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. 

IPAD CARICATURES DRAWN IN ARTSTUDIO APP

heres a series of ArtStudio caricature done of Subway commuters and one Dunkin Donut Customer.

PRESTON RIDDICK GUNG FU INSTRUCTOR

I had a flash of Nostalgia this week as I remembered my old Kung Fu Instructor, Preston Riddick. Sifu Riddick was my first instructor back in the 70's when the martial arts was something you studied when you wanted to take your life into your hands. The instructors were brutal and harsh as most of them were ex military men from Vietnam. I dont know if Sifu Riddick was a vet, but he sure was pretty intimidating. He was also a bodybuilder and compared to a chubby 11 year old boy which I was, he seemed like the incredible hulk only sporting an Afro and Shades.

Sifu Riddick was a fitness fanatic and drilled his students hard on calisthenics making us do endless laps around the gym, not to mention push ups and situps until you felt like puking and after you were totally exhausted and feverish... THEN  we would do our Gung Fu Training!.... I loved every minute of it. As I got older I found out that he was an outstanding activist in the Fort Greene/Pratt Institutecommunity where the school was located and taught other arts like drawma and drumming.

ABSTRACT CARTOONY CARICATURE

As i mentioned in a previous post, its helpful to be able to draw caricature sin a variety of styles as some faces lend themselves to different types of caricature, sometimes photo realistic, sometimes cartoony, sometimes abstract, sometimes exaggerated. Its also great fun for the artist to challenge himself by drawing in a style that hes comparitively speaking, unfamiliar. In this picture my using a cartoony abstract style.

SAME FACE DIFFERENT STYLES

I think its a good idea for a caricature artist to have more than one style under his belt. Not only does it break up the monotony of drawing everyone the same way, but Ive found that  some faces lend themselves to one style more than another. Ive drawn people whose faces practically scream the word, "CARTOON!" while others lend themselves more to photorealism , and still others  scream "EXAGGERATE ME!" this guy, who I call Big Red, had the best of both worlds going. He originally thought Id just caricature his NOSE mainly, but I told hijm he had much more going on in his face!

CONEY ISLAND CARICATURES

 I swear, every party I go to theres at least ONE guy there with bushy eyebrows!!

 I didn't think at first this pady would appreciate me drawing her nose so prominently, but she ended up loving the caricature. You just never know how people are going to react.

All of these caricatures were drawn at a recent gig in Coney Island. I originally drew them in black and white, then immediately drew a copy of each for myself that I knew I would color later in ARTSTUDIO for  IPad

FACES ON THE SUBWAY SHUTTLE BUS

The Far Rockaway Shuttle bus traveling from Mott Ave to Howard Beach is a great time to catch faces while you ride. Here are a few memorable ones.

FATHER SON CARICATURES

Ive been Caricaturing my sonk Gerard all his life, much to his embarrassment because i usually show no mercy! this timje, however I decided to do a complimentary picture of him since he is in seminary now pursuing a career as a Lutheran Pastor. I wouldnt want a bad caricature to haunt him as one of his parishioners in the future would be bound to dig up the picture one day! On myself however, I had no mercySome would call this self hate.....

SARDIS PICTURES

MARCELO GUERRA CARICATURE BY SUBWAYSURFER

Cant believe I just found out about the amazingly talented European caricature artist Marcelo Guerra. Not only are his cartoon caricatures a throwback from the 1950s slash 60s retro which I adore, but his personal flair and style of dress make him instantly recognizable and is an excellent form of personal marketing and branding. initially i wrote him to draw MY caricature but couldn't help drawing HIS first!

HURRICANE SANDY TEE SHIRT DESIGN

Hi guys by now everyone has heard ad nauseau about the Hurricane Sandy tradgedy that sweapt through New York city and put us on the ropes so to speak. Far Rockaway, a coastal community took an especially hard hit. Sandy ruined millions of dollars of beach front property, including boardwalks, summer homes, local businesses, and oh yeah, transportation.For me, the devastation is particularly bad because as a self employed artist, I have to live daily with the aura of misery, depression, anger and despair that lingers in the air, and can be seen on the faces of the residents who have no where to go. one of the sadness things for me to face is that THE WAVE NEWSPAPER where I worked as an editorial illustrator,  is GONE. washed away like so much junk down a drain. if by some miracle it survived, I haven't heard anything.

following is the last picture I did for the paper. I dont even know if they got it. its my intention to put this illustration on a series of promo products including shirts in order to raise money for the relief effort, people affected by this tragedy, including myself.

im asking you to please not plagiarize this illustration in the effort to make a buck off of my work, and to take advantage of a situation. Please stay tuned for more details. Thanks so much.

Elgin Subwaysurfer Bolling

The "Scribble Scrabble" studio Caricature Drawing technique

Those who CAN teach!

im sure that most people have heard or even used the expression, "Those who can't teach". Inherent in this subtle putdown, is the belief that an instructor is resigned to "just teaching" a given subject because they are unable to perform adequately the thing they are teaching. As a result of this cock eyed mode of reasoning we look at vocal instructors as"failed singers", coaches as"wanna be athletes" and art teachers as"frustrated artists."

  THE JOY OF TEACHING 

Nothing could be farther from the truth. The fact is that teaching is a calling, of sorts. A person who teaches, has such a passion for their subject that it's unbearable to contain it within themselves! They have a need to impart it to others. Why does this need exist? I would say it's out of the sincere, selfless desire to have another experience the same level of joy that the teacher feels themselves when engaged in the activity. Although a "bad analogy" it's kind of like the moron who blasts his music loudly in his car. He's grooving on heavy metal and wants "everyone"to share in the experience right down to the last decibel!

  TEACHERS ARE NOT WANNABEES

If you dig deep enough, you'll find that that most teachers have achieved a level of notoriety and success in their chosen fields. That broken down, raspy voice, boxing coach with the nasty smelling cigar and beer belly, was regional or state champion in his prime, that piano teacher may have been a concert pianist who traveled Europe in her youth, the list goes on, and on. Sometime in the process of working on their own careers people find that they have a knack for imparting information to others. They find that while pursuing their own careers, they love to see others make it too, and view them as kindred spirits not competitors. Teachers are not wanna bees, on the contrary , because of their love for their topic, they've studied it above and beyond what the casual observer, the hobbyist, or even the so called "natural" has.

  WHY TEACHING IS IMPORTANT

 Without teaching knowledge dies. Nothing is more tragic than that. For years I have been the admirer of a particular pastor who serves a congregation in a so called Urban area, that most men in his position, given the same level of education opportunity, and breeding would have abandoned. And yet, he has been a staple in the community fir several generations. His social, administrative and political skills are legendary. He genuinely loved, honored and respected by the people he serves. I've often said to him that I hoe he is training someone to take his place because if he doesn't, what he's built, and the knowledge he posesses will due with him, never to be reproduced in another. Teaching is about reproducing. When I teach someone caricature and cartooning, it's a way if reproducing my knowledge so that it doesn't die with me. If I am successful in imparting to another I have the joy of knowing they will taje what I've given, and add to that what s uniquely their own, and give tray out to another. So the cycle continues. On and on. I guess that's what teaching is all about.

TAKE THE CARICATURE CHALLENGE!

In my early caricature days one exercise that was contributed to helping me learn how to exaggerate was the self imposed 30 day challenge. I literally drew a different caricature of myself for thirty days. since I was working with the same boring face it literally forced me to think up new artistic approaches to the same subject. THE hardest thing to do of course is the retain the likeness of course, but thats the whole point. Just to make it easy on you readers you only have to do this for five days. see what you come up with! I guarantee that it will revolutionize the way you look at caricature and you will discover a new style in the process!

Cartoon Editorial illustration

Been a while since I posted any editorial illustrations for The Wave News. I recently got some Editorial copy  where the Far Rockaway residents are"bugging out" over a series of rumors regarding  housing, shelters being built, criminals running wild in the streets, ETC All of these rumors are unsubstantiated, but more residents in the community are getting worried, and if they get too worried.... well we could have problems in the community as people act on their imagined fears. The article, not shown hear is basically a call to sanity. In this illustration , I decided to do a montage of past caricatures to stand is as"Rockaway  residents". Looking at the drawing now I can appreciate just how varied the faces that Ive drawn over the years are, and how versatile Ive become as far as illustration style is concerned. What a great job!

THE RETURN OF THE STARBUCKS MONKEY

okay I KNOW that someone, SOMEWHERE is going to be offended by this picture so let me explain it right now before the fire starts, and even though I give an explaination I realize that sadly, I still wont satisfy some people......sigh.....
First off, Im a caricature artist. As such I make fun of FACES... not RACES, and EVERYONE gets slammed, especially when I see a face that reallllllly deserves it. Im not trying to be mean or make a statement just having fun visually with what I see at the moment. I notice also that some groups of people seem to be highly sensitive to being made fun of to the point of wanting to take serious issue with a drawing that was not meant in spirit to be derogatory. This happened to me once with a certain NYC Queens Congressman... but thats another story....

In learning to exaggerate, I sometimes see people as animals. I figure since there facial structure or vibe reminds me of a particular mammal, fowl, reptile, or fish, ill just draw them along those lines. It makes the caricature more powerful. Below is a picture of a young man I saw a few years back in Starbucks. he looked sooooo ridiculously ape like that I could NOT resist drawing him him full on as a Simeon!

Hope you guys especially my fewllow African Americans can appreciate this for what it is. Humour. If you attach anything else to it, Its YOU. not ME. Im just having fun.

Whether you agree or not, I DO welcome your responses or criticisms though!

The Christ Chronicles Comics Update

For the past couple of weeks I've had some down time which enabled me to work 
on some personal artistic projects, like my " THE CHRIST CHRONICLES COMIC" 
Project. The work is based on the adventures of Jesus depicted in the Biblical 
Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. I find the Biblical accounts as 
dividing as any adventure story I've ever read. It's an epic story containing 
heroes and villains, it's loaded with action, intrigue, horror and humor. I've 
taken creative license on character designs, removing them from the traditional 
ancient, biblical, Middle Eastern vibe, and replacing them with a more campy 
contemporary look. (what can I say? I am a cartoonist!) I gotta admit, John The 
Baptist was the most fun to do, and since the Bible does give more of a physical 
description of him, I decided to leave him as is!

The Pharisees, Scribes, and Sadducces ,were a challenge to depict, until I heard 
Jesus refer to them as "blind guides" "teachers of the law" which made me decide 
to dress them in formal professor robes I'd recently seen at my sons college 
graduation. The cap covering their eyes, which adds to their inability to see.

This is an open ended project that I will continue to work on as time permits. 
I'm really having a lot of fun with it

ANTOINE DODSON CARTOONS by SUBWAYSURFER

When Fame came knocking on the door of  Alabama  resident, Antoine Dodson he 
didn't just answer the knock, he flung the door wide open, and broke off the 
hinges. Huntsville Alabama  native, Antoine Dodson, has become a member of an 
elite group  of unlikely hometown celebrities whose fame and notoriety 
skyrocketed thanks to the phenomenon of YouTube.

Antoine'sqq fame is the result of what could have been a tragic episode for his 
sister, Kelly Dodson, had Antoine not scared off a  rapist who gained access  to 
the 2nd floor bedroom if their  Webster Drive apartment. Kelly's screams alerted 
her brother, Antoine, who managed to chase the intruder off, and had a few 
choice words to say to the intruder once the news reporters arrived on the scene 
with the cameras.

 Antoine's, angry yet animated demeanor caught the attention of a legion of fans 
who after seeing the broadcast on YouTube literally skyrocketed him to Internet 
stardom.  

I personally admire Dodson for coming to his sisters rescue like he did That 
took guts, and he obviously loves her.

 For me, as an artist, I found Antoine to be a perfect animated character. 
Clearly he has the personality! LOL! He's, vivacious, flamboyant, and "in your 
face", even though he was angry, you could still see that sense of humor peeking 
through. The first thing I noticed about Antoine was his eyes and mouth. Both 
very expressive, and very animated. He's a character that definitely calls for a 
lot of dialogue, and it's would be hard to conceive of him NOT getting the last 
word in any conversation he finds himself in. The next thing was his neck, which 
was unusually long.Again, visually, this is  something, once animated than can 
add to his characters "in your face vibe" and make his  dialogues even more 
entertaining. Finally, I love his "costume" if you're doing any type of 
sustained cartoon, whether it be comics, or animation, it helps if your 
character has a " signature look" that doesn't change.   Imagine Charlie Brown 
minus his Yellow shirt  with the jagged stripe.  Antoine's red bandana with the 
pokadots combined with his Afro and black wife beater tee shirt are as 
recognizable as the late Steve Job's black turtleneck was. In an interview on 
the George Lopez show,  I was a little disappointed to find out that he 
had......changed his look considerably, which I feel  was a mistake. In order to 
"milk his celebrity status" Antoine would do better to appear in the attire "we 
first met him". Could you imagine seeing Mr. T in public without his trademark 
Mohawk, gold chains and feathered earrings? It's all about public branding. At 
the very least, he could've sold a line of tank tops or head scarfs! But I'll 
leave the marketing up to his agent.

I hope if he somehow sees these cartoons that they will bring a smile to his 
face and adds another 15 minutes to his fame! 

Rachel Grant Coaching: It's Just My Personality - Part 3: Being An Introvert

Rachel Grant Coaching: It's Just My Personality - Part 3: Being An Introvert

my 6th grade drawings

I got a really unexpected email the other day. It was from my 6th grade teacher 
who had found me due to the magic of this great Internet driven, social 
networking , find anyone at the click of a mouse, age we live in! 

I asked her how she remembered me after all these centuries and she recalled 
that I always liked to draw, and that I had an unusual name. I gotta admit, 
there ain't too many kids with the name. "Elgin" running around.

She informed me that she was retiring from teaching, and was cleaning out some 
of her papers from her cases she'd accumulated over the years. She was delighted 
to find some pages from a class magazine I had illustrated, and asked me if I 
wanted them. Before I could the out a es, the pictures were sitting in my email 
box waiting to be downloaded,

You gotta love this electronic age.

The drawings I got were very revealing. It's a weird feeling going back in time 
and seeing yourself, and what impressed me the mst was that I had remained 
consistent to my dream of becoming an illustrator. Looking at this pictures, I 
can tell that objectively I wasn't the greatest artist. The figures are horribly 
dsproportioned, the anatomy isvmisaligned, the line quality is terrible, and the 
perspective is awful.  And yet none of that mattered to e. Judging how I kept up 
with it obviously, it shows thst I had a commitment to improve, and I 
objectively did. I also see that even back in six grade I had a love for comics 
and story telling, and an interest in drawing faces and capturing personality. 
Today I'm still drawing comics and doing caricature.

These drawings are inspiring and demonstrates that even the most talented 
artist, starts from humble beginnings. It's all about practice  and not giving 
up folks.