Mailbox Caricatures...

I find caricatures of men quite straight forward to produce; it’s easy to over extenuate a male’s features to bring out the character and cartoon image. It’s almost impossible to offend as most men seem to relish the visual fun poked by the familiar over representation.

These are the very reasons I find drawing a caricature of a woman a real challenge! The nature of a cartoon is to enlarge and exaggerate facial features, which is usually not a complimentary or flattering thing to do. In order for a caricature to be a success it needs to be recognisable as the subject matter; when drawing a woman a balance has to be made between drawing out the elements which make an individual and a realistic sensitivity. Lean too far either way you risk offending the person with the cartoon or the end result lacking a true representation of an individual’s personality.

I recently faced this challenge during a commission for Mailbox Marketing Ltd. In place of photographs on their new website, the owner wanted to use caricatures of the staff members. The project required me to produce three female caricatures in an illustrative style; a cartoonist’s worst nightmare, but fun none the less! The project seems to be a success; I’m pleased with the accuracy of the representation, and the customer is very happy rather than very offended, the best of both worlds!