How the artist can draw a caricature properly.

Caricature drawing and portraits is not a skill that is or can be mastered overnight and it will require a considerable period of time devoted to it in order for the artist to fully develop and master it. It is only through practise, repetition as well as experimentation that the aspiring artist will be able to more readily and easily identify their own personal skill base.

Caricature drawing is no different from any other skill in that practising the basic requirements and rules will enable the artist to overcome the problems that they will encounter.
Learning the basics is essential.....but it will only teach the artist to draw mediocre sketches and if they want to make more progress in their personal development they will need to come to grips with the different little details and tricks. For example, the artist who is right handed will find that they will have a much easier time drawing their sketch if they drawing the left hand side of the face rather than the right. This often confuses novice drawers who think that logically, drawing the segment of the face which is closest to them makes more sense.

By drawing the left side however the artist will be able to more effectively see what they are doing as well as control it and it also reduces on excess smudging of the pencilled lines. There is nothing more galling than to spend a considerable amount of time carefully sketching the finer details of the drawing only to discover that your hand has went smudged the rest of your hard work!

Novices will also need to appreciate the difference between the heavy and softer pencils and their uses. If you drawing a portion of the face that has a lot of detail such as the forehead or wrinkles then you should use the softer pencil.

When you are drawing the mouth of the subject, make sure that you use a hard pencil in order to more effectively show and reflect the harsh shadow that the mouth has. Many novices are concerned about the lop-sided nature of drawing the mouth in that the bottom lip is more pronounced than the top, in size, shape, colour and shading. This is a little odd to come to terms with at the beginning but when you have drawn it a few times, you will see the benefits that are on offer.

Summary: practical advice on how the artist can improve their caricature drawing skills.