How To Draw Caricatures Lenn Redman Pdf Work <Best | 2024>
Lenn Redman's (1984) is a seminal work in the field of cartooning, often cited as a foundational text for aspiring artists. Drawing on his experience of sketching over 200,000 faces, Redman details a systematic approach to capturing likeness through exaggeration. Core Methodology: The "In-betweener"
A crucial concept in Redman’s work is the "T-Bar." This is the imaginary intersection formed by the vertical centerline of the face (the nose line) and the horizontal line running across the eyes.
To spot what makes a subject's face unique, you must compare it to this generic "average" face:
Take the "inbetweener" concept and apply it to friends, family, or celebrities, comparing their features to the average. Conclusion
: When looking at a subject, you compare their features to this internal standard to identify what deviates from the norm. how to draw caricatures lenn redman pdf work
: Commit to bold, clean lines. Erase the underlying geometry and let the personality shine through. Finding and Using the Material Ethically
Selecting key relationships to expand or minimize.
Lenn Redman's How to Draw Caricatures stands the test of time because it teaches artists how to see . It elevates caricature from mere guessing and random distortion into a logical, structured discipline. By mastering the "in-betweener" concept, identifying basic geometric shapes, and pushing key features, you can capture compelling, recognizable caricatures every time.
The idea is elegantly simple. Before you can exaggerate a face, you need a baseline to exaggerate from. Redman asks you to imagine an "average," idealized face—the "Inbetweener." By comparing a real person's features to this standard of average, their unique characteristics become glaringly obvious. "You see, by comparing a subject's features to those of the Inbetweener, the differences—the things that make a face truly unique and interesting—jump right out at you," Redman explains. "And that, right there, is your starting point for exaggeration." Lenn Redman's (1984) is a seminal work in
Instead of drawing complex portraits, Redman encourages seeing the head as a basic, manipulated shape.
If you are currently studying caricature or trying to apply these concepts to your sketches, let me know or whether you are drawing live or from photos . I can provide tailored exercises to help you break through that creative block!
Published in 1984, this was the first book devoted entirely to teaching the art of caricature. Here’s what you can expect to learn:
| Concept | Explanation | |---------|-------------| | | Redman teaches students to see the head not as a collection of features (eyes, nose, mouth) but as a single, distorted shape or “blob.” You draw the outer contour of the head first, then fit features inside. | | Exaggeration via Proportion | He provides clear rules for which features to exaggerate: large features become larger, small features become smaller. He emphasizes that caricature is distorted reality , not just drawing “ugly.” | | The “Egg” and “Pear” | Simple geometric warm-ups (e.g., drawing faces on egg shapes, then pear shapes) to train the eye for asymmetry and stretch. | | Live Caricature Focus | Redman specialized in drawing strangers quickly (1–3 minutes). The book teaches how to capture a “likeness” through exaggeration of a single dominant feature, even without a perfect portrait first. | | Expression First | He argues that a successful caricature captures the personality or mood (e.g., a smirk, a squint) before anatomical accuracy. | To spot what makes a subject's face unique,
Redman’s philosophy centers on observation. He believed that a caricature should not just distort a face, but reveal the underlying truth of the person's character. Core Concepts of Redman's Method
The absolute heart of Lenn Redman's work is the concept of the . Redman establishes a universal, perfectly proportioned, average human face as a baseline. To draw a caricature using his method, you must:
—a reference point representing the "average" or "classic" face. Observation via Contrast