A Caricature of David Bowie by Artist Tielman Cheaney
I drew this caricature shortly after David Bowie passed away in early 2016. I had always thought that his differently colored eyes were the result of contact lenses, but they’re actually the consequences of a fistfight he was in as a teenager… as fistfight with a lifelong friend and collaborator. I tend to play it safe in caricature, but at that time everybody at the stand was drawing David Bowie, so I had some competition. It was made more difficult by his decade-to-decade transition to different fashion choices.
Caricature of Bernie Sanders by Tielman Cheaney
Here’s a caricature from the 2016 presidential race, when Bernie Sanders was running against Hillary. He was really pushing for that social democracy. You know, the one the kids just can’t get enough of. It seemed sometimes like he was running a bargain-basement markdown sale. Everything must go! College! Hospitals! Maternity leave! It’s all free! The rich 1% will foot the bill! And it’s fun to draw politicians. They’re not the chisel-jawed handsome celebrities that caricature artists often attempt.
Let’s Draw A Caricature of Jack Nicholson
I’ve always regarded Jack Nicholson as an easy face to caricature. But that’s because he’s mostly been caricatured as the Joker, or as a crazy-haired man in sunglasses. This one turned out to be surprisingly difficult. I wanted to capture that very specific dull-eyed stare combined with the sinister grin. It was more trouble than just simply drawing the full-on “here’s Johnny!” face. In warm ups for this caricature, I tried different sizes of grin, noticing that his mouth actually changed shape a lot. You think of Jack Nicholson as having one crazy smile, but packs a whole arsenal of unsettling expressions. What I went with here was a modified version of a grin that shows all the upper teeth, but only the middle few lowers. It’s bigger for emphasis. One of Jack’s eyes is usually open just a little wider than the other. It’s not just Jack, actually, that’s…
Let’s Draw a Caricature of Clint Eastwood
I decided making some videos would be a good idea for our business. After having that idea, I gathered some cheap camcorders/cell phones that shoot video, bought an editing program, cleaned out the garage a little bit, cleaned it out again after it got trashed for an art project, cobbled together a kind of set, plugged in every spare light we had, shot some tests, and then one night after staying up way too late and drinking beer, shot this video where I draw a caricature of Clint Eastwood. The things I did in the above paragraph took me about four years to complete. No joke. A little fear, a lack of focus, some missing equipment, and a lack of know-how about the whole process kept things from moving forward for a long, long time. I love The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. The way Sergio Leone handles tension is…
A Caricature of Daniel Craig’s James Bond, by Tielman
This caricature of Daniel Craig as James Bond provides a pretty good example of Artstix for new caricature artists. Prismacolor Artstix are what we, and many other caricature companies all across the world, use to color our drawings quickly and simply. They’re simple, they’re fast, and they don’t make a huge mess like almost every other kind of coloring medium. But they have one big problem: Because they’re basically colored pencils, it’s difficult to make them create dark tones. It’s not impossible… take a look at Chaka’s or Celeste’s gallery to see examples of really dense, dark colors. But it takes time. And for me, a person who thinks ten minutes is too long to spend on a caricature, it takes an unacceptable amount of time. So what you see here is an example of the darkest tones I’ll ever create with these tools. It doesn’t work that well… I…
O. J. Simpson Caricature by Tielman Cheaney
Now there’s a man with an interesting history. When I drew this caricature in 2011, OJ was was free man, after getting a non guilty verdict in his murder trial, and before getting in to trouble in casinos here. So I didn’t feel bad making fun of his lazy-eyed expression. Of course, as of this writing, he’s in jail for a variety of bad behaviors in Las Vegas.
Nicole Kidman Caricature by Tielman Cheaney
I remember experimenting with an unusual light source for this one… not that it makes much difference with quick Art Stix. It’s hard to create really dark colors if you’re trying to make a fast drawing. But I can see a difference. This is me trying to simulate flash photography lighting. I tried to draw her with all right angles, in an attempt to make her intense and sharp. It kind of worked, but I compromised on that curve on top of her head.
Natalie Portman Caricature by Tielman Cheaney
It’s hard to look at old caricature work sometimes. Styles change, though maybe sometimes not as much as you’d like, and celebrities change. This was made shortly after V for Vendetta. Remember completely bald Natalie Portman? I drew this caricature during the time period where her hair was growing back out. She was featured in a video on SNL trashing her own sweet image, which I found hilarious.
Barack Obama Caricature by Tielman Cheaney
Here’s a younger, less-stressed Obama caricature! This was drawn shortly after he took office. His hair was still black.
Robert Pattinson Caricature by Tielman Cheaney
Robert Pattinson. His hair got smaller, but that’s not how I want to remember him. Twilight came out in 2008, and as you can see, this caricature of Robert Pattinson is from 2009. We had plenty of celebrity gossip magazines lying around, to draw from of course, and this guy, along with Kristen Stewart, was in every single one of them. His face was fine, but of course what I really wanted to draw was that hair. He was a tall guy with a pretty big head to begin with, and that hair just made him massive. Even if he was in the background of a photo, he would dominate, with that huge pale face popping in the flashbulbs and the hair standing above everyone. I can’t remember why I drew him smiling. He’s pretty well known as a grumpy, moody vampire, and though he does plenty of smiling in photos,…