How to Draw Simple Caricatures

Caricatures can be political or silly.

Whether drawing a caricature to teasingly give to a friend or you are hoping to make some money drawing caricatures on the street, the key to drawing good caricatures is noticing the outstanding features on a person. You want to accentuate these characteristics and make some statement about the way a person looks, while still maintaining enough likeness to the person such that people will know who it is.

Instructions

1. Observe the person that you want to draw. Visualize this person in order to hone in on the characteristics that make her similar to others as well as unique.

2. Determine the qualities of the individual that are eccentric or odd. Crooked ears, a big nose, funny hair, low-hanging earlobes, narrow eyes or small lips are all examples of characteristics that might make an individual look distinctive.

3. Sketch a realistic picture of the individual. Use this as a baseline for your caricature.

4. Add the eccentric or exaggerated features to the sketch. Make these features look relatively the same, but make them different in size. For example, if a person has big ears, then draw the ears in the same proportions but make them four times larger than normal.

5. Draw darker lines to flesh out your sketch. It's best to start with the larger features and then add the normal features afterward.

6. Add color or any other extra images. You can provide a context for your caricature or leave it on a blank page.

Tips & Warnings

• Be sure to keep enough likeness in your caricature so that people know who it is. It's a good idea to only exaggerate one or two aspects of a person's appearance.

References

• TomRichmond.com: The 5 Shapes
• Learn-to-Draw.com: Visualizing Caricatures
• HowtoDrawCaricature.org: How to Draw Caricature