Technique part 3 - Brian Cowen (stage1)

OK, I've had a few emails recently asking about improving caricature skills, etc. so I thought I'd re-iterate here a point I consider very important. And that's if you don't get your basic morph (exaggeration) correct then all the fine digital painting or finely hatched pencil work is not going to make a successful caricature. Ever.

If you're not getting a successful caricature at the line stage then you will never improve on it by rendering it to death in whatever medium you're using. The above line drawing of the exiting Irish Prime minister Brian Cowen hopefully illustrates how, technically, if you've got the line right then you can stop right there. Job done. Also, good lines in a good line drawing will have body and weight to them and will suggest the volume of the character it describes. A good place to see this is in the line art of the great Marvel artists of yesteryear.

The purpose of fine hatching (or the painting in of every blood vessel and liverspot) is to add the 'Wow' factor, and never to make the caricature more 'successful'.
Therefore, your succesful caricature relies on two things: great morphing and great rendering of medium, but only great morphing can stand alone.

Now I'm off to add a load of furious cross-hatching to the above, ha, ha!

Keep on creatin'!