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Photo Guidelines
Suggestions for Best Caricature Results from Photos
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Although I'll always prefer working from a live subject in front of me it's not always possible, and so I'm often at my drawing board with photographic material as my reference. Below are a few guidelines for folks who wish to send me photos to draw from. This helps me to assure you the very best quality caricatures I can produce.
Caricature is about more than exaggerating features- it's about PERSONALITY!
Please try not to send me only "glamour"-style shots or stiff, "school-picture/company file-photo" shots. You might recognize the face of the subject in them, but it's probably not how the world knows them. Candid shots that show the subject at ease, smiling, and being themselves allow me to focus on what makes each of us truly unique- our personality. I care more about how a person raises one eyebrow or squinches up their eyes when they smile than whether they have big ears or not, and a relaxed home snapshot is usually preferable to a beautiful 8x10 glossy that shows no character. In other words, if a photo says, "Now THAT'S them!"...send it!
I only know the subject through your photos!
I know this sounds obvious, but photos of someone that date back ten years or have totally different hairstyles than at present are difficult to update with accuracy. The same goes for trying to change expressions- we each smile/frown/laugh differently, and my ability to create a likeness comes from exaggeration of what I see, not re-invention.
If possible, send more than one photo!
Photos are an art form in themselves, and working from one shot means re-interpreting what the photographer wanted us to see. Several shots from different angles allow me to get a feel for the person's face myself, and the more that I see a consistency from shot to shot, the more confident I am that my caricature will accurately accentuate what the subject looks like. One photo by itself might make make someone look like they have a long face when in fact it's just the lighting, or (yikes!) add weight to someone's face that isn't there.
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