I did this sketch of rock guitarist Slash to demonstrate my side of a little disagreement I was having with a fellow caricaturist. We were discussing what makes a successful caricature. While we both agreed that being able to instantly recognize who the subject was constituted the most important aspect of a successful caricature, he insisted this hinged on “likeness” of the features, and I said that was not necessarily true. This caricature of Slash has no features, but it is unmistakeable. A viewer recognizes a person or personality on more levels that just their face. Body posture, signature clothing or “look”, accessories, setting—these all play a part in the “recognizability” of a subject. Some caricaturists use this as a crutch because they have trouble capturing recognizability through the features alone, but a good caricaturist will use a combination of elements, both the features/expression and extras, to create a strong caricature.

This week’s subject: Clint Eastwood circa the “spaghetti western” era. This was a small study for a digital painting.

This week’s subject is actress Sarah Jessica Parker. She is not the classic beauty, having a very long, angular, and “horsey” sort of face. Her nose is an obvious feature to exaggerate, but I’ve always been struck by how big and square her jaw is much more than her nose.

One day late this week…. my apologies. Quick 15 minute or so study of singer Taylor Swift.

This week’s sketch is a bit of a cop out… as it was part of a preliminary drawing for a cover illustration job I did recently. The subject is reality TV… uh…. “star” Kim Kardashian. The image changed quite a bit after the client’s art direction. I will be able to share that final art sometime next month.

Ordinarily I mock and ridicule people who mock and ridicule things like movies, TV shows or books they haven’t at least tried or given a fair chance. That said, I have to admit I have never seen any of the “Twilight” movies nor read the books but am guilty of unilaterally disdaining them mainly because they are so inescapable in all aspects of pop culture that I’m just sick of hearing about them… kind of like the Kardashians and “Jersey Shore”. Then again, you could say the same thing about Harry Potter, and in that case I loved both the books and the movies. Frankly, I think in this instance I’m safe in my assumptions I’d hate “Twilight”.

Anyway, when the big “Twilight” craze started and I had to stare at the smug faces of the stars of the series on the cover of every magazine and entertainment news website, I promised myself I would live my entire life without ever drawing Robert Pattinson. This was a promise I knew I would only have a small chance of keeping, as eventually I would be asked to draw him for some client project and that would be that. I thought there was an outside chance I’d not get a “Twilight” job before the film series was done, and then there would be an excellent chance we’d never hear about Robert Pattinson again and I’d be in the clear.

No such luck.

I just got an assignment for a client who shall remain nameless for the moment requiring me to draw the main three characters of the Twilight movies, so I figured I might as well get it over with and draw Robert Pattinson for the Sketch o’the Week. Here he is.

Just for the record, no doubt Robert Pattinson is a splendid guy, with a winning personality and a genuine, fun-loving heart to go with his ridiculously haunting good looks. Overexposure is a bitch.

On the plus side, I have still not broken my promise of having never seen a single minute of “It’s a Wonderful Life”, and barring someone stapling my eyelids to my forehead and tying me in front of a TV I never will…. that one can go on my tombstone.

This week’s subject: 2011 Academy Awards co-host and Oscar nominated actor James Franco.

A very quick sketch of total nutcase Charlie Sheen. Want conclusive evidence Charlie Sheen is crazy? Forget the drugs, the throwing away of a historically easy and lucrative TV gig, the ranting interviews, the tiger blood and Adonis DNA… you need look no farther than the two porno actresses he’s shacking up with. Of all the multitude of hot porn stars probably willing to move in with him, those two are his idea of “goddesses”? :crazy:

As I am still swamped with catch up work following my vacation, this week’s “Sketch o’ the Week” is another cop out from an actual job. These drawings are part of a concept study for a statue that may or may not be produced as a promotional item for the film “I Want Your Money”, for which I did a bunch of animated character design and storyboard work.

I am beyond swamped after both my vacation and my unexpected two day layover in Phoenix, so this will have to do as “Sketch o’the Week” this week. This is one of the panels from my parody of “Mad Men” in MAD #508, sketched on bristol board prior to inking. This panel features Jessica Paré as Megan and Jon Hamm as Don.

Hopefully MAD will finally let me post a sneak peek at the artwork soon. The issue is out and has been for weeks, but there is some kind of special something or another going on with it and they asked me to wait to post any of the finished art. MAD just gave me the thumbs up on posting a sneak peek, so look for that tomorrow!