Finally going through a pile of papers here that have been on my floor since I went to St Louis and California. (That was months ago!) I like what I was into then - gotta get back to it. Instead of focusing on Quickness - how fast can I get something that works - I was focusing on 3-dimensionality and exaggeration.

Here's a man that I saw in the airport. I drew him one time - it's good. Then I exaggerated more. More:

I also found a set of 4 pictures. The first one - the plainest, most 'realistic' one (as though a picture could be 'real' - It's just a real picture. The person is the real person!). Anyway, here it is:

Then I took a simple step at exaggerating her more:

Made the mouth area bigger, but to make it look even bigger, I decided to smallen-up the eyes/cheeks. You know, comparison. Something only looks big if it's next to something that's small:

I didn't like that one. Losing something in the likeness of the woman. I even remember her now.

It's because I made her too angular. So I had drawn her a 4th time. And this one was goooood:

At least in my opinion. In my opinion, I think that that 4th picture is the best of this group. But it depends on what you're looking for. It's been my experience that some people like to see the big exaggerations because they want to have fun. But other people prefer the first one (which is easiest for me to do) - because they want to look 'normal'. Plain. Like everybody else - where nobody has anything different (as though that was possible - how would we recognize each other??). Or they prefer the first one because that's all they're up to in their Artwork. They remember trying real hard to make a picture look realistic. And not having pursued that goal, they don't know how easy it is to simply apply the techniques - things like shading and basic face proportions.

But to people who know how to do that already, to us, it's so easy it's almost academic. So we are more interested in seeing the artist's interpretations. Sometimes deep statements, sometimes just fun because we don't honestly know the people that we're drawing.

So just for fun, I'm also posting this other picture that was in the pile:

I was really on it today. Had a lot of business stuff to cull through after doing some real intense Yoga head-shaking, so there wasn't a lot of time to really develop some finished pictures. But I knew it unquestionably. I knew that I understood exaggerating. And how to draw what I see. Just didn't have a lot of time to do it. But I am There! A leap from struggle and learning to MASTERY!

Here are a few quick 'scribbles' that show my understandings.

In the first one, I revisited a color technique that I had been so pleased with before (but I had lost touch with it for a while.)

In the second one, I easily saw and developed the clean line-art to be as 3-dimensional as an overworked-shaded thing.

In the 3rd one, there are people that I drew while waiting in line at the phone store. What I like about them is that I was really seeing the Caricature, where the movement was, before drawing. So I had the qestalt in my mind before I even put the pen onto the paper. I was so There today.

Nothing too serious in these drawings. None of them are 'finished' But it doesn't matter. I have nothing to do with them. They're not Commissions. They're not anybody that I know. So there's no reason to belabor them. They're just here to remind us of Real Art.

I'm posting these here today because I'm trying to make sense out of it. To make sense out of Caricature - is it better than dull direct portraiture ~

I thought that if I saw them all together, I could judge it clearly.

First I made a direct simple Caricature of this lady. Easy to do - Nothing too exaggerated.

Then I exaggerated it a little. Something that I could still do in a first pass.

Then I let loose. Really blew out the nose:

Haha - yeah, like very funny. Nonsense. The first one, which would have been preferred by the woman - that one was the best one.

Looking at that 3rd picture - like, why was it so stupid? I realized that it could have been a lot better - if I had the feeling of the movement in it. Just shapes? That's dull. But it's funny to think how she could scrunch up that nose, squinking the eyes. I just want to try it. And Voila! The best picture of them all. Now this 4th picture has feeling, action, energy, Person-Al-ity. Yes, Caricature is better than Portraiture. If you want to look into the mirror, then do that. But if you can enjoy the Artist's interpretation, if you want to have fun.....

As usual, my pen was moving while I was chatting. Today I was thinking of making 'sxy' girls - sometimes the people I draw ask me for that. A sxy face, um, here's what I came up with today:

These would work. But I look at them, and it makes me wonder. What makes these so called 'sxy' faces? They both have big eyes. One has big hair and the other has big lips. Is big 'sxy'? If so, then the one with the small lips would not be considered 'sxy', but it is.

So is it personality? Attitude? The first one looks smug. And the second one looks scared...

Seems like any features can be 'sxy'. And any attitude can be 'sxy'. So what is it that people are asking for when they ask for 'sxy'?

BTW, what makes the picture look 'scared'? And what makes the picture look 'smug'? But that's another question.