Sketch o’the Week

August 20th, 2008 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week

Artwork ©2008 Tom Richmond

I very seldom get sick but yesterday I was knocked for a loop by some kind of bizarre flu. I finished up some pencils that were a bit overdue in the morning while fighting nausea and the cold sweats, then spent the day in bed alternating between shivering and sweating. Not fun. I am bouncing back a little now. Here is a 15 minute sketch of Olympic superstar Micheal Phelps. It’s almost cheating drawing this guy, he’s so easy to exaggerate. I had heard of the “Vitruvian Man” comparison that has been reported from several sources. At 6 feet 4 inches his arms stretch, from tip to tip, 6 feet 8 inches, which is 4 inches longer than most people of his hieght. His torso also corresponds to a 6′ 8″ man, while his legs are shorter than his height should warrant. He’s double jointed in his elbows and knees, and his ankles bend 15 degrees farther than a typical human’s. It’s a good thing they allow him to tuck those ears into his swim cap, or he might actually go backwards during a race. All that sure makes his caricature easy!

Comments

  1. quikdraw4 says:

    FANTASTIC caricature Tom! Hope you feel better real soon!

  2. yondaime_kazekage says:

    marvellous. world class sketch 🙂

  3. pmcmicheal says:

    I KNEW IMMEDIATELY WHO THIS WAS EVEN WITHOUT SCROLLING DOWN TO SEE HIS NAME!.
    Awesome sketch…I also noticed the extra long arms and torso of this cat! I imagine the easiest features were the GUMMY smile and large ears! Great Great Great.
    I would love to see you knock out a sketch of the adorable little USA (gold medal) gymnast Shawn Johnson. She is as cute as a button and has that short, fireplug build, not to mention a mouse-like appearance!
    “Sketch of the Week” continues to be my favorite feature on your blog.

  4. mg1984 says:

    Great job, I especially like the web hands. It also serves as a very good referance for the anatomy, basic shapes and symetry. I Found drawing him to be pretty easy, but as usual you take a much better approach in fundamental shapes, and exageration. I would imagine as far as anatomy the olympic female form, ironically wouldn’t be terribly different. Of course there would be a little difference but probably not that much.

    Again great job on the real life Aquaman

  5. Very, very nice! Keep ’em comin’

  6. Mugshotz says:

    He’s a weird looking guy…

Instagram

Claptrap Ad

GICLEES

Workshop Ad

007 ad

Catwoman ad

Dracula ad

Doctor Who ad

Superman ad

NCS