Caricature studies

6B graphite on white paper. It's been quite some time I haven't done any caricature. I'm trying to see if I haven't lose my touch. 

On this two studies I was trying to approach the primary stage in a different way that I might be able to express the exaggerations right, yet still maintain the likeness of the character. 

I was thinking that if I stare at the reference and imagine the alteration, I might bring out a good result -in a more careful approach. Prior to this, it was just random and see what happens next kind of thing. And honestly, I am not quite satisfied with the results, though I was able to pull out some good caricatures.  Nevertheless, I have to spill a basket of apples to pick a solitary good one, so to speak. Such a waste of time and energy!

So to start I blocked in the whole image with that thought I had of the overall shape of the face (sorry, I didn't shoot anything showing the WIP). Within that block I mapped  the exaggeration of the face resulting like a shape of an inverted triangle in the case of Al Pacino (directly below), and a pear fruit for Brad Pitt (bottom pic). 

Second, I  mapped the exaggerated features the eye sockets and the forehead, the nose, the lips, the cheek bone, and the jaw. I look back to check the outline of the hair if I wanted a thicker or thinner one. No details yet, think of it like sculpting.

 Third, I define the lights and darks of the face and slowly shaping the eyebrows, furrows, and protruding bones  to help me articulate the face. At this stage, more or less, I have an idea the exact exaggeration I wanted. Every step seems to be going smooth. Up to this point, I thought that the overall shape of the face is more important than the detail drawing. 

Now that I pretty much see how I wanted the exaggerations done, I start to draw the details of the eyebrows, eyes, nose, mustache, lips, beard, and neck. 

Normally to start the whole exercise, artists would launch their attack with great details on drawing the eyes, brows, nose, and etc. There is more risk of commiting mistakes on doing that, and most often than not, they end up wasting time and energy, frustrated, pissed, and worn out. That whole baggage kills your passion, your goal, and as a whole, your dream. Some even kill themselves! Please don't do that.

I chose not to emphasize the hair because I wanted my viewers to focus on the face. 

I hope this little discussion helped you somehow. The operating words here are understressed. And remember, drawing is not only about aesthetic, opening your right brain makes all things work out. If the early stage of your work seem not working, most likely it's not going to work, or you will struggle through out the end. So do it right. Keep it spiffy. Happy drawing!