Thursday, June 05, 2008

Evolving Caricature

I'm doing some sketches for a portrait of the late great James Coburn.
The first one above was done while looking at a reference photo,
and I did it pretty much in one shot, without erasing, then traced
over with a fine point Sharpie.


The second one is a stylized version of the first.
It has a little more flair and personality.



Next, an attempt to tighten it up. I decided that I wanted to change it
to show his enormous, immaculate teeth.



Getting there, but not quite. From the nose up, I'm pretty happy with
this version, but the lower half needs more work.
I'll scan it and do
some manipulation in Photoshop, playing around with size and position
until I'm happier with it. Then I'll print out a lightened version of the
new composite and re-sketch from there.



Actually, I like the top half of that very first rough. I think this is still recognizable as JC.