Read your way through the list,
really take the time to answer them. If you do no drawing,
minimally picture yourself doing the actual drawing - ask your
self "if I were to draw this, what would it feel like?"...so
actually put your imaginary pencil to your computer screen and
pretend you're drawing and working out all these comparisons
and contrasts. This actually put you into the brains real-time
observation mode, which is where every artist or caricaturist
needs to be. Now dive on in :-)...
If you think about it, this photo
is a kind of a crooked "Vase-Face" example - can you see
the funky vase hid in there?
Here it is (squint
until you can see the shape of the "vase" - or negative space
stand out):

and here's the vase
by itself - see if you can't switch between seeing the
two separate faces then seeing the unique shape of the the
face:

Compare the profiles feature by
feature: Look at the hairlines - and the
hair's thickness - right at the top of the forehead
(Arnold's is thicker);

Look at the shape of the hair
(note the double hump at the back of Arnolds head (he's got
muscles there too), and the smooth military taper of Gray
Davis's. Can you envision drawing them? How would visualizing
the negative space around them make drawing each head
easier?
Here's a face-off
comparison of both hair shapes (contrasted in
Photoshop), the two lumps in Arnie's hair are numbered off to
the right):
Very similar to
focusing on the "Vase-Face" between the faces, can you flip
your focus around so you can visualize the the negative
spaces around the entire head?

Starting to look like
some kind of weird bat or Venetian Arches, or a swollen uvula
(that little dangly thing that hangs down in the back of your
throat) - when you're flipping visually between those two
shapes, (i.e. between seeing the shapes as two heads and the
blue shape) you're exercising different modes of
perception):

Use what you recall about
negative shape and note the shape of the each governor's
forehead; ...more of the same..
Compare the shapes
the eyes - and note especially these things about each persons
eyes:
Here's a close-up
both Gov's eyes - enhanced again in Photoshop. Squint your
eyes to answer the next set of questions...

compare the shape of the eye
brows;
- A little thicker in
Davis - with seemingly more of an arch, rises proportionately
higher on Davis too
-What's the shape of the upper
lid?
Both eyelids are
outlined here (roughly)

-Who has the lengthier upper
eyelid?
Davis does
-Can you identify a pupil or iris?
(the colored part of the eye) or is your brain "imagining" one
there?
There's the "black
spot" or disc kind of thing evident in Davis's eye - but to
say "yes, I see an eye" - it's a stretch of the imagination in
both. But the brain accomplishes that quite gracefully. In
fact, when the brain has to conjure up things that aren't
really there in the first place, the brain really gets
excited: a picture becomes more interesting.
Who has more shadows in and
around the eyes?
I'd have to say
Arnold
and what's the shape of those
contours that make the wrinkles around the eyes?
Arnold has more of
the angular "Crow's feet" sort of configuration where as Davis
has more of wrinkle - especially under the lower
lid.
Can you see the lighter shapes of
the actual skin of the eyelids? (Arnold has a rounder shape in
the upper lid compared to Davis's. Davis has a more
rectangular shape outlined. (Both Gov's upper lids are
outlined by the eyebrows above and the actual margin of the
upper eyelid below)
Sorry about the
repetition...See picture above - it's obvious
(You really can make
out an iris and pupil in Davis's picture if you look close :-)
Also here I've outlined the "Crow's feet" in both (see
the picture just above to see an unmarked view of the
crow's feet in both) :
Who has the larger tip of the
nose?
Obvious here:
Whose nose is
longer?
Arnold's - and you
can see Davis's lightly bulbous tip and Arnold's slightly
curved down "very tip", as well as the small hump towards the
root of the nose (which they both have, though Arnold's
looks more obvious to me) - the "root" of the nose is
where it comes out of the forehead. These are subtle things
folks, but added together, supply you with all sorts of ammo
to exploit in a caricature :-)
Check out the apron of the upper
lip: who's is more expansive? (Do you remember what the apron
of the upper lip is?)
Here you can see the
apron of the upper lip highlighted in purple (I don't know how
it got be purple, it just got that way :-); and it's obvious
the owner of the greater span is Gov Davis:
How do the shapes of the dimples
influence the expression in each face?
A better question
might be to ask "what's the shape of light and shadow areas in
and around the dimples, and how do dimples and dimple contours
heighten a positive or "happy" look" (I quote "happy"
because there's just a pinch of a suggestion of smirk in
Arnold's smile. Is that just me or do you see it
too?)
Notice how Arnold's
dimples (in this picture) are really two highlights with an
hour-glass shaped or barbell-like (or even telephone-handle
shaped) area of shadow. (Yes you have to use your imagination
a little).

Here, the highlight
shapes are outlined in yellow, the shadow in blue. Squint to
make this more obvious. Shadow and highlight shapes, though
we're very nearly unconscious of them under most circumstances
(except for now while we're consciously pointing them out),
are as unique to each person as are the actual features.
Observe and capture those shapes and you'll add an immense
amount of realism to your drawings. You can make this kind of
observation about all shadow and highlight
shapes.
This fleshier tip,
gives the illusion that the margin of the upper lip in a side
view moves down as you move from corner of mouth to front most
tip (like the tip of the lip just under the nose). And the
truth is, it actually slopes down away from horizontal as you
move left to right.
How does the general line and
direction of the lower border of the upper lip compare
to horizontal border of the picture?
Davis has a prominent
dip of the tip of the upper lip. This is actually the
termination of the fleshy side of "Cupid's Bow". (Open up your
e-sourcebook, open up the Search function and type in
"Cupid's Bow" for more info.)
Look in the
picture above for Arnold: moving from left or right, this
contour angles ever so slightly downward over the first 2/3rds
of it then rises up or away from horizontal. Look
closely!
What about the lower lip?
And who has the underbite?
Davis's LOWER lip
takes off down at a 45 degree and then at an ever steepening
angle as you move away giving the illusion of a pouty lower
lip. Arnold's on the other hand, moves up with the
upper lip until it breaks from the upper lip and you
enter the area of actual pulp and curve of the lower lip. Look
close above to make sense of this.
Under bite is
obvious...
If you drew a vertical
line straight down from the back corner of the eyes where
would that line align in comparison to the...
- Adam's apple in
each?
- In
front?
- Behind?
- How far
behind?
- Where would this
line fall in comparison to the backmost edge of the
nostrils?
- The corner of the
mouth?
- How far to the tip
of the nose?
- To the notch along
the nose at the same level as the eyes?
Use the following
picture to answer these. Measure right on the screen - ie do a
sighting. The differences are subtle - but are real enough to
exaggerate! (The eye notices these differences, but
measuring and comparing nails it down when it's not
clear.) Compare these distances face to face too (i.e. Arnold
to Gov/ Davis).

What and
how would you have exaggerated these distances in a
caricature?
Whose cheeks are higher?
Arnold's certainly
are more prominent. Higher? Hard to tell. Look close though -
what do the shadows under the cheeks tell you about the shape
of the cheeks? Arnold's have much more of a comma shape
suggested. See that? Look close, squint, back away from ur
computer until this is clear :-)
What's the overall shape of the
cheeks in each? (Envision a square box around each cheek and
envision the negative shapes formed between the box and
any contour or shadow shape visible (this'll be
demonstrated in the next Communiqué.)
I'll let you do
this...ok, I'll bail you out one more time
:-)

Hoo man, that's way
too close! (Photoshop is evil...the macho man in me is being
threatened...and yes, I'm straight.) It's a little
easier to make out shadows that define the cheeks in Arnold,
but back away (from your screen) and see if you can't make
something out of Davis's. Look at how these areas were managed
(as shadow shapes), in the caricature:
Can you envision the shadows as
shapes around the lower margin of the jaw?
They're pretty well
defined in the caricature above. Now see if you can't find
them in this picture:
Who's neck is thicker?
Arnold's
Where would the bottom of the
ears align if you could draw a line from their lowest
edge out to the front of the face? The top of the ears?

Davis's drops just a little bit lower. Also ask
yourself what this horizontal line intersects along the way -
where does it intersect the hair? How far above the contour
between the lips does it lie? What kind of angle does it form
with the edge of the apron of the upper lip? (Did I catch you
off guard? :-) And just for funsies can you spot the triangle
in the space formed by the back of the ear, the blue line and
the hair line (it's easier to see on Arnold)?
Compare the angles the white of the
shirt collars make with horizontal outline of the overall
photograph...then with the vertical edges of the photo...then
with the jaw.
Use the picture above
- you can do it!
Compare in each the distance
between the bottom of the nose line and the middle of the
mouth line. Who's is greater?
We answered
this above...
Compare in each the profile
formed from the bottom of the nose up to the top of the head
(and draw it if you're feeling gutsy :-) Who's forehead leans
away from vertical more? (sure it may be the tilt of the head
in just this picture and nothing permanent, but the exercise
is still to make the observation and 'answer zee ka-vestion'
grasshopper :-) (translates: "answer the question")

Ahaa! Another
negative space exercise you say? I can't fool you! You
are amazing. By just observing the negative space.
Arnold's got more slope away from vertical than does Gray. You
see it right? No? Do a sighting! (Don't know what sighting is?
Go back to the Archives and look in the Flash Quick reference
section - or use the search function in your
e-sourcebook.
What's the overall shape of the
profile from the bottom of the nose on down to the chin
in each?
Use the picture
again...make sure you look at the picture long enough to see
the shape pop into view...
This is review from the Flash
lesson on profile drawing: Is the distance from the back of
the eye to the back of the ear roughly proportionate to the
distance from back corner of eye to the bottom of the
chin in each?

The two blue
lines on each face are the exact same length. This proportion
is fairly accurate. Seems like just a little extra nudging out
past the ears.
Can you envision the general
outline of the hair? (I'm repeating
myself again.) Squint your eyes until you can see the
hair as one shape - be especially observant of the hair border
at the temples and around the ears. Where are the highlights
in both hair-dos? The Shadows? How does color of the hair
influence both shadow and highlight?
Here's the highlights
in the hair - (can you spot the shadows? - squint until you
see the darkest areas clearly):

Who's skin is darker? Or is the
contrast of Gov. Davis's white head of hair making his skin
appear more tan than it is?
I think Arnold is
darker in both respects - skin and hair.
Look at each ear. Who's seems more
tilted away from the vertical? Now look at the detail in both
ears. What can you say about the 3 drawable parts: 1) the
overall shape, 2) the anti-helix, and 3) the shadow area)?
You'll probably want to use
the bigger picture for this.
There's a
certain amount of arbitrariness in this but it seems to me
Arnold's ear is more angled away from the vertical than is
Gray's. Which would be more caricaturable? With his short
hair, Davis's are way more out in the open than are Arnold's.
And that's certaintly more played up in the
caricature:
And speaking of
ears, here's a little review:

By looking at the sport coats and
ties, can you make any speculation about the rotation of the
upper body in each? That is, is one person facing the other
more straight on, more square to the other?
Well this is hardly a
fair question - they're probably shaking hands (with Davis
reaching to grip Arnold's arm with his left hand...thus
turning himself to lead with the left side of his body...I'm
getting ridiculous here, but...
And LAST question. If you were a
wolf, what would the squaring of shoulders suggest about the
social standing of each wolf in the pack?
If these two were
wolves they wouldn't be wearing suits :-)
(Yea, that's a goofy
question...but made you think? Maybe not :-) |