Wednesday 10 October 2012

'Dr Who' themed family caricature - preparatory sketch...

This is without a doubt the best and most inventive themed
caricature I've been asked to do yet. A family caricature
consisting of four members each cast in the roll of a different
character from the David Tennant era of Dr Who!

Not only have I had great fun with this project so far, but it
has proved a good challenge and forced me to re-think my
thought-process and approach to a picture like this...which I
really appreciate.

For example, usually one of the main objectives for me
would be to focus on getting a likeness of the person I'm
caricaturing, cos if no-one recognises that person the finish
could be superb - but as far as being a successful
caricature's concerned, it's an instant fail. However the
difference with this picture is that the above is only part of
the first stage, the second stage is to identify and then transfer
the mannerisms, expressions and characteristics(posture) of
the characters from Dr Who on to the caricatures whilst trying
to maintain that likeness.

At one point I recall thinking to myself ;
''I'm trying to caricature David Tennant(as Dr Who) using
someone else's facial features and limbs''
...which pretty much sums up my point. Once I acknowledged
this and began thinking along these lines - raising eyebrows,
squashing/stretching eyeballs and manipulating other various
features the picture developed a whole new level of character
and life.

Other elements of the design were still integral such as the
layout and compostion and colour palette (will be) but again I
felt these were secondary to the above. The composition was
taken from a couple of different Dr Who posters/DVD covers
but I decided to make the caricatures larger in order to be able
to best capture their facial expressions and convey character.

Anyway it's still at the pencil draft stage but I'm pleased with it
so far and have had positive feedback so hope to start painting
the final piece soon. Here's the preparatory sketch along with
the photogaphic reference material....


 


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