Caricature Study Part 3: Thomas Doran

Here are some of my sketches of Thomas Doran, who was kind enough to pose for me. It's one thing to caricature somebody from a photograph, but having the real person there in front of you is so much more helpful. Especially helpful if you're specifically trying to improve your skills, as I am.

I don't have a photo of Tom, so this sketch will just have to do:



That's the first sketch I drew of Tom, and is pretty conservative. A careful, reserved study of the basic shapes that form his face. And overall head shape.

In addition to striving for a likeness, I like to include something more about the person I'm caricaturing. Tom's a painter, so my first attempt at this was to stick his head on the end of a paint brush.



I tried to simplify things a bit in my next sketch, which involved an even closer look at what was going on in Tom's face that made him uniquely him. I then played with that a bit:



I couldn't help adding some whiskers. Don't ask me why. I suppose it's the size of his nose, the shape of the tip along with the shape of his mouth as well as the facial hair that suggested a small rodent-ish look to me.

In my final sketch I built on everything I'd observed so far:



I think the design works as a cartoon character yet still retains a lot of the qualities I look for in caricature.

Check out Tom's work on his website. He's a fabulous painter, and a top bloke.