things until they started looking good.
Anticipating doing several sketches, I started these way up on the top of the page - and wound up running off the top of the paper - lol
(Funny thing, I think the exaggeration has a better, more recognizable likeness of BB than the regular portrait sketch. LOL)
Thanks to Cosmin Podar for his excellent post -using a grid to get the relationships, and then altering the grid for the exaggerations. It gave me a nice starting place.