Anatomy of a Drawing #4

A couple of years ago in this space, I discussed…and illustrated…the process that went into a commissioned caricature drawing – in that case a request by a husband to surprise his wife on the occasion of both their anniversary and her birthday. More recently, a request came from the University of North Carolina’s medical department in Chapel Hill to honor a departing professor of medicine with a caricature of him, and various accoutrements depicting aspects of his life.

Welcome to the August edition of Not Your Usual Caricature Artist, from Caricatures by Joel.

Usually, when I’m assigned a similar project, I jump right into it, do all my sketching and final coloring without any client participation. But this time, I honored the request of the administrative assistant who had me share my drawing via e-mail at different steps along the way.

Here’s the original pencil rough of the pony-tailed young doctor, with a bulletin board filled with comments and observations made by the subject with apparent frequency. At least, enough of them to playfully tease the doctor.

Later, it was determined that he attended enough impressive institutions of higher learning that his diplomas deserved to be displayed. But not on a desk in front of him – that tended to look “clunky” and intrusive.

So we put them up on the wall, where these academic displays conventionally go. He was also supposed to have written some documentation, separate from the post-it notes on the cork board. So I gave him a clipboard on which to have placed his documents.  And then, with approval of the pencil sketch, I rendered the established outlines in ink for more “permanency.”

Then came the coloring – a combination of colored pencils and some colored ink via spot Prismacolor marker -- for the finished art.

Just what the doctor ordered.  Or, at least, his administrative assistant.

See you again the first Tuesday of next month, for another therapeutic dose of Not Your Usual Caricature Artist.