HOW TO DRAW ZOMBIE CARICATURES
Let me start off by saying that I personally do not like to draw Zombie
caricatures. It's disturbing to me drawing stuff that's "supposed to be dead".
However I realize that this type of caricature drawing is gaining popularity,
and since I'm committed to teaching you how to become a better, more
commercially viable caricature artist, I've decided to share with you my insight
( though limited) on the subject.
I was recently asked by a client if I knew how to do "Zombie Caricatures" .
Being the entrepreneur that I am, of course I said, "yes I do!" promptly booked
the job, and proceeded to learn how to do it.
LEARN FROM THE BEST
when you want to learn anything, you ought to learn from the best. And IMO the
very best at doing Zombie Caricatures is SEAN GARDNER .
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Zombie-Caricatures/160904467284444
To my knowledge, Sean is either the founder of this Zombie Caricature Movement,
or at the very least the one who popularized it, and is most associated with it.
I realize that I'm doing a tutorial on this, but if you want to see how the
MASTER does it, please check out Sean.
That's what I did.
HERES WHAT I LEARNED FROM SEAN
Keep in mind, when I saw I learned from Sean, what I mean is that I watched what
he did, and studied his artwork. This is one of the ways artists learn. It's
called (by me) the "Monkey see,Monkey do" method.
YOUR FOUNDATION MUST BE SOLID
Just because you're doing Zombie caricatures does NOT. Mean that you neglect
the basics. What I mean by the basics is knowing basic facial anatomy, knowing
bone structure of the skull, knowing how to color, and shade, and most
importantly, HOW TO DRAW A DECENT RECOGNIZABLE LIKENESS. A Zombie caricature
uses a RECOGNIZABLE likeness of a person as a point of DEPARTURE. If your
caricature of your subject doesn't look like them drawing them normally, it
certainly won't resemble them if you exaggerate them as a Zombie.
Having said that, and assuming that you can first draw a recognizable likeness
of your subject normally, doing Zombie caricatures is easy and a lotta fun!
Here's why....
THERES NO "RIGHT WAY" TO DO THIS!!
After viewing the variety of Zombie caricatures on Seans FACEBOOK page,
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Zombie-Caricatures/160904467284444. I noticed
immediately how different and varied each one was. There were pictures of
Zombies who had bullet holes in their head, others had eyeballs missing, some
had the tops of their skulls blown off exposing their brains, still others had
foreign objects like pencils, spears, arrows, hatchets, even cell phones
embedded in their skin and skulls. It became clear that in this particular form
of caricature, your imagination could truly run not just wild, but amuck! And
it made total sense!
ZOMBIE "BASICS"
It seems contradictory to discuss "basics" after telling you that your
imagination could run wild,but I assure you, these basics are what give you the
freedom to let your imagination run wild. In the Zombie world the human body
is in a state of slow decomposition. As a result, each face is going to reflect
that I various degrees. A face that you decide has been decaying longer is gonna
be very different looking than one that has recently started.
COLOR
Remember, your subject is not supposed to be living" so replace the normal
proverbial rosy cheeks with a gray pallor. or pasty white, or moldy green or a
dull yellow. Remember that if you're drawing blood you can also you different
shades of red. "dried blood" is a lot darker than "new blood"
INJURIES
Remember, your Zombie is an...er.. Individual in that their experiences are
unique to them. So your Zombie may have a cracked skull because he tripped
pursuing someone, another may have a spear through hus neck because someone
threw it at them, etc. Etc. Which drawing try to come up with a story" why your
Zombie looks the way they do. This is not a rule written in stone, it just makes
drawing it a little more fun to do.
DRAWING ZOMBIES LIVE
Granted, it's a daunting task to draw Zombie caricatures at a live event with
people watching in five minutes or less. To do this requires that you visualize
on the spot the way you're going to jack up the persons face, then you execute
what you've visualized , all the while maintaining a likeness of the person. But
it can be done! The method I've used is to initially draw the caricature
perfectly without a single flaw. After I've done this, I then add things like
bullet holes, rips and tears in the skin, etc. Remember when you were a kid and
you used to take a marker and deface photographs? (I hope you're not doing this
as adults!) you'd blacken out eyes and teeth, maybe draw a mustache or beard.
It's the exact same idea. But there's still an even better way to make you
drawings freaky looking.
DRAWING ZOMBIE GIFT CARICATURES
Gift caricatures are commissioned drawings where clients send you photo
references to caricature. The fact that they're not right in front of you
waiting for the drawing immediately takes all the stress out of it.
Start off by drawing a perfect likeness of your subject. You can choose to do an
exaggerated picture or simply a "cartoon portrait" it doesn't matter. Next, if
you're satisfied with this initial drawing, take a sheet of tracing paper and
trace the original drawing defacing it as you go. What's great about this method
is that you can absolutely keep the original lines because you're tracing it,
and you have the advantage of taking your time doing it. This is exactly what I
did with the caricature you see.
NOW GO OUT THERE AND SCARE PEOPLE!
Like any other. Art form, the more you practice, the better you'll be able to do
it. Drawing Zombies may be difficult at first, but once you get into it, your
creativity will take over and pretty soon you'll develop your own style. Doing
Zombie caricatures is a great addition to your caricature toolbox, especially
around Halloween, Frat Parties, parties in Bars, the possibilities are limited
to your imagination.
Posts
