The whole point of the exercise outlined in my previous post was to show you how to identify the best source photos that will help you get very familiar with the face you want to caricature. Now that you’ve done that, I want you to put the references aside for a while.
We’re going to start drawing.
For this, you’ll want some nice soft pencils (I like a 4B, but you should find your own preference); an eraser and pencil sharpener; and a nice big layout pad with thin paper so that you can trace your work if you want to, further down the line. And that’s really all you need, for now. Spending a fortune in seductive art supplies shops isn’t necessary at this stage of the operation.
So, assuming that you’ve been studying those reference pics of your chosen celebrity, but that they are now out of sight in a drawer, I want you to let your visual memory wander over the mental image of the person that’s now in your brain. You don’t have to recall every wrinkle, pore, or nostril hair. Just have a strong picture of them in front of your mind’s eye. You’re going to use that to help you with the simplest but most important thing you can do to help you nail a caricature…
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