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Contents: -
What is caricature

Difference between cartoon and caricature

History and origin of caricature

Origin of the word ‘Caricature’

The most famous Caricaturists

Comparing both caricature works

Different styles and types of caricatures

The purpose of caricature

The article

My plan of action

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What is caricature: -
Caricature is a portrait that exaggerates or giving a person an ugly look or showed the
characteristics of a person in simplified way, or you can say it plays with the characteristics of a
person through drawings, sketching, etc. the caricature drawing can be insulting and by the
time it can be complementary. It is the exaggerated portrait.

Caricatured image Normal image

So this caricature of Mr. Bean or Rowan Sebastian Atkinson where the face is caricatured and
the elements are exaggerated in a way that it looks funny, it is very different from the original
picture. So first thing in the caricature, is the face is large than the body, like the nose of Mr.
Bean has been more stretched out than normal, also it is little wide, and its pointed
downwards. Then he has the eyes which is abnormally larger than normal. Then he has
eyebrows which is very long and more curved from where the eye is. Then he has a bigger
forehead and more dark linings above the eyebrows. He has big and thick smile. He has ears
which are extra large and which is more towards outside than real. The hairstyle is also little
different. While the real picture contains of a normal eye size and shape, normal ear shape and
it is more inside than caricature one, a small forehead and eyebrows are small and thin than
caricature.

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Difference between Caricature and Cartoon: -
Caricature and Cartoon are very similar to each other and people think that it is the same thing
but that’s not true, there’s not a lot of difference. So caricature is simplified way or a funny way
of representing or showing the characteristics of a person for entertainment purpose only. The
characters drawing are more exaggerated in order to simplify the illustration. This can be
insulting as well as complementary. This looks realistic and if some person’s caricature has been
done perfectly you can identify who that is person. Caricature is real person’s picture that is
exaggerated. Cartoon is a 2 dimensional image, drawing, sketch, where it looks little unrealistic.
It can be an image, drawing, portrait; sketching, etc. it is good for comics, children stories,
newspaper’s children section, etc. cartoon is animated character.

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History
People don’t know who actually created caricatures but it is said that some of the earliest
caricatures were found in the some of the works of Leonardo Da Vinci. Here the main reason
was to offer an original painting with some effects rather than a cartoon or a portrait.
Caricature was success in France and Italy where they used to make this portrait for
entertainment purpose. The first book of caricature drawing was published in England named
Mary Darly’s A Book of Caricatures in 1762, the North American caricatures were first drawn in
1759 while the Quebec battle was going on. These caricatures were made by Brig-Gen. in
Britain two great caricaturists were James Gillray and Thomas Rowlandson in the 18 th century.
Rowlandson was an artist which he mostly got inspired by the outer world. Gillray was
interested more in political life. Ted Harrison he British caricaturist said that to draw caricatures
can be used for entertainment and the art can used to make a social or political impact. A
caricaturist draws the natural characteristics of the subject such as big ears, long nose, big eyes,
long forehead, etc. and also characteristics that have been acquired like scars, facial lines, hair
style, etc.

Where did the word come from: -

The word caricature origins from the Latin, so first it was ‘carricare’ then the word was edited
by the Italian which then became ‘caricare’ which means to exaggerate or load. And Italian
again edited the word ‘caricare’ and changed it to ‘Caricatura’. Then the word gone to French
and then to English, but before going to the English in the mid 18 th century the word changed to
‘Caricature’. The word also comes from Italian ‘carico and caricare’.

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Famous Caricatures
George Cruikshank (1792–1878)
He was a English caricaturist who created caricatures of the British Royal Family. He was bribed
to stop creating and printing the caricature of King George III. He was famous for his caricatures
of British life and created comic named ‘The Cruikshank Comic Almanack’ and ‘Omnibus’. He is
said to be the master of the book illustration as he has created drawings in the book called
‘Charles Dickens’ and others as well.

Honore Daumier (1808–79)

He was a great French artist, who is now known as the ‘father of modern Caricature’. He was
very interested in social and political caricature. He has produced more than 4000 of social /
political caricatures, but mainly political.

Famous 20th Century Caricaturists

The most famous caricature artists in the 20th century include:

Sir Max Beerbohm (1872–1956)

He was a British artist who made hundreds of his caricatures and have they printed for his
fashionable magazines such as ‘Vanity Fair and Strand Magazine’ but remember for his best
novel.

William Gropper (1897-1977)

He was known for his realistic drawings and caricatures.

Alex Gard (1900–48)

He was a Russian artist who has created over 700 caricatures of celebrities.

Jose Miguel Covarrubias Duclaud (1904-57)

He is a Mexican painter, a caricaturist and a illustrator. Caricatures of celebrities mad by him

printed in The New Yorker and especially Vanity Fair.

Mort Drucker (1929)

He was a Caricaturist who creates and prints caricature in magazine since 1957he is famous
caricaturist for the actors, film stars, etc. He many times helped ‘Time magazine’ for covers and
drawings. He has won awards from the National Cartoonist Society.

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Gerald Anthony Scarfe (1936)

He was a English caricaturist, he was a illustrator for The New Yorker and editorial cartoonist
for The Sunday Times.

Ralph Steadman (1936)

He was a British caricaturist. He was known for his political and social illustrations, he made for
this American write Hunter S. Thompson. In 1979 he was selected as the ‘Illustrator of the Year’
by the American Institute of Graphic Arts.

Famous Contemporary Caricaturists

Sam Viviano (1953)

He was a American cartoonist and a caricaturist, and also art-director of MAD magazine, whose
drawings have been in the magazine on the cover page of the Institutional Investor, in the
Readers Digest, he also published in Rolling Stone magazine, and many other publications. He is
very famous for his crowd scenes drawings, caricatures.

Steve Brodner (1954)

He is political caricaturist and water color artist. He was known for his caricature images in the
21st century of American politicians such as Barack Obama and Sarah Palin.

Jan Op De Beeck (1958)

He is a Belgian caricaturist and has expertise at cross hatch and finger smearing. He is known
for his books on caricature art. He was also awarded the title of "World's Best Caricaturist" in
2003.

Sebastian Kruger (1963)

He is a German artist known for his realistic drawing, painting and caricatures, typically the
faces of celebrities. His cartoonist art work is regularly published in Playboy magazine and
Stern, Der Spiegel, L'Espresso, and USA Today.

Hermann Mejia (1973)

Caricaturist is known for his regular participation to MAD Magazine. His work his whole made
up of black and white. He also received a Reuben Award in 2003 from the National Cartoonists
Society.

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Ed Steckley (1973)

He is an American artist who illustrates for ‘Cracked magazine’.

There are many others as well, who are known for contemporary caricature, others artists
includes Tom Richmond who contributes to Mad Magazine, Sam Norkin, Sergio Aragones, Rudy,
Pancho Willmarth, Cristiano, Bruce Blitz and Bill Plympton.

Comparing both caricature works: -

Mahesh Nambiar: -

This caricature is created by an Indian caricaturist named Mahesh Nambiar. This is a caricature
of Roger Federer. He is a famous tennis player. As mention before the caricature can be
appreciative or insulting, but this caricature doesn’t look insulting at all as it is just exaggerated
for entertainment purpose or publicity purpose. So in this caricature the distinctive features of
the tennis player are exaggerated like the face shape is totally different from his original, his
chin part has more skin and also some shaped differently, the nose is exaggerated and the artist
has enlarged it even more, and it’s a little pointed nose, and the nose is facing a bit

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downwards. Eye shape is changed, has been little enlarged and curved shape, then he has thick
eyebrows with different shape, the cheeks are also over exaggerated, the forehead is also big
and the gap between the eyebrows and the forehead which is more and a ‘V’ shape gap. The
ears are also enlarged. The hairs are over exaggerated and showed that they are long, flying
everywhere else. He has a thick smile. And one main thing, that the face is more big than the
body.

Tom Richmond: -

This caricature is created by an International famous caricaturist named Mahesh Nambiar. This
is a caricature of Barrack Obama. He was the president of the US. As mention before the
caricature can be appreciative or insulting, but this caricature does not look very insulting as it
is just exaggerated for entertainment purpose or publicity purpose. So in this caricature the
distinctive features of the past president are exaggerated like the face shape is somewhat
different from his original, his chin part has more skinny and long and also some shaped
differently, the nose is exaggerated and the artist has enlarged it even more, and it’s a little
blunt nose, and the nose is facing a bit downwards. Eye shape is changed, has been little
enlarged and it is more inside shape, then he has not those thick eyebrows but with different
shape, the cheeks are also over exaggerated and has become thin, the forehead is also big and
the gap between the eyebrows and the forehead which contains of facial lines. The ears are

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also enlarged. The hairs are over exaggerated and showed that they are very short. He has a
thick smile and enlarged lips. And one main thing, that the face is more big than the body.

Styles and types of caricatures: -

There are many types of caricatures such as the original caricature, pen and ink, cut outs
silhouettes, digital caricatures, , portrait caricature, the satirical caricatures, the grotesque
caricatures, and modern caricatures.

 The Original Caricature

The caricatures were first created by the Italian artists. Reference to the Gombrich Archive,
beginner artists challenged each other to take the beautiful art, such as Renaissance
portraiture, and showcase the personality with some few pen strokes. This idea was
influenced by the Italian artists, the most famous Italian artist ‘Carracis’, whom after the
word ‘caricature’ is named.

 Sati rical Caricatures

Satirical caricatures were influenced by and from the politics. The posters and fliers are to
make jokes of the opposing viewpoint to make the political statements which is impolite to
the person whom you are making of. The Satirical caricatures exaggerate and represent
either their strongest side or the weakest side and their features, especially a politician is
caricatured.

 Grotesque Caricature

Grotesque caricatures are created to make fun of the abstract ideas and the abstract art.
The intention of this caricature type is to over-complicate the simplified version. The images
are often modified the tongue-in-cheek or other very ironic caricatures. They intentionally
take iconic ideas that which are not possible in this world, which they twist the images and
an image that is easily recognized, are reversed or modified to create and get a humorous
effect.

 Modern Caricature

Modern caricature was started in 1940. It was very artistic and a beautiful art. The function
of the modern caricatures is not just the humor, but as it was their own art movement for
their own right. The ISCA (International Society of Caricature Artists) was first started by
Wallace "Buddy" Rose in 1989. Many of the today’s caricaturists do ‘Impromtu art’ on the
street.

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  Digital Caricature

Caricaturists cut a black paper silhouette of each person’s profile, with proper accuracy and
likeness.  These are then put to paper and even it can be framed before. Silhouette artists or
caricaturists can produce this amazing art in about 12 pieces per hour.

A caricature always had drawn on these natural characteristics elements such as ears, nose,
mouth, eyes, hair style, etc. And also the acquired trait such as facial lines, scars, etc. The
caricature is always drawn using color, black and white, ink, etc.

Purpose of the Caricature: -

Caricature is used for the visual communication through pictorial or literary, this simplification
and over exaggerated distinctive features are produced to create a comic effect or a grotesque
effect.

The Article: -
The article is on Serena Williams who is a famous tennis player. This issue is about that Mark
Knight created insulting caricatures of a famous tennis player Serena Williams after the final
tennis match which was held in the US. This was offensive because of the caricature which was
drawn was racist image of Serena Williams and also the caricature was insulting. Her body was
made the subject of joke, which contained of over exaggerated, grotesquely racist physical
appearance and features which was felt to make Williams unattractive and unappealing, and to
decrease the public reputation and decrease the public sympathy towards her. There she also
had an argument with the umpire and when Serena Williams smacked the racket down as she
lost, the umpire was saying to the other US tennis player saying ‘can you just let her win’, and
this was caricatured too. At behind the caricature of Serena Williams smacking the racket down
towards the ground and the umpire was saying behind her at the sitting area of the umpire and
talking to that girl that was also caricatured.

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So this caricature, as you can see that Serena Williams is shown little thick, lips are exaggerated,
the body is exaggerated, the hair style is exaggerated, the facial linings are exaggerated, the
eyes are exaggerated, and many more. And that turned out to be insulting as you are showing
bad things about the person.

My plan of action: -
So my plan of making the caricature of myself is that style which I’m going to use is black and
white either pen or ink or maybe could mix 2 or 3 styles together. Then materials which I’ll be
needing is a cartridge paper which could be A4 or A3, then a pencil, eraser, sharpener, scale,
reference sheet, pen which could be either black or blue or both, etc. I would be exaggerating
my main elements of my face like ears, chin, eyes, eyebrows, forehead, nose, cheeks, etc.

Bibliography: -
 Waelsafwat.artstation.com
 Pinterest.com
 Visual-arts-cork.com
 Goofyfaces.com
 Slideshare.net
 Wikipedia.org
 Google.com
 Sbs.com.au
 Answers.com
 Caricaturiststlouis.com
 Ourpastimes.com

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