How I create a celebrity caricature

Hello Steemit community. I enjoy caricature immensely. I love the challenge, trying to maintain a likeness while, at the same time, distorting the image significantly. Drawing celebrity caricatures is a popular form of expression followed by many artists worldwide - some being very successful with this art-form alone. 

What follows shows the process in stages so you can see how my mind interprets the shapes as I proceed. Here is a thumbnail of the final image:

Step 1 - The structure:

A few quick, rough pencil sketches are done so that shapes are previewed to see which distortion works for the sketch. One a shape is selected, I begin with the "framework" of the face . Its a standard method of drawing a sphere to represent the skull and then marking out the brow-line and the eye-line and a center line to ensure the nose and lips are running true. From that point, all norms are thrown aside as I proceed to indulge in exaggeration....The jawline will be big, the teeth will be exaggerated - so here goes!

Step 2 - The "gesture" sketch:

Using as few quick lines as possible, I indicate subtle details as a guideline and then draw the basic shape of the face as a "feel" of where the sketch is going. As I proceed adding details, the previous image is faded back so that I don't get a confusing mess to deal with on the subsequent layer.

Step 3 - It's all in the "detail"

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Still keeping the pencil strokes quick, I start documenting the image that I have in my mind. "Capturing my thoughts on paper" as it were.

Step 4 - More detail:

Now the basic framework is captured, I can concentrate on some details without the fear of losing the shape I have structured.

Step 5 - Reverse the image:

Reversing an image is a common practice used by many artists. Once this is done, glaring mistakes suddenly become clear and can be corrected. In digital art this is quite easy and simply involves flipping the image along the vertical Axis. Traditional artists often use a mirror for this purpose.

Step 6 - The final refining:

Putting down the shadow areas and getting important details sketched and finalized. This is where the likeness needs to be correct.

Step 7 - Adding the colour:

There are several ways to do this. I have chosen the method of selecting a mid tone skin color and dropping it into the background. This way only shadows, highlights and values an be focused on.

Step 9 - Basic color values:

In digital painting, colors, in basic shades are painted on a "layer"under the sketch lines. The image begins to emerge and the final result can begin to be perceived. 

Step 11 - Finalizing the painting:

Now the fun starts. I paint over the line work and block in the color values. I use as large a brush as possible to stop the temptation of getting in to too much detail at this point.

Step 12 - The finished artwork:

Here I can take time and focus on details, exaggerate the features and poke some fun on my chosen character. The hair can be rendered with fine, tapered brushstrokes, wrinkles can be added and some random textures included.

I hope this has been enjoyable to follow and that artists can find some ideas and inspiration to do caricature. Its fun and expressive and is a great way of expressing yourself! Thanks for visiting.