Caricaturists of the week

Been a little busy recently, I'm currently working on two commissions, one painting and one drawing, I'll post them when they're finished.

In the meantime, I want to share with you a few blogs I have only recently discovered, but which consistently inspire me to draw better caricatures. Some of these guys are professional illustrators or artists, but some are just regular people like me , or even you! I usually find I draw better after browsing these guys' work for a few minutes. So subscribe to their blogs, and be inspired . . .

Single Serving Jack - Caricatures by Neil Davis. Neil never ceases to amaze me with the realism of his paintings and digital art. Check out his Hot Fuzz painting!

ROBOLUS - Sketches and Studies from Roberto Freire. Roberto's pencil sketches are flawless. And he does one (almost) every day! Check out his Eva Longoria caricature.

Rejects - The art, sketches and ramblings of Joe Bluhm. Joe is so good, people are plagiarising his caricatures! He also has some cool videos of him drawing live.

Ken Coogan Caricatures - Another one who constantly inspires me. Check out his Ricky Gervais. Not even finished and it's already amazing!

Jason Seiler - I've mentioned him before, but he deserves another shout out for his exquisite paintings. His Jack Black study is one of my favourites.

Niall O Loughlin - Ireland's finest. Niall's recent Wayne Rooney caricature shows his skill with acrylics. He even shows you how he did it.

Those are the ones that spring to mind, although I know there are countless others out there that I just haven't come across yet. If you know of any good-uns let me know.

Tags: caricature, illustration

Caricature of the Week - Elijah Wood by Lisa

I discovered this site - Caricatures by Lisa - the other day, and found that Lisa has an uncanny ability to capture the likeness of her subjects. Check out her galleries and you'll find great caricatures of Michael Stipe from REM, Pierce Brosnan, Macaulay Culkin, and Simon Cowell, among many others. One of my favourites though, is this pencil sketch of Elijah Wood.

The simple line work looks great, and I love the blue eyes in a black & white drawing, emphasising his piercing blue eyes. Great stuff!

Tags: caricature, elijah wood, illustration

Caricature of the week - Marilyn Monroe by Glenn Ferguson

Ok, I'm not going to put other artists' pictures directly on my blog anymore, for fear of getting into trouble, as I've read a lot of stuff about copyright recently and, while I feel I'm doing people a favour by showcasing their artwork, some people may think I'm claiming it as my own, and don't take too kindly to it. So I'll just link to the caricatures I like the best on other artists' sites, and you can go and look for yourself.

I've only discovered Glenn Ferguson's artwork since I joined the National Caricaturist Network just before Christmas. Glenn is Vice President of the NCN and an amazing caricaturist. His pencil rendering of Marilyn Monroe is fantastic, from the grotesque jutting hips, right up to the pouty lips and beautifully textured hair. Unfortunately I can't link directly to the image, but if you visit his portfolio, you'll find Marilyn and plenty of others including Tom Cruise, Russell Crowe and Tupac Shakur. Enjoy!

Tags: caricature, marilyn monroe, glenn ferguson, ncn

Caricature of the Week - Johnny Depp by Heather Houghton

Everyone seems to be Johnny Depp mad these days, but there is a distinct lack of quality Depp caricatures to be found on the web. I do like this one though, by illustrator Heather Houghton.



I want to try one myself. In fact I have so many ideas for caricatures that it pains me how little free time I have to actually draw them. I'm away most of this weekend, but I plan to get sketching when I get back on Sunday. Good intentions and all that!

Tags: johnny depp, caricature, illustration, painting

Caricature of the Week - Michael Jackson by Paddy Boehm

With Jacko's recent disappointing appearance at the World Music Awards, I thought I'd have a look for some cool Michael Jackson caricatures. Everyone knows his face is like some kind of weird plasticine mask, and almost every caricaturist out there has drawn his mug at some point (I even had a go myself once!) I particularly like this one by German artist Paddy Boehm.

I think it would be fun to try a caricature of the Thriller-era Michael Jackson, before he got too wacky-looking. Maybe I'll go for it one of these days.

Tags: caricature, michael jackson, illustration

Caricature of the week - Madonna by Derren Brown

Derren Brown, better known for his mind tricks and wizardry, is also an amazing caricature artist. He claims he doesn't consciously exaggerate his subjects features, that's just how he sees people. I'll have some of whatever he's taking, please! I love the eyes on this Madonna. Great exaggeration yet instantly recognisable. Check out the painting of his parents in his gallery, the realism is astounding. There's also a step-by-step guide to one of his paintings.

Caricature of the week - Maggie Cheung by Brush Agua

This Chinese artist goes by the name of Brush Agua, his flash website features many beautiful caricatures. Some of my favourites include Japanese prime minister Ichihiro Koizumi, actor Stephen Chow, and this one, Maggie Cheung (Zhang Manyu), star of In the Mood For Love, Hero, and As Tears Go By.



Tags: Maggie Cheung, Caricature, Zhang Manyu, In the Mood For Love, Hero, Agua, Illustration

Caricature of the week - Christopher Walken by Sebastian Kruger

He's undoubtedly the main inspiration for most caricaturists today; Sebastian Kruger's paintings are true works of art, each one painstakingly rendered to the point of photo-realism, sometimes making it hard to believe that they are not just digitally manipulated photographs.

This is one of my favourites, although it was hard to choose between them all. Christopher Walken has a great face, and one that is very difficult to caricature (I've tried, with little success). Kruger has got this one spot on, not only capturing the likeness to a T, but also the presense and atmosphere surrounding him, so really leaps off the canvas at you.

Kruger remains my greatest source of inspiration when I feel like nothing is working. He really is the king of caricature. Click on the image to see it on Sebastian Kruger's website, Krugerstars.



You can buy collections of Kruger's artwork from Amazon.co.uk:

• Stars by Kruger by Michael Lang, Sebastian Kruger (Illustrator)


• Stones by Kruger by Sebastian Kruger


• Rolling Stones by Sebastian Kruger

Tags: art, Caricature, Christopher Walken, Sebastian Kruger

Caricature of the week - Kiefer Sutherland by Jason Seiler

Jason Seiler - www.jasonseiler.com - has published a mountain of professional work, including illustration for the upcoming movie Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny. His caricatures are beautifully rendered mostly in oils or acrylics, and often border on the hyper-realistic (you may have noticed I like realistic caricatures by now!)

If you thought my Kiefer Sutherland was a little too "Bruce Willis", here's one that's all Kiefer. It's restrained enough to keep the stunning likeness, yet still exaggerated enough to be called a caricature. Click the image to see it on Jason's site.

Tags: Jason Seiler, Caricature, Painting, Portrait, Kiefer Sutherland, Tenacious D, Illustration

Caricature of the week - Angelina Jolie by Neil

Check this one out, it's simply amazing to me how Neil Davis can exaggerate like this and yet maintain a spot-on likeness. This Angelina Jolie is one of his best I think. There are more over at his website www.singleservingjack.com , some of my favourites being, Paris Hilton, Tom Hanks and Green Day.

Tags: Angelina Jolie, Caricature, Painting, Portrait, Paris Hilton, Tom Hanks, Green Day

Caricature of the Week - Bush by Leal

I'm starting this new caricature of the week section, where I choose my favourite caricature / caricaturist every week.

The first one is George W. Bush by Jota Leal. I discovered Leal's website this year and was amazed by the level of realism he achieves in his subjects. There are other fantastic caricatures on his site, possibly better than this one, but I chose George Bush to coincide with the 5th anniversary of 9/11 and the screening of the new Death of a President movie, which depicts a mock assassination of the President. I'm not much of a fan of political cartoons, but the level of skill evident in this portrait is simply amazing!



Tags: George W Bush, Jota Leal, Caricature, political cartoon, death of a president