Trust the Process
Back in January, bolstered by New Year resolutions and almost 2 weeks of holiday rest, I did as many days of the Caricature Resolution as I could: Almost one week! Hurrah! It helped that I was bed-ridden with a covid that was bad, but not toooo bad, delaying my going back to work for a few more days and leaving me with nothing else to do but draw.
The thing about drawing is that it’s bad until it isn’t, and it’s not fun until it is! Only when you’ve passed a certain threshold can you feel good about your life as the sun smiles upon you.
I joke, I joke.
Theoretically, drawing should be an activity that feels good just to do it. To put a piece of oneself on the page and create something from nothing should be satisfying in its own right. Who cares about the final product? You participated in an ancient ritual of human expression: messy and lovely and cathartic! Isn’t that enough?
I’m slowly getting there, but I often struggle to find contentment in the process alone. The final product has to be good for that process to be worthwhile, but there’s no way to ensure this happens before you start. Ah, c’est la vie.
I also tend to (falsely) believe that my artistic ability is only as good as what I can draw on a piece of paper, in pen, no take-backsies — i.e. digital art with its endless control zedd is cheating and not “real.” Whatever that means. I think quite differently when I draw on paper vs. digital. On paper I need to rough it in, draw through forms, and physically scratch it out. Like a kid ham-fisting a crayon, it feels so good just to mark-make like a caveman. Digitally, I start thinking about design which tends to occupy a completely different part of my brain.
Tl;dr, paper helps me get the ideas out, and digital helps me turn them into something I actually like, cheating or not.
The following is a break-down of my process for these caricatures, wherein I use both paper and digital to do just that. The good, the bad, the successful, the unfinished… it’s allllllll part of the journey!
Billie Eilish
All hail, the bad guy herself!
I really enjoyed Billie’s newest album. Birds of a Feather makes me cry. I’m blushing at Lunch’s “So I’m pullin’ up a chair/And I’m putting up my hair.” Chihiro and The Diner take me to cinematic worlds. Though it may not surpass Happier Than Ever for me, Hit Me Hard and Soft is yet another home run in her discography.
Reference
For all the caricatures, I start off with a reference board. I love this phase. It’s quite satisfying to sift through many photos and pull together what speaks to you. For Billie it was the face card! And a lot more of her editorial looks. I know it’s been a bit controversial, but I’ve loved her recent shift into this high-fashion, sexy, school-marm look.
Traditional Sketching
After I gather reference, I do the scribbly part and make several bad drawings in my sketchbook with pen (0.4 Pentel Arts Hybrid Technica, to be exact) and (sometimes) copics. I think this is the place where I start feeling out what proportions are compelling for me to play with. For example, I really like seeing that top drawing on the right and where I ended up pushing it once I moved to digital.
Digital Design
Then I start sketching digitally in Procreate! Procreate’s time-lapse feature is a great way to look at how chaotically your brain works. One big thing I started to notice from this workflow was how much easier it is for me to design with painted shapes vs. linework. I think the pushing and pulling of a color blob helps me get away from the literal-description quality that linework locks me into.
My big not-so-secret prediction for Billie Eilish is that, not only will she win an EGOT, but someday she’ll win an Oscar outside of music. Based on her music videos, her directing skills are strong with such clear visions. Plus, her brief cameo in SWARM was electrifying! I desperately hope for this wish to come true! Billie, please move to the narrative big screen!
Superman AKA Henry Cavill
I hate to say it — I hope I don't sound ridiculous — but I don't know who this man is. Henry Cavill? He’s not really in my vernacular. Once upon a dream, my parents may have forced me to watch The Man from U.N.C.L.E., but otherwise he’s just another pretty face that really doesn’t do anything for me. Oop!
Reference/Sketchbook
Superman, in my humble opinion, is the most lame superhero because near invincibility is very boring. However, I do enjoy the iconic Hannah Montana lifestyle he lives, and for that reason, I chose to focus Henry Cavill’s design here.
Digital Design
Henry Cavill’s face and Superman’s general IP reminds me of Leyendecker paintings with that very crisp, geometric Art Nouveau look. I tried to do a mostly Clark Kent illustration with a little hint of Superman on the bottom (how I prefer it anyways!) This final treatment with line and flat color is also pretty close to home for my usual style.
What a handsome, bland man… next!
Lucy Liu
I have loved Lucy Liu ever since I was a kid, taking long and secret looks at the Charlie’s Angels DVD in my parents’ entertainment cabinet. Who were these hot women in black leather with literal flames behind them? My hyper-fixation probably stemmed from not seeing a whole lot of Asian representation in the media at the time. Seeing Lucy Liu sparked a very — Who is she and can I also be that hot? — moment in my young and pure Christian heart.
Reference/Sketchbook
Ugh!!! Too beautiful. Also this racing look is so good.
Digital Design
Pretty people are very hard to draw, and ultimately I do wish I pushed her caricature a little bit more. But I like playing with graphic shapes and the softer rendering felt right for the portrait. Can I also just say I adore her freckles?! Always such a satisfying detail to paint.
For more Lucy Liu content, please see her paintings that I love so much. My best wishes to her for a long and peaceful life of creating lots and lots of art!
Usain Bolt
After three caricatures of the same process, I wanted to push myself. Being the fastest man in the world, I thought it would be a better caricature if I could try and capture more movement, Usain Bolt: In Motion.
Reference/Sketchbook
Digital Design
I really wanted to do a running pose incorporating his lightning bolt nickname. You can… kind of see it in his legs along with a whole new rendering style! Too many things!!!
To be completely honest, I never found a groove with this caricature. I think my favorites are actually the rough paper sketches, and I think the idea needed a lot more time to cook than I was ultimately able to give it.
Unlike all of Usain Bolt’s gold medals suggest — you win some, you lose some!
Taylor Swift
Draw the cat eye sharp enough to kill a man!!!
That was my main goal with Miss Tayla’s design. I love when she looks mean. Like an evil villain, she needs to be petting a cat in her lap as she plots to release her 13th “deluxe” version of The Tortured Poet’s Department. It is her best look! And it is Reputation-coded, her worst-turned-best album. Lean in, girl!
Reference/Sketchbook
Digital Design
I really like watching this process video because I like seeing how I refined roughly the same idea over time. Caricatures can be hard to keep some amount of appeal… they can go wonky or ugly quite easily, and sometimes that may be your goal! But I like maintaining some appeal… at least that’s what I tell myself to make me feel better. Maybe that holds me back a bit from something crazier, but I think I push that boundary with Timothée’s caricature up next.
I liked the looseness I started to work through in this caricature! The shapes are there, the energy is there… I felt tapped in!
For my send-off on Taylor, I will say this: Down Bad is about Kate McKinnon’s character that gets abducted by aliens on SNL. Thank you!
Timothée Chalamet
My dear I-haven’t-lied-in-two-years Timothée! I cannot love you as much as Club Chalamet (nor would I want to, tbh), but I do believe you could have been a good Wonka based off of your spindly, little dance in Bones and All.
Please humor me as I do not have many platforms to write these opinions, but I am of the mind that there was never a grounded character for TC’s version of Wonka — are we different than Gene Wilder’s character? are we the same but pre-cynicism? The character felt unmoored from any true hook other than “He loves chocolate! And his mom!” The uneven performance oscillated between indecision or unknowing, one moment throwing quirky phrases at the wall, the next Chalamet snapping into his Call Me By Your Names tears as he witnesses the destruction of his dream shop. Not his best, but maybe not his fault…? I digress!!!
Reference/Sketchbook
I had zombie Timothée on the brain. Bones and All was not a perfect movie, but I love it despite their zero chemistry the flaws. Hungry, unsettling, and very, very midwest.
Digital Design
Uhhhh I start this video and I do not know what was going on. A true, trust the process moment. I think if I was to do this whole exercise over again, I would try something different than big eyes, tiny noses, but maybe this is more of a comment on what is popular in Hollywood than my skills? There’s a reason why all of Disney’s princesses look he same, right? No, never mind, I will take accountability here.
My main goal with this caricature was to keep up some of the energy I had found in Taylor Swift’s lines, but this time paint with color. I’m highly inspired by my friend Alarico’s ability to keep gesture in his drawings. I think I achieved something like it! At least compared to, say Billie’s drawing at the top of the experiment, it’s far more energetic. Maybe there is a time and place for both.
I still need to rewatch Dune 2 again! *Insert screaming Dune soundtrack here*
The Weeknd
The only time I like The Weeknd is when he’s getting stabbed by Rosalía or singing behind Ariana or when Adam Sandler is trying to beat him up in Uncut Gems, so I stopped here. It’s no fun to force yourself to draw people you don’t like. The end!!!
In Conclusion
I love celebrities, I love drawing, and I love making myself laugh. Drawing celebrity caricatures makes me laugh a lot.
Making this post was encouraging to me as I could trace some discoveries and expansion in my drawings through the chaotic processes. May we all lean into the process and enjoy the ride!
Until next time!! xoxo <3
Seeing your process with these is AMAZING!!