HOW TO DRAW ZOMBIE CARICATURES

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.