Caricature, an Exercise by Dr. Mary Stokrockie

Ben Franklin Now that you have an idea how artists in the past used distortion to tell a story, you should be ready to create your own caricature. Don't worry about how good it is, just think about what you want to exaggerate about your subject to point out what might be considered clumsy or silly about him or her. Remember the "Join or Die" cartoon was not the work of an artist. Have fun!

Materials:

Paper and pencil are ok, but try using your computer with a program such as Kid Pix or Adobe Photoshop ®.

How to Make a Simple Cartoon Character:

1. Choose any simple shape for a head (triangle, oval, circle) and one for the body. Add stick arms and legs and bend them for elbows and knees.
2. Copy and paste this basic skeleton several times and just move the legs and arms.
3. To suggest movement, change the character shape slightly from one spot to the next. Overlap multiple arms and legs to show motion. Use expression lines to suggest movement.

How to Make Simple Facial Expressions

1. Use your own initial for a nose-eyebrow. My initial is an "S." You can distort it. Change the direction of the eyebrows or mouth. For example, the slanted down expression suggests sadness / \ and the slanted in suggests anger \ / .

Exaggeration is a key to calling attention to a particular feature or body part. Enlarge or stretch forms or features. Feet can be enlarged to suggest clumsiness. Big ears may suggest a nerd. Here are my examples.

CUTIE has a big head and a little body. She or he also has big eyes and a small mouth. The bigger the head, the cuter the character.

BULLY has a wide body and crusher arms with large hands. She or he has little brains so make the head small. The usual expression is anger with teeth showing.

DOPEY has a long awkward body, like a rubber band. His lead is long with big ears and she or he has large floppy feet. The more rubbery (the many bends and turns in the body), the funnier she or he becomes.

COMPARATIVE ANATOMY: For ANIMALS, change the size and shape of the nose and ears. Look at a picture for particular animal features. You are making them more human-like. Now create your own caricature. Start by exploring the shape with a line. Play around with it until you get the exaggerated shape and facial expression you want.

After you've finished your cartoon, ask your classmates or friends what they see in your drawing.