Peter Kay Sketch

Peter Kay is someone I've been meaning to attempt for a while, but I couldn't find many good photos online. This sketch is ok, but I don't think I've quite captured his personality yet, I'll see if I can rework it a bit.

Tags: illustration, caricature, peter kay, sketch

Old and new sketches

As part of my attempt to sketch more regularly, I've started going through some of the exercises in Burt Dodson's Keys to Drawing. I found some I did when I first bought the book, over three years ago:

1: Drawing of my own shoes. This was supposed to be a line drawing, with no tone, using the method of 'drawing blind' - continuing to draw while looking at the subject, rather than the paper.

2. A drawing of my own hand from an unusual angle, to encourage drawing what you see, rather than being influences by preconceived ideas of what things should look like.

3. A bottle, focusing on enclosed shapes.


4. A '5-minute-burn' of my bedroom, drawing everything you can see in 5 minutes, good for loosening up your hand.


5. A copy of a drawing by Degas, to get a feel for an artists 'handwriting'.


6. A study copied from a photograph, attempting to match the tonal values.


7. Another drawing I did from a photo of myself sitting on the Great Wall of China.



8. The latest exercise, a 3-quarter view of my eyes in a mirror.

Tags: Illustration, sketches, drawing, Keys to Drawing

Caricature of the week - Madonna by Derren Brown

Derren Brown, better known for his mind tricks and wizardry, is also an amazing caricature artist. He claims he doesn't consciously exaggerate his subjects features, that's just how he sees people. I'll have some of whatever he's taking, please! I love the eyes on this Madonna. Great exaggeration yet instantly recognisable. Check out the painting of his parents in his gallery, the realism is astounding. There's also a step-by-step guide to one of his paintings.

Ashton Kutcher sketch

I noticed the other day that Ashton Kutcher has a very interesting face for caricature. I've not really exaggerated it a lot here, I'll have to work on it.

Sketches - John Lennon, Thom Yorke

An unusual look for John Lennon, I admit. This is from a postcard I have in which he is dressed as a posh toilet attendant, hence the top hat. Anyway, his eyes are a bit wonky and not sure about the overall facial structure.

On the advice of Jason Seiler, I had a go at sketching with a BIC ballpoint pen. It takes some getting used to, but I like the overall effect. I'll try a caricature next time.

I'm off to France tomorrow until Sunday, so I won't be able to post anything, but I'll try to do some more sketching while I'm there and post it when I get back.

Caricature of the week - Maggie Cheung by Brush Agua

This Chinese artist goes by the name of Brush Agua, his flash website features many beautiful caricatures. Some of my favourites include Japanese prime minister Ichihiro Koizumi, actor Stephen Chow, and this one, Maggie Cheung (Zhang Manyu), star of In the Mood For Love, Hero, and As Tears Go By.



Tags: Maggie Cheung, Caricature, Zhang Manyu, In the Mood For Love, Hero, Agua, Illustration

Andy Lau sketch

Andy Lau stars alongside Tony Leung in Infernal Affairs, the original Chinese version of the new Martin Scorsese movie The Departed. Previous attempt.

Tags: Andy Lau, Caricature, The Departed, Martin Scorsese, Infernal Affairs, Hong Kong Cinema, Illustration

Quick sketch - Ken and Jenny

Finally knocked out something half decent. This is Ken Carroll and Jenny Zhu, co-hosts of ChinesePod.com, the podcast site I use for learning Mandarin. You can see the source photo on their Flickr page.

I say 'quick sketch', but it actually took me the best part of an hour. I'm still out of practice so I was being a bit careful. Hopefully I can keep sketching more regularly and get a bit faster!

Chinesepod, Caricature, Jenny Zhu, Mandarin, Podcast, sketch

Caricature of the week - Christopher Walken by Sebastian Kruger

He's undoubtedly the main inspiration for most caricaturists today; Sebastian Kruger's paintings are true works of art, each one painstakingly rendered to the point of photo-realism, sometimes making it hard to believe that they are not just digitally manipulated photographs.

This is one of my favourites, although it was hard to choose between them all. Christopher Walken has a great face, and one that is very difficult to caricature (I've tried, with little success). Kruger has got this one spot on, not only capturing the likeness to a T, but also the presense and atmosphere surrounding him, so really leaps off the canvas at you.

Kruger remains my greatest source of inspiration when I feel like nothing is working. He really is the king of caricature. Click on the image to see it on Sebastian Kruger's website, Krugerstars.



You can buy collections of Kruger's artwork from Amazon.co.uk:

• Stars by Kruger by Michael Lang, Sebastian Kruger (Illustrator)


• Stones by Kruger by Sebastian Kruger


• Rolling Stones by Sebastian Kruger

Tags: art, Caricature, Christopher Walken, Sebastian Kruger

Where has the art gone?

You've probably noticed that there hasn't been a lot of art by me on this blog recently. Well that's because I've forgotten how to draw! No seriously, I tried the other day and produced something a 6 year old would've been ashamed of. I know it's only lack of practice, I haven't drawn much of anything since I came back from China 2 months ago, mostly due to being busy with work and helping my friend redecorate his house, and as such, my artistic flare has dwindled. I don't want this blog to turn into a showcase for other artists' work, so I'm determined to get sketching again and turn out something worthy of being shown off. There, I've said it, there's no going back.

In the meantime, here's a commission I did a couple of weeks ago for a birthday card. (Apparently drawing and painting are two separate skills.)



Tags: art, Caricature, Commission, sketch

Caricature of the week - Kiefer Sutherland by Jason Seiler

Jason Seiler - www.jasonseiler.com - has published a mountain of professional work, including illustration for the upcoming movie Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny. His caricatures are beautifully rendered mostly in oils or acrylics, and often border on the hyper-realistic (you may have noticed I like realistic caricatures by now!)

If you thought my Kiefer Sutherland was a little too "Bruce Willis", here's one that's all Kiefer. It's restrained enough to keep the stunning likeness, yet still exaggerated enough to be called a caricature. Click the image to see it on Jason's site.

Tags: Jason Seiler, Caricature, Painting, Portrait, Kiefer Sutherland, Tenacious D, Illustration