TABLE OF CONTENTS COPYRIGHT NOTICE ................................................................................................................................5 FOREWORD BY ARTIST GREG GILLESPIE ..........................................................................................6 INTRODUCTION.........................................................................................................................................8 H OW TO USE THIS EBOOK ........................................................................................................................8 Plan Your Time...................................................................................................................................8 Remember, you get out what you put in! ..........................................................................................8 What if I miss a day?................................................................................... .......................................8 COURSE STRUCTURE................................................................................................................................9 Video Symbol .....................................................................................................................................9 Drawing Symbol .................................................................................................................................9 3D Symbol ..........................................................................................................................................9 Read Me Symbol................................................................................................................................9 Now We Are Ready To GO! .......................................................................................... ....................9 GOOD LUCK AND LETS GET RIGHT INTO IT…..................................................................................10 SECTION 1: HOW TO DRAW CARICATURES THAT SELL................................................................11 D AY 1: GETTING STARTED .....................................................................................................................11 Tools of the Trade ............................................................................................................................11 Plain Paper .......................................................................................................................................12 Archive Paper ...................................................................................................................................12 Wooden Clipboard ............................................................................................................ ...............12 Artist Pens ........................................................................................................................................12 2B Pencils.........................................................................................................................................13 Permanent Markers.......................................................................................................... ................13 Chalk Pastels....................................................................................................................................13 Tracing Paper ...................................................................................................................................14 Rubber Bands................................................................................................................... ................14 Your Finished Product, rolled and ready to go! = $30 (5 mins work)!! ..........................................15 ONLINE ART SUPPLY PARTNERS .......................................................................................................16 W ATCH THE MASTER ..............................................................................................................................17 T IME TO ANALYSE...................................................................................................................................18 Read Me: Different Styles, WHY JUST One Works Best...............................................................18 Style 1: Big Features – The Exaggerated Look Caricature............................................................19 Style 2: High Contrast – The Heavy Line Caricature......................................................................19 Style 3: Big Head Small Body – The Easy Non Offensive Caricature...........................................20 IT GOES SOMETHING LIKE THIS… ......................................................................................................21 Simple Exercise for Day 1: Draw These 3 Caricatures .................. ................................................22 DAY 2: FINDING YOUR FEET WITHOUT FALLING ON YOUR FACE ...............................................24 SIMPLE EXERCISES .................................................................................................................................24 Draw a Face .....................................................................................................................................24 Read Me: All based on simple shapes............................................................................................33 DAY 3: INTO PRACTISE .........................................................................................................................34 Faces and Basic Shapes .................................................................................................................34 Celebrity Heads.................................................................................................... ............................34 A Technique For All – Eyes – Mouths – Noses - Ears ..................................................................35 Now let’s look at the Smiling Eye ....................................................................................................38 Now Let’s Look At The Smiling Mouth ............................................................................................41 Now Let’s Look At Noses in 3D! ......................................................................................................43 Ears Made Easy .. .............................................................................................................................44 Read Me: Suggested Further Head Study......................................................................................46 DAY 4: BASIC POSES.............................................................................................................................46 Copyright © Learn-to-Draw.org 2008 All rights reserved.
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The Cartoon Skeleton ......................................................................................................................46 Happy Smiling Faces .......................................................................................................................50 So How Did You Go? .......................................................................................................................52 Simple Shapes To Success..................................... ........................................................................55 Read Me: Keep it loose and enjoy the Freedom ............................................................................55 DAY 4 BONUS VIDEO: CARICATURE OF SUE....................................................................................57 Read Me: Notes On The Subject ....................................................................................................57 Simple Exercise: Copy This Caricature............................................................ ...............................58 DAY 5: HEAD, HANDS AND FEET.........................................................................................................58 Practice, Practice, Practice..............................................................................................................58 3D Hands In Any Pose You Like .....................................................................................................59 Now It’s Your Turn............................................. ...............................................................................60 3D Feet In Any Pose You Like ........................................................................................................62 This is an Interactive Drawing of the Right Foot in 3D ...................................................................63 Repeat steps 1 – 4 this time DON’T trace, do it freehand..............................................................63 Read Me: Practice Daily ................................................................................ ..................................63 DRAWING THE HEAD FROM ANY ANGLE ..........................................................................................64 DAY 6: ALL ABOUT COLOR TECHNIQUE ...........................................................................................66 Adding Color.....................................................................................................................................66 Smudging............................................ ..............................................................................................66 Signing your masterpiece ................................................................................................................67 DAY 7:
CELEBRITY HEADS ..............................................................................................................68
Fun With Celebrities............................................................................. ............................................68 Read Me: Ask your friends? ............................................................................................................71 Read Me: How to Sit Your Subject..................................................................................................71 DAY 8: BONUS VIDEO EXAMPLE .........................................................................................................73 Simple Exercise for Day 8: Copy This Caricature ..................................... .....................................73 Following is a bonus exercise in smiling mouths for you to do, as mouths are very important....73 Bonus#1: Work Supply Sources......................................................................................................77 Bachelorette Nights, Private Parties................................................................................................77 Practice Don’t Forget .......................................................................................................................79 Sketch this one a few times today! Also do it in color. ................................. ..................................79 Bonus#2: 3 Easy Ways To Make Money ........................................................................................80 1. Get Yourself A Website ...............................................................................................................80 Start with Your Business Name.......................................................................................................80 Setting Up a Website ........................................................ ...............................................................80 Domain Name Registration..............................................................................................................81 Don’t Let This Happen To You ........................................................................................................81 Go With A Solid Recommendation..................................................................................................81 Website Hosting ......................................................................82 24/7 Salesman .................................................................................................................................82 2. Make a Video ...............................................................................................................................84 Here Is THE Genius Point ................................................................... ............................................85 3.Sell on eBay ..................................................................................................................................85 Practice Heads and Smiles..............................................................................................................85 BONUS#3: SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZER ...........................................................................................87 Website Social Networks ................. ................................................................................................87 Checklist for the First Work Day...........................................................................................89
Before the Event – After the Booking Interview............................................................89 Copyright © Learn-to-Draw.org 2008 All rights reserved.
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Day of the Event – Be Early ..........................................................................................89 SUMMARY AND MORE INFORMATION LINKS ...................................................................................91 HTTP://WWW.LEARN-TO-DRAW.ORG/ ................................................................................................91
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Copyright Notice The works contained within this manual are and remain the exclusive copyright of Learn-to-Draw.org No part may be copied, reproduced or distributed in any manner without written prior notification of approval by the owners. All text, photographs, graphics and videos are supplied as is and form the entire content of this home study publication. Any breach of international copyright laws will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law without exception. This notice is effective from 2008 onwards.
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Foreword by Artist Greg Gillespie I first met Artist Graeme Biddle mid 2007 and was impressed by his art studio located in the Sydney suburb of Forestville, where he held art classes and conducted his art business “Artrain Express”. My first impression of Graeme was that I was in the presence of a very talented artist indeed. His walls were covered in literally dozens of cartoons, caricatures and sketches created by Graeme and his many students. Just climbing the stairs to reach his first floor premises, was a treat in itself, with amazing cartoon animals drawn as a mural on the stairwell wall, all set amid a wild jungle scene. Graeme is always busy and his phone barely stops ringing, so getting a moment alone with the master artist was a considerable struggle. Over the course of about 6 months as I began to put this book together, I managed to realize that getting Graeme aside was going to be a significant feat in itself. With so many customers and students seeking out this man’s skills, I had to figure out a way that worked for both of us and that’s when I decided to use the video camera to capture Graeme mid stream, “up to his loins” in the midst of the creative process, to better show exactly how he does it. So the video format that is prominent throughout this ebook will give the student a first class, “looking over my shoulder” view into how it is done. During the time of videoing what Graeme was doing, I noticed an incredible amount of work and a whole bundle of happy customers that were very consistent, so this made me think that although his style of caricature at first seems somewhat simplistic and conservative (some may say easy to do), there had to be a good reason when I observed just how successful he was. When considering this approach to his style I would like to point out and this should set even the most timid artist at ease, that Graeme’s style is very easy to learn. There are some caricature styles that are a lot more difficult to master and they may be well and good and have their place but if you are after a style that consistently delivers both fun and happy customers then this is really good news for you. As for the tightly held secrets that I had to have Graeme talk about, it took some time but eventually he agreed to provide me with all the good tips that you need to know and they are recorded here in this fun ebook to help you “learn to draw” caricatures for fun and profit! You know I almost had to pry them out of his mouth, the words that to this day astounded me. It went something like this… “So Graeme you have been doing caricatures for a long time now, some 30 years and I was wondering is there any or much money to be made from it?” “Yes indeed” came the reply. Hmm I thought I wonder how much. It wasn’t until sometime later that Graeme let on that he has easily made $3,000 per week (AUD) doing his caricature gigs all over town. Copyright © Learn-to-Draw.org 2008 All rights reserved.
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I was gob smacked to say the least.
Just how he does it, is what this amazing ebook is all about. Good luck and enjoy the fun you are going to have with “FUN WITH CARICATURES – 7 DAYS TO CARTOON SUCCESS”! Sincerely,
Artist
GregGillespie
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Introduction How to Use this eBook Before we get started I would like to point out how to get the most out of your investment of time and money in this eBook – “FUN WITH CARICATURES - 7 DAYS TO CARTOON SUCCESS”. Firstly we have laid out the structure of your home study course to be easily completed in the 7 days as the title suggests. But you must commit to following each step on a daily basis for the next 7 days to get to maximum return from your efforts.
Plan Your Time Each day you need to set aside between 30 minutes or 2 hours, depending on the results you desire. If you are in it just for fun then 30 minutes a day for 1 week is going to produce amazing results that will have your caricature subjects simply loving you! If on the other hand you wish to stack together an impressive portfolio that will enable you to go out and capture some extra work then the 2 hours time frame will be more of what you should be putting aside. Of course don’t stop at 2 hours if you are having the time of your life, keep going and enjoy it, the benefits will be worth the extra effort!
Remember, you get out what you put in! The more effort you make the higher your rewards – it is entirely up to you. Put in the hard yards and watch what happens – you will be amazed.
What if I miss a day? Don’t sweat it if you miss a day just pick up the course where you left off and keep going. But remember this also, that to get good at anything you need to practice and practice regularly. So set aside some time and stick with it, you will thank yourself when you get to the top of the mountain as a successful “Caricature Artist”.
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Course Structure We have laid out the lessons on the following basis: o o o o
Video Instruction Drawings and Example 3D Poses and Exercises Written Words and Reference
These are going to show you the best way to progress and are a lot of fun in the process. Watch out for the following symbols, as they are a guide to take note or do something special.
Video Symbol This will link you out to a hosted video on the Internet so you will need to have an active Internet connection to view the content. A broadband connection is preferable but you can still manage with a slower connection but naturally this will take a little longer.
Drawing Symbol When you see this symbol it is designed to let you know that this example or drawing contains vital information about “technique” that you should take special note of and that it is time to “Draw” something.
3D Symbol When you see this symbol it is alerting you to the fact that the image you see on the page can be manipulated in a true 3 dimensional (3D) manner. That means it is time to “Grab and Drag” on the picture to change the angle of view.
Read Me Symbol Here is the symbol for text that you need to read. I know reading is not popular these days but some things can only be conveyed by the written word and it also means there is more information available with links to other resources.
Now We Are Ready To GO! Before we go any further please remember the following… If for any reason whatsoever you feel that this book has not delivered as promised then I insist that you send us an email and ask for a full refund anywhere up to 12 months since the date of purchase. Copyright © Learn-to-Draw.org 2008 All rights reserved.
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If you follow diligently the steps outlined in this ebook, including the video tutorials, the 3D posing exercises and all the tips on making this work for you and you don’t arrive at the point of complete satisfaction then it is your money back no questions asked! We guarantee that this home study course will deliver exactly what we have promised, and we stand by that promise completely!
Good luck and lets get right into it… Artist
Graeme Biddle
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Section 1: How To Draw Caricatures That Sell Day 1: Getting Started Well today is the day that everything begins to change. First up we are going to get ourselves set with essentials tools of the trade. Please note at this point should you need purchase any other these materials then we have them available from our online store and trade partners, who are ready to ship them right to your door. Not that any of these are essential in our first few days of getting started as you can just begin with some paper and a 2B pencil. You will need though to understand that the right tools are what makes the job of caricaturing so much easier. Whether you choose to Caricature for fun or profit you need to understand that for your drawing to be successful in the eyes of your audience, then essentially this is a “selling” process. If it doesn’t look right people are not going to buy it, either in their minds or by opening their wallets. So how successful your results are, is going to be determined by what other people “THINK”. And to make that task as easy as possible we are going to show you the things you need to have to create knockout caricatures with ease.
Tools of the Trade You will need the following: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.
Plain paper either US Letter or A4 A wooden clip board Artist Pens 2B Pencils Pencil sharpeners Permanent Markers Chalk Pastels Tracing Paper A4 Rubber Bands
Now that doesn’t sound like a difficult set up and you are right, what we use is fairly straight forward and easy to obtain but there are millions of different combinations of art materials to choose and this course will help you choose the best and forget wasting your time with the rest. We can supply all these materials to you through our online store partners, product details and exact product codes are listed with each item (the codes will save you hours of searching… believe me it took us that long) so you can click and search for the exact product. Our store supply partners ship worldwide to your door and their prices are great! See details at the end of the materials section. Copyright © Learn-to-Draw.org 2008 All rights reserved.
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Plain Paper Most of the time the simple photo copy paper will suffice for the everyday caricature that you will do for a friend or someone at an event or fair. You can purchase this from our online store partners (details below). [10316-1012 Drawing Paper, 24 Sheet Pad Dick Blick]
Archive Paper When you do a special caricature that needs to be framed then you should choose to do this on an archive quality paper. Papers that are acid free last the longest and plain old copier paper will turn yellow over time. Your local art supply store can supply this for you or you can purchase this from our online store partners (details below). [10080-1021 Dick Blick ]
Wooden Clipboard Why a wooden clipboard you ask? You may have a plastic covered cardboard one that you think will do the trick - but no. The old style wooden board is much more sturdy and allows greater control of the drawing board as you shuffle it around from time to time as you sketch, do line work and add color. Your art supply store may be able to provide one of these old fashioned wooden clipboards (they are hard to find but worth the effort) or you can purchase this from our online store (details below). [GG003 Craft Hobby Wholesale ]
Artist Pens
T he Faber Castell PITT artist pen are the pen of choice as the have tapered tip that Copyright © Learn-to-Draw.org 2008 All rights reserved.
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can be used to add fine details or broad strokes for shading. They are non-waterproof (as long as you wet them before they dry completely), which is good for smudging which is a quick technique for adding depth to the form of your drawing. This technique will be covered extensively in the days to come. You can purchase these from our online store partners (details below). [20759-1089 Manga, Set of 8 Dick Blick ]
2B Pencils This has to be the old favorite of artists’ friends, the 2B pencil. Get a stack of these as they provide you with just the right amount of shading for light and dark effects that will become invisible when the line work and color go over the top. You can get 2B pencils from a local newsagent, art supplier or online here. [20453-2031 Dick Blick code]
Permanent Markers These guys help out with the dark tones that you need to add in a quick manner. The good part of this is that they are smudge resistant as they are a waterproof type of ink. These are applied last or just before the chalk pastels. You can get Permanent Markets from a local newsagent, art supplier or online here. [22144-0089 Dick Blick code]
Chalk Pastels When you are doing a color caricature (you can charge more for these) you will be applying the color with chalk pastels. They are easy to work with and they are very quick and time is money! So once again readily available from your trusty local art supplier or online here. Copyright © Learn-to-Draw.org 2008 All rights reserved.
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[ 21930-1032 Square Chalk Pastels, 32 Half Sticks Dick Blick code]
Tracing Paper When in the process of learning exactly how to do your caricatures the process will involve a tracing of Graeme’s drawings. I know that seems like cheating and you better believe it, it is cheating but we want to get somewhere fast and the best way to do this is copy what someone else has already done. When you have mastered what your teacher has done, then you are ready to do your own WITHOUT tracing and of course your own style will develop from there. [10609-2015 Blick Tracing Paper, 50 sheets Dick Blick code ]
Rubber Bands You will need a pack of rubber bands to roll up your caricatures for your customers to take their drawing away in a neat package. You can get these at any newsagent or office supply store. You will need the small rubber bands, of course Dick Blick has these [61411-1002 Dick Blick code].
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Your Finished Product, rolled and ready to go! = $30 (5 mins work)!!
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Online Art Supply Partners Our online art supply partners are Dick Blick art supplies and Craft Hobby Wholesale. The table below shows you not only the product but importantly the product codes. Click the link to the store and type in the product code in the search box on their website. Item
Description Plain Paper US Letter or A4
Product Code 10316-1012
Suppler Dick Blick
Acid Free Paper Archive Quality
10080-1021
Dick Blick
GG003
Craft Hobby
2B Pencils Artist Pens Permanent Markers
20453-2031 20759-1089 22144-0089
Dick Blick Dick Blick Dick Blick
Chalk Pastels
21930-1032
Dick Blick
Wooden Clipboard
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Tracing Paper
10609-2015
Dick Blick
Rubber Bands
61411-1002
Dick Blick
Watch the Master Well let’s get a look at the master artist in action. The following is a video link to an online video server. You will need to have an active Internet connection to view the video that is hosted on a remote server.
Click on the above image to play the video.
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Time to Analyse First thing to notice is the way Graeme continually looks up to see his subject. This is a very important technique when drawing, always study your sitter or subject and they will be much easier to draw. So how many times did you count for Graeme looking up? I counted 14! You simply cannot expect to draw or illustrate someone’s likeness if you don’t know what he or she look like. A simple tip but one that many inexperienced artists fail to understand, and they are left wondering why it doesn’t look like the person.
By moving your head up and down regularly you achieve an effect not dissimilar to having your subjects face projected onto your page.
1. Look at subject often
2. See their face on page
3. Achieve a good likeness
Your mind is constantly being refreshed with the image of what he or she looks like. So practice looking up as often as possible and you will avoid drawing who you think is sitting in front of you and end up drawing who is really sitting in front of you.
Read Me: Different Styles, WHY JUST One Works Best Following are some examples of different styles of caricatures that we are going to point out as much more difficult to achieve than Graeme’s easy & simplistic approach.
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Style 1: Big Features – The Exaggerated Look Caricature
This type of caricature style contains “exaggerated” features to make the drawing look humorous. Caricaturist Or Weitzman created this image. The risk with type of drawing is that you can offend your subject. You may get laughs at first but the person needs to have thick skin to take this drawing home and hang it with pride on the wall. This style is well suited to political cartoons or caricatures of celebrities or public figures.
Style 2: High Contrast – The Heavy Line Caricature
This next style is a comic book style of caricaturing that is very stylised and quite difficult to achieve with success. It requires more advanced skills with the brush-pen to add thickness to outlines to simulate thickness to the form. This image of Ray Charles was created by kscomix on Youtube. Copyright © Learn-to-Draw.org 2008 All rights reserved.
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Style 3: Big Head Small Body – The Easy Non Offensive Caricature
Okay it is no surprise that we are going to teach you how to do the easiest caricature style of all, Style 3: Big Head on a Small Body as this is Graeme’s favourite drawing method of choice. As you can see by this example caricature created by Graeme Biddle. It is loose and sketchy and although there is distortion the subject’s features have remained fairly intact with reality. Let’s find out why… Copyright © Learn-to-Draw.org 2008 All rights reserved.
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But why you ask? Aren’t the other two styles more fun? Well yes they can be and they have a time and place but if you want to leave people feeling good about themselves then the exaggerated features style is not the way to go. Firstly, and this is a common mistake that artists make, they go for the Style1: Big Features approach because they think it is easy for them to pick on someone’s features that stand out and to a certain extent they are right. But what is not altogether obvious is how these “picked on” features make people feel.
It goes something like this… The caricature is crafted around the standout features of the face and head and when complete is met with raucous laughter. Everyone is impressed and having a good old belly laugh, and for some people this is okay but… The average person is a little sensitive about how the look, (read most of us, especially since we are brainwashed by the media into thinking that unless we look like Brad or Jen we are not up to standard in the beauty department) are going to go away and quietly tear up your lovely work of art. They will not take this home to cherish and show off to friends, no way. This is going straight to the circular filing cabinet in the corner, (read trash can). Yes that’s right, when we offend people they don’t take lightly to it and you know what this means. That’s right no repeat business. I will repeat that again… No repeat business. But how you ask? Don’t I just do one caricature for a person and then that’s it? With this Style 1: Big Features yes you are perfectly right – that is it. You will not be asked back again to do the next function or event because when people have filled out the feedback form and rated the caricaturist a one star out of a possible 5 stars, who was hired for the event they are going to remember the shame and embarrassment they were feeling when you picked on their big nose that has always troubled them. Or they are going to feel guilty about their lack of self-control in the weight management and exercise department when you reminded them of this by drawing attention to their big or round face. o o o o o
Or their bucked teeth (can’t afford expensive dental corrective braces)… Or they are cross eyed or wear thick unattractive glasses Or have bushy eyebrows Or a big mole Or any number of easy pickings
So go with the one that makes people feel good about themselves and you will not only be making them feel happy, people will be commenting on how realistic the likeness is.
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You see that a big head on a small body does designate a caricature and it is easy to make it look like the person. Distortion and exaggeration on the other hand take away from the “realism” factor and people will recognise this but in as sub-conscious way. Trust me on this one, with over 30 years experience this style is the one that will have people coming back for more. And you will get referral business, one of the greatest ways to build your portfolio of happy customers and add to your increasing cash flow. More on in this on day 15: Secrets to Success.
Graeme drew this color caricature at a trade expo, the subject was a fitness trainer, hence the appropriate pose with whip in hand and the caption, “Gunna whip you into shape MAN!”
Simple Exercise for Day 1: Draw These 3 Caricatures Try doing a simple sketch of the 3 different styles of caricatures as shown above. Print the pages, trace them, and then copy as your own sketches. This exercise should take you about 30 - 45 mins, and you can draw the above caricature of the fitness trainer as well if you get time. You can do them in pencil and brush pen line only, don’t be concerned with the color at this stage. Don’t sweat it on how good they look, it is purely an exercise to see the different approaches.
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Make sure you keep a folder with all your drawings in it as you will be able to compare your drawings as we progress to get a good idea of how your style is improving and your drawing skills are developing. This concludes the lesson for day 1. NB. It is worth pointing out that the amount of detail need not be that tight, as you can see from Graeme’s work, it is very sketchy as the “gesture” is the most important detail of them all. More on this later.
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Day 2: Finding Your Feet Without Falling On Your Face Simple Exercises Following is a simple exercise for drawing a face. We are going to get this one simple exercise done before trying to “caricaturise” or “cartoonize” a persons face.
Draw a Face These are the steps to the face creation process by using an easy oval shape exercise. You may wish to watch the video (click the image below) first before going to the 18 step drawing process that follows.
Click to watch video Then draw the lesson below.
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Step1: Draw a circle, make divisions above indicated. Divide into 4 sections the lower half of the circle and draw these markers on the dividing centre line.
Step 2: Draw another circle that intercepts the middle halfway mark of the lower section of the large circle.
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