How to Draw Caricatures Step by Step

Learning to draw caricatures that are convincing can take some time and practice, but practicing the wrong thing wont get you anywhere. Ready to impress your friends with a skill that they are only used to seeing at amusement parks and carnivals? Follow the instructions below to dramatically improve your caricatures.

Things You'll Need

• Pencil
• Paper
• A Model (or a clear photo)

Instructions

1. Learn to see proportion. Is an apple big or small? Well, it depends on whether you compare it to a dime, or a cement truck. Learn to compare things. This is the single most important concept to understand when trying to draw caricatures.

2. Study and memorize the average proportions of the human head. This is what you will be comparing your model to. Knowing if someone's ears, eyes, nose, etc. are bigger or smaller than normal is vital.

3. Find a willing model (or models) that will sit still long enough for you to draw caricatures of them. (Friends and family members are usually willing to do this.) If you can't find a model or you are too shy at first, a clear photo of someone will do.

4. Look closely at the model and ask yourself: Are the eyes bigger or smaller THAN THE AVERAGE? Are the closer together of farther apart than THAN THE AVERAGE? Is the nose higher or lower THAN THE AVERAGE? And so on...

5. Draw your caricature. If the model has bigger eyes than average (for example), you will draw them WAY bigger than average. If the same model has a smaller mouth than average, you will draw it WAY smaller than the average mouth (and WAAAAY smaller than the eyes you drew). Keep going until all of the features are drawn.

6. Don't be intimidated or overly concerned with drawing the parts of the face. Just try to focus on proportion. THAT is the key. You can learn and practice the individual parts too, but if you don't use this secret your drawings will never look quite like the model and you'll always wonder why. It takes time to learn to draw caricatures well. Be patient and keep practicing.

Tips & Warnings

• Try a side view (or profile) first. It's a little easier.